Guru Granth Sahib provides a blueprint of the kind of life that one should lead. It gives practical advice on how you should model your life so that you may be able to fulfill the purpose of your life and return to the source as soon as possible and as effortlessly as possible. Since the journey is from the simple to the complex, the Gurbani moves from the physical to the mental and emotional aspects of life, to finally attain the spiritual aspect.
Here is an attempt to sum up the essence of the Guru Granth Sahib:
Food and Drink
Eating is essential to maintain a healthy body. But simple eating is enough for that purpose. Too much thought and emphasis on eating is lopsided and leaves less time to do more important things in life. Plus, foods that excite the nerves are harmful as they make you lose your awareness. All intoxicants make you go astray because they are impediments in the way of gaining consciousness. Neither fasting nor feasting is recommended.
Dress
Again, simple is beautiful. Gaudy and glamorous dress has the same effect as intoxicating food. Wear the kind of dress that is comfortable and keeps the mind at peace. Dress is a social necessity. It should be treated as such. Too much emphasis on dressing up will lead you astray.
House
You need a place to call your home and that which provides the basic safety and security. But the desire to own mansions and palaces is detrimental to your growth. You are like a guest who will stay for a while and then move on. In this scheme of things, if you accumulate more, you will lose your way, you will start clinging to your belongings. That will hamper your movement and your growth. So, those who have understood this do not spend their lives hankering for bigger houses and bigger possessions. A humble hut where God is remembered is far better than a palace where He is forgotten.
The Body
The human body is a great gift; it is your opportunity to meet the Creator. You need to handle it with care. You must keep it clean from the outside by washing and bathing; and you must keep it clean from the inside by eating proper food, eating it in the right manner and doing physical exercise to digest what you have eaten. The body is the temple of the living God. It should be treated with reverence. You should neither starve it nor overindulge it. It is the best instrument that has come to you; you must make sure that the strings of this instrument are tuned well so that good music can be produced. Use your brain to deal with the world, but reserve your heart for the Creator. The Gurbani tells you again and again that the God you are seeking everywhere in the forests and the mountains, the temples and the gurudwaras is residing within you, in your heart. There is nowhere to go but in, in search of Him.
The Mind
The mind is the biggest illusion. It does not exist. It is the creation of your ego. It is deceptive. You need to be on your guard against it all the time otherwise it becomes your master and makes you its slave. Be aware of its crafty designs every moment. The mind becomes very powerful because you allow it to become so. Your ego feels safe in the shadow of the mind. The mind is your alter ego; it has become stronger than you; and you feel helpless in its clutches. Without the Guru, you will find it very difficult to keep the mind in check.
The Ego
The ego is essential to know your identity, but it grows too big too soon. Then it stands like a rock in the way of your progress towards your goal. The ego is like dust in your eyes; it may not even be visible but it blinds you completely. Egoism or haumey is considered as your strongest foe with which you have to fight a battle on a daily basis. The slightest complacency on your part and it will start overcoming you. You are the rider on the horse, make sure the whip remains in your hand so that you can keep the ego under control.
Breath
Breath is life. Breath is your link between you and your Creator. Breath is the spark of divinity in you. As long as there is breath in your body you live, you glow with its light, and you can do myriad things. The moment breath goes out of your body, you are dead and worthless. You cannot move even your little finger, leave alone the mighty things you were capable of doing with the breath that coursed through your body. Learn to use the breath to establish the link with your Creator. Gurbani prescribes remembrance with every breath as the only means to attain union with the Maker. Simran or remembrance is the goal and to achieve this goal, you may use any number of methods that appeal to you and help you remember all the time. If you can use every breath to remember, you have arrived. The Guru Granth Sahib does not prescribe any austerities, rituals or pilgrimages and prayers. It advises you to live a normal life, fulfilling the needs of the body in moderation as and when they occur, and focus only on remembrance of the Creator. In fact, it strikes at the root of superstitions and beliefs that are followed blindly.
Virtues and Vices
First of all, virtues and vices are given the importance due to them. You don’t become a good person because you have certain virtues and you don’t become an evil person because you have certain vices. The truth is that everybody has a combination of some virtues and some vices. The difference is only in degree and not in kind. Someone might have more virtues than vices or vice versa, but no one is free from them. Even a hardened criminal will have some virtues in him and even a saintly person will have some vices. Virtues need to be cultivated because they help you to create a peaceful atmosphere around you so that you can pursue your goal of remembrance. On the other hand, vices create a vicious cycle and you remain trapped in it, which means you have no time for remembrance.
There are five vices that are the most difficult to deal with. They are kam, krodh, lobh, moh, ahankar—lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride. You are born with the gift of the spark of divinity in you. This is the precious gift that you are expected to guard vigilantly. But, these five vices are like thieves that steal your most precious treasure. You have to fight with them and get on top of them at every step in your life. Virtues help you in creating a congenial atmosphere around you. They help you keep the ego under check. The greatest virtue is humility, which means the exact opposite of pride. A humble person will keep his ego under control. Similarly, compassion helps you to remove the suffering of others and gives you peace of mind in return. Then, instead of harming others, the Gurbani teaches you to sacrifice your own interests for others. We live in a society where the joys and sorrows of others affect us also; so if you can spread happiness all around you, you will be happy.
Gurbani also cautions you against the pitfalls of so-called virtues. The pundits and priests who consider themselves holier-than-thou, develop an ego that becomes their greatest stumbling block. On the contrary, a simple person who has no such pretensions may be far ahead in his spiritual journey.
