Humility Of Soul
Peace comes to those who are humble.
They set aside self-importance.
But the egotistic, O Nanak,
Are consumed by pride.
1.
People filled with the arrogance of power
Are like animals unconsciously running to their own suffering.
People captivated by the vanity of beauty
Cannot see where their lives are heading.
People who hold themselves up as pure and virtuous
Are creating the birth and death of lifetimes.
People who are proud of their wealth and property
Are blinded by what they don't know.
Yet when experience teaches us the gift of humility,
Nanak, we find spiritual freedom and inner peace.
2.
Those filled with pride of riches should know,
Not a single piece of straw, will accompany them in the end.
They can defend their property with armies,
But death comes in an instant when no one can help.
In that moment, even the strongest of men
Are reduced to ashes in the twinkling of an eye.
People who care for none but themselves
Are thoroughly exposed before the Divine Judge.
Yet, when pride is transformed, by the grace of the True Guru,
Nanak, they gain entrance to the Realm of the Lord.
3.
Performing millions of good deeds with vanity
Invites only trouble, with no spiritual gain.
When you take pride in your austerities and sacrifices,
You cross from heaven to hell and back over, again and again.
Unless the heart softens from these lessons,
How can Soul recognize the true path to God's realm?
Simply calling yourself good
Draws you no nearer.
He who gives his life for the sake of all Life,
Nanak, his nature and his work are pure.
4.
As long as we think we are the source of our accomplishments,
We will never find real peace.
As long as we think that we can change the world through our power alone,
We will wander through birth after birth.
As long as we think people are enemies or friends,
We will not have a stable mind.
As long as we are in love with the attachments of Maya,
We will suffer under the rule of Dharma Rae (the Divine Judge).
Bonds to material wealth are broken by the Grace of God.
O Nanak, Guru's grace dismantles the compulsive drive of ego.
5.
People earn thousands and chase after hundreds of thousands.
There is no fulfillment in riches.
People enjoy pleasures, no matter how obtained, but not satisfaction.
They pursue more and more desires, wearing themselves out in their search, until the day they die.
Without contentment, they never experience satisfaction.
Unless they can find fulfillment, all things they pursue are in vain, like the objects in a dream.
Love of Nam brings true peace.
But only a few gain the fortune of this gift.
The Whole, of Itself, is the Cause of all causes.
Remember God, O Nanak, forever and ever.
6.
The Cause behind everything is God.
What power rests in the hands of man?
People imitate what they see.
God is complete in Itself, of Itself, and through Itself.
Whatever exists is imbued with God.
He is far from everything, yet a part of all.
God sees, understands, and recognizes the truth of all things.
He is the Ek, Itself, and the countless forms.
He cannot die or perish. He doesn't come or go.
Nanak, God is All-pervading.
7.
Spiritual teachings flow from God, carrying His light.
He is Companion to everyone.
He breathes life into the world through His expansion.
He's a part of everything, visible and invisible, and the source of all.
Is existence even possible without Him?
In every place and between all spaces is the Ek.
He is the Actor in His play of creation.
He colors life in countless ways.
He exists in all hearts, and all hearts exist in Him.
Nanak, the significance of God goes beyond words.
8.
You, O Beloved, are real existence, absolute and immutable.
Guru's grace reveals these secrets.
You creation is truth, spiritual and conscious.
One out of a million learns this.
Your nature is excellence, good and right.
You are beautiful and boundless, nothing can compare.
Pure, clear, and bright is your Bani [voice],
Cherish the Nam, O Nanak, with heart-felt passion.
Commentary by Doug Marman:
HUMILITY IS RESPECTED through all the cultures of this world. An unassuming nature is widely praised. It is taught by most religions. But Guru Arjan is talking about something deeper than this.
To follow the spiritual path into the higher states of consciousness, we must learn the intimate secrets of humility. We cannot just put on the garb of meekness, as if it were a cloak to wear for appearances. It might impress others, but it will not fool Life or our own true self. It cannot take us into the heart of Truth.
Yes, we can act modestly, according to social standards, but this practice won't help us penetrate the highest states. We must find humility from a deeper source. This means changing the core of our being.
Saint Teresa of Avila, the famous Christian mystic, addresses this in her book, Interior Castle, written around the same time as Sukhmani.She uses the metaphor of the silkworm turning into a white butterfly, to describe the complete transformation of Soul as It awakens. It begins first as a worm, feeding on mulberry leaves, spinning silk to build its cocoon, where it dies. The silkworm dies in the form that it was, says St. Teresa, after completing the work it was created to do. Once dead to the world it knew, it is reborn as a butterfly. Then, seeing what it has become, it cannot imagine anything it could ever have done to justify such a blessing, knowing that it has done nothing to earn it.
What St. Teresa is describing here is the same thing as Guru Arjan. It is a complete metamorphosis that Soul goes through to gain the secret of humility. Soul is stunned by such a change and realizes how far beyond itself it has come. It knows that all credit belongs to God.
This realization is something that strikes so deeply to the core of our being that, as St. Teresa said, we cannot help but realize:
…that any good thing that we do has its source, not in ourselves but rather in that spring where this tree, which is the Soul,is planted, and in that sun which sheds its radiance on our works.1
This is true humility, it is a state of being. Those who believe they deserve credit, praise, and rewards for the deeds they have done, do not realize the cycle of births and deaths they must go through until they learn. We are no more than co-workers with God. The life, inspiration, and creation that springs from our fingertips come through us from a truer and deeper source. It is as if we have been entrusted with a priceless gift, but it does not belong to us alone. We carry it for a higher purpose. It is a purpose we should never forget.
As Guru Arjan says:
As long as we think we are the source of our accomplishments,
We will never find real peace.
As long as we think we can change the world through our power alone,
We will wander through birth after birth.
…….
Bonds to material wealth are broken by the Grace of God.
O Nanak, Guru's grace dismantles the compulsive drive of ego.
Even if we think we are the most dedicated spiritual seekers ad have adopted the humblest ways, this is not enough. More than words and actions are needed.
We may think we are doing everything right: committing ourselves to a spiritual path, doing good works in the name of God, giving up all desires for worldly gain, helping the poor and sick, praising the source of Life by whatever name we believe is best – but our own actions alone can never win us the permanent change we are seeking. We might gain heaven, but it will not last. We will fall back again to the lower states, because we still have not yet learned that there is nothing that we can do to oblige God.
Performing millions of good deeds with vanity
Invites only trouble, with no spiritual gain.
When you take pride in your austerities and sacrifices,
You cross from heaven to hell and back again, over and over.
Unless the heart softens from these lessons,
How can Soul recognize the true path to God's realm?
The more blessings we gain, the more we owe to God. The greater the states of consciousness obtained, the greater becomes our responsibility. This is the real meaning of humility. It is a lesson of life.Therefore, Guru Arjan's lesson is to be careful not to accept lower levels of humility as the final goal. It is a lesson of life.They might seem admirable to the world, but they are not enough to attain the true vision of God. Be careful of vanity and pride, they are some of the greatest obstacles of life, but they are not enough to attain the true vision of God. Even those should be wary. These are lessons learned from the Cosmic Tree of Life by those that have crossed this way before.
Unless Soul realizes what little power it has of itself alone, Soul has not yet experienced the transformation of the worm into the butterfly, or the awakening of its True Self.
We do not die just once. We must leave behind everything we know, again and again, to gain the higher states. It is a message that has been pouring out of the heart of God into this world for eons. Yet, it's a secret known only by a few.
Spiritual teachings flow from God, Carrying His light.
He is Companion to everyone.
He breathes life into the world through His expansion.
He's a part of everything, visible and invisible.
………
He exists in all hearts, and all hearts exist in Him.
Nanak, the significance of God goes beyond words.
Humility is the mark left upon Soul by a realization so deep that It can never return to what It was before. Soul can no longer be the worm. It has died from that state. It cannot forget that the whole of Its life depends upon God.
How do we bring about such a change in ourselves? It is not within our power alone. This is the lesson of true humbleness. It is not an act or an expression that the world can see. It does not come from putting ourselves down or avoiding the appearance of pride. It is a million miles from such acts.
We must face a wind so fierce we can't hold on to anything. It will blow away every last vestige of appearances. Only the core of our being can stand in a wind and carry on. Give up all crying and complaints, because they too will be blown away by the wind. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We must lose everything before seeing what we really are made of.
People imitate what they see.
God is complete in Itself, of Itself, and through Itself.
People become like things of the world, because that is what they see. The world is a mirror that people look into to see themselves. But God knows that Soul is more than this. God's wisdom comes not from what It hears or sees, but from within Itself.
Soul, too, is made from the cloth of God. But until all else is stripped away, we are fooled by what we see in the mirror of this world. We pursue wealth, since the world teaches the value of riches. We become vain about our spiritual attainments, because accomplishments drive this world. We live in a world of continual becoming, but Soul possesses a Beingness that is not touched by time. It is neither born, nor can it die.
This is the secret of those who have passed away and been transformed by love. It is the path, the teaching, and the realization of God.
(1 St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle,Image Books, New York, 1961, page 35.)
This was selected from Sukhmani: The Secret of Inner Peace by Guru Arjan, translation and commentary by Doug Marman. If interested purchase the ebook from the link below:
http://spiritualdialogues.com/books/sukhmani-the-secret-of-inner-peace/
A Note
Guru Nanak was the first Sikh Guru and after his death each of the following nine subsequent Gurus used the name Nanak in any further additions to the holy texts they wrote, this showed that they were teaching the very same principles as those that had come before them, each being truly "the light of Nanak". Guru Arjan was the 5th Guru in the line of Sikh Gurus and he was the first martyr among the Sikhs…it was he that compiled th Adi Granth which is the Holy Book to the Sikhs and is now considered to be the only and final Sikh Guru, due to this it is call the Guru Granth Sahib.