When the Mind Cannot Serve
How can a life be so crowded yet still empty inside?
How can a life be so crowded yet still empty inside?
Some mornings the heart feels full—yet dry as sand. So much striving, so much shaping of days into tidy patterns: waking, working, even remembering the Divine in a quiet corner of thought. But under the patterns hums a noise: a pushing sense of “I”—the doer, the knower, the one holding everything together. Often this “I” feels necessary, protective. And yet, in the tender moments before sleep, it betrays itself: all this doing leaves the mind restless, not resting.
This is a sabad from Guru Amar Das Sahib Ji in Raag Vadhans on Ang 560 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It opens an unsettling truth: self-centeredness and divine remembrance do not dwell in the same breath. Where the ego holds tightly, Nam does not settle and there is no ability to identify with the Divine. Where self-importance reigns, service becomes empty form. Here, the Guru points gently to a way of letting go—an intimacy that grows only when the “I” bows to the wisdom in hukam, the Loving Order.
ਵਡਹੰਸੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ॥
vadahansu mahala 3
Vadhans, Third Sovereign:
This sabad is revealed by Guru Amar Das Sahib Ji in Raag Vadhans, the raag of deep longing and tender persuasion.
ਹਉਮੈ ਨਾਵੈ ਨਾਲਿ ਵਿਰੋਧੁ ਹੈ ਦੁਇ ਨ ਵਸਹਿ ਇਕ ਠਾਇ ॥
haumai naavai naal virodh hai du-e na vaseh ik thaae.
Ego and the Name are at odds; the two do not dwell in the same place.
In the realm of inner experience, the sense of “I am the doer” and the gentle presence of the Divine Name are like fire and rain—they cannot occupy the same sky. When the self grasps its own importance, the subtle sweetness of remembrance slips away.
ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਿ ਸੇਵਾ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਤਾ ਮਨੁ ਬਿਰਥਾ ਜਾਇ ॥੧॥
haumai vich seva na hovee taa man birtha jaae.
In ego, no service can be done; the mind is wasted. 1
A mind busy with self-preservation turns service into ritual. Work may be performed, words may be recited, but the core is hollow—a vessel rattling empty, never pouring sweetness.
ਹਰਿ ਚੇਤਿ ਮਨ ਮੇਰੇ ਤੂ ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਮਾਇ ॥
har chet man mere tu gur ka sabad kamaae.
O my mind, remember the One; practice the Guru’s Word.
The invitation is gentle but steady: let the mind taste the sabad not just as sound, but as a living practice. Let remembrance grow roots deeper than thought.
ਹੁਕਮੁ ਮੰਨਹਿ ਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਮਿਲੈ ਤਾ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਹਉਮੈ ਜਾਇ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
hukam mannehi taa har milai taa vichahu haumai jaae. rahao.
Accepting the Loving Order, one finds the One; then ego leaves from within. Pause and reflect.
When the mind rests in hukam—accepting life’s flow without self-centered struggle—the encounter with the Divine is not forced. It is an unveiling. The clenching of the “I” loosens; the Presence comes home.
ਹਉਮੈ ਸਭੁ ਸਰੀਰੁ ਹੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਓਪਤਿ ਹੋਇ ॥
haumai sabh sareer hai haumai opat hoi.
The whole body is of ego; from ego, birth arises.
This human body, the very sense of separateness, is shaped by ego’s imprint. It is from this forgetfulness of Oneness that the cycles of birth and death spin onward.
ਹਉਮੈ ਵਡਾ ਗੁਬਾਰੁ ਹੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਿ ਬੁਝਿ ਨ ਸਕੈ ਕੋਇ ॥੨॥
haumai vadda gubaar hai haumai vich bujh na sakai koe. 2
Ego is a great darkness; within ego, no one can understand. 2
It is not merely pride or arrogance. It is a fog, thick and intimate, obscuring the clear seeing of reality. So long as the fog remains, the path cannot be seen.
ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਨ ਬੁਝਿਆ ਜਾਇ ॥
haumai vich bhagat na hovee hukam na bujhia jaae.
In ego, devotion cannot happen; the Loving Order cannot be understood.
Love cannot root in hard ground. Devotion, born of soft surrender, cannot sprout where the self insists on control. Hukam—flow, acceptance, alignment—remains a stranger.
ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਿ ਜੀਉ ਬੰਧੁ ਹੈ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਵਸੈ ਮਨਿ ਆਇ ॥੩॥
haumai vich jeeo bandh hai naam na vasai man aae. 3
In ego, the being is bound; the Name does not abide within the mind. 3
So long as self-grasping reigns, the being is not free to taste the nectar of Nam. It wanders bound in its own fortress, a prisoner guarding its own walls.
ਨਾਨਕ ਸਤਗੁਰਿ ਮਿਲਿਐ ਹਉਮੈ ਗਈ ਤਾ ਸਚੁ ਵਸਿਆ ਮਨਿ ਆਇ ॥
naanak satgur miliai haumai ga-ee taa sach vasia man aae.
O Nanak! Meeting the True Guru, ego departs; then the Eternal abides in the mind.
Here is the soft breakthrough: when the mind leans into the True Guru—into living Wisdom—the knot loosens. Then Truth is not an idea but an indwelling guest, abiding naturally where once “I” alone resided.
ਸਚੁ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਸਚਿ ਰਹੈ ਸਚੇ ਸੇਵਿ ਸਮਾਇ ॥੪॥੯॥੧੨॥
sach kamaavai sach rahai sache sev samaae. 4.9.12
One lives Truth, remains in Truth, serves and merges in Truth. 4.9.12
The life becomes an unfolding simplicity: living honestly, staying rooted in Reality, and serving without claim or reward. In this quiet work, the mind returns to its Source.
And so this sabad circles back to the heart’s daily dilemma: how to live service that is not hollow, remembrance that is not routine? The “I” clings to doing, to proving worth. But the sabad holds a softer vision: not an “I” that serves, but a self that lets go and becomes service itself.
When the mind surrenders to hukam—this vast Love that shapes all days—the fear of emptiness dissolves. A hush enters ordinary tasks: cleaning the kitchen, tending a wound, saying a name. Each act is colored by the light of Nam when ego is absent.
May today hold one quiet turning: when the “I” rises, notice it, smile at its small panic, and rest instead in the breath that asks nothing, offers everything. Here, the Name is not recited but revealed—alive, gentle, unstoppable.
Listen to this sabad by Bhai Maninder Singh:
Bhai Onkar Singh:
Bhai Maninder Singh live at Darbar Sahib (skip to 22:07):
Bhai Surinderpal Singh: