Kundalini Yoga Yogi

Aad Guray Nameh - A Mantra for all of my times

Aad Guray Nameh  / I bow to the primal truth;


Jugaad Guray Nameh  / I bow to the truth for all creation;


Sat Guray Nameh / I bow to the perfect truth;


Siri Guru Dev-ay Nameh / I bow to the great invisible truth.



All that is just to give you a few seconds in space and time to be late, because time you cannot change but you can be a little late—11 feet away. It’s called the principle of 11-feet distance. If a person can be delayed in such a way, so that in space and time, they have 11 feet, the accident or incident can be avoided. But it cannot be avoided more than four times. You must remember that. So there are four chances to be delayed by 11 feet. YOGI BHAJAN

I have been chanting this mantra for many years. It is one of the most beautiful mantras that I know. I know of none, by the way, that are not beautiful. It is just that I have found this one to be a refuge in personally difficult times and in celebratory times as well. It seems to answer in me a need to be within the bliss within the self and this mantra, for me, answers that need.

It takes my soul, which has existed in some shape or form, throughout all time and it expresses my soul’s humility before the existence of God in that truth or wisdom. It places me (as I am within the divine) with all that has existed, will exist and now exists, before that truth of God. It enables me to acknowledge. my belief as timeless and perfect. And even those manifestations of the truth that are hidden from me due to my ignorance, laziness and ego, I can acknowledge as true.

“Yes,” you may say but what does all that mean in the real, toe stubbing, tear and fear inducing world. What does it mean and how does it apply to the exultation and inspiration we gain from it’s repeated use both as a protective cover and even as a weapon? 

Some personal history: It is very early in my ashram living experience, I had so far lived in a large airy room with six other men--two African-Americans, a psuedo-hippy like myself, an insurance agent(!) and one certifiably schizophrenic older gentleman who was later to drift into homelessness, alcoholism and drug abuse. We got along well, supportive of each other’s sadhana practice, accommodating personal habits unusual and familiar, and simply living a lifestyle together that was new and invigorating. Now, because of an impending marriage among two other ashram members, the “housing” situation was on its ear. As it all shook out I was assigned a lowly place in a dank but not exactly dirty basement area. I had never lived in such a “cave”! Yes I had lived in my car, a VW bus on a beach in California, that was a total luxury. I had stayed in tents at state parks (with others of my type) but never in a basement--I saw it as an insult to what had been a middle class upbringing. I remember wandering around that basement figuring out my next move which wasn’t going to be into that space!

Who did I know?
Where would I go?
What would I do now?
Aad guray nameh...
This is too much...
Jugaad guraay nameh...
In this...this place...this space
Sat guray nameh...
Why here? Why me? Why now?
Siree guru dayv-ay nameh...


This wasn’t exactly the temptation of Christ by Satan, of course not, but still ...
Aad guray nameh...
Why me...
Jugaad guraay nameh...
Why here?
Sat guray nameh...
I just can’t...
Siree guru dayv-ay nameh...
I needed some slack, some way out!

And it came! Of course the mantra persisted in its musicality, persisted in its inspiration (though I hardly knew its meaning) and finally persisted in breaking down my resistance to what ultimately became a very temporary move. I gave in, with what might have been a less than graceful expletive. I gave in finally I guess because the substance and vibration of a particular mantra won over a seemingly selfish desire for decorum and or comfort when in truth I was living in a state and a space that meant more to me than personal choice.

By the way, my next move in the ashram accommodation sweepstakes was to a tiny space, in which I literally could NOT stand up, under a stairway. I kid you not, I was in Harry Potter’s shoes without a magic wand or a snowy owl years before J.K Rowling even had the idea. Unlike Harry, I believed it to be a step up. After all, I did have Kundalini Yoga & Meditation and a teacher, who needed the other stuff?

I use the mantra in many ways, specific and general. During yoga, during almost any exercise regimen and during the making of prasad on a Sunday morning before gurdwara. There and then I can chant as off-key as I will as I stir and wait for the toasty smell that lets me know it is time for the explosive addition of boiling water and honey to the flour and ghee.

As that moment happens, in tremendous outburst of steam and spatters of ghee and flour it is redemptive as well. Amidst and as the result of conflict, sweet comfort emerges as does the sound of the mantra and its effects emerge from the need for that comforting.

And so, it is: before I turn the key of my car; before yoga classes (after the Adi Mantra); before I play the gong in Yoga Class; and many many other times of day, or hours, whether I am in difficulty or I am in comfort.

Aad Guray Nameh;


Jugaad Guray Nameh;


Sat Guray Nameh;


Siri Guru Dev-ay Nameh.

REMEMBER THE BREATH

“The breathing process
creates images in the mind.
  When breath becomes calm,
mind also becomes calm.”--
Yogakundalinyupanishad


   Inhale, exhale ... the breath, how often do we think of it, ...  consciously?  Yet breathing is an activity that goes on as does our heartbeat.  From the moment of our initial birth cry, when we leave the womb to the very instantaneous split second of our death, the breath is with us.  Flowing, stretching, gasping, throbbing through our existence, a continuous connected string that links every moment to the one before and the one after -- for the purposes of our life: eternal.

“I have a friend
    At the end
    Of the world.
    His name is a breath”  (Stevie Smith, English Poet)

   Each day, we breathe about 23,040 times and move around 438 cubic feet of air. It takes us about five seconds to breathe -- two seconds to inhale and three seconds to exhale
   At the same time it is an outward indicator and an interior regulator of our life.  As its beginning is involuntary so its suspension can only be temporary--a minute or two held in or out.  And when it stops, the end, our end, is complete and utter.  The oxygen still exists but the breath we once owned is gone.

Perfect
   The process, to breathe, to use the lungs to saturate the blood with oxygen and rid it of carbon dioxide, is so precisely beautiful, rational and direct, that to
neglect or take it for granted would be the worst kind of foolishness.  To regard it as an involuntary action, though to a great extent it is, would be similar to regarding the sun as merely an instrument for allowing us to go about our daily business without stumbling over things.  Both are much, much more.  And the breath can be regulated, invigorated, sharpened, paced, deepened and directed; all for our own purposes.  This is about that process that gives us the power and the knowledge to regulate our lives in a way we can only wish for with our conscious mind. Pranayama grants us the ability to go beyond the simple and perfect inhale and exhale.

A tool, a measuring stick 
   With yoga, we can use the breath to measure our physical and mental well being and consequently we can use it to alter and elevate our consciousness.  It can eliminate nervousness, introduce relaxation, enhance and expand creativity and promote healing in the body mind and soul.  And this is only the beginning.

To know & to use 
   With a steady awareness and control of the breath, we can turn our body into a vehicle for elevation, ecstasy and health. 

   Most assuredly, as the master says, "There is something that breathes in you and something that controls that breath as a gift of life and that's all you need . You don't need other gimmicks!" Yogi Bhajan

   In the context of yoga, Kundalini Yoga especially, the breath does much more than merely supply the body with adequate amounts of oxygen--as critical as that task is. (Think for a moment about the moment in evolutionary history when that amazing process finally came about as a function!)
There are other things as well! For example:
*In case of a fever, Sitali Pranayam will serve to cool you down.
*Sleep problems--Insomnia? Breathe through the left nostril to relax.
*Drowsiness at work--Breathe through the right nostril to energize yourself.
*Digestive problems? --Vatskar Kriya and the special breath associated with it will heal them.

These are but a few of the applications that can be dealt with by applying the solutions of the science of Pranayama as contained within the overall structure of Kundalini Yoga.
   Kundalini Yoga, in fact any school of yoga, will link the breath with each practice--pranayama is not a separate or independent form of yoga--rather it is integral to all forms!
 
“With each asana or position, with each meditation, mantra or mudra,
with every stretch or flex, you, the yogi, need to remember the breath.                       
Coordinate all your practices with the breath.  
Walk throughout your day with the breath.
Breathe deeply before you speak.
Exhale completely to listen.
And then relax.
Remember the breath.”
KPSK

   It is said, in the yogic scriptures that we are born with a certain number of breaths with which to live our lives. However many trillion aspirations that might be, when those breaths are expended, we die. It is also said in these same scriptures that each and every one of the pranayama techniques as postulated in the teachings of Kundalini Yoga has a wonderful advantage. That is, no matter how many times we inhale and exhale while practicing ANY of the breathing exercises, it is only counted as ONE breath against our lifetime total of breaths that we were born with! Imagine, each and every pranyama exercise lengthens as well as strengthens our lives

   This and subsequent blogs will be about the many uses of the breath and how Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan (who is quoted often) can alter and illuminate our health, expand self esteem and elevate our consciousness.  These applications can be applied to alter our physical systems in a positive manner.  These blogs will be a gathering together of some of the essential knowledge of yoga as it applies to the breath and:
1-will explain breath rhythms;
2-will chart exercises to enhance those rhythms and strengthen the breathing muscle groups;
3-will suggest specific kriyas or sets of exercises for expanding the lungs; and
4-will point to meditations that use the breath for higher consciousness and expanded awareness. (Though this true of the entire body of Yogi Bhajan’s teachings.) The purpose of this information is to enhance the student's life through the application of proven techniques.

Relax!
 “There is no God outside you. Neither was, nor is, nor shall be. It is all in you. The very breath of life is Divine.”  Yogi Bhajan
  
   The most natural breath is the relaxed breath--it is conscious yet it is easily done.  It is long and deep.  (There is a breath in Kundalini Yoga, Long Deep Breathing, which will be explained fully in an ensuing blog.)  Normally, the unconscious breath is shallow and based in the upper chest.  This however, leads to tension, stress and weak nerves.  If the breath is shallow, it is incomplete.  We do not absorb as much oxygen as we need and we do not rid our systems of enough carbon dioxide. (If you consider yourself environmentally conscious, remember that the trees and plants need that CO2!)
    The result of a shallow breath is a weakened and even poisoned system--burdened with excessive CO2, starving for O2, which equals poor health.  This does not just mean poor physical health but erratic mental health dominated by seemingly uncontrollable peaks and valleys and a barren spiritual life, shallow and unrewarding--close to nonexistent. In short, without a healthy body the mind and the spirit suffer.  A study of athletes cited in the Indian Journal of Medicine in 1994 states that   “The subjects who practiced pranayama could achieve higher work rates with  reduced oxygen consumption.”    In other words, they were able to make more efficient use of that oxygen.

