RELIGIOUS FANATICISM — PART 9
ITS CURE: KNOW THE GOAL OF ALL SPIRITUAL PRACTICES AND PATHS

The only reason the religions and the scriptures exist is the phantom called mind (false ego-sense). This phantom is also called by many other terms, namely ego illusion, duality ("Doojaa Bhaav"), obscured or deluded consciousness, conditioned soul, false self, mine-ness, intervening or contending mind, self-delusion, body-consciousness, "foolish" mind, and so on.

The purpose of all Spiritual practices or paths is to get rid of this phantom; for behind the veil of the impure, restless and ignorant mind stands the Divine Reality, waiting us all these years with infinite patience. Therefore, all genuine religions, their teaching, and apparently varied paths (ways) exist to uplift the human spirit towards its essential Divine Nature, so that man's bosom becomes filled with a continuous stream of sublime godly qualities such as selfless love, compassion, truthful living, intuitive understanding, contentment, kindness, purity, harmony, oneness, selflessness, peace, wisdom, spiritual fraternity, goodwill, mutual amity, devotion, and with everything that is Spiritual, beautiful, holy, blissful and sanctifying. This is the basis of real religion.

• ਮਾਈ ਮਨੁ ਮੇਰੋ ਬਸਿ ਨਾਹਿ ॥ ਨਿਸ ਬਾਸੁਰ ਬਿਖਿਅਨ ਕਉ ਧਾਵਤ ਕਿਹਿ ਬਿਧਿ ਰੋਕਉ ਤਾਹਿ ॥: Maaee mann mero bas naahi. Nis baasur bilhian kayu dhaavat kihi bidhi rokayu taahi: O mother, my mind is out of control. Night and day, it runs after sin and corruption. How can I restrain it? (sggs 632).
• ਮਨੁ ਵਸਿ ਦੂਤਾ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਦੋਇ ॥: Mann vas dootaa durmati doi: The mind is in the control of evil passions, evil intent, and duality (sggs 222).
• ਮਨੁ ਚੰਚਲੁ ਬਿਧਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਜਾਣੈ ॥: Manu chanchal bidh naahee jaanai: The fickle mind does not know the Way (sggs 415).
• ਮਨੁ ਭੂਲੋ ਬਹੁ ਚਿਤੈ ਵਿਕਾਰੁ ॥: Manu bhoolo bahu chitai vikaar: Deluded mind thinks of all sorts of corruption (sggs 222).
• ਸਾਕਤੁ ਲੋਭੀ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਮੂੜਾ ॥: Saakat lobhee ihu manu moorraa: This foolish mind is perverted and greedy (sggs 415).
• ਮਨ ਖੁਟਹਰ ਤੇਰਾ ਨਹੀ ਬਿਸਾਸੁ ਤੂ ਮਹਾ ਉਦਮਾਦਾ ॥: Mann khuttahar teraa nahee bisaas too mahaa udamaadaa: O vicious mind, no faith can be placed in you; you are totally intoxicated with deceptive Maya (sggs 815).
• ਇਹੁ ਮਨੂਆ ਖਿਨੁ ਨ ਟਿਕੈ ਬਹੁ ਰੰਗੀ ਦਹ ਦਹ ਦਿਸਿ ਚਲਿ ਚਲਿ ਹਾਢੇ ॥: Ihu manooaa khin na ttikai bahu rangee dah dah dis chal chal haadhe: This mind does not hold still, even for an instant. Distracted by all sorts of distractions, it wanders around aimlessly in the ten directions (sggs 170).
• ਮਨ ਕੀ ਸਾਰ ਨ ਜਾਣਨੀ ਹਉਮੈ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਇ ॥: Mann kee saar na jaananee houmai bharam bhulaae: You do not know the state of your own mind; you are deluded by doubt and egotism (sggs 645).
• ਮਨੁ ਮਾਇਆ ਮੈ ਫਧਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਬਿਸਰਿਓ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਨਾਮੁ ॥: Manu Maya mai fadh rahio bisario gobind naam: The mind is entangled in Maya (illusion, corruption of deluded consciousness); it has forgotten the Divine Name (sggs 1428).
• ਮਨਸਾ ਮਾਰਿ ਮਨੈ ਸਿਉ ਲੂਝੈ ॥: Mansaa maar manai siu loojhai: Subdue your desires, and struggle with your mind (sggs 1021).
• ਮਨੁ ਮੈਲਾ ਸਚੁ ਨਿਰਮਲਾ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਮਿਲਿਆ ਜਾਇ ॥: Mann mailaa sach nirmalaa kiou kar miliaa jaai: The True Lord is Pure; (so long the man's) mind is impure (with Haumai, Bikaar, etc.); he cannot meet (Truth or the Lord) (sggs 755).
• The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation for human beings. The mind attached to sense objects leads to bondage and that which is free of sense objects sets one free! Thus it is thought! (Veda, Amrit Bindu Upanishad).
• To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas. (Buddha, Dhammapada:183). Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself a greater harm (Dhammapada:42).
• Those alone are victors who control their minds and abstain from evil (The Gospel Of Buddha, compiled by Carus).
• The impure mind (laden with tendencies) is the cause for delusions (Yoga Vasishta).
• The Union is achieved through the subjugation of the psychic nature, and the restraint of the mind (Yoga Sutra of Patanjali).
• You cannot solve the problem with the same mind that created it (Albert Einstein).
• Hence brace up your minds... (Bible, 1Pe 1:13).

Now, just think, what's the use of one's proclaiming to be a religious if his uncontrolled mind is not brought under control! In other words, if a person cannot transcend his instinctive, contending or intervening mind, then his being religionist or him being the follower of this path or that path, this religion or that religion is totally unavailing. In truth, he has failed himself, his path, his Spiritual practice and his religion. Thereby, he has lost the prerogative and dignity of being a human. Owing to irreligiousness, the world is fallen in the grip of materialism; our minds are out of control; and the order of the day appears to be violent self-destruction, hatred, conflicts, danger, violence, deception, untruthful and unrighteous life, sins, falsehood and corruption.

• ਬੰਦਕ ਹੋਇ ਬੰਧ ਸੁਧਿ ਲਹੈ ॥: Bandak hoi bandh sudhi lahai: If you turn your thoughts to the Divine, He will take care of you like a relative (sggs 342).
• ਬਿਨੁ ਮਨ ਮੂਏ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥: Bin mann mooe bhagati na hoe: Without annihilating the mind, devotion cannot be practiced (sggs 1277).
• ਮਨੁ ਅਸਾਧੁ ਸਾਧੈ ਜਨੁ ਕੋਇ ॥ ਅਚਰੁ ਚਰੈ ਤਾ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਹੋਇ ॥: Manu asaadh saadhai janu koe. Acharu charai taa nirmal hoi: The mind is uncontrollable; how rare are those who subdue it. Those who move this immovable become pure (sggs 159).
• ਨਾ ਮਨੁ ਮਰੈ ਨ ਮਾਇਆ ਮਰੈ ॥: Naa manu marai na Maya marai: Maya can not be conquered without annihilation of the mind (sggs 1342).
• ਮਨਿ ਮੈਲੈ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਮੈਲਾ ਤਨਿ ਧੋਤੈ ਮਨੁ ਹਛਾ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥: Mani mailai sabh kish mailaa tani dhotai manu hashaa na hoe: When the mind is filthy, everything is filthy; by washing the body, the mind is not cleaned (sggs 558).
• ਚੰਚਲ ਮਨੁ ਦਹ ਦਿਸਿ ਕਉ ਧਾਵਤ ਅਚਲ ਜਾਹਿ ਠਹਰਾਨੋ ॥ ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਕੋ ਜੋ ਨਰੁ ਮੁਕਤਿ ਤਾਹਿ ਤੁਮ ਮਾਨੋ ॥੨॥੩॥: Chanchal manu ... (sggs 685).

Sometimes it so happens that an acute infection even surpasses the efficacy of the medicine! Nowadays, man's instinctive mind is totally out of control, making one wonder if the acute infection (impurity, restlessness and ignorance) of his mind has surpassed the efficacy of his Spiritual practices and paths!! With our conceptual mind, we seek the Divine outside ourselves. Consequently, we remain attached to names, forms, unmeaning rituals and practices, and so on, all which are harmful.

The purpose of this Gurbani Reflection is to revisit the aim and goal of all Spiritual practices and paths. Sublime Experience of the Blissful Divinity (Objectless Awareness), where ego illusion is eliminated, is the goal of valid Spiritual practices and paths — the state of Pure Self, Unconditioned Consciousness or the Infinite Presence within. Hence, the essence of all Spiritual practices and paths is a dissection of yourself by yourself; it's the dissection of your own personality. To put it otherwise, using your own mind, one must dissect his own mind, going deep within the material layers and depth of it. The upshot is Divine Darshan or Union with Homogeneous Oneness!

• ਮਮਾ ਮਨ ਸਿਉ ਕਾਜੁ ਹੈ ਮਨ ਸਾਧੇ ਸਿਧਿ ਹੋਇ ॥: Mamaa man sio kaaju hai man saadhhe sidh hoi: MAMMA: (The mortal's purpose or business of life) is with his own mind; (and that purpose or business) is to discipline the mind; by doing so, Understanding is attained (Understanding of the Formless or Niraakaar - Nirakaar dee Budhi, Soojh, Samajh...). (sggs 342).
• All notions exist in the mind. Subdue the mind with the mind. Purify the mind with the mind. Destroy the mind with the mind (Yoga Vasishta).

Before we can effectively eliminate the obscured mind, we need to know what exactly constitutes the mind. Through superstitious feeling, we assume we know everything about the mind! But the truth is to the contrary. Therefore, the great thinkers of the past, the great world Masters, or the great Spiritual Scientists of the Life urge us to think: "What is my mind?"

We are told that the mind is nothing but the continuous flow of thoughts, just as a river is nothing but the continuous flow of water. Without water, no river exists. Similarly, without thoughts ("Phurne"), no mind exists. When the thoughts flow one after another uninterruptedly, there is the apparent illusion of a mighty, powerful instrument called the mind. The river is characterized as fast, turbulent, slow, calm, clean and muddy if the waters in the river are fast, turbulent, slow, calm, clean and muddy, respectively. Similarly, the mind is said to be agitated, worried, anxious, stressful, vulgar, clean, pure and calm if the thoughts are agitated, worried, anxious, stressful, vulgar, clean, pure and calm, respectively. In other words, as the waters are, so is the river; as the thoughts are, so is the mind and the individual.

• ਮਾਇਆ ਮਮਤਾ ਪਵਹਿ ਖਿਆਲੀ ॥: Maya mamataa pavahi khiaalee: Maya-attachment drops (Jeeva) in thoughts (imaginations, fancies...). (sggs 993).
• Thoughts cannot conceive God ( Veda, Keno Upanishad 1:6)
• He is truly asleep who has hope in every image (which passes through his mind) and converses with it (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Your sense and thoughts are all fire (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Thought after thought is not separate from mind (Zen Sutra).

Now, what is a thought? Thought is nothing but consciousness of an object. To say it in an other way, just as the raindrop coming in contact with the soil becomes conditioned, in the same way, our consciousness conditioned by our brooding over an object is a thought. But, why do we brood over objects in the first place? Because of our Vaasnaas — the undigested desires, conditioning, latent memories, innate tendencies, inherent inclinations, self-limitations, dispositions, or subtle impressions of the past existing in our bosom. Vaasnaas produce thoughts, and thoughts produce actions. Whatever we do at the present becomes the memory of the past the very next moment!

• ਮਨਿ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਰਚਿ ਬਿਖੈ ਬਿਆਧਿ ॥: Mani baasanaa rachi bikhai biaadh: The mind is engrossed in Vaasnaa, and the disease of corruption (sggs 675).
• ਮਨਿ ਤਨਿ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਿਸਥਾਰਾ ॥: Mani tani baasanaa baht bisathaaraa: Th mind and body are filled with immense, expansive Vaasnaa (sggs 1005).
• ਬਿਖੈ ਬਿਖੈ ਕੀ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਤਜੀਅ ਨਹ ਜਾਈ ॥: Bikhai bikhai kee baasanaa tajeea nah jaaee: I cannot escape my Vaasnaa for sin and corruption (sggs 855).
• ਕਾਮ ਕ੍ਰੋਧ ਮਦ ਲੋਭ ਮੋਹ ਦੁਸਟ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਨਿਵਾਰਿ ॥: Kaam krodh madd lobh moh dusatt baasanaa nivaar: Take away my Vaasna--lust, anger, pride, greed, and emotional attachment (sggs 523).
• ਮੋਹ ਮਿਥਨ ਦੁਰੰਤ ਆਸਾ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਬਿਕਾਰ ॥: Moh mithan durant aasaa baasanaa bikaar: Emotional attachment is false, desire is filthy, and longing is corrupt (sggs 508).
• ਲਪਟਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਮਨੁ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਗੁਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਇਹ ਤਿਆਗਉ ॥: Lapati rahio manu baasanaa gur mil ih tiaagau: My mind clings to Vaasnaa; meeting with the Divine, I have renounced them (sggs 808).
• Let go of thought and bring it not into your heart, for you are naked and thought is an icy wind. You think in order to escape from torment and suffering, but your thinking is torment's fountainhead. Know that the bazaar of God's Making is outside of thought... (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Oh heart, sleep from thought, for thought is the heart's snare (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Your mind is the source of action; Your body is the agent of calamity; No pity nor blame to anyone else (Zen Sutra).
• Ancestor to every action is your thought (Emerson).

Every being in the world has a set of Vaasnaas. The purpose of human life is to exhaust these Vaasnaas and thereby experience the state of God-realization. How can this be accomplished? To accomplish this, we are given the equipments of the body, mind and intellect. The true paths and Spiritual practices teach us how to properly utilize these equipments. Because, if not properly utilized, we would end up accumulating additional Vaasnaas instead of eliminating them!!

• ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦੀ ਜਿਨੀ ਆਪੁ ਤਜਿਆ ਹਰਿ ਵਾਸਨਾ ਸਮਾਣੀ ॥: Gur parasaadee jinee aap tajiaa har vaasanaa samaanee: By the Divine Grace, who shed their selfishness and conceit; their Vaasnaa merges in the Lord (sggs 919).
• Hold your breath in the water of remembrance and be patient, so that you may be freed from old thoughts and inward whisperings! After that, you will gain totally the nature of pure water from head to foot (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Remove the dirty garments from your own mind (Zen Sutra).

When the source of thoughts, namely, Vaasnaas, is gotten rid of, no gross thoughts and actions can emanate from that individual. Therefore, the real purpose of all Spiritual practices and paths is to bring about a change in quality, quantity, and direction of thoughts. For as is the mind, so is our personality, our individuality, and our life.

• ਕੁਬੁਧਿ ਚਵਾਵੈ ਸੋ ਕਿਤੁ ਠਾਇ ॥ ਕੁਬੁਧਿ ਮਿਟੈ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰਿ ॥: Kabudh chavaavai so kitu thaai. Kubudhi mitai gur sabad beechaar: Where is that place, where evil thoughts are destroyed? Evil thoughts are erased by contemplating the Word of the Gur-Shabad -- Divine Name (sggs 944)
• ਮਨਿ ਜੀਤੈ ਜਗੁ ਜੀਤੁ ॥: Mann jeetai jagg jeet: If you conquer the mind, you conquer the material world (sggs ).
• ਮਨੁ ਮਰੈ ਧਾਤੁ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਇ ॥ ਬਿਨੁ ਮਨ ਮੂਏ ਕੈਸੇ ਹਰਿ ਪਾਇ ॥ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਮਰੈ ਦਾਰੂ ਜਾਣੈ ਕੋਇ ॥ ਮਨੁ ਸਬਦਿ ਮਰੈ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਨੁ ਸੋਇ ॥: Mann marai dhaat mar jaae ...: When the mind is conquered, its turbulent wanderings are stopped. Without annihilating (conquering) the mind, how can God be found? Rare is the one who knows the medicine to conquer the mind. The mind is conquered through the Shabad; this is known to God's humble servant only s(sggs 665).
• It is (God) known when the mind-stuff is rid of all movement of thought (Yoga Vasishta).
• Those who subdue this mind are liberated from the bonds of Mara. When one's mind is not steadfast, when one knows not the Good Teaching and one's faith wavers, one's wisdom will not be perfected (Buddha, Dhammapada:38)

If the thoughts are sublime or good, our minds are healthy and strong; our lives are Divine, Blissful, and our actions are Good. To the contrary, if our thoughts are gross or bad, our minds are bad and weak; our lives are miserable. Thoughts associated with pleasure and sensuousness disturb us constantly. How? In order to disturb us, senses send these thoughts towards intellect, through the mind. When thoughts associated with pleasure and sensuousness encounter true Wisdom, by right vision, all desires get burnt into ashes!

• ਸੁਭ ਚਿੰਤਨ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਰਮਣ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਸਾਧੂ ਸੰਗ ॥: Subh chintan gobind raman nirmal saadhoo sang: Bless me with sublime thoughts, O Lord, and contemplation in the immaculate company of the Holy (sggs 522).
• ਮਨਸਾ ਬਾਚਾ ਕਰਮਨਾ ਮੈ ਦੇਖੇ ਦੋਜਕ ਜਾਤ ॥: Mansaa baachaa karamanaa mai dekhe dojak jaat: Those who are false in thought, word and deed, I have seen them going to hellish existence (sggs 1105).
• ਮਨ ਕਾ ਕਹਿਆ ਮਨਸਾ ਕਰੈ ॥: Mann kaa kahiaa mansaa maanai: The intellect acts according to the mind (sggs 832).

In essence, when the Soul (the Higher or True Mind) is overlaid with conceptual thoughts, it is called mind. When this overlay is removed, the Soul (the True Mind) shines forth in its full glory. Hence, all Spiritual Masters proclaim unanimously that the purpose of human embodiment is to unfold the Soul-Nature (Self) within and regain one's Original Unconditioned Nature by dismantling the material overlay (false ego).

Now, the question we all should ask ourselves is: "Am I utilizing my Spiritual practice and path to purify my conceptual mind?" A purified mind is God's Mind, where Aatmaan (Soul) talks to the Parmaatam (Super Soul), continuously. Simply put: the pure mind is none other than the mind which has become Sahaj, where there is no modification of the mind — egoless, annihilated or killed, calm, serenely equipoised, objectless, thoughtless, desireless, still, intuitively peaceful, enlightened, and so on. Man with such Intuitive Peace or Stillness perceives within himself the placid ocean of Spiritual Soul-calmness expanding into the boundless sea of tranquility in Spirit.

In other words, That which lies behind the psychological mind (or false ego) — the very substratum, the very platform, the very basis ("Aadhaar") upon which the thoughts were dancing — must necessarily come into our comprehension. This experience of comprehension is called the Pure Mind, the Transcendental Consciousness, the Vision of God, the Self-realization, the God-realization, the Infinite, the Eternal, the Immutable, the Changeless, the state of Pure Being, the State of Infinite Presence, the state of Chauthaa Pada, Dasam Duaar, and the Kingdom of God or Heaven.

• ਜਿਨਿ ਸਚੁ ਜਾਤਾ ਸੋ ਸਹਜਿ ਸਮਾਵੈ ॥: Jin sach jaataa so sahaji samaavai: Those who know the Truth merge in Intuitive Peace and Poise (sggs 113).
• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਸਹਜੁ ਹੈ ਮਨੁ ਚੜਿਆ ਦਸਵੈ ਆਕਾਸਿ ॥: Gurmukhi antar sahaj hai manu charriaa dasavai aakaas: Upon becoming Gurmukh (Spiritual Being), Intuitive Poise (Sahaj) awakens within; then his mind ascends to the Tenth Plane - Dasam Duaar (sggs 1414).
• ਉਪਜੈ ਸਹਜੁ ਗਿਆਨ ਮਤਿ ਜਾਗੈ ॥: Oupajai sahaju giaan mati jaagai: Sahaj (Natural state of Being, ਅਡੋਲ ਅਵਸਥਾ...) wells up within, the Intellect awakenes to Spiritual Wisdom (ਗਿਆਨ ਵਾਲੀ ਬੁੱਧੀ). (sggs 92).
• ਮਨੁ ਮੇਰੋ ਧਾਵਨ ਤੇ ਛੂਟਿਓ ਕਰਿ ਬੈਠੋ ਬਿਸਰਾਮੁ ॥: Mann mero dhaavan te shootiou kar baitho bisaraam: My mind has stopped its wanderings, and now, it has come to Intuitive Rest (sggs 1186).
• ਜੋ ਇਸੁ ਮਾਰੇ ਸੋਈ ਸੂਰਾ ॥: Jo is maare soee sooraa: One who kills this (mind) is a spiritual hero (sggs 238).
• ਜਬ ਹਮ ਹੋਤੇ ਤਬ ਤੂ ਨਾਹੀ ਅਬ ਤੂਹੀ ਮੈ ਨਾਹੀ ॥: Jab ham hote tab tu naahee ab tuhee mai naahee: When I am in my ego, You (God) are not with me; now that You are with me, there is no egotism in me (sggs 657).
• Be still, and know God (Bible, Psa 46:10). Peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Bible, Philippians 4:7).
• When will this I ever be revealed by way of thought? This I will only be unveiled after annihilation (The Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi).
• Those whose lives the angels take in a state of purity, saying (to them), "Peace be on you; enter ye the Garden, because of (the good) which ye did (in the world)." (Quran, 16:32).
• When both mind and phenomena are forgotten, then we become naturally genuine (Zen Sutra).

Once the deluded mind — false self, conceptual thoughts or egoism — is eliminated, one realizes that the Real Self, Divine Reality, and all living beings do not differ from one another. Thus, the ultimate goal of all Spiritual practices or paths is to transform the Vaasnaa-ridden mind into the Spiritual Mind (Gurmukh), and win the game of life in the process. Hence, control of the mind means removal of the Vaasnaas from within. Very rarer are those who steadfastly progress on the Spiritual path to gain the correct knowledge of the scriptures. Having reached this far, those who failed to do this are called material beings (Manmukh) in the Gurbani, who through their stubborn-mindedness (ego or thought-ridden mind) practice falsehood, and lose the game of life.

• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਲਇਆ ਸਵਾਰਿ ॥ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਤਜੈ ਵਿਕਾਰ ॥੩॥: Gurmukhi ihu manu laiaa savaari. Haumai vichahu tajai vikaar ||3||: One who becomes the Gurmukh, purifies his mind (eradicates his Vikaars, passions, etc.). (By becoming the Gurmukh, he) removes Haumai or egotism from within (sggs 665).
• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪੈ ਮਨੁ ਰੂੜਾ ॥: Gurmukhi naamu japai manu roorraa (sggs 415).
• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕਰਣੀ ਕਾਰ ਕਮਾਵੈ ॥ ਤਾ ਇਸੁ ਮਨ ਕੀ ਸੋਝੀ ਪਾਵੈ ॥: Gurmukh karanee kaar kamaavai. Taa is mann kee sojhee paavai: By becoming the Gurmukh, do good deeds; thus you will come to understand this mind (sggs 159).
• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪਣਾ ਮਨੁ ਮਾਰਿਆ ਸਬਦਿ ਕਸਵਟੀ ਲਾਇ ॥ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਨਾਲਿ ਝਗੜਾ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਨਾਲਿ ਸਥ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮੰਝਿ ਸਮਾਇ ॥: Guramukh aapanaa manu maariaa sabad kasavatee laai. Mann hee naal jhagarraa mann hee naal sath mann hee manjh samaai (sggs 113).
• ਮਨਮੁਖੀ ਮਨਹਠਿ ਹਾਰਿਆ ਕੂੜੁ ਕੁਸਤੁ ਕਮਾਇ ॥: Manmukhee manahath haariaa koorr kusat kamaae: The Manmukhs, through stubborn-mindedness and the practice of falsehood, lose the game of life (sggs 87).
• ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਝਗੜੁ ਚੁਕਾਇਓਨੁ ਇਕੋ ਰਵਿ ਰਹਿਆ ॥: Gurmukhi jhagarru chukaaeionu iko ravi rahiaa (sggs 790).
• The mind-mirror is clear, so there are no obstacles.... So Zen is the complete realization of mind, The complete cutting off of delusion (Zen Sutra).
• With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death (Buddha, Dhammapada:348).

Man alone is capable of self-effort ("Uddam": Shabad-Vichaar...) to pursue the Spiritual path by which he can accelerate his Spiritual evolution and overcome the limitations of Vaasnaas. Animals have no choice to stand apart from their inherent traits. But the man has the capacity to live intelligently and regulate his life in such a way as to alter the quality, quantity, direction and texture of his inherent inclinations. We must recognize this capacity and act upon it, only then our individualized existence (egoism) will merge with the Homogenous Oneness.

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org