1. Kartar nu milan di sachi khitch

(Longing to merge with the Almighty)

Just as a person has immense craving to dress himself well and eat sumptuous food, similarly if he has the same amount of urge within to be Divine, he will certainly follow the Divine path to become so:

Mil mere pareetamaa jee-o tudh bin kharee nimaanee (244)

(Meet me, O my Dear Beloved. Without You, I am totally dishonored.)

2.Antehkaran nu saaf karnaa

(Cleanliness of the inner-self)

Janam janam kee is mann kau mal laagi kaala hoa siah. (651) (Human  mind  keeps  gathering  egoistic  dust  and  dirt from its innumerable past lives down  the  ages  and  becomes totally polluted with this dust.)

Guru Nanak shows us the wonderful way to purify the polluted mind.

Moot pleetee kaparh hoye deh sabun laee-a-i oh dhoye, Bharee-a-i matt papaan ke sang oh dhop-a-i naavein ke rang (4)

(As we wash our dirty clothes with soap to remove dirt, similarly we should also purify our egoistic mind with utmost love and devotion for meditation on the Divine Naam.)

3. Har roz Gurmat abhiyaas

(Reciting Gurbani and Divine Naam everyday to tread on the Divine path)

It means a daily recitation of Gurbani and Divine Naam with an unpolluted mind, complete love and devotion. One must wake-up at the ambrosial hour, at least three hours before sunrise. He must have his bath and should meditate on the Divine Naam. Then recite the five Baanis viz. Japji, Jaap Sahib, Sudha Swaeeye, Choupai and Anand Sahib. Thereafter, he should seek the Guru’s blessings in the presence of Sangat by listening to Shabad Kirtan in a Gurdwara. In the evening Rehras should be recited. Before retiring for the day, one must say the final prayer in the form of Kirtan Sohila. In between, he must keep reciting the Divine Naam all the time, while performing the worldly duties:

Haath panv kar kaam sab cheet Niranjan naal (1376)

(Your body should perform all worldly deeds the whole day, but let your mind with utmost devotion remain with the Immaculate Lord.)

One must earn his bread honestly and a tenth of his earnings (Daswandh) should be given for charitable purposes. All this should be followed as an act of faith and not a mere ritual. This is the discernable routine prescribed by the Guru and every Sikh should follow it religiously.

4. Four important principles to tread on the Divine path

Broadly there are four important principles to tread on the Divine path along with meditation and Divine Kirtan:

Ghaal khaa-a-i kitchh hathahu dei. Nanak raah pachhaaneh se. (1245)

(Only  he,  who  works  hard  for  honest  livelihood  and shares  a  part  of  his  earnings  –  minimum  10%  –  with others, recognizes the Divine path.)

Mitthat neeveen Nanaka gunn changiayeean tatt. (470)

(The essence of all virtues is humility.)

Farida je tu akkal lateef kaale likh naa lekh, aapanrhe gireevaan meih sirr neevaan kar dekh. (1378)

(If you have been blessed to be intelligent, do not  perform bad deeds. Rather, introspect humbly about the bad deeds performed earlier.)

Daya jaane jee kee kitchh punn daan kare. (468)

(Be kind to others, perform good deeds and donate something.)

Spiritual awareness imbues a person with Divine humility and he sees one in all and all in one.

5. Worldly education is enhanced by reciting Gurbani and Divine Naam

Academic pursuits and recitation of Gurbani can both be pursued simultaneously:

“I pursued higher studies doing M.A. and LLB., with utmost hard work and difficulty. At that time I was not aware of reciting Gurbani as a daily prayer, but at Harvard University, I had to write a thesis on a very difficult and different subject as narrated by a very eminent poet, but I did it with ease because by this time, with the blessings of Sant Attar Singh Maharaj, my faith in Gurbani was absolute and I had begun to seek Almighty’s grace. I would get up at the ambrosial hour and follow faithfully Rahit Maryada, i.e., reciting the Divine Naam and Gurbani as a daily routine. My academic achievements then became more outstanding than ever before. The Guru eases difficulties of all those persons, who follow the Divine path”:

Prabh kai simran gian dhian tatt budh (262)

(In the remembrance of God are knowledge, meditation and the essence of wisdom.)

6. Mann di sehaj avasthaa

Divine peace and equipoise can be acquired only by the continuous recitation of the Divine Naam with every breath:

“Sant Attar Singh Maharaj used to say that one can’t control the mind with forced rituals: just as a snake, kept in forced captivity of a casket, bites suddenly on the opening of the lid. Similarly, the mind commits so many sins when free. It can be controlled through regular recitation of the Divine Naam with every breath, which leads to attainment of Divine peace.”

Hence one should recite the Divine Naam with every breath, while performing worldly duties.

Dum dum sadaa samaalata dum naan birthaa jaaye. (556)

(In every breath, he ever contemplates the Lord and not

a single breath of his passes in vain.)