Fake Copycats

[Mehtab Singh]

Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Siree Raag on Ang 85

mÚ 1 ]

ma 1 ||

First Mehla:

glNØI AsI cMgIAw AwcwrI burIAwh ]

gala(n)aee asee cha(n)geeaa aachaaree bureeaah ||

We are good at talking, but our actions are bad.

mnhu kusuDw kwlIAw bwhir ictvIAwh ]

manahu kusudhhaa kaaleeaa baahar chittaveeaah ||

Mentally, we are impure and black, but outwardly, we appear white.

rIsw kirh iqnwVIAw jo syvih dru KVIAwh ]

reesaa karih thinaarreeaa jo saevehi dhar kharreeaah ||

We imitate those who stand and serve at the Lord's Door.

nwil KsmY rqIAw mwxih suiK rlIAwh ]

naal khasamai ratheeaa maanehi sukh raleeaah ||

They are attuned to the Love of their Husband Lord, and they experience the pleasure of His Love.

hodY qwix inqwxIAw rhih inmwnxIAwh ]

hodhai thaan nithaaneeaa rehehi nimaananeeaah ||

They remain powerless, even while they have power; they remain humble and meek.

nwnk jnmu skwrQw jy iqn kY sMig imlwh ]2]

naanak janam sakaarathhaa jae thin kai sa(n)g milaah ||2||

O Nanak, our lives become profitable if we associate with them. ||2||

Each line in this shabad is a slap.

glNØI AsI cMgIAw AwcwrI burIAwh ]

gala(n)aee asee cha(n)geeaa aachaaree bureeaah ||

We are good at talking, but our actions are bad.

This applies to me to begin with. I post stuff and everyone goes "Waheguru...thanks for sharing". The question is am I applying it in my life at all? I am afraid you will be disappointed with the answer.

mnhu kusuDw kwlIAw bwhir ictvIAwh ]

manahu kusudhhaa kaaleeaa baahar chittaveeaah ||

Mentally, we are impure and black, but outwardly, we appear white.

From outside I appear to be as though there is no Sikh on this planet like me. But a minor peep inside stinks, and I myself can't handle the odour.

rIsw kirh iqnwVIAw jo syvih dru KVIAwh ]

reesaa karih thinaarreeaa jo saevehi dhar kharreeaah ||

We imitate those who stand and serve at the Lord's Door.

We have people today who want to immitate someone who they consider "Chardi Kala", but fail to comprehend the reality behind those blessed souls, about how much kamaayee they had, what level their avastha was at, and how they saw ikk jot in all beings, while these copiers act out of arrogance and judge others.

nwil KsmY rqIAw mwxih suiK rlIAwh ]

naal khasamai ratheeaa maanehi sukh raleeaah ||

They are attuned to the Love of their Husband Lord, and they experience the pleasure of His Love.

And those who immitate them burn inside with arrogance, anger, ego. They miss the plot.

hodY qwix inqwxIAw rhih inmwnxIAwh ]

hodhai thaan nithaaneeaa rehehi nimaananeeaah ||

They remain powerless, even while they have power; they remain humble and meek.

This is what is called living life in His bhana.

nwnk jnmu skwrQw jy iqn kY sMig imlwh ]2]

naanak janam sakaarathhaa jae thin kai sa(n)g milaah ||2||

O Nanak, our lives become profitable if we associate with them. ||2||

Another instance where Gurujee emphasizes the significance of Sat Sangat and how it changes you.

my 2 cents

bhul chukk maaf

[japmans]

good inferences... i noticed your edit, i wish you had kept the original.. those who practice the things you stated with their full heart, full of conviction, and free of mindless copying, would likely have little objection to it. To those that the practice actually means something as part of their faithful devotion, it wouldn't have bothered them... but irrespective of that, I agree with it.

Mehtab Singh Ji, the fine line between humility and damaging self-deprecation is sometimes made needlessly thin. I'm not going to conclude that that's what you've done. Sometimes in order to improve upon ourselves, we have to acknowledge the things we actually do well that we want to improve on, and how we can use those as tools to strengthen the rest of our being, and ultimately, strengthen the connection with our Guru, reaching that loving state of continuous bliss or as gurbani puts it, livv laaey

It'd be nice to hear if there is a saakhi behind the writing of this shabad, maybeunderstand some of the context it was written in..

I'm not 100% sure i agree with your conclusions... particularly the jump from

"reesa karay..." to the end of the next line... certainly the mindless copycatting is nothing more than baseless ritual... but considering the last two lines are saying "these are the exact people we need to be doing sangat with to reach their stage of hukam mann-nna and humility", I'm not sure if it needs to mean that those who imitate burn inside with x,y,z... certainly it CAN, but imitation is dangerous when it's only imitation... we're all trying to be images of our Guru... the greatest gursikhs were images of our guru... the cause-effect relationship seems a bit blurry to me, that simply because one imitates, they are burning inside with ego/lust/etc...

but when you first started getting into sikhi, which is probably when you'll think now, that was where your greatest amount of love for Gurbani and Gursikhi was... were you not in a stage of imitation? correct me if i'm wrong on that one, please.

but in general:

waheguru! good post! thanks for sharing!!! heheh

[Mehtab Singh]

good inferences... i noticed your edit, i wish you had kept the original..

You wish!

Mehtab Singh Ji, the fine line between humility and damaging self-deprecation is sometimes made needlessly thin. I'm not going to conclude that that's what you've done.

Nahi yaar, I am just stating generally. Enough of self-beating. Doesn't help

Sometimes in order to improve upon ourselves, we have to acknowledge the things we actually do well that we want to improve on, and how we can use those as tools to strengthen the rest of our being, and ultimately, strengthen the connection with our Guru, reaching that loving state of continuous bliss or as gurbani puts it, livv laaey

Absolutely!

It'd be nice to hear if there is a saakhi behind the writing of this shabad, maybeunderstand some of the context it was written in..

Each one of us, or lets say most of us see ourselves in the mirror after reading this shabad. Each time someone reads this shabad, you have a new sakhi arising. Its the sakhi of the individual reading.

I'm not 100% sure i agree with your conclusions... particularly the jump from

"reesa karay..." to the end of the next line... certainly the mindless copycatting is nothing more than baseless ritual... but considering the last two lines are saying "these are the exact people we need to be doing sangat with to reach their stage of hukam mann-nna and humility"

The sangat referred to here is I believe the genuine lovers of Akaal Purakh. Those who are the same inside and outside. Those who don't have to say a word in order to change your life. Their sight, their jeevan, their walk will take you by storm. These are the people who are silent teachers, who teach through actions, because actions speak louder than words, and I think this is the modern day summarized proverbial version of this entire shabad.

I'm not sure if it needs to mean that those who imitate burn inside with x,y,z...

No not all, but there are some who do burn.

certainly it CAN, but imitation is dangerous when it's only imitation...

Exactly!!!

we're all trying to be images of our Guru... the greatest gursikhs were images of our guru... the cause-effect relationship seems a bit blurry to me, that simply because one imitates, they are burning inside with ego/lust/etc...

Depends from case to case. Intentions play a heavy role, so do one's priorities in life. If my intention is to be the best GurSikh, and my priority is to have only an outward Rehit, then God save me. If I have the same intention and my priority is both inside and outside, (andero nirmal baahro nirmal), hopefully someday I'll get somewhere.

but when you first started getting into sikhi, which is probably when you'll think now, that was where your greatest amount of love for Gurbani and Gursikhi was... were you not in a stage of imitation? correct me if i'm wrong on that one, please.

I do feel I had more prem, and it was only prem that I feel I had. I do agree that initially we all have to have a role model to look upto for inspiration. However, things get complicated when we talk the talk but don't walk the walk. For example, I can imitate Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa and claim every woman as my mother, but do I feel the same from inside? I can imitate Dhann Baba Nand Singh Ji and never turn my back to Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj, but do I even feel what I am doing? Externally we do everything like those blessed souls, but when it comes to our within, thats whats dodgy.

[japmans]

Agreed. When we get caught up simply doing external things, then as you said, god help us... if doing those things doesn't result in even a grain of "oopji preet prem rass chaao" then I'll go as far as saying we're doing nothing better than the brahminic rituals that Guruji mocks in gurbani, because they're really pretty much mindless.

imitating the great gurmukhs is good to an extent, but since we're NOT them, the relationship that they've built with Guru is much above the one we've built... as they got more and more into their relatinoship, they did more and more different things as an expression of love.. to them, their rehit was actually that: an expression of love

According to alot of the threads that come up lately, nowadays, rehit is *apparently* becoming more and more something to tell our friends about...

[Mehtab Singh]

to them, their rehit was actually that: an expression of love

:WW:

According to alot of the threads that come up lately, nowadays, rehit is *apparently* becoming more and more something to tell our friends about...

Sadly true :sady: