With heartfelt thanks to all the contributors who have taken time to write and share with us the following, very informative and loving messages. They have been submitted over the last six years and are not in any special order of time.

Remember that if you wish to leave a reply for any of the contributors please do so at the bottom of the page.

DHAN GURU NANAK~ ~DHAN GURU NANAK~~DHAN GURU NANAK~

SILENCE

Aug 14 2016

What is silence?
We defined silence is the absence of any kind of stimulation, internal or external, and more specifically, as the stillness and the sanctuary within us that we can access anytime.

“Within your there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself” Herman Hesse

Why is silence important?

Spending time in silence is crucial because “silence is the language of God”, and the place where true growth occurs. Bauji constantly stresses the importance of intuition and this is developed through Simran, sangat, and “chup Preet”-silent divine love.

God is always inside waiting to talk to us and give us answers and guidance, and yet, we never seem to be able to make the time to listen to what He has to say. We need to make ourselves vacuums-empty ourselves of our desires and be still in order to be able to hear something beyond the incessant chatter of our neurotic minds.

Samagams increase our time spent in this sanctuary of silence; however, we need to do our homework and continue to pursue silence when we return to our everyday lives.

How can we incorporate silence in our daily lives?

Even starting with 5 minutes can make a huge difference, and slowly we can increase those time intervals. It’s important to make a plan and stick to it, especially as our lives start to get busy with school and other commitments, and discipline ourselves to follow through with it.

We can also strive to lessen the stimulation we expose ourselves to in our daily lives (such as the external stimuli we discussed in previous webinars). This includes everything we perceive through our 5 senses-which is why we close our eyes and remain quiet during gupt simran-and we should strive to emulate the same conditions when finding time for silence outside of samagams. The end goal is obviously not just external silence, but that can help us achieve our ultimate goal of internal silence. Another strategy is setting up “triggers” for ourselves-such as right before eating or when going to sleep-just little reminders to close our eyes, breathe, and feel gratitude for the love that lies within us.

Gurbani describes this method of communication with God as “parsana”-getting a glimpse of the divine.
We’re all made of the same stardust, just a minuscule collection of particles living in this vast, vast universe, and yet, the same force that created everything also lies within us. All we need to do is take moments our of our day to say, “God, I’m listening”, and develop our relationship with our True Self.

By putting these strategies into practice we can experience what Joel Goldsmith describes as the “Thunder of Silence”, and cultivate love and other divine qualities within us. Bhai Vir Singh describes the beautiful place where silence can take us in his poem, “Beyond Time”.

————
Beyond Time

My heart won’t listen to me
It has reached a place-
A timeless abode
In its wondrous minarets
Without past or future
It loses its self;

It returns dripping in love, but
Does not know or say anything.

-Bhai Vir Singh, Cosmic Symphony

RM

DHAN GURU NANAK~ ~DHAN GURU NANAK~~DHAN GURU NANAK~

The Flawed Idea

Summer 2016

Let us ponder and explore the standard of women beauty today.
From lipstick, to foundation, to eye-shadow, and hairspray.
The aspirations to look lighter, “prettier”, and blemish-free.
Something struck me as a lack of awareness of spiritual reality.

When society judges a woman, it’s about their appearance.
Our values and actions regarding the double standard lack coherence.
We use intelligence to attribute men, but we attribute women by their look.
We’re hypocritical because we look at a cover, and proceed to judge the book.

Now, in Sikhi, we are told to focus and strengthen the inner soul.
By repeating his Divine name, we tame our desires with mind control.
But if we focus on beauty, what are we really doing?
If we apply makeup and get piercings, what ideology are we pursuing?

That ideology is about decorating the body, when the jewel is inside.
That ideology is about increasing self-esteem to feel temporarily dignified.
That ideology is about “trimming” the beauty, “powdering” future ashes, “polishing” what is already pure, “cutting” a ribbon of divine love, “tweaking” a perfect creation, and simultaneously “shaping” our fate.

What if we replaced this ideology, with the wisdom of our Guru’s.
The body was never meant for such things, as we continue to misuse.
This body was a vessel for which beauty lied within.
The soul was the aspiration for enhancement, not the skin.

It’s so much easier to make the outside more appealing.
We can hire individuals or to attract others, we might get more revealing.
But that’s why I adore a true Kaur, because her personality wasn’t easy.
Her strength, her inner contentment, her detachment…
Approaching her to talk, will get me quite queasy.

Now, if we followed Gurbani…

we’d perform similar actions we do today with a different focus.
We’d “shave” our ego off,
We’d “tweak” our personalities,
We’d “curl” our tongues from impure speech,
We’d “wax” our soul, not our legs for the beach,
We’d “trim” time spent on materialism,
We’d “shape” our destinies, as this is truthful spiritual activism.

Now, I know I am not a female, and “men are lucky”.
“They don’t have to do what we do”, and they never feel “yucky”.
Now here’s some perspective for you:

I treated my dastaar as a crown, and other girls treated it like a towel.
Women wouldn’t talk to me because they thought my language was “growl”.
When my beard came in, I felt like a millionaire!
Until those same girls asked me if what was on my face was pubic hair.

Gursikh men get attacked more and get mistaken for Osama.
But no fret, I just remember the wise words of Dalai Lama.
“In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher”.
Ignorance, doubt, and prejudice are my preachers.

Most girls and guys in this day and age cut their hair for other guys and girls.
They settle for mere shells and neglect the internal pearls.
My turban, beard, and hair are signs of respect to my Gurus.
Women watched their children get dropped onto spears, as their blood oozed.

Those women repeated Waheguru, they did not give up their belief.
They sacrificed for Sikhi, they did not allow that to become grief.
This is love, strength, and sacrifice. This is the result of inner beauty.
No attachment, no grief, only faith remained. This was their fiduciary duty.

And lo and behold:
We were the beneficiaries, and here we are giving into the same society.
We resulted in anxiety and notoriety, from what we thought was propriety.
It can be argued that “so what? I like how I look, it makes me happy”!
The truth is, your ego is what’s happy, not your soul.

GT

DHAN GURU NANAK~ ~DHAN GURU NANAK~~DHAN GURU NANAK~

Nov 19 2014

Stop Going to Samagams

Probably not something you might expect to read on this blog. But do continue reading.

JB

~DHAN GURU NANAK~ ~DHAN GURU NANAK~~DHAN GURU NANAK~

Nov 19 2014

If You’re a Keertani, You’re Not Doing Keertan

~DHAN GURU NANAK~ ~DHAN GURU NANAK~~DHAN GURU NANAK~

February 8 2014 - New contribution by RS

Right click on each link below to open in a new window.

The Role of Thought

Your Words and Thoughts Have Physical Power

 

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru

I have come across a few things that would be nice to share:) The first is a poem a friend of my kindly shared with me yesterday:from the book called: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Every…

There is a quote very similar to (Power of Thoughts by Khoji).

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind…If you change your mind you can change your life.”

From the same book is the following poem:

Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor Iron bars a cage;

Minds innocent and quiet take

That for an hermitage;

If I have freedom in my love

And in my soul am free,

Angels alone, that soar above,

Contributed with much love by RS 2

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru

To my beloved Sadh Sangat,

I had a dream. This was no ordinary dream and I knew it wasn’t an ordinary dream because everything felt so REAL. It felt too real. I could feel the emotions, the vibes and just the atmosphere of the dream. Now, I have never been to a Dodra samagam in my entire life but in this dream, I woke up inside a Dodra samagam. I looked around and saw that I was sitting with the sangat, and there was Bauji. He was laughing and smiling and I saw all the joy in his eyes. I turned and looked all around me and everyone was in such high spirits. It was beautiful. It was like the sangat made one whole mahapurakh together and I had the honour of sitting in the middle of it. I turned back around to look at Bauji again, but his face had changed. It was the same clothes and the same feeling, but this time the face had changed and instead of Bauji’s face, I saw a singh veerji’s face! I turned back around to see if anybody noticed what I had noticed, but the sangat remained just as strong and was not moved by this one bit. I turned back around to where Bauji once was, and instead of the first sangat veerji, I saw another sangat veerji’s face! I thought this was some kind of joke or a hilarious dream. Every time I blinked or turned, the face of Bauji would change, and the faces that were shown, were all faces from people I have seen in Sangat. After all the blinking and turning, Bauji returned and he had his original face and I felt so much better. But he came to me and said “Everyone in this sangat is connected, we are all one.” Right after he said this, I woke up. What he said and what I felt in the dream made such a big difference to my thoughts on sangat. This sangat, these people, we are all ONE and together we make one extremely powerful mahapurakh.

