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:

(i) 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.)

(ii) Mitthat neeveen Nanaka gunn changiayeean tatt. (470)
(The essence of all virtues is humility.)

(iii) 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.)

(iv) 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
               (Intuning of mind with the Divine bliss):

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.)

7. Following the words of the Holy is the highest form of meditation:

One can easily swim across the ocean of the world with the words of the Guru on his lips. He can elevate himself to a higher pedestal, if he is blessed by the holy men:

Santau sagar paar utareeye
Je ko bachan kamaavei santan ka
Sau Gurparsadi tareeye (747)
(O Saints, cross over the world-ocean. One who practices the Teachings of the Saints, by Guru's Grace, is carried across.)

Bhai Lehna followed Guru Nanak in letter and spirit - so much so that he got transformed from an ordinary trader to a God-conscious man. He became one with Him and attained a higher state of being. Finally he was anointed Guru.

8. Always look for what is good in others and what is unsavory in your own self:

 

Sheikh Farid opines that a wise man should not look for deficiencies in others:
 
Farida je tu akkal lateef kaale likh naa lekh
Aapanre girbaan mein sir neevan kar dekh (1378)
(Farid opines that a wise man should not look for deficiencies in others. He should look within his own self and see what he himself is.)
  
Hum nahee changae buraa nahee koye Pranvat Nanak taare soey (728)
(Anyone, who believes that he is not good and none other is bad, overcomes the turbulence in his mind.)

9. Service ennobles a man and purifies his mind. It imbues a man with humbleness and enjoins him to His Word:

Selfless service is of three types:

(i) To serve materially:

Ghaal khaaye kichh hathon de Nanak raah pachhane se (1245)
(The Guru ordains that a man must give some part of his earnings in charity. This is the path of righteousness.)

(ii) Physical service:

Bin Sewa dhrig hath pair hoar nehfal karni (Bhai Gurdas)
(Without selfless service, cursed are the hands and feet, and useless are other deeds.)
Physical service is greater than material service. A man must always seek the company of the pious and the saintly. Didn’t Guru Amar Das render selfless service to his master at the age of sixty-two?

(iii) Inner service:

No doubt, the material and physical services purify a man’s mind. But a truly blessed spirit is the one, who is completely immersed in his Lord through Word (Shabad Guru).
How aptly Bhagat Namdev sums up man’s duties in the following words:

Haath Paanv Kar kaam Sab Cheet Niranjan naal (1376)
(Doing worldly deeds remain in touch with the Lord)
He alone reaches the Pinnacle of spiritual bliss who keeps climbing the stairs of life step by step.

10. Never shudder away from performing selfless service even if you have to pay a heavy price:
11. Follow the principle of simple living and divine thinking:

According to Gurbani, simple living means to remain humble and thankful to God, who provides everything for the basic needs of all. Thus one should lead the life according to the divine law as enunciated in Guru Granth Sahib:

Chhaadan bhojan kee aas naa kar-ee achint milai so paa-ay (1013)
(One should not desire to wear costly attractive dresses and eating sumptuous foods. He should rather be grateful for whatever God provides and be merry.)

1. Render selfless service dutifully without desiring any rewards as if it is the divine order to achieve the ultimate goal of life which is to see one-in-all and all-in-one and feel privileged:

Hau moorakh kaarai laa-ee-aa Naanak har kammai. (449)
(I am just a fool, O Nanak, but the Lord has appointed me to perform His service.)
Leave success or failure to the Almighty and never desire the fruits in return:
Karam karat hovai nihkaram tis baisno kaa nirmal dharam (274)
(Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav.)
According to Hindu philosophy, this is called Karma Yoga as enunciated by Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Gita.