Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Someone can walk right past the One who lives inside their own heart.
And yet they hang a stone around their neck and treat it as all that is holy.
It's possible to walk right past the One who lives inside you, while holding tight to an outside object.
A new shabad by Guru Arjan starts here. Ghar meh thaakur nadar na aavai — the thaakur, the Master, lives right in the home of your own heart, but you don't see Him.
Gal meh paahan lai latkaavai — and yet you hang a paahan, a stone, around your neck, as if that were all that is holy.
Think of carrying a photo of your grandmother everywhere, but never calling her when she is right there in the next room. This teaching is fair to everyone. Any tradition, including our own, can mix up an outside sign with the living One it points to.
When might a symbol of something (a trophy, a badge) stand in for the real thing behind it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI