23. True Guru and True Disciple

The True Guru

The True Guru keeps a follower
eternally in the love of the Lord.
He who follows a True Guru is
blessed with the devotion to him
Within.

Happiness is following the True Guru,
through which one dwells on God,
and attains eternal peace.

(Adi Granth, "Sri Guru Granth Sahib" Volume One, Gopal Singh
translation, World Sikh Centre)

The True Disciple

Nanak, among millions there is scarcely one
who could be called a true devotee.
Such a one would never allow his tongue to touch a lie,
His mind being so taken up with the thought of the Immaculate God.
His ears are not tempted to hear the slander of anyone.
With the help of the Guru he keeps himself untouched by evil,
And purges his soul of all low desires. He conquers his flesh and
keeps himself free from all deadly passions.

A Vaishnav devotee is one whose life is approved by God,
Who is not corrupted by Maya,
And who performs his duty without thought of reward;
Such a Vaishnav’s faith is the pure faith.
He fills his mind with the Lord’s praises.
His body, mind and soul are absorbed in contemplation
of the earth’s Protector,
And he is merciful to all.
He contemplates the significance of the Name,
and causes others to dwell on it.
Nanak, such a Vaishnav attains
to the highest state of bliss.

The true devotee is one whose life
is dedicated to the worship of the Lord,
Who withdraws himself from all evil attachments,
And casting away all doubts,
Realizes the presence of God in all things.

In keeping the company of the holy, all sins are washed away.
Yes, such is the way of the devotee, his mind held high.
Day and night he toils in the service of his Lord,
And dedicates his body and soul to God,
And his mind is attached to the feet of the Lord.
Nanak, such a one of the bhakti satsang
shall obtain the object of his love: that is God.

A devotee is one who instructs his own mind,
And contemplates the Name of God:
He drinks the essence of His Name.
The whole world is sustained by the teachings of such a one:
The teachings of the Lord are ever his companion.
Such a devotee suffers not the pangs of rebirth.

The seed of the Name is sown in every heart:
Anyone may repeat the Name.
Whoever does so shall obtain salvation.
It is only in the company of the saints
that one will learn of the Name;
It is by His grace that the Name comes to dwell in us,
And by it even brutes, demons and the greatest fools
are carried across the sea of existence.
The Lord’s Name is the cure for every ill,
And in reciting the praises of the Lord comes the joy of release.
By no other means can one attain to God
except through His Name, 0 Nanak,
And such knowledge comes to those whose beings are
inscribed with it by the finger of grace.

He alone deserves to be called the true servant of God
In whose mind the Lord lives.
He who knows the presence of God to be ever near him
Is the accepted servant at the court of the Lord.
For he who is touched by the Lord’s grace
Realizes all things within himself.
He lives among people without attachment;
Such is the way of God’s servant, 0 Nanak.
He who has attuned his soul to the Lord’s will
Achieves illumination within his life.

(Adi Granth, "Peace Lagoon" translation — The Collected Hymns of
Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Argun and Guru Gobind
Singh, by Sardarni Premka Kaur, Dr. Kartar Singh Puri and Bibi Inderjit Kaur, G.T International)