Guru Nanak prays that, give me just one secret, one method – that I never forget the lord of all creatures.

Remembrance is the secret of life. Remembrance is also the method by which to learn the art of living. Remembrance means that you are conscious continuously. Whatever you do, walk, talk, sit, stand, you remain conscious all the time. Like a pregnant woman. She goes about doing her work but remains conscious of the new life that is beating in her womb. She cooks food, she makes the beds, she cleans the floors, she talks to her friends, but all the time she is conscious of the new heart beating inside. A pregnant woman has a particular gait. You can make out from her walk that she is pregnant. Her attention is fixed on her womb all the time. There is a continuous flow of consciousness within her that she needs to take care of the life growing inside her. She does not make any effort to be conscious but she is naturally conscious.

Remembrance means that you need not make any effort. Because if you make an effort then you are likely to forget. When you are cooking you will forget. When you go shopping you will forget. When you are talking you will forget. Repeating the name or mantra is not remembrance, because how long will you repeat it. When you sleep you will forget to repeat it, When you are driving you will forget it. And, if you try not to forget you might hit against something and have an accident. No, repeating the name is not remembrance, because the remembrance you try to do will come from your intellect. The intellect is what the society has given you. Nature gave you the head but the society developed your intellect to prepare you to live in society. It has been imposed on you. And, you have made it your centre. The intellect has become bigger than the heart and that is what causes the dichotomy in you. You have completely forgotten your centre. Once you set the intellect aside, you will be able to listen to the secret that Guru Nanak is talking about – the secret that I should never forget the lord of all beings.

That which goes on without any effort on your part is remembrance. That which permeates in every fiber of your body is remembrance. That which Guru Nanak calls the Ajapa Jaap – the unstruck sound. That which need not be repeated because repeating it would be on the surface. Remembrance is that which resounds in every fibre of your body. Whether you are sitting idle or you are busy doing something the memory remains vibrant inside you. Whether you are talking or you are sitting silently you don’t forget. That memory is remembrance. You don’t make an effort to remember your beloved, yet it remains in the deepest recesses of your heart. You don’t repeat the name of your beloved in order to remember her. Yet it is there inside you and all around you. You just can’t forget her. That is remembrance. Guru Nanak calls it Surati, simran.

What have we forgotten that needs to be remembered?

We remember everything else except ourselves. Who am I? This is the question you cannot answer. You have totally forgotten who you are. Whatever you know about yourself is borrowed from other people’s opinions about you. You see only others. You have never looked at yourself. The image that you have formed about yourself is an amalgamation of the pictures that other people have made of you. You know yourself by a name which has been given by others. You know yourself as a form which is your outer covering – another layer underneath your clothes. Just as your clothes are not you, you are not your body either. Then, what are you?

So, the first step is to bring your attention from everything outside to yourself inside. It is called self-remembering. Watch your breath and focus your attention on ‘who am I?’ Just remember that I am. As this remembrance intensifies you will feel more grounded. There will be a centre inside. There will be crystalisaion. With continuous hammering of simran something begins to take roots in you. And, then the tree grows and spreads its branches all around. Then the distinctions between inside and outside dissolve. The awareness moves from the inside to everything outside. Once you know your own root you know the root of everything else. Then there is no difference because everything comes from the same source. Then, the distinctions of name and form disappear because you can feel the one hidden behind all. This is the state in which Guru Nanak says: Sabhna jeean ka ik data. So main visar na jayee.