More & Better  
   The 'average'  person who does not practice Kundalini Yoga has a lung capacity of about 250 cc.    According to Yogi Bhajan, it is not until that capacity is expanded to over 700 cc's (by using the tools supplied by yoga) that real and positive personality changes happen. 
   As you practice Kundalini Yoga you will note a change as your capacity goes beyond 500 cc--a more relaxed and positive feeling as you complete your yoga sessions.  This is a sign that you are making better use of your breath capacity.
   However that is only the beginning.  As you read these words about the breath you will constantly be reminded to pay attention to the breathing process.  How fortunate!  For as you read you will breathe deeply, the deeper the breath, the more knowledge you will absorb as the result of absorbing more oxygen.  It seems possible that you will benefit simply from reading the blog! So how much more can you gain from putting into practice some of the methods contained herein?

Real Progress
   I would suggest that you find a practice in the early parts of these writings--one that is simple and perhaps applicable to a problem or situation you may find yourself in.  Take that practice and do it all the while you are reading the blogs.  Each night before you go to bed, or in the morning when you wake up, or during a lunch break (before you eat), but daily and correctly.  See then if you haven't gained from as little as 3-11 minutes of Pranayama.  
   With that in mind, let us proceed!
  
"The only miracle in this world is you being alive; the only God in this world is your breath of life."  Yogi Bhajan

KUNDALINI YOGA IS SIMPLY MY REWARD FOR A SLIGHTLY MISSPENT YOUTH -- PRAYING FOR FORGIVENESS AND WISDOM.

   I was thinking (not meditating) in sadhana this morning ... of all the friends I've had since I was a kid, nine or ten years old or even less. And how some of them came to very bad ends. Not just poverty or sickness but jail (where one named Peter died, I don't know of what), and painful disease (another of kidney failure at age eighteen, due probably to a father who beat him regularly with an old fashioned razor strap) and that was the way of our neighborhood. There were gangsters named Vinnie and musicians named Louie (as in Armstrong) and Malcolm X lived not far up the hill and some other names you might not recognize but who were mean and brutal and even well known for other resasons.

   But here I am, at what some might estimate is an advanced age, practicing Kundalini Yoga in the early morning hours with some saints and sinners. How does that work exactly? How does it come to pass that someone who hung out with guys named Eddie, Bobby, Eugene (or "Huge" because he was outsized for a kid my age) and gets away with s..t that was pure luck I didn't wind up somewhere where they wound up.

   I mean, I started fires, stole stuff, harassed people who didn't look like me, or even if they did (look like me) I took their pants because he was a damn homo! Yeah a lot of stuff like that, not really bad but certainly not anywhere's near good for a kid who professed to be an altar boy serving at a daily 7 AM weekday mass with about a dozen old ladies in the church and Father Farrell whose neck looked like a slice of rare roast beef because he drank more of the wine than he blessed. Yeah I knew a bunch of priests and the worst among them was an alcoholic and smoker who almost killed himself smoking in bed.
   I guess that was one of the things I was somehow protected against. They were human beings, the ones I knew, but they were not the worst of them but certainly   were the unluckiest. I wasn't that. I was meant to grow up, abuse some drugs after abusing alcohol and myself. And then to find this excellent way to cope with what ever crap I had accumulated Akashically speaking of course.

   I mean, I turned my back on this whole 3HO lifestyle 6 months or a year before I found it. I termed it too weird, and pressed my foot on the gas so I could leave a broken down busload of Sikhs sitting by the side of the road (Interstate 10) on a hot day in Chico, California . My life had a little further to decline before I knew that yoga and meditation was a reasonable effort if you thought about it.

   So here I am, in sadhana this morning also going back to my Polish grandmother of 90+ years who only ate (or drank) barley broth the last 4 or 5 years of her life. How lucky was I? I don't know and I don't care to know either. I had more close calls and but for one misstep or wrongly chosen second I would have gone up in flames like others did. Instead I'm praying for forgiveness and wisdom.

 

Winter Solstice 2012

Instead of a long winded description of the experience, I would like to share some pictures and parts of the experience that go to make up Winter Solstice.

Of course, Winter Solstice is not just Winter Solstice any more. Prior to its start, we, Sat Inder and I, participated in an enlightening and inspiring KRI workshop for Lead Trainers. This is the group, some long time teacher trainers, others brand new and learning. We all got something out of it thanks to each other. 

Guru Sahai Singh, KRI Board Member had an informative and inspiring talk about prosperity and how we might help the Library of Teachings with additional support through our own prosperity. Sat Inder Kaur was a strong and helpful participant in the whole and small group sessions.

Soltice time is perfect for catching up with old friends and new. This picture above (of Akhal Sahai Singh) was taken through a window of the kitchen, thus the "screen" effect.

Flags at the site flew at half staff in reverence for the news from Newtown Connecticut. As much as we leave the real world behind and involve ourselves in Kundalini Yoga, White Tantric Yoga and the many events available there, it is difficult to keep some events out of our consciousness.

A good friend of ours here in Kansas City, Gard Hanselmann, is a frequent particpant in both Summer and Winter Solstices, in White Tantric courses in between and at our morning Sadhana at the ashram. In a short conversation in the evening langar lines we were both hard pressed to remember exactly how many solstices we had attended. They all blended together perfectly as powerful and uplifting experiences.

 

Ladies in the hospitality tent enjoyed eacher other's company and the comfy rockers that were available to everyone. Above (left to right) are Jai Jeet Sangheet Kaur, Hardarshan Kaur and HarNal Kaur.

 

Sat Inder kaur, right, admires Har Nal Kaur's skill with making videos and photos with her iPhone.

Morning Sadhana, below, need we say more?

Ahhh! Live music at morning sadhana, with Guru Ganesha Singh and friends.

A highlight of the daily sadhana was the warm and cozy Gurdwara that completed the morning. Here Sat Kirin Kaur delivered blissful kirtan for all participants. Siri Sevak Kaur is behind the Guru Sahib.

A graceful lighted pathway led disciples to the feet of the Guru. Gurdwara concluded each morning with the distribution of warm and sweet karah prasad. Always a highlight!

 

The kitchen was always a busy place (especially with attendance at Winter Solstice over 850) and always included smiling and enthusiastic sevadors.

(Above) Always veggies to be chopped and readied for the next meal. (Below) Here one kitchen karma yogi peels, sorts and chops ginger preparing hot and delicious Yogi Tea, served hot each morning. In addition to the variety of Yogi Teas (Milk, Soy or Almond Milk), there was also joint easing Golden Milk, done to tasty perfection.

 

There's always dust or sand from the feet of the saints to sweep out of the kitchen. The sevador(Harimandir Kaur) you see here was also responsible for the art in the Tantric/Sadhana Tent. (See below, a few pictures down.)

 

The kitchen was also a place for conversations with friends and of course a source of electical power for those of us who wished to stay connected to the Internet.

Lunch on non tantric days only seemed like a mob scene. Nirmal Singh, who was in charge of serving food had a good handle on the organizational aspect and everyone was well fed as a result. Lunch usually consisted of baked sweet potatoes, fresh garlic and a quinona salad. Delicious!

Below is one of my favorite parts of the evening meal, when they came around with a large spoonful of mung beans and rice, beets or solstice hot sauce. The lettuce has never been a favorite of mine--I eat it but don't look forward to it. Thank you, ji!

The ether tattva was the focus of this year's Winter Solstice. This symbol was painted  on the main tent's backdrop by Harimandir Kaur from Gainsville, Florida.

Turban tying for novices was a main activity at the hospitality tent. Here Ravinder Singh helps out a newby. See the results below.

Dukhniwarn Kaur was in demand for her skills.

Marc from New York City shows off his new identity.

Sat Inder Kaur tied a unique turban--we're not sure what kind of ears they are???

The main colors in the Tantric Tent were white (of course) and aqua blue thanks to the effort to keep clutter down by requiring participants to carry their things in the colorful tote bags given out with each registration.

Some White Tantric participants had plenty of energy and space to do some more yoga in between 62 minute meditations as prescribed by the Siri Singh Sahib.

 

Between exercises/meditations in White Tantric there was also time for healing.

Shankar Singh from Espanola.

It's never too late to think about next year (2013) in fact it's right on time!

Most folks traveled by planes, trains and automobiles, but who knows, maybe someone came by canoe!

 

 

I AM, IAM

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
-Edward Everett Hale, author (1822-1909)

Came across the above on the net the other day (Where else?) and of course immediately thought of the beautiful quote from Yogi Bhajan, “I am, I am.” The short four-word declaration discovers and declares for ourselves the premium impression of the self we all should maintain.

I am – of course, referring to Descartes’, “I think, therefore … “ but then, in his brilliance, Yogiji adds the same words again, “…I am.” And so he opens for us the need to explore further and deeper. Not only from ourselves but for ourselves.

I am this physical being but am I not also this spiritual being? He asks (forces) us to consider his truth that is our own. He instructs us to not only acknowledge humanity but also divinity. We cannot have one without the other. But to do so we must follow his other myriad and wonderful suggestions, instructions, orders and imperatives.

“I am, I am,” encompasses all that is needed for a complete life. Hale’s quote allows us a certain amount of wiggle room. In the world of Yogi Bhajan the “everything” is possible to the extent that we wish NOT to wiggle but remain still in perfection and attainment.

Yogi Bhajan has also stated, “If you can remain absolutely unmoving for thirty-one minutes, the Kundalini will rise automatically. Try it.

kps blog

KartaPurkh Khalsa
kpurkakhalsa@kc.rr.com

READING FROM THE SIRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND MISSING SADHANA

Yes, when I can’t get there, to sadhana, I miss it, miss it gravely. It happens! If it were possible I’d be there every day but that hasn’t happened in a long time.

I remember when I first moved into Sat Tirath Ashram I was one of those impossible, annoying, unforgiving, fanatics who NEVER EVER missed morning sadhana. The “annoying” part comes from my unhesitating willingness to question in an uncharitable and scolding manner anyone who would not or could not attend regularly. Sometimes I was there alone, sometimes just three or four of us, mostly we’d have at least 15 and it was grand. It was the reason I became an ashram resident and it is the reason I still am. This lasted for about a year or so, when my own egotistical resistance kicked in and often kicked my out my habitual sadhana. Of course, over time, and with the results of actually doing sadhana for an extended period of time with good and sincere people, I have learned to be a bit more charitable, compassionate and even loving of those (myself included) who have problems or issues with getting up in the amrit vehla. Thanks to sadhana! Thanks to sadhana for many many things, too numerous to mention here.

But now, missing sadhana occurs all too frequently, almost on a weekly basis for one occasion or another: a trip out of town; a late movie; guests and, yes, even laziness. This last weekend was really special, I had lots of good excuses (no reason, just excuses).

It was Thanksgiving Week (Overeating is a sure sadhana killer), there was a three day Level 1 Teacher Training weekend (Got to be “on” for the students, right? It’s so exhausting.), and, since we had the extra day off from work schedules and a few extra people here, we decided to hold a Siri Akhand Path--a 72 hour uninterrupted continuous out loud reading of the Sikh scriptures, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.

This holy book, housed in our Gurdwara, is at the center of all Sikh religious services. The continuous reading is considered very special and a Sikh holds it as a privilege and a duty to participate. It is often a special occasion when one is held, a wedding, a death in the family, a special holiday.

All that is required is the commitment of a number of people, willing to maintain the uninterrupted reading over three days; willing to support each other in various ways, including staying awake through the night while a relay of readers engage in the reading; being sure everyone is properly fed and Yogi Tea-d; answering the door when new readers arrive; checking the schedule to see who’s next and whether the reading should be sped up or slowed down, and so forth. It is a serious matter maintaining the vibratory atmosphere in which the words of holy men are read with reverence and enthusiasm.

We, here at Sat Tirath Ashram, are blessed in that we have a number of people who are committed to the Sikh way of life (as well as to the yoga) and for them this was an opportunity to serve God, Guru and each other.

Everything did go well. One resident, a young Indian Sikh man was the bulwark of our reading team. Anytime there was a hole, or the danger of someone getting sleepy, he jumped in without hesitation. He slept outside the Gurdwara door every night of the Akhand path, ever ready to do what needed to be done.

We also had students from our Teacher Training Class take turns behind the Guru Granth Sahib, reading it for the first time. All reported incredibly uplifting experiences, some crying some gaining new insight into their lives and others reaffirming changes they knew they had to make. We all basked in the glow of the Guru’s words. Each time I read I had my difficulties sitting comfortably, bending over the beloved pages, repeating the words sometimes in Gurmukhi but mostly in the English translation. These words of Nanak, these words of Kabir and Ravi Das, among others managed to turn my mind inward towards meditation but also outwards toward the universality that the Guru Granth Sahib speaks of constantly. Each time I read, I found somewhere towards the end of my assigned hour that I could not wait for the next reader, my anxiety increased, as the pages seemingly crawled past at a snail’s pace, my physical being wanting to escape this difficult task but when they did arrive I found myself almost resentful and unwilling to give up my place. But of course I did, crawling on hands and knees out from behind the book, turning towards the Guru, pressing my forehead to the floor, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude that my Guru had allowed me those precious minutes. I was almost immediately rested, refreshed and eagerly awaiting my next turn.

And so quickly went those 72+ hours, teaching, reading prepping karah prasad, sleeping only a little and, admittedly, neglecting the time I would usually spend reading Jap Ji, doing yoga and chanting the exquisite mantras of our Aquarian Sadhana.

Until this morning (Wednesday, Nov 30) when I finally was able to rouse myself from a warm bed, face a cold shower and return to my “assigned” place in the Sat Tirath Ashram Sadhana Room. The music CD was new to me, though I know I have played it many times before. My seat, upon a well used zafu loosely filled with buckwheat hulls was comfortable enough and entirely a fresh place. The delicate mala I held between two fingers was mine and has been for a while, but it too had a novel feel as each hematite bead slipped through my fingers.

I felt like a new person, just discovering this original way of dealing with one’s joy and pain, one’s depression and elation, one’s damnation and ecstasy. Even when it came time for Virasana and my knees and ankles and heels refused to settle into it properly and I had to accept my grave shortcomings and be content to chant and chant and chant. Even that too was new though the pain was old, very old.

And so there I was, back in sadhana where I had always belonged from the time of my birth until now. There was no turning away even though I had rolled over in bed these last few days burying my discipline among the blankets and pillows and sheets. There I was, home, in playtime for my soul, basking in the sound current adding my own off key voice, implacable and determined to wear away the enormous ego and/or karmic load that I was born with. There I was, lucky enough to have found a way out of it all and hopefully to earn a new life, settled and benign, grateful to my teacher and all that he has given me. And I finally realized that it included that time reading from the Guru Granth Sahib and I remembered that at one time I would have resented being anywhere but sadhana, the amrit vehla, 4 AM to 6:30 AM. Now I was back where I belonged but in truth I had never really left it. I was home. Behind the Guru, upon my sheepskin. beneath my shawl, embraced by my beloved.

What's it all about: Sadhana!

The Siri Singh Sahib once said, “You cannot live by feelings and emotions; you have to live by your intuition and consciousness.”

It seems pretty clear (No, VERY clear!) which path we should be walking. By what method or methods can we master our feelings and control our emotions while at the same time expanding and sharpening our intuition and raising our consciousness?

Well, let’s see ... I could practice the “Kriya for Changing Emotion to Devotion” ... or maybe “Ghost Kriya: Clearing the Ghosts and Opening Intuition” ... then of course there is the “Meditation: Self Hypnosis to Develop Intuition.” And, of course the “Kriya for Thoughtfulness” and the “Meditation: Make your Mind Sensitive!”  And I could practice “Strengthen Intuitive Projection.” or I could chant the mantra “I my mind, we thou thee.” so I can be, as he says, ready to “reach the point of the end of achievement, fulfillment and creatively, you have left a legacy.”  And if I do the meditation “To Know Through Intuition” I can save myself and those I serve a lot of time. But then there’s So Darshan Chakra Kriya (a personal favorite) which I do “just for fun!” and which also just  happens to give the “necessary vitality and intuition to combat the negative effects of the unchanneled subconscious mind.”

I suppose I could go on for pages and pages of kriyas and the concomitant volumes full of meditations that the Siri Singh Sahib has given us over the years but that would  be just gilding the lilly so to speak!

All we really need to do is to protect our sadhana;
The one he spoke about very early on then constantly afterwards during his time as our spiritual teacher here in the West; 
The one he said would overcome all of our problems and situations;
The DAILY sadhana;
The one that happens every single, freaking day;
Whether we like it or not;
Whether WE show up for it or not;
Whether we stay awake for it or not;
Whether we ask Guru Ram Dass to awaken us for or not;
Whether we plan for it the night before or not;
Whether we project it from this day to our last, or not;
Whether we inspire others to attend or not;
Whether we believe in it or not;
Whether we think it will benefit us TODAY or not;
Whether we know in our hearts that whatever our problems, this can solve them, or not;
Whether we teach this to our children and our students, or not;
Whether we leave it as OUR legacy to those that follow us, or not;
The one that he attends, whether we do or not.

As he said, far better than I ever could: "Sadhana. That is where you sit, dwell in the thoughts of the soul, and peel away all your non-reality with the vastness of your spirit. If you train your mind this way, then you will discover something for yourself. If you live in absolute fearlessness, God will live in you because fear and truth cannot go together."

So what tools am I using to to support my work as a minister? Sadhana, from the early morning alarm, cold shower, Jap-ji, yoga, meditation to the reading of the hookumnama in our humble but beautiful gurdwara. These are the ONLY tools I have and the only tools I need. With them, all the misfortune and misinformation I feed my mind; the bad habits I have cultivated; the memories that make me bitter, or crazy or unhappy; they all fall away like raindrops off a speeding car--always in the past, ineffective and of no consequence.

Karta Purkh S.Khalsa


 

My Shawl ... My Sadhana

   It is said in India, if you have a shawl, you have shelter. That of course says more about India than it does about shawls. But this is the story of one shawl, mine.
   I have, for the past thirty years sat beneath the same shawl. Oh, there have been brief dalliances in sadhana with other shawls, some pure white and light, others lighter than the proverbial feather, but always and often I come back to this one, now faded blue/grey shawl.
  Oh, of course, if there is a more formal gurdwara than our post sadhana daily one, all my wife has to do is raise an eyebrow as I pick up my dowdy, faded shawl for me to switch to one more decorative and crisp-- for being out in the sanghat on a Sunday or at a wedding.
   But I must easily admit, I like the feel of the faded one, the way its soft often washed material rests upon and warms my neck. The way it’s generous expanse covers my hands held  upon my knees (in Gyan Mudra during Morning Call) and slightly the ground or floor around me on my sheepskin (I can’t tell you how MANY sheepskins I have had, lost, worn out, or meditated into tatters!!!)
 I almost remember the exact place where we bought this shawl and two others just like it (One for me, one for Sat Inder K and one for the baby (Guru Shabd K) not born until five years later. It was at a rather large  shop, hard by a Hindu temple, across a wide river (maybe the Ganges) somewhere  in northwest India during our 1980 Yatra to the Golden Temple. Anandpursahib and Hemkunt Sahib.
   Then the shawls were a bright, nearly sky blue, a color they no longer are. Now it’s more grey and some of the tassels at each end have come untied. But it has covered my back, to use a modern cliche, during countless solstices and sadhanas and White Tantric Courses. And that was its purpose. Rare is the Solstice Sadhana that I do not come wrapped in this shawl. (A friend once commented that he has found me there a number of times, identifying me by the shawl as non-descript as it is.)
   Now, it seems all I have to do is wrap it around my shoulders and I feel as though I could sit for hours in meditation. Don’t get me wrong, I still fidget with my body and fight mightily with my mind; but the reality is that the shawl, this piece of tattered cloth still exacts a strong influence upon me. It truly is a part of my meditation. I have sat under it for countless hours thinking of so many other things. That must surely count for something in the Akashic records. While this one humble object purchased so long ago for very little money (a few hundred rupees for the three of them, I think) serves the absolute purpose of steadying my attention, keeping my spine covered and warm and perhaps a bit straighter, and therefore makes me a bit stiller, quieter, stronger and maybe even a bit holier.  
   It is not what determines how I do in sadhana. It doesn’t get me down there. It does not propel me into a cold shower or roll me out of a warm bed. It does escort me down the stairs and keeps away the early morning chill as I check the front porch and the parking lot next door. All of these things would be possible without the shawl. Guru Ram Das and Yogi Bhajan, and my wife, Sat Inder Kaur and even a healthy dose of my own determination accomplishes all of the above. But the shawl ... without it I might be a little stiffer, a little colder and perhaps a little more hesitant. With it, I am there. And this I suppose is the reason I am so biased in favor of this humble shawl.

