Living Truth

I met this evening with a kind woman at the gurdwara to discuss Gurmukhi pronunciation - as is to be expected, we got talking about other matters, specifically issues of faith. She explained how in her reading of the Sikh teachings, as epitomized by the opening verses of the Japji Sahib, neither the accumulation of knowledge nor of wealth will secure a healthy relationship with God. Rather, the promise of life's fullness arises from the dutiful remembrance of God's grace, honest work in the world and the sharing of treasure and love with others (Nam Japna, Kirt Karna and Vand Chakna respectively).

Certainly the latter two requirements necessitate entering into the world with heart and mind, while maintaining a spiritual dimension - I have encountered the image of a lotus flower swimming in a dirty pond used to describe this striving towards beautiful living within a world susceptible to greed, hatred and corruption. In this way, the prospect of uniting with the Holy resides not in an excessive introspection, but in the acts of laughing, playing, eating.

We read in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib:

ਗਲੀ ਭਿਸਤਿ ਨ ਜਾਈਐ ਛੁਟੈ ਸਚੁ ਕਮਾਇ ॥
By mere talk, people do not earn passage to Heaven. Salvation comes only from the practice of Truth.
[141.2]

What Truth do you feel called to live - and to live out?

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