Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O Siblings of Destiny — teach your minds this: O mind, why are you so lazy?
Become Gurmukh. Turn toward the teaching, and meditate on the Name.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. It asks one very honest question: "Mind, why are you so lazy?"
Bhaa-ee ray is man ka-o samjhaa-ay: "Brothers and sisters, teach your mind this." Ay man aalas ki-aa karahi: "O mind, why are you being lazy?" Aalas means laziness.
This is one of Guru Amar Das's most honest moments. The trouble isn't that the path is unclear. The trouble is that the mind is lazy.
Gurmukh naam dhi-aa-ay: become a gurmukh, someone who faces the Guru, and remember the Name. Just two steps, and neither is hard to understand. The hard part is being willing to show up, day after day. Think of practicing piano. Everyone knows what to do: sit down and play. The hard part is sitting down every single day.
What is something you know would help you but you keep not doing — not because you don't know how, but because something in you resists? What's the resistance actually about?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI