Potential. Destination.

4/19/20114 min read

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

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).