To The UnSupreme Court

To five black robed troglodytes who inhabit what is supposed to be the highest court of the land. In reality it is a darkened passageway in a law library where narrow minded men and women peer with their tunnel vision into a fantasy wonderland named Might-have-been.

Dear Justice Alioto: I suppose that you have never been awakened in the night by rapid and staccato gunfire as you slept in your comfy cozy home. I am sure that the suburban landscape which you inhabit keeps a pretty tight lid on folks settling arguments with gunfire. A good night’s sleep is a precious thing in some cities and urban neighborhoods. But that doesn’t concern you, does it? You probably have the luxury of a 24 hr security guard, or at the very least a monitored system that keeps things nice and quiet for you and yours. It must be nice.
 
Dear Justice Thomas: I suppose that you have never walked by a small business and seen a police officer go in with his gun drawn expecting to confront a petty thief with a weapon.  These guys in uniform, that patrol our streets, I really don’t know how they do it. I mean, think about going to YOUR place of work and expecting that some fool will try and compromise your safety simply as a way to get some ready cash for what is probably a bad habit. But you can’t can you? It’s nice and safe where you live and work isn’t it? Otherwise how could you come to such a harebrained conclusion about guns and how our society should deal with them.
 
Dear Justice Scalia: I suppose that you do not read the newspaper and the stories contained therein of small children, imitating their parents, fooling around with a handgun, and killing a brother or sister, quite by accident, of course. That might make you wince perhaps and consider ways to keep such deadly items out of the hands of children and their careless parents.  Have you considered the consequences of your actions, because the children cannot. They have not had the benefit of the education you have. They just have guns to play with not laws.

Dear Justice Roberts: I suppose you have  ignored the stories in that same newspaper of cars careering down some street, in the poorer section of town, exchanging gunfire with another car. Well, you must say to yourself, they are adults and they know why they are doing something, as foolish as it might sound. But do they? As you collect your paycheck each week or month, so they are “collecting” or should we say enforcing theirs ... that”s all, just trying to survive in whatever weird, contorted and enraged way our society has driven them to.

Dear Justice Kennedy:  I suppose you have never driven down a street and seen a gun just lying there in the roadway, discarded quite easily, since they are so readily available. Well, sir I have! It now sits in a drawer in my office, with no ammunition or even empty clip which is stored elsewhere. I consider myself a responsible adult. I would not dare allow a loaded gun anywhere on my premises. But that’s me. You however seem to think its OK for folks to own, operate and fool with loaded guns. Why is that? Are your emotions always under perfect control? For a lot of folks that sort of control is ephemeral due to social pressures, ignorance caused by a derelict educational system and financial hardships.

I also do not suppose that any of you have ever looked out of your third story apartment as I have and peered down at an unidentifiable man seemingly pointing at a car containing two women. But then the end of his hand turns into a gun and the two women, one of them pregnant, are dead and their car is rolling slowly down the street until it stops after bumping into another car. The man has fled and I don’t know why any of this happened, except that someone had a gun and used it.

To all five Supreme Court Justices who voted against the Chicago law restricting their purchase ands possession: The reason I ask these questions, and make these suppositions is that if you had, if you had one modicum of real experience in the life and death struggle that is our nation, you might have thought differently in the recent decision about gun laws.

I am not advocating the banning of guns but I am begging for a reasonable and real restrictions on the ease with which guns (especially handguns) are obtained; the frequency with which they are utilized and the pain that they cause all of us, excluding you of course!

Code of Ethics (Before Columbus)

A friend of mine who practices Native American Spirituality sent me this LIST of 12 statements that defined the Traditional Indian Code of Ethics.  I have underlined her notes and my comments are in a regular font.

Traditional Indian Code of Ethics

Give thanks to the Creator each morning upon rising and each evening before sleeping. Seek courage to become a better person. If we do not remember our Creator each and every day we are in danger of losing that innocence and sense of grandeur which defines us as humans. In trusting “God” by whatever name, image, intention or concept you please, we elevate ourselves to a place closer to our origins. When we are intent upon becoming a better person we are also seeking to strengthen that connection to the Creator. Our sense of self relies upon improvement -- how sad would be the day when we acknowledge that we care not to uplift ourselves or others.

Showing respect is a basic law of life. Aside from the obvious that we should treat others as we wish to be treated is the simple valuing of a life so we might really know our own value. Viewing another person as less (or even more) valuable than ourselves says that we truly believe this world to be a crapshoot dependent only on luck or misfortune as determining factors in how treat ourselves or another. We might well then spill a drop of water or, in some careless way blood and cause the death of another. We cannot sayit doesn’t matter, when it really does!

Respect the wisdom of people in council. Once you give an idea it no longer belongs to you. We must really LISTEN to others if we wish to be listened to. How often have you found yourself preparing a counter argument as another person was still talking? If we have gathered to discuss, then first we should listen, really hear and ultimately understand what another is putting forth. If you do not respect the speaker, then either he or she or you should not have come to the meeting or council. Since you usually have little or no control over who is invited or who rises to speak, then most likely you should content yourself with hearing, digesting and truly understanding. And once you do thoughtfully speak, trust your listeners to listen as you have done and not worry about whether you were heard properly and whether your words were given their proper weight. Know that your efforts and intentions will be rewarded with the same grace and gravity that you have put into them and the same gravity and grace you have offered--no more and no less.

Be truthful at all times. What other aim can you possibly live with than the truth. “The truth is high,” the Sikh’s first guru, Guru Nanak said, “but higher still is truthful living.” We all know the truth if we have thought at all about it, but to live that truth is the most difficult and perhaps cumbersome obligation. Nothing is easier than looking away from the unfortunate or importuning. Nothing is harder than seeing and doing. It takes a special and honestly heart-full person to see and act according to our highest nature. It is inconvenient, expensive, gut tightening and often knee weakening. Can we do it? Of course we can. Should we? Again, of course. But will we?

Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give your best food and comforts to your guests. We do no honor to those who come to us if we hand them a thin blanket, a cleared out space in a corner to those who come to us for whatever reason. Are leftovers and scraps what you would serve an honored guest? Of course not. Treat every guest as honored for every guest is an opportunity to exalt those who come to visit for whatever reason. And for that, the opportunity to exalt, is why they come to us. And our efforts do not go unrewarded ... or punished if they fail.

The hurt of one is the hurt of all. The honor of one is the honor of all. How are we unconnected to each other? How do we not know that the common link of humanity runs through the entire chain of living human beings with no break anywhere unless it is snapped though our own carelessness, prejudice, disdain, hatred, feelings of superiority or inferiority or simple ignorance. How can we not want to know and understand the grace and strength and beauty of our fellow beings? If we do not care then we do not rise to the occasion of our own divinity, morality and charity that is our inborn heritage.

Receive strangers and outsiders kindly. A new person, a stranger, one who is not like us is no danger until their actions so determine them. Until then, they are opportunities to learn and understand. They are new knowledge to integrate and new behaviors to regard in wonder and resonance. How often has history taught us that unmindful actions have destroyed all the potential of beneficial actions because we only regarded another through the lens of misunderstanding?

All races are the children of the Creator and must be respected. To disrespect is to mistreat. There may indeed be people in the world who are dangerous and full of hatred. It is our task to clearly see and make provision for our own safety and the safety of others in their presence. Yes we need police and we need a defense but where and what is the sense in aggressive actions in order to change others. The senselessness of terrorism is obvious to all but those who propagate it. But what are the issues which have birthed the terrorist? Have we calmly assessed and made even the slightest effort towards solutions? The situations into which people have been driven are what we need to address. If all we do is react then we are not seeking solutions but merely readying ourselves to respond. That is not respect, it is wariness  and paranoia. 

To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, or nation is one of the main purposes for which people are created. True happiness comes to those who dedicate (decorate) their lives to the service of others. There are many opportunities for happiness. Some quite rewarding, others merely selfish. Happiness is really complete when it is shared with others. The happiness we hold to ourselves is usually fleeting, temporary. Who loves us more than our families? Who depends on us more than the community in which we live? Who offers us more than our nation? When we serve in an unselfish and honestly open manner our service multiplies. It touches many and improves their lot. Whether it is a close relative  or a stranger who never sees your face service always blesses the world.

Observe moderation and balance in all things. Watching athletes perform incredible feats may indeed be exciting, but for 99.99 % of the rest of us watching is scary enough. For the most part, to seek balance in our pursuits, appetites and passions is probably the most rewarding. The wages, not of sin, but of “passionate” pursuits are usually a fall, the greater the aspiration the more cataclysmic the failure. We must really enjoy those things we do, whether it is in a career, a marriage, a hobby or a spiritual practice. Is there a job for everyone that will make us a millionaire? No. Is there a soul mate out there who is perfectly complementary to us? Probably not. Instead we should pursue a central way that neither impinges on the well being of others nor curbs our own best inclinations. A Native American Medicine Man I once knew advised nothing more than that we should “Walk in balance upon the Earth Mother.”

Know those things that lead to your well being and those things that lead to your destruction. How often have we “enjoyed” some experience or pleasure or diversion one day only to deeply regret it the next because of a hangover or misspoken word or misplaced trust?  Very few are those events in our lives which we cannot with some forethought avoid. We do actually control our environments. We can avoid those people and places and things which inevitably lead to trouble or pain or unhappiness. There is little wisdom in not looking directly into a noon time Sun. We just do not do it without the expectation that our vision will be distorted at least temporarily.  How reflexive though is the inclination to not eat that rich dessert after a gourmet meal?  Usually, the gluttony ball is already rolling and it takes some determination to pass on it. That is wisdom, the alternative self satisfying foolishness. We should live our lives in awareness -- awareness of those people and things around us which can cause good or ill.

Listen and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in solitude and in the words and actions of elders and friends.  Our hearts are the figurative centers of our well being. Things you “know in your heart” are those things you trust and believe in. To live in one’s heart means to live and love openly. It also means to be aware of those things which are dissonant with our hearts. Things that we know without having learned them from a book or a teacher. This is our intuition, our inner voice, our dream. This intuitive inner voice can lead us in many positive directions when not clouded with emotional desires or hungers. The intuitive voice is the result of listening to others, our elders and friends who have life experiences we do not. It is also the result of our quiet and meditative moments when we listen, not question or wonder, but just to listen.