Dhan Guru Nanak

Anonymous

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru

Potential. Destination.

What is it with these words? We hear them in sports, in education, in careers. We hear them in dreams, in aspirations, in ambitions.

I want to “maximize my potential”. I want to travel to a “tropical destination”. But just as we – or at least I do this – so just as I quickly skim over very meaningful words in Gurbani, assuming I know what they’re saying, often we do the same with very meaningful English words, because we’re so used to hearing them in clichés, and contexts that cheapen what these words really mean.

Let’s start with the word Potential. (We`ll save destiny for another blog post)

Potential has a dictionary definition, but let’s ignore that for now. Let’s think of the word, and think about what we know about it. I don’t know about you, but to me, I think of “doing the best I can do, being the best I can be.” It’s the word we use to describe the “distance” that exists between who we are today and who we could possibly be.

This is all well and good. But we’re missing something VERY CRUCIAL in this bare bones definition. We can go much deeper. So let’s try to do that with this word “Potential”.

The first part of the word is “potent”, and adjective. For something to be potent, it means that when it’s exposed to a certain environment, a reaction takes place. If it is sensitive to a catalyst, and is exposed to a catalyst, then a transformation occurs, and the “thing” in question is now different than it was before the reaction. It’s like making your cheese pizza with a spicy sauce. 😉 It’s kin of the same, but somehow it’s just been made better.

Without harping on words too much, I think we all know where I’m going with this. Bauji’s written 6 english lekhs and 132 punjabi lekhs, all of which either talk about the sangat we keep, the simran and seva we do, and how to avoid doubt, delusions, and bad thoughts and company. We’ve heard about experiments on what happens to the molecular makeup of water when exposed to positive music, negative music, and everything in between. Depending on our environments and our company, changes can — and as far as I’m concerned, they DO – take place.

So what’s this all got to do with “potential”? Oftentimes, whether it’s pressure from our parents or our teachers, or our bosses, we’re told that we should be maximizing our potential in school, at work, and in sports. We know what that ends up meaning. Study for longer hours. Practice your three-point shot more. Show up early, and network with your coworkers and bosses. Put in overtime. All these things can cause a positive change in your abilities, and can “take you to the next level”

So how can we “maximize our potential” in sangat? In spirituality? We need to expose our spiritual selves to environments that foster these TRANSFORMATIONAL changes. We need to study more hours, practice more spiritual three-pointers, so that we, too, can reach “the next level”.

And we’re already so close! First of all, we have our Sadh Sangat. We have not one, but TWO spiritual teachers in Mataji and Bauji. And then, biggest of ALL, the King of All Kings, the Master of the Universe, the Eternal Message, Dhan Guru Granth Sahib Ji, our beloved Gurbani, the love letters of 6 Gurus and 31 of the greatest saints and bhagats this world has ever seen!!! Our Beloved Guru!!! How LUCKY can someone get???

It’s like we’ve been told there’s billions and billions of dollars of gold somewhere. Then we’ve been given thousands of motivated friends who want to help us find that gold. Then we’ve been given 2 Sherpas (2 guides) who know precisely where that gold is, and can take us there.. THEN we’ve even been given the map with all of the warnings, motivations, and secrets we need to find it. We have it ALLL in our hands!

We just need to be dedicated to the route. We need to be dedicated to the map and to our guides. We need to study the map. We need to know what to watch out for, and how to protect ourselves against the things that will inevitably try to hurt us. We need to develop a relationship with our journey. We must take support in Sadh Sangat, listen to the instructions of our Mahapurakhs… our Beloved Mahapurkhs who gave us sooooo much love and inspiration; who led us to the feet of our Guru, our Enlightener, our Remover of Darkness, Guru Granth Sahib Ji. We need to read and try to understand and implement the lessons of Gurbani in our lives… We need to pray for the strength to undertake all of these blessed blessed activities; pray for the protection against our own egos and the other evils that may bring us down.

Then – and only then – will we BEGIN to maximize our spiritual potential.

Dhan Guru Nanak

Dhan Guru Nanak

Dhan Guru Nanak

The Divine Guru is the Image of peace, truth and wisdom. The Divine Guru is the Philosopher’s Stone - touching it, one is TRANSFORMED.

Touching the philosopher’s stone, they become the philosopher’s stone, which TRANSFORMS lead into gold; O Lord, they become pleasing to your mind.
The Guru is the Philosopher’s Stone; by His touch, iron is TRANSFORMED into gold.

Philosopher’s stone produces another philosopher’s stone i.e. from Guru emerges disciple and the same disciple eventually becomes a virtuous guru. I am sacrifice unto such Holy Congregation (which brings about such transformation)

JB

 

waheguru waheguru waheguru wahecguru waheguru waheguru waheguru

Contributed by RS 2

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru

Socrates, Rumi, and Criticism

We’re animals. It’s shocking to me, since I’ve been coming to sangat for more than 20 years now, and I’m still so very animalistic. My consciousness is animalistic, my actions are animalistic. Only rarely does Guru Nanak forgive me once in a while and show me what life can be like if I weren’t so animalistic; of course, shortly thereafter, I forget these lessons, and go back to my animalistic self. If only I could harness the power of my Mahapurakhs, if only I had the true faith and the true love that Guru Nanak wants us to have. Then, maybe, I would be spared from this animalistic consciousness. Alas, I fight the battles I fight for a reason.

Animalistic consciousness is a dangerous state of mind. One aspect that I’ve tried to work on over the past couple of years is my response to criticism. I’ve often been criticized by my parents, my teachers, my siblings, my friends, and my mentors and role models. I’ve tried to slow down the speed of my thoughts when I’m in the midst of being criticized, and if nothing else, at least in this one part of life, I feel that Guru Nanak has helped me make some minor strides, through His bani, and through various other messages and messengers.

“Know Thyself” – Socrates

One lesson I’ve learnt is that criticism is rarely totally unfounded. Perfection might be unattainable, and as a result, some criticisms may be unfair relative to others, but at the end of the day, most criticisms are totally valid, even when they come from someone who says it in spite or in enmity. If we take care to focus on the message being conveyed and not the way it was said, then we can make improvements in our lives.

This path that we’re on is one of continuous improvement. Gurbani very clearly says that we need to reach a state of mind where we realize – and not just acknowledge – God in our own Selves, as well as everywhere around us. We all know that God is in each of us, but I for one will definitely admit to having no clue as to where He is in me. I haven’t realized Him in me, because I haven’t put in enough time or effort to do that inward Khoj, and I’ve chosen to stay stuck in certain places, which have probably stunted my spiritual growth. I know He’s with me somewhere; I just haven’t realized Him.

Guru Nanak sends us the messages we need to hear, and sometimes the messages we need to hear are difficult to absorb because we don’t really want to hear them. But if our path is one of continuous self-improvement, then not only do we have to accept the idea that all criticism is an opportunity for growth and learning, but that we also have to be very well aware of where we are presently in order to absorb that criticism. In other words, if we don’t know where we are as individuals, then we can’t set goals on where we want to be and what we want to become. If we don’t know what we want to become in some detail, then it’s hard to interpret criticism in the right way. A young basketball player doesn’t know how to react to a coach who tells him to be a better shooter if he never chooses to realize that he could be a better shooter.

Instead, often, our animalistic consciousness rebels against criticism. We refuse to accept the opportunity presented to us, and we view criticism solely as a negative experience. Our inner dog barks at criticism like it is the unwanted mailman, thus scaring away potential future opportunities for growth. The point of accepting criticism is not to become slaves of what others want you to be, no! ; rather, it’s to view criticism as an opportunity to become what you have the potential to become.

The Dog Problem ­– Rumi

Now, what if a dog’s owner

Were not able to control it?

A poor dervish might appear: the dog storms out.

The dervish says, “I take refuge with God

When the dog of arrogance attacks,”

And the dog’s owner has to say,

“So do I! I’m helpless

Against this creature even in my own house!

Just as you can’t come close,

I can’t go out!”

This is how animal energy becomes monstrous

And ruins your life’s freshness and beauty.

Think of taking this dog

Out to hunt! You’d be the quarry.

This is a beautiful way of explaining what the animalistic consciousness does to us. Not only does it scare away others, it prohibits our True Selves from coming out! Our own selves become confined by the arrogance and ignorance of our animalistic consciousness, reducing our ability to have our soul soar into the Aatmic Manddal, the Spiritual Realm. Instead, we become basic individuals guided and defined by our animalistic consciousness, focussing on the false beauties and pleasures of the world.

Ros na Kaahu Sang Karoh

Aapan Aap Beechaar

Hoey Nimaana Jag Raho

Nanak Nadri Paar

JB

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru