Shabad

I thought I would share this powerful shabad tonight from Ang 490
Goojari, 3rd Mehl

It is so difficult to obtain the Naam, in this age; only the Gurmukh obtains it. 

Without the Name, no one is liberated; let anyone make other efforts and see.

I am a sacrifice to my Guru; I am forever a sacrifice to Him.

Meeting the True Guru, the Lord comes to dwell in the mind, and one remains absorbed in him. (Pause).

When God instills His fear, a balanced detachment springs up in the mind.

Through this detachment, the Lord is obtained, and one remains absorbed in the Lord.

He alone is liberated, who conquers his mind; Maya does not stick to him again.

He dwells in the Tenth Gate, and obtains the understanding of the three worlds

O Nanak, through the Guru, one becomes the Guru; behold his Wondrous Will.

This deed was done by the Creator Lord; one's light merges into the Light.

Guru Amardas Ji writes a beautiful shabad here, firstly describing how hard it is to obtain Naam. The Gurmukhs are Guru facing, the manmukhs are facing maya, the world, kaal. We have to not be totally immersed into the world, there must be a sense of detachment. Not complete detachment, but enough that we are attached in love to everything in the Universe. Guru Ji explains that mukhti comes through conquering of the mind, because maya is played in the three-phases we talked about- tamogun, rajogun and satogun. The 10th gate, or Dasam Dwar, is when the 9 openings of the body that physically exist, are spiritually closed and the 10th gate opens, where we can be at home, Thir Ghar. Guru Ji tells us such an important thing "Through the Guru, one becomes the Guru." We are capable of that level of Anand. We must keep going on our path towards the light to merge into it. The mind must walk this path. The soul is already merged. The body is just temporary, but the mind travels from lifetime to lifetime and it is by God's grace that the 4th laav is completed and light merges into light.