Topics, in depth
ਗਿਆਨGian and Atma
Self-knowledge, and its limits
Who am I, really, and can knowing it set me free?
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.Awaiting review by a learned reader.
Discover
Gurbani invites a search inward. Bhagat Pipa Ji's line, included by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in the Granth, puts the whole cosmos inside the seeker.
ਜੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੰਡੇ ਸੋਈ ਪਿੰਡੇ ਜੋ ਖੋਜੈ ਸੋ ਪਾਵੈ ॥
Transliteration Jo brahmanḍe soī pinḍe jo khojai so pāvai.
Translation, editorial What pervades the universe dwells in the body. Whoever searches, finds.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
Giān (ਗਿਆਨ) is spiritual knowledge: not information, but seeing what is so. Ātmā (ਆਤਮਾ) is the self in its deepest sense. Babaji's katha gives unusual space to these questions. His series include Man Budh Atam (talks titled ‘Aatma Ki Hai’, what is the self, and ‘Gyan Ki Hai’, what is knowledge) and long katha on classical texts of Indian philosophy.
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
Understand
Knowledge that frees, and knowledge that binds. Gurbani honours giān as the Guru's gift that dispels the darkness of ignorance.
ਗਿਆਨ ਅੰਜਨੁ ਗੁਰਿ ਦੀਆ ਅਗਿਆਨ ਅੰਧੇਰ ਬਿਨਾਸੁ ॥
Transliteration Giān anjan gur dīā agiān andher bināsu.
Translation, editorial The Guru gave the healing ointment of spiritual wisdom, and the darkness of ignorance was dispelled.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
But Gurbani is just as clear that learning alone can become one more possession of the ego:
ਪਾਠੁ ਪੜਿਓ ਅਰੁ ਬੇਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰਿਓ ਨਿਵਲਿ ਭੁਅੰਗਮ ਸਾਧੇ ॥ਪੰਚ ਜਨਾ ਸਿਉ ਸੰਗੁ ਨ ਛੁਟਕਿਓ ਅਧਿਕ ਅਹੰਬੁਧਿ ਬਾਧੇ ॥
Transliteration Pāṭh paṛio ar bed bīchārio nival bhuangam sādhe. Panch janā sio sang na chhuṭkio adhik ahanbudh bādhe.
Translation, editorial I read the texts and reflected on the Vedas; I practised the inner cleansing and the coiled-breath disciplines. Yet my company with the five was not broken, and I was bound all the more by self-conceit.
About the translation. ‘Nival’ and ‘bhuangam’ name hatha-yoga practices (abdominal cleansing; the kundalini or coiled-breath practice). ‘The five’ are kaam, krodh, lobh, moh and ahankar.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
Babaji gave a divan in January 2010 on this very shabad (‘Paath Pariyo Aur Ved Bichariyo’). Reading, reflecting and spiritual technique did not break the hold of the five thieves; they tightened the knot of self-conceit. Gurmat giān is knowledge that humbles.
Why a Gurmat teacher reads Vedanta. Babaji's archive includes katha on the Vedanta Darshan, Vichar Sagar, Vichar Mala and the Ashtavakra Gita. This is part of a long tradition: Sikh scholars of the Nirmala and Udasi traditions, and sants associated with them, studied and expounded Indian philosophical texts and read them in the light of Gurbani. Listening to that katha, it helps to know where these texts and Gurbani meet and where they do not.
Babaji’s kathaLinked by the titles of the recordings and videos.
Explore Babaji’s katha
Katha of the Gurbani quoted here
Videos
ਜਨਮ ਦਿਨ ਕਥਾ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਸੰਤ ਬਾਬਾ ਤਾਰਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਸਰਹਾਲੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ। Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਗਿਆਨ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ । ਮਿਹਰ ਦੀ ਨਜ਼ਰ। ਪਾਪ ਤੇ ਪਾਪ। ਪਰਮਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ । Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal ll
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਮਹਾਂਪੁਰਖ: ਜਿਆਣ ਵਾਲੇ, ਜੌਹਲਾਂ ਵਾਲੇ, ਹਰਖੋਵਾਲ ਵਾਲੇ, ਹੋਤੀ ਮਰਦਾਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਮਹਾਂਪੁਰਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਬਚਨ
ਮੁਕਤੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਕਰੀਏ ? ਹਠ ਯੋਗ ਸਹਿਜ ਯੋਗ ਗਿਆਨ ਯੋਗ ਦੇ ਉਪਦੇਸ। Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal ll
ਦਾਨ, ਦਮਨ, ਦਯਾ, ਤਿੰਨ ਉਪਦੇਸ਼। ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਮਹਾਂਪੁਰਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਕੌਤਕ। Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਲੜੀਵਾਰ ਕਥਾ ਦੀ ਸੰਪੂਰਨਤਾ ਤੇ ਆਰੰਭਤਾ ਤੇ ਵਿੱਦਵਾਨ ਗਿਆਨੀਆਂ ਜੀ ਨਾਲ ਬਚਨ ਅਤੇ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਅਤੇ ਵੀਚਾਰ ਸ੍ਰਵਨ ਕਰੋ ਜੀ।
Recordings with this in their title
Series on this theme
- ਅਧਿਆਤਮ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ Adhyatam Parkash11 recordings
- ਅਧਿਆਤਮਿਕ ਵੀਚਾਰ Adhyatmik Veechar7 recordings
- ਅਸ਼ਟਾਵਕ੍ਰ ਗੀਤਾ Ashtavakra Gita11 recordings
- ਮਨ ਬੁੱਧ ਆਤਮ Man, Budh, Atam (mind, intellect, self)9 recordings
- ਵੇਦਾਂਤ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ Vedanta Darshan15 recordings
- ਵਿਚਾਰ ਮਾਲਾ Vichar Mala6 recordings
- ਵਿਚਾਰ ਸਾਗਰ Vichar Sagar21 recordings
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
How this connects
- ਹਉਮੈ Haumai
Gurbani warns that reading and reflection can bind the seeker more tightly in self-conceit. Knowledge that does not humble is haumai in learned clothing. Ang 641
- ਭਗਤੀ ਤੇ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ Bhagti and Prem
Babaji's katha moves between Vedanta texts and the language of devotion. Gurbani holds knowledge and love together.
Where they pull apart. In Advaita Vedanta, knowledge is the means of liberation and devotion is often preparatory; Gurbani keeps love and grace at the centre, even in the highest states.
- ਸ਼ਬਦ ਗੁਰੂ Shabad Guru and Sangat
In Gurmat, spiritual knowledge is the Guru's gift; it is received through the Shabad rather than achieved by learning alone. Ang 293
- ਮਨ Man, the mind
Babaji's Man Budh Atam series moves from the make-up of the mind to ‘what is the self’ and ‘what is knowledge’; one of its talks says outright that wanting obstructs knowledge.
Questions for reflectionEditorial, offered for your own enquiry.
Reflect
- What have you learned about spiritual life that has made you humbler? What has made you prouder?
- When you say ‘I’, what exactly do you mean: the body, the mind, a history, something deeper?
- Is there knowledge you already have that you are not yet living?
A practice for this week
Choose one line of Gurbani you understand intellectually. For a week, ask each evening: where did I live this today, and where did I only know it? Write one sentence each night. Knowledge in Gurmat is tested in the living of it.
Primary sourcesGurbani, and the texts Babaji has given katha on.
Go deeper
Gurbani on this page
Texts Babaji has taught on this theme
- ਅਧਿਆਤਮ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ Adhyatam Parkash11 recordings
- ਅਧਿਆਤਮਿਕ ਵੀਚਾਰ Adhyatmik Veechar7 recordings
- ਅਸ਼ਟਾਵਕ੍ਰ ਗੀਤਾ Ashtavakra Gita11 recordings
- ਮਨ ਬੁੱਧ ਆਤਮ Man, Budh, Atam (mind, intellect, self)9 recordings
- ਪ੍ਰਬੋਧ ਚੰਦ੍ਰ ਨਾਟਕ Prabodh Chandar Natak33 recordings
- ਵੇਦਾਂਤ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ Vedanta Darshan15 recordings
- ਵਿਚਾਰ ਮਾਲਾ Vichar Mala6 recordings
- ਵਿਚਾਰ ਸਾਗਰ Vichar Sagar21 recordings
Found something mistaken or missing? Write to satnam@harkhowal.com.