What's the length of one's life? The SGGS (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) answers this query by depth in the foregoing verse. It says that "We are human beings of one breath". That is, our "ਮੁਹਲਤਿ" (ਮਿਆਦ or duration) is just one breath. In other words, the length of a human's life can best be measured by the breath.
To the contrary, the length of one's body may be measured in time - days, months, years, etc. The body goes through different phases such as childhood, youth, adulthood, old age, and finally death. The body is born, it remains for a while (may survive for several years), and ultimately it dies. In other words it has beginning, middle, and end. Anything or any entity that has a beginning, middle, and end cannot be beyond time: timeless. Thus, the length of a body is measured in time because it is bound in time and space - ever changing, fleeting, fluctuating, vanishing, momentary, temporary, impermanent, relative, mortal, and so on.
When the Gur-Shabad says "We are human beings of one breath", it indicates something beyond time, beyond the flux, beyond the changefulness, beyond the relativity, beyond the fleeting physical phenomena, and beyond the principle of plurality.
"One" is non-dual. It represents Unity, Eternal or Immortal aspect, and hence Reality. More than one indicates duality, the principle of plurality, outer, unreal, illusion, etc. In other words, the life is inside or within. Thereby it's ageless, and timeless. Although life is in the inner, but it expresses in the outside through the body-mind-intellect personality, which gives rise to the perceiver of objects, the feeler of emotions and the thinker of thoughts.
The inner aspect of saying - "We are human beings of one breath" - in English translation is not as meaningful as it does reading the Gur-Shabad say "ਹਮ ਆਦਮੀ ਹਾਂ ਇਕ ਦਮੀ" (Ham aadamee haan ik damee). The word "ਦਮੀ" (Damee) comes from (Dama), which is Farsi/Arabic in origin. Its nearest counterpart in Indian languages is the word "Pran or Prana" (pronounced as Praan). The Gurbani has frequently used this word Praan (ਪ੍ਰਾਨ or ਪਰਾਣ), which is much more significant and meaningful than the word breath. Other closest equivalents in English for this Sanskrit word Praan is energy, force, wind, and air.
If we look at ourselves, first we see the outer frame: the gross body. Within this gross body is the inner subtle body (call it soul, Self, Infinite Potentiality, Shakti, or whatever you may). That which links these two (outer and the inner) is Praan, the breath.
So long this link between the matter and spirit remains unbroken, we are alive and called human (or Aadamee). But when this link between the form and formless is broken (i.e., one stops breathing or no more Dama), one is declared dead, and the body crumbles into dust. That is, with the breakage or snapping of the link of Praan between the world and the no-world, the Immortal soul and the mortal body separate from each other. Interestingly, when we are born, the first thing we do is breathe, and the last thing we will do is stop breathing when we die! Thus, it's the Praan that joins the body and the soul. Without this vital Praan the body has no value; for the body is under its power. In other words, the cessation of Praan in the body is the cessation of the enchanting world-appearance. The energy which thus vibrates in the Heart-lotus is known as Praan. All limbs of the body drive their energy from it.
Here the Shabad-Guru helps us understand many points like:
(a). What is the psychological ego (Haume)? It's simply accepting the body-mind-intellect personality as the Immortal soul. In other words, what we are is something far more profound, which cannot be confined within the limits of the finite experiences of our limited body-mind-intellect apparatus.
(b). Why the Gurbani again and again hammers the message into our heads that God is non-dual, one without a second - He has no other beside Him. The Gurbani reminds us there prevails only an essential identity between all beings, and that is the same One Praan.
(c). The word Praan is not really just breath, energy or a force. It is the Total summation of all energy, all force, in its countless manifestations (ਏਕੋ ਪਵਣੁ ਮਾਟੀ ਸਭ ਏਕਾ ਸਭ ਏਕਾ ਜੋਤਿ ਸਬਾਈਆ ॥ ਸਭ ਇਕਾ ਜੋਤਿ ਵਰਤੈ ਭਿਨਿ ਭਿਨਿ ਨ ਰਲਈ ਕਿਸੈ ਦੀ ਰਲਾਈਆ ॥) . Hence, if seen through the unfragmented and uncoditioned wisdom of the Gurbani, it is surely the radiance of the Supreme or the Joti-Svaroopa.
Physics (physical science) has proven that all matter (atoms with their orbiting electrons and protons) is in vibration. All things are made up of atoms. It is the movement, or vibration of those atoms, that make all things. When the smallest subdivision of matter is reached, Praan, or pure energy, remains. In a nutshell, Praan is the sum total of energy, because, in a sense, the whole material universe is manifested from it. This is why the inner aspect of saying - "We are human beings of one breath" - in English translation is not as expressive, significant, revealing, or considerable as it does reading the Gur-Shabad say "ਹਮ ਆਦਮੀ ਹਾਂ ਇਕ ਦਮੀ" (Ham aadamee haan ik damee).
(d). What is devotion (Bhagti)? Why engage in Naam Simran (meditation, Japa, etc).? With the help of the Gurbani we can say that all this is to bend the outer to the inner; making the body-mind-intellect express the Real, or the Whole, which is All and beyond all. We can deal with the inside world primarily through the spiritual aspect of our being, which, as indicated in the Gurbani, generally remains in a dormant state due to our neglect.
(e). Why the Gurbani time and again urges all of us not to waste any breath. It asks us "With each and every breath, meditate in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe". Once harnessed, turned inward and transmuted through the continuous practice of "ਸਾਸਿ ਸਾਸਿ ਸਿਮਰਹੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ", this life force (Praan) charges the aura, and drives the spiritual process forward to awaken the Higher Nature within. To be really focused on "ਸਾਸਿ ਸਾਸਿ ਸਿਮਰਹੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ" is to be fully in the present moment, or NOW, free from the past and future. It is not possible to "conquer" or "kill" the the mind withou proper method. In addition to Aatam-giaan (Self-knowledge), Holy Company, abandonment of conditionings, etc., focus on "ਸਾਸਿ ਸਾਸਿ ਸਿਮਰਹੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ" is indicated to be the means to overcome the mind, which leads to bear the fruit of realization of one's True Nature as Pure Consciousness ("Joti-Svaroopa").
To say it otherwise, to much extent, how we live depends on how we breath! For example, watch the breathing pattern when in the sway of any of the numerous faults (Bikaars, passions, negativities, etc.) of Haume (false ego-sense): lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment, pride, jealousy, stubbornness, selfishness, and so on. If we watch ourselves carefully when in the vertex of such conditioned consciousness, we will notice that our breathing pattern will be very choppy, thumping, pulsating, wavering, fast, inharmonious, inconsistent, dissonant, unrhythmic, feverish, unnatural, chaotic, and so on. In this conditioned state, our senses omit nothing but "ਦੁਰਗੰਧ" (Durgandh, literally meaning foul smell or bad odor). In this contaminated state, our aura shrinks, which repels.
To the contrary, however, when in meditation (Simran), the pattern of our breathing is totally different - it's very rhythmic, harmonious, silent, natural, and so on. We feel at Home. In this more refined state, one has a big aura, which attracts. In fact, in deep Simran, at times the breathing becomes so silent that we can hardly notice it. Essentially this is the idea behind continually contemplating, observing, and witnessing each and every breath.
Thus, the sincere and unbroken Simran can help us breathe naturally. When breathing naturally, a profound serenity will arise within. By and by it can help us realize that we are different than the outer body-frame. On the other hand, the faults of Haume ( false ego-sense) make us breathe unnaturally, causing us waste our vital energy. Baabaa Nanak says:
We can imagine how choppy, violent, aggressive, and bumpy a river flow can be! To avoid such "river" - the Gurbani urges us to become the Gurmukhs (the spiritual beings, the followers of the Truth and truthful living, etc.), and engage in continual Simran ("Nit Japeeai", "Sadaa", " Aath Pahar", "Din Raat", etc.), with each and every breath.
— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org
Updated on Thursday, July 23, 2009 10:14 AM (PST)
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