The Self and God

Unless the finite self is transcended, God cannot be realized. The two cannot coexist. This truth cannot be known except through the grace of the master.

When we have the good fortune to meet a perfect master, he teaches us the technique to rise above the empirical and finite self. When the self dies, doubt and fear also die, as also the pain of transmigration.

The highest wisdom comes from the master, since he is able to show and take us to our Liberator.

Guru Nanak ends this short hymn by disclosing that he has merged into the Lord and the two have become one.

Haumai karee taa too naahee

Where self exists, God is not;
Where God exists, there is no self.
Sage, probe this mystery.
Of the immanence of the Lord in all that is,
Without the grace of the guru
We could not know this essence of truth.

When we encounter the true teacher,
And when the little self dies,
Doubt and fear die with it,
As also the pains of birth, death and rebirth.
The guru’s teaching is the highest wisdom
Since it shows us where our Liberator is.
Nanak repeats: “I am that. That is I.”…
_{Guru Nanak: His Mystic Teachings}