Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O mind — become Gurmukh: turn toward the teaching. Extinguish the fire within.
Let the words of the teacher live in your mind. Let the ego and its desires die — not by fighting them, but by replacing what they're reaching for.
The fire goes out when you stop feeding it and start feeding what actually nourishes you.
The rahao offers the remedy: Gurmukh hoe ik man dhiaae — become one who is Guru-oriented, and contemplate with single-minded attention. The ego and desires (haumai aas) die not through suppression but through replacement.
This is the inner ecology of the teaching: what gets attention grows. The fire is fed by attention. Redirect the attention, and the fire starves.
What would happen if you gave the attention you normally give to a bad habit to something good instead? Have you ever tried this?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI