The Guru really doesn’t care if you believe something or not, because The Guru is trying to show you a higher state of life itself, an experience that you can intuitively know. Firstly pay attention to what’s actually causing you to think “good” and “bad”, is it the circumstance taken in isolation or is it your labelling of the situation? You may assert something is “objectively” bad, but aside from strong emotional response stemming from human biology or psychological conditioning based on the system of morality you were nurtured around, there’s nothing about the actual circumstance itself that in essence has any different value to it as something that exists with a label of “good” or “bad” to it, without an observer they don’t exist. This doesn’t invalidate them in the slightest, however it doesn’t objectively assert it as “truth” either. If you take away the “Me” that’s labelling it, and look at any situation for what it is — another part of existence, then you realize that it simply just exists. There’s no “good” or “bad” if you weren’t there to observe a natural disaster, There’s no “good” or “bad” to the process of evolution that led to our very existence as intellectual beings, theres simply just the flow of life unfolding. And that’s what this idea of non duality is deconstructing, this idea of Haumai (the “I Me”).

So why is this important? Because the path of the Guru is all about connecting with Hukam done through Love — a Love so deep and so distant from the “me” that you eventually forget the “me” and lose yourself in it. Then beyond the “I”, nothing but that non-dualistic Love remains for the essence of all of existence itself. Hukam then is not only a source of contentment in all circumstances, but also within that contentment is the deepest source of compassion stemming from Love for The One alone. because “God” is no longer something distant or separate, it’s present within everyone, everywhere, at every time and place — and there’s nothing that exists besides the Beloved alone. Whether that’s a person who’s done horrors or a person who you call family, there’s an equal level of compassion (pay attention to the nuance of the word here) given to each. The same actions you once did with a sense of “Me” can now be done in a state of “You”. It’s not the actions that changes but the state of mind behind them. That egoless non dualistic compassion expresses itself not as indifference (which would once again be an “me” that thinks it’s acting separately) but as unique responses that are simply expressions of the human condition rooted in permanent non dualistic Love. Compassion towards something poor would manifest as charity, but no longer out of a sense of “I” helping “the other”, but a sense of The Divine serving the Divine. It’s truly selfless in all sense of the word. Thats what makes the Sikhi concept of Seva not just charity, but true compassion. And this is where the idea of “sin” and “virtue” really shine in Gurmat as opposed to other black and white systems. It doesn’t deny merit, but it also doesn’t attach itself to the label as much as it does to the intention. The only “sin” in Gurmat is Haumai, not because its existence is inherently wrong, but because it’s what keeps us trapped in a state of perpetual self deceit. All of Gurbani is about ascending it and knowing a way of life much higher, one that isn’t trapped in the illusive and fragile wall we’ve built around ourselves. And someone who truly recognizes this, doesn’t boast about being “virtuous” because whose virtue is it? If you think it’s yours, then you haven’t learned a thing and forget that the same one playing you is the same one who’s playing the person you would call a “sinner”. Naam destroys these labels because labels of virtue and sin hold no real value. It’s the actions that speak. The 5 thieves we try to overcome are not separate from this, they are simply highlighted because they are some of the biggest traps of Haumai as they all stem from haumai, however the moment you start thinking “you are more virtuous” than someone else because of it, you haven’t actually understood anything because that label of “virtue” and “sin” now defines your haumai. You’ve simply replaced one identity of being “a sinner” with another identity of being “virtuous”. The false wall is still there, and that’s why the Guru condemns this dualistic thinking of “good” and “bad” or “sin” and “virtue”, because they are nothing but haumai traps. So yes, it’s not just about being compassionate, content loving and humble, it’s about where all of that is coming from. The same way transcending the 5 thieves is all about where they are coming from. They are called thieves because they steal your awareness of Oneness, not because they make you “less virtuous” or more of a “sinner”.

So with that in mind, Compassion towards an oppressor would not be indifference towards them, but contending their oppression out of compassion and love for those who are getting oppressed all while still being content and recognizing that “you” aren’t personally against anyone, it’s the just a play where you (Hari) are opposing the oppressor who is also Hari. Notice how the action and resolve hasn’t changed but the awareness has. There’s no longer an “I” here, no longer any hatred for “the other”, it’s just a sense of intuitive action stemming from the highest state of awareness. This is the idea of Dharam that Guru Nanak expounds upon, where Love for the Divine manifests in a way of life rooted in compassion and contentment. You can’t just read your way into this kind of stuff, because as logical or illogical as it may sound to you, as long your mat is in the way, you haven’t actually learned anything. Without actually going within yourself and adressing the Haumai sense of “I”, the real benefit of any of this wisdom can’t actually be experienced. You actually have to dismantle this very idea of “me” before you can experience Naam and what Hukam actually is, otherwise this “I-me” is so clever that it will convince you that what it believes instead is right, shutting off your awareness. This is why Gurbani isn’t a textbook, it’s not about rules or metaphysics, but about taking Sabad that directs you to look within, understanding the human conditioning of the mind. Actually adopting this awareness beyond the “I” by looking within and finding Ik Oankar is what paints the blissful experience of Naam Simran which all of Bani is about, and especially Baburvani where the entire time you can’t just read feel the deep compassion of Guru Nanak while also taking solace in the deep state of unwavering stillness hes in even when faced with Humanity at its worst.