A very loving guru fateh Guru pyari sadh sangat jee,

I really missed being at the Sacramento samagam. Although I was engrossed in some family affairs my mind kept flitting to the sangat and what might be happening at that moment. I would then revert back to the present, and where I was and remind myself of the importance of being ‘fully present’ in whatever and where ever my thoughts have brought me to. So I fully immersed myself in the work at hand and tried to find peace with that thought.

Bauji’s ever green presence in my life - either through cherished memories, or through his Lekhs has been and continues to be monumental. Mataji, in turn reinforced his loving presence and still does. One of the many ways I have been blessed with, as a direct result of keeping the sangat of enlightened souls, is the awareness of the power of thoughts. Some of you might recall that we read a part of this lekh. Here is the link to it:

http://www.slideshare.net/jussrani/power-of-thoughts

(Even if you read one page a day (there are only 6), try to understand what it says. It is very powerful when applied in life - if you look in the post “Thinking about Thinking” there are audio links to the lekh too.

“As you sow, so shall you reap”

Sow a thought, reap an idea;

sow an idea, reap an action;

sow an action, reap a habit;

show a habit, reap a character;

sow a character, reap a fate;

sow a fate, reap a destiny”

The reason i bring up the topic of the power of thoughts is because it is very beautifully represented in the movie Avatar which is the rage nowadays. I rarely watch movies, but when i do it is carefully selected. I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to find affirmations of Bauji’s lekh on Power of Thoughts. Don’t worry, if you haven’t seen it, I am not going to give the plot away, but I will try to make some connections.

At its core, Avatar’s philosophy is not new; it is ancient, profound, and liberating. The word avatar represents a higher self - one which is more god-like.

Like mystics here on Earth, the Na’Vi (the indigineous people of Pandora) have an experience of unity of consciousness with other beings, all of which (themselves included) are really just manifestations of one Being or God, which they call Ai’wa.

The Na’Vi have a convenient plug, attached to their bodies at the end of their long pigtails (which to me showed the significance of long hair and its power) which physically unites them to other beings (such as horses, winged or otherwise) and to Ai’wa Herself/Itself.. Once this bond has been established, their mere thoughts can direct what ever they are riding. At this point I remembered - ah! the power of thoughts. You can do anything, but yes, you have to be connected with the source first.

In the Na’Vi cosmology, what’s really happening is that the Ai’wa in me is connecting with the Ai’wa in you. This is echoed in their greeting, “I see you”- which doesn’t mean ordinary seeing - it, really means “the God in me sees the God in you.” I see Myself, in your eyes.

How beautiful is that! So many lines in gurbani echo this. Can anyone think of them? Can you share?

Here is one:

ਸਭੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦੁ ਹੈ ਸਭੁ ਗੋਬਿੰਦੁ ਹੈ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਬਿਨੁ ਨਹੀ ਕੋਈ ॥

God is everything, God is everything. Without God, there is nothing at all.

If we are all one - then there is no individual self - it’s an illusion, a mirage.

“I” exists, sure, but only just like a wave on the ocean: here one minute, gone the next, and never apart from the ocean itself.

These ideas have important practical implication in my own life as i recognize that all my desires revolve around making my own wave bigger or more comfortable than others. I forget that I’m water. Only when the connection is made with the whole, and the ‘I’ disappears - even if it is momentary- one feels the impact of the energy that we are all made up of.

This concept is elegantly portrayed in the movie.

At one point, when the entire community prays in complete unison, connecting, becoming a whole I was reminded of how this very phenomenon happens when we are in a samagam or regular sangat, when we are all one, all concentrated - how the energy flows from one to the other. Bauji explains in one of his talks that we all bring our positive and negative vibrations to the ether, hence to sangat. At times when the positive vibrations overpower the negative ones we feel a powerful lift in our spirits - we fly on the wings of the giants.

Yes, I really missed the Divine congregation - would anyone like to send their loving thoughts about it?

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sangat

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sadh Jan

With warm Nanak Love