Topics, in depth
ਮਨMan, the mind
Desire, restlessness and the mind's true source
Can the restless mind be brought home?
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.Awaiting review by a learned reader.
Discover
Gurbani speaks to the mind (man, ਮਨ) more than to almost anything else. It addresses the mind directly, reasons with it, warns it and comforts it. And it tells the mind something surprising about itself.
ਮਨ ਤੂੰ ਜੋਤਿ ਸਰੂਪੁ ਹੈ ਆਪਣਾ ਮੂਲੁ ਪਛਾਣੁ ॥
Transliteration Man tūṅ jot sarūp hai āpṇā mūl pachhāṇ.
Translation, editorial O mind, you are the very form of the Light. Recognise your own source.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
The restless, wanting, worrying mind is not the enemy. It is the Light that has forgotten where it came from.
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
Understand
Desire and restlessness. The mind runs after vāsnā (deep-rooted desires) and kāmnā (wants), and throws up endless phurne, passing thoughts and impulses. Babaji's recent divans name these directly: ‘ਮਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਾਸ਼ਨਾਵਾਂ’ (the mind's desires) and ‘ਫੁਰਨੇ ਖਤਮ ਕਰਨੇ’ (ending the stream of impulses). His Man Budh Atam series includes talks titled ‘Kaamna Gyan Nu Rokda’, wanting obstructs knowledge, and ‘Mann Di Banavat’, the make-up of the mind.
Purity is inward. Gurbani is unsentimental about outward religion that leaves the mind unchanged:
ਮਨਿ ਮੈਲੈ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਮੈਲਾ ਤਨਿ ਧੋਤੈ ਮਨੁ ਹਛਾ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
Transliteration Man mailai sabh kichh mailā tan dhotai man hachhā na hoe.
Translation, editorial When the mind is soiled, everything is soiled. Washing the body does not make the mind clean.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
The mind as the decisive ground. Japji Sahib puts it in four words: man jītai jag jīt.
ਮਨਿ ਜੀਤੈ ਜਗੁ ਜੀਤੁ ॥
Transliteration Man jītai jag jīt.
Translation, editorial Overcome the mind, and the world is overcome.
Babaji’s katha of this pauri
‘Conquering’ here is not suppression by force. The context in Japji is the yogi's outward emblems, which the Guru reinterprets as inner qualities. The mind is won by being turned: towards Naam, the Shabad and the Guru, until it recognises its source.
Babaji’s kathaLinked by the titles of the recordings and videos.
Explore Babaji’s katha
Katha of the Gurbani quoted here
Videos
ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਉਡੀਕ। ਭਜਨ ਅਤੇ ਭੋਜਨ ਸਹਿਜ ਨਾਲ। ਫੁਰਨੇ ਖਤਮ ਕਰਨੇ। ਗੁਰੂ ਧਾਰਨ ਕਰਨਾ। ਇਕਾਂਤ ਦੇ ਲਾਭ। ਆਪਣਾ ਕੌਣ ਹੈ ?
ਮਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਾਸ਼ਨਾਵਾਂ। ਅਨਮੋਲ ਬਚਨ ਅਤੇ ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਕਥਾ ਵੀਚਾਰ ਸ੍ਰਵਨ ਕਰੋ ਜੀ। Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਜਨਮ ਮਰਨ ਦਾ ਡਰ। ਮਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਾਸ਼ਨਾਵਾਂ। ਪਰਖ । Anmol Bachan Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal ll
ਕ੍ਰੋਧ ਦੀ ਅੱਗ। ਮੰਗਣਾ ਕੀ ਹੈ? ਮਨ ਦੇ ਫੁਰਨੇ। ਸਭ ਦਾ ਸਤਿਕਾਰ। ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਬਚਨ। ਗੁਰੂ ਕੇ ਲੰਗਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਵਾ ਮਣ ਘਿਓ?
ਸਾਡੇ ਪਾਪ ਮੁਆਫ਼ ਕਰੋ l ਮਨ ਦੀ ਭੁੱਖ। ਸੁ਼ੁਭ ਗੁਣਾਂ ਦੇ ਧਾਰਨੀ l ਧਰਮ ਕੀ ਹੈ। Sant Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਗੁਰਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਟਹਿਲ। ਮਨ ਦੀਆਂ ਲਹਿਰਾਂ। ਲੰਗਰ ਛਕਣ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਜਾਪ ? Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
Recordings with this in their title
Series on this theme
- ਧੰਮਪਦ Dhammapada5 recordings
- ਮਨ ਬੁੱਧ ਆਤਮ Man, Budh, Atam (mind, intellect, self)9 recordings
- ਪਾਤੰਜਲ ਯੋਗ Patanjali Yog Shastar6 recordings
- ਯੋਗ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ Yoga Sutras (Yog Darshan)21 recordings
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
How this connects
- ਹਉਮੈ Haumai
The mind's desires (vasna) are haumai wanting things for itself. Turning the mind towards its source is how haumai is quietened. Ang 441
- ਮਾਇਆ Maya and Vairag
Maya works through the mind: forgetting, attachment and the love of ‘the second’ are movements of a mind that has lost its source.
- ਗਿਆਨ Gian and Atma
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 desire is quietly running your days at the moment?
- When you sit quietly for a minute, what does your mind reach for first?
- What would it mean to treat your mind as Light that has forgotten itself, rather than as an enemy?
A practice for this week
Sit for five minutes with simran. Each time a thought pulls you away, do not scold yourself: note where the mind went (a worry, a plan, a desire) and return. At the end, write down the three places it went most. Over a week they will show you your vāsnā more honestly than any theory.
Primary sourcesGurbani, and the texts Babaji has given katha on.
Go deeper
Gurbani on this page
Texts Babaji has taught on this theme
- ਧੰਮਪਦ Dhammapada5 recordings
- ਮਨ ਬੁੱਧ ਆਤਮ Man, Budh, Atam (mind, intellect, self)9 recordings
- ਪਾਤੰਜਲ ਯੋਗ Patanjali Yog Shastar6 recordings
- ਪ੍ਰਬੋਧ ਚੰਦ੍ਰ ਨਾਟਕ Prabodh Chandar Natak33 recordings
- ਯੋਗ ਦਰਸ਼ਨ Yoga Sutras (Yog Darshan)21 recordings
Found something mistaken or missing? Write to satnam@harkhowal.com.