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The Wealth of Naam ... The Way of the Sikh:
Letter & Spirit # 22
YUKTANAND SINGH
Translated from Bhai Vir Singh's ‘Gurmukh Sikhia’
PART XIII-A
Simran divides our attention into two portions. The outer portion is used to manage worldly engagements while the inner portion remains attached with Waheguru.
Continue to repeat ‘Waheguru, Waheguru’ with our lips, or recite a shabad, or keep repeating even one line from gurbani. When we do so, then various disorders - lust, anger, etc. - start to wane. They come under our control and then become our slaves.
Along with naam simran, we need to engage in kirtan, in His praise and, contemplate on His virtues. Waheguru is the source of all strength and all health. Waheguru is the taste or the essence of all beauty and all wonder.
We should constantly remember, and repeat silently in the heart or utter with our lips, some gurbani verse describing Waheguru’s greatness, for example: “ooch apaar be-ant su-aami .” [GGS:802.16] – “O lofty, incomparable and infinite Lord, who can grasp your greatness?”
Forgetting His praise, if we repeat naam as a dry word then our heart also becomes dry and kind of morbid. When we remember that Waheguru is “sat suhaan sadaa man chaao” [GGS:4.16] - that He is eternal, beautiful, and always full of zeal - then, according to the law that “we become just like the one we serve” [GGS:223.19], our heart is filled with bliss and zeal also.
The virtues sprout naturally in the heart of someone who engages in naam simran. Such a person is not just ostensibly well-mannered. His heart is truly peaceful and anger, etc., have been eradicated or banished.
Naam simran results in transformation of our viewpoint, as if we took another birth. “Being born into the house of the True Guru has ended my wandering” [GGS:940.2]. The worldly qualities are then replaced by divine qualities. This inner state is compared to the cat that sees the meat in front of her, but does not eat it any longer [GGS:898.15].
* * * * *
If we make a mistake, then we must not justify it. First, promise to never repeat it and then pray to the Guru for power to abstain from it. If that mistake is repeated then we must make the same correction and pray in the same manner again, until we have achieved complete control over that habit.
* * * * *
First, naam reserves a spot in our heart. Then, when naam has taken hold within us, various virtues start to emerge spontaneously from inside.
“A brahm-gyani leans on naam for support” [GGS:273.7]. Thus, support of naam is never given up, even after reaching the perfection of a brahm-gyani. All the other organs of a liberated being do not quit their functions. Why then should the lips also not continue their function of uttering naam?
There is a command that, “when spiritual wisdom wells up, then actions are left behind” [GGS:1167.12]. This verse points at religious acts or rituals. Naam is not a ritual. It is life. Our mind stays awake with naam and then it does not get lost in the sleep of maya.
There can be no pinnacle of knowledge or a spiritual state where naam can be dispensable. Naam keeps our company all the way and we need to continue repeating it, even with our last breath.
By repeating naam, our haumai becomes diluted. In the end it becomes thin and transparent, as the wings of a butterfly. When the haumai is removed then Waheguru Himself resides in the vacuum or the empty space thus created.
* * * * *
Just as the entire army salutes an army officer who is wearing a uniform, similarly, those who repeat naam are branded with the mark of acceptance that brings honor after death.
“Baba, write that writing which will serve as a true mark of honor where your account is being examined,” [GGS:16.6].
“O my mind, remain always with the Lord. Stay with the Lord, listen O my mind, and forget all your miseries” [GGS:917.4].
Just as my coat is close to my body, my shirt and undershirt are also close to my body. But the undershirt is right next to my skin. The coat is not. We are to become attached with our Lord as my undershirt is attached to me.
“Rare is the one who drinks the ambrosial essence of the Lord's kirtan. Nanak, as a reward he gets one naam and he becomes alive by repeating it within his heart.” [GGS:400.2]. The wealth of naam is the wages that we receive for doing kirtan and studying gurbani.
* * * * *
When we receive naam, we must repeat it. By repeating it, lust, anger, etc., are spontaneously brought under control. Even then, we must not forsake naam.
If we ever forget to do naam simran then we should pray: ‘O Waheguru, may I always keep calling for you.’
Guru Nanak has said: “O my Guru, teach me just one teaching, that I may never forget the One who is the giver of all the souls” [GGS:2.10]
January 31, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, USA..), January 31, 2013, 1:41 PM.
Kirtan along with Naam Simran is necessary just to produce maximum emotional effect on the sangat. Harmonium and tabla, though considered adequate in the general sense and played in all gurdwaras, still require other musical instruments (tambura, violin, etc.) to touch the deepest chords of the soul so as to awaken some higher consciousness. Our Gurus employed music for spiritual purposes. The Naam Simran which comprises gurbani and naam to embody God's praises must be sung to generate emotions. Kirtaniya Dya Singh of Malaysia / Australia, employing all kinds of musical instruments, uplifts that spirit of naam simran in the sangat.
2: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, USA..), February 04, 2013, 11:24 PM.
Human beings are born, they live their life, build up ksram, and they die. They are born again, and this goes on and on. GGS:466: "ha-o vich aa-i-aa ha-o vich ga-i-aa". That is, "We are born and we die immersed in the ego". Now the question arises, who created the ego? The answer is, it comes through His Will [GGS:466]. The fact remains that the whole world is born of ego. Ego may act as an evil in some ways but, being the gift of God, it carries in itself the seeds for progress and advancement. All the progress in various technologies which we see in this world are because of this very ego. God guides each human being from within and in His own way. Now, naam simran takes us to the state of perfection, not by removing ego altogether, but by creating a longing to merge with God.
3: Sartaj Dhillon (Canada), February 06, 2013, 1:29 AM.
Thank you for sharing, veerji. I have absolutely nothing to add or comment regarding what you have translated from Bhai Vir Singh. I am speechless. There is so much in these few passages that one could spend a lifetime trying to accomplish and perfect what has been shared and called for by Bhai Sahib. May Guru continue to guide you so that you may share more of his writings.