The entire cosmos is inter-related. What you do can have an adverse effect on somebody else, so no one is free from sin. We are all sinners in one way or another. So, accept the fact that we are sinners and pray for forgiveness. The Creator is extremely merciful and forgives us for our sins. Left to ourselves, we would never be able to clear our account.
Joys and Sorrows
Joys and sorrows are two sides of the same coin. Every person will experience joys and sorrows from time to time. But, the joy that takes you away from your purpose of life actually is the greatest sorrow. On the other hand, the sorrows that bring you back to remembrance become your greatest joy. Gurbani tells you to treat joys and sorrows alike. They are temporary conditions that will soon change. Like clouds in the sky, they appear for some time and then you can see the blue sky. Remember that you are the vast blue sky, and joys and sorrows come and go; you should not let them disturb your equilibrium.
Health and Disease
There are three kinds of disorders—physical sickness, when the body is sick; mental sickness, when the mind is sick; and, spiritual sickness, when the soul is sick. All these diseases imply that the natural balance has been disturbed and needs to be corrected. Disease makes you uncomfortable and, therefore, makes you lose your awareness. Physical disease is the easiest to cure because it can be detected and diagnosed easily, whereas mental disorders are more subtle and require long sessions of psychiatric treatments. Spiritual sickness is what the whole humanity is suffering from and still it is not recognised as a sickness.
Gurbani says for all such sicknesses, the only remedy is simran, remembrance. Sarab rog ka aukhad naam.
The very fact that you are here means that the soul has been separated from its source. It will remain in agony till it becomes one with it and returns home to the source. The journey of health is in the reverse order — if the soul is healthy, your mind and body will reflect that wellness in all its glory. No wonder, you see great sages look radiant. Every fibre in their body glows with divine light, which is present in every being but has got covered with dust to such an extent that it is not visible at all.
Pure and Impure
You do not become pure by bathing in holy rivers nor do you become pure by performing rituals. Those who think they can purify the kitchen and cook pure food with Gangajal must know that there are impurities in every food item. The Gurbani strongly condemns distinctions made on the basis of pure and polluted. If you think your food gets polluted because a person of low caste has touched it, then you must know that the water you drink has been tasted by millions of fish; the milk you drink has been tasted by the calf; the flowers you offer at the feet of the deity have been tasted by bees and butterflies. So, don’t think you are purer than others just because you have bathed in the Ganga.
Friends and Foes
All human relationships are temporary; they leave you in your hour of need, which is when you will be questioned in the divine court about your deeds. So, look for the only friend who will remain by your side in this world as well as the other world. The people who criticise you are actually your friends; they are not your enemies. Your critics help you see your faults and also keep your ego under check. They are like the washerman who washes your dirty clothes. As a result, you become a better person thanks to their criticism.
True and False
If you look at it from the superficial level, then everything is false. All that is visible is false because it is temporary, short-lived. It is made of the same stuff that dreams are made of. As long as it lasts, it appears to be real, but before you know it, it is gone. However, if you can remove the veil from the face of nature, everything is true because the Creator is true, so how can his creation be false? In other words, the form is false since it keeps changing all the time. But, that which makes the form is eternal and true. The spark of divinity that runs through all the forms is true. All you need is the ability to see beyond the form and you will see that everything in His infinite creation is true.
Work and Prayer
Work is worship. An honest day’s work is the best prayer. Gurbani instructs us to do work with our hands and feet, and keep the heart attuned to remembrance. So, prayer or worship is not in lieu of work; you can pray while you are working. As a human being, it is your duty to work for your living and fulfill your responsibilities towards yourself, your family and the society. True prayer is that which arises from the heart; it has nothing to do with methods and rituals.
Life and Death
This life is your greatest opportunity; it has been granted to you after a myriad lives in different forms. Gurbani says you have been through eighty-four lakh lives in the plant and animal kingdom; you have earned the human frame with great difficulty. So, don’t let it go waste; it may not happen again for a long time. So make the best use of it while it is there. Use it to walk the path that leads to the divine. The longest journey, they say, is from here to here. In other words, go inwards and discover who you are.
Living in the company of mortals, you have started believing that you are going to die one day. You have lost sight of the immortal in you. Death is not the end. It is the end of the life that began with birth, whereas you have been coming and going many times before this, and will continue to do so after passing away again. Life and death are like day and night; they keep happening at regular intervals. So, don’t grieve over death; make use of the rare opportunity that has been granted to you. Life is what you make of it; and your death reflects what your life has been. Live life consciously and you will die consciously too. A conscious death will take you closer to your goal. You will return home.
Heaven and Hell
Guru Granth Sahib does not support the belief in hell and heaven. You create your own heaven and hell on this earth only. If you have a positive approach, you will look at the good even in a bad situation, whereas a negative person finds difficulties in opportunities also. And, what you do in thought, speech and action affects the world around you; you will reap what you sow. You can’t plant a poisonous tree and expect nectar to grow on it, can you? You get what you deserve. So, if something bad comes your way, don’t curse others for it. Instead, try to think and find out what wrong you have done for which you are being punished.
Plus, heaven is not a place; it is a state of mind. Everyone longs for peace and bliss. So, they conjure pictures of a place where all their desires will be fulfilled and they call it heaven. The Gurbani says that paradise is here and now. Listen to the Guru’s word, let it sink deep into you and you will feel blessed.
