Comfort Makes the Heart Drowsy; Remembrance Wakes It
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
By Grace you have nice things to wear and ride - dear mind, why so lazy about the one thank-you that matters?
By Grace you have places, gardens, wealth - keep the Giver in your heart.
The One shaped your shape - so standing up, sitting down, remember.
Remember the One no eye can see. Nanak says: here, and after here, that remembering is what holds you.
A comfortable mind easily gets lazy about remembering the One.
The sharpest line sounds the gentlest: man tis simrat ki-o aalas keejai — mind, why are you lazy about remembering? The reason we forget the Giver is not that we are bad. It is aalas, laziness, the heart getting sleepy. Thankfulness takes a little energy each day, and comfort slowly drains it.
The softer the ride, the easier it is to doze off. In those days that meant riding horses and elephants. Today it might be a comfy car seat on a long drive.
The cure covers the whole day. Oothat baithat — standing up, sitting down, remember. It is not a practice for one set time. It is a quiet hum in the background of everything you do, like music playing softly in another room.
And what do we remember? Ayk alkhai, the One who cannot be seen. The comforts are easy to see. Their Source is not. The practice is to keep the unseen One more real than the soft cushions. The promise covers the whole journey: eehaa oohaa, here and hereafter, the One keeps you safe.
Is it easier to remember what matters when life is hard or when life is comfortable? Why?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI