Awake In A Sleeping World
How to truly awaken the mind to something bigger than ourselves?
What wakes the heart when everything else says rest?
Some nights, sleep comes but the mind does not rest. There is a peculiar tiredness that neither the softest bed nor the longest nap can cure. A weariness deeper than the body, rooted somewhere in the unseen chambers of longing and habit. For many, this fatigue is met with screens, silence, or sighs. Yet beneath this hush lies a soft ache: an unspoken question about what truly steadies the restless.
Guru Arjan Sahib, in Raag Aasaa, brings us a sabad that does not promise to quiet the world, but invites the mind to awaken within it. In this composition, the Guru reveals a way to live attentive, gentle, and aware even when illusion pulls at every sense. The sabad guides not toward escape, but toward a kind of vigilant remembrance that softens even the deepest sleep of forgetfulness.
ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥
Aasaa Mahalaa 5.
Raag Aasaa, Fifth Sovereign.
This sabad is revealed by Guru Arjan Sahib in Raag Aasaa. Raag Aasaa evokes hope and determination. It is a fitting canvas for wisdom that asks the mind to stay awake amid the slumber of forgetfulness.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਅਪਨਾ ਸਦ ਸਦਾ ਸਮ੍ਹਾਰੇ ॥
Satigur apnaa sad sadaa samhaare.
O mind! Always cherish and remember your True Guru.
The sabad opens with an invocation to the mind: keep the True Guru present always. Not once a day, not once a lifetime, but as a quiet, constant undercurrent. The Guru here is not an abstract being far away but the living Wisdom that steadies the heart through changing tides. To remember is to let this Wisdom breathe through thought, word, and action, moment after moment.
ਗੁਰ ਕੇ ਚਰਨ ਕੇਸ ਸੰਗਿ ਝਾਰੇ ॥੧॥
Gur ke charan kes sang jhaare. ||1||
Sweep the Guru’s feet with your hair. ||1||
A vivid image: the devotee uses even the crown of pride, the uncut hair, to dust the Guru’s feet. This is not ritual for ritual’s sake; it is a tender metaphor for surrender. One’s highest self bows to the Wisdom, humbling ego at every step.
ਜਾਗੁ ਰੇ ਮਨ ਜਾਗਨਹਾਰੇ ॥
Jaag re man jaagnahaare.
Awaken, O mind, awaken!
The call is gentle yet firm: awaken, you who are meant to awaken. It recognizes the mind’s true potential; not to wander endlessly but to witness clearly.
ਬਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਆਵਸਿ ਕਾਮਾ ਝੂਠਾ ਮੋਹੁ ਮਿਥਿਆ ਪਸਾਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Bin har avar na aavas kaamaa jhoothaa moh mithiaa pasaare. ||1|| Rahaa-u.
Without the One, nothing else helps; false is attachment and fleeting is the worldly show. ||1|| Pause.
Here is the heart of the sabad: the Rahau line, the axis of reflection. The wisdom says plainly: outside the connection to the One, all else is a fleeting mirage. Wealth, relations, possessions - beautiful but impermanent. To lean on them alone is to build a house of smoke. The Pause asks: in the midst of this dance of forms, what truly supports?
ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਸਿਉ ਰੰਗੁ ਲਾਇ ॥
Gur kee banee si-o rang laai.
Fall in love with the Guru’s Word.
Beyond dry remembrance, the Guru asks for a deep affection for the Word or the Sabad. This love transforms wisdom into lived warmth. It is not mere recitation but a sweetness that infuses speech, thought, and breath.
ਗੁਰੁ ਕਿਰਪਾਲੁ ਹੋਇ ਦੁਖੁ ਜਾਇ ॥੨॥
Gur kirpaal hoi dukh jaai. ||2||
When the Guru is gracious, suffering departs. ||2||
When this Wisdom is truly embraced, the knots of inner pain loosen. The Guru’s grace is not transactional; it unfolds naturally as one aligns more deeply with the Sabad’s reality.
ਗੁਰ ਬਿਨੁ ਦੂਜਾ ਨਾਹੀ ਥਾਉ ॥
Gur bin dooja naahee thaau.
Without the Guru, there is no other refuge.
No other shelter holds as steady as the Wisdom of the Guru. It is an intimate place of trust where the mind finds its true home amidst the world’s uncertainty.
ਗੁਰੁ ਦਾਤਾ ਗੁਰੁ ਦੇਵੈ ਨਾਉ ॥੩॥
Gur daataa gur devai naa-u. ||3||
The Guru is the Giver; the Guru grants the Name. ||3||
The Guru alone gives the Naam - the living experience of oneness. All other gifts pale beside this. It is the Guru who reveals the taste of this sweetness within the seeker’s own heart.
ਗੁਰੁ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਪਰਮੇਸਰੁ ਆਪਿ ॥
Gur paarbrahm parmesar aap.
The Guru is the Supreme Being, the One.
This line is a quiet thunder. The Guru is not separate from the Supreme; the Wisdom embodied by the Guru is the very presence of the One. In remembering the Guru, one remembers the Limitless.
ਆਠ ਪਹਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰ ਜਾਪਿ ॥੪॥੧੬॥੬੭॥
Aath pahar Nanak gur jaap. ||4||16||67||
Day and night, Nanak says: meditate on the Guru. ||4||16||67||
This closing line circles back to the beginning: remember. Not out of fear, but because this remembrance is the only true wakefulness. Day and night, the heart breathes Guru-Wisdom and, in doing so, lives truly awake.
When the world insists on busyness and the mind craves distractions, this sabad becomes a lamp for the inward traveller. Guru Arjan Sahib offers no scolding, no threat. Only an invitation to settle into a softer vigilance: awake to what nourishes, aware of what drains, willing to place the head and its pride at the feet of something larger.
For many, this remembering is not a heroic act but a humble habit. It does not banish chores, noise, or worry overnight. Instead, it sows a quiet confidence beneath the rush. A trust that amidst shifting plans, there is a constancy: the Wisdom that steadies, soothes, and renews.
This sabad does not ask for perfection. It doesn't scold forgetfulness. It simply calls us, again and again, to turn our face toward the presence that never turned away. Even when the breath shortens, the mind scatters, or the world rushes past—even then, especially then, the Guru is near.
So maybe today, the practice is simple. Not another task. Not another goal. Just one remembering. One soft turning. One breath that meets the Guru already there. Just a gentle stirring, a reminder that under all tiredness, the heart knows how to stay awake where it matters most.
Listen to this sabad sung by Bhai Surjeet Singh ‘Chandigarh’
Bhai Maninder Singh
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal