Guru Nanak had believed that nature of mind of a human being is dependent on his affiliation. As the affiliation of man changes from the world to the divine, his nature also changes. Nanak had said that the best way to understand the nature of the mind is to understand an individual`s faculty. He had said that on cleansing the `man` or the mind it is possible to dedicate the life towards the divine. A pure mind fetches solace easily and does not wander about. On the other hand an impure mind invites death and continues with the cycle of birth and death. Thus the mind is not able to achieve emancipation.

In order to describe the nature of man, Nanak had discussed five concepts. Nanak had said that to conquer the man is to conquer the world. The word man used by Guru Nanak has no satisfactory English translation because man is a much wider concept within which the concept of mind can easily be encompassed. According to Nanak, the mind is the inner self or the inner sense. The mind has the capability to be a moral dictator and sometimes the inner sense dictates virtue and sometimes it dictates vice. The human mind is the seat of meditation according to Guru Nanak and if an individual dedicates ones life to meditation he is bound to get union with the Almighty. Nanak had said in order to receive enlightenment of the man it is necessary to praise the Lord and practice sincere meditation. On the contrary he had said that an impure and unrestrained mind remains a slave to all evil passions and in turn invites death. Thus, Nanak had emphasised that the heart or the inner self attains purity only when it is surrendered to the Almighty.

Nanak had said that it is Haumai which controls the mind of the regenerate individual and hence in turn dictates the pattern of an individual life. Haumai in ordinary words may mean ego. In this regard Nanak had said the result of the mind being controlled by the Haumai is devastating. The Haumai does not allow the mind to attain salvation. Under the influence of the Haumai a man gets firmly stuck to the cycle of transmigration. Nanak had said that an individual who is under the influence of Haumai fails to understand the nature of salvation and also fails to adhere to the words of the Lord. Instead he or she follows the sayings of his own mind and thus the mind of the individual gets filled with falsehood and evil impulses. According to Nanak as a manmukh or a person influenced by Haumai does not practice meditation in the name of God he or she moves towards sin.

The evil impulses and passions of human beings are the results of Haumai and these can prevent the mind from achieving salvation. The traditional evil impulses to which a human mind is subject to are lust, anger, covetousness, worldly attachments and pride. From these evil passions are generated evil actions. The evil actions in turn push the human mind into the cycle of transmigration which does not allow the individual to achieve salvation. According to Nanak an individual is saved from the effects of evil impulses by the grace of God. Thus Nanak had tried to say that only with the grace of Almighty can one emancipate from all evil actions and achieve salvation of the soul in the process.

Guru Nanak further explained that the world itself is Maya but it is not unreal but certainly temporary or impermanent in nature. Nanak had said that the world is impermanent in the sense that the world itself is perishable and at the same time none of the earthly qualities are carried by an individual after the physical death. Nanak had said that an individual who seeks fulfillment in worldly attachment is trapped by the evil of Maya. Nanak had said that succumbing to the worldly attachments and temptation is a sure means of separation from the Lord. Along with creating separation from the Lord, succumbing to Maya also does not allow an individual to come out from the cycles of birth and death. As Maya separates the individual from the Lord, it also deprives a man from serving the eternal truth or the Almighty. Thus Nanak believed that when an individual soul is preoccupied with Maya his or her heart is filled with falsehood and the soul is led astray.

Nanak had said that a person who follows the dictums of Haumai instead of following the words of the Lord certainly faces Death. By Death Nanak had not meant physical death of a person. He had said that following of ones Haumai, succumbing to Maya gives rise to Karma which leads the individual towards the transmigratory process of birth and death and according to the great Guru the constant coming and going brings about a separation with the Lord and separation with the Almighty is equal to Death. Hence it can be said that Nanak wanted to say that the fate of the regenerate man is separation from the Almighty.

Guru Nanak, the great Sikh guru, had said the way a person leads ones life dictates the achievement of salvation. He wanted to say that unless a mind is free from all evil impulses it is not possible to achieve salvation and in order to cleanse the mind from all kinds of temptation it is necessary to devote the mind towards the Almighty.