Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Gifts from Stillness

This morning I had a terrible headache which has been going on since yesterday. So, I did my daily yoga set which is what really helps me handle the stress and the amount of hours that I work on a computer. To my relief, after doing a few of the exercises I felt the headache easing away. After I finished doing the yoga I sat there in a kind of a daze. The sun was streaming in through the window warming my cold feet; Gurbani music was flowing into my ears; and I sat there staring at my feet, feeling a bit detached from my body. I was savoring this stillness of “not doing”, and just letting all the urges go of needing to do “xyz”. My life is very action oriented and always busy. There are always a million things to do, so I find myself always “going”, trying to keep up with the never ending things that come at me. The reality is that this is always the case and probably always will be. This daily cycle of “have to do” tasks I think can sometimes make one lose track of what is most important. Sometimes we need something to break the routine and allow us to step back and see the bigger picture. Or it could be to give you a kick in the butt to take action towards something you have been thinking about but putting off. In my case getting sick was a bit of both.

So I sat there thinking and staring, asking myself, “What is my lesson? What am I learning?” from being sick this time. I was sitting there waiting for THE message. Nothing came…so I just continued there. Eventually thoughts started to flow in my mind; and then a few revelations came to me….of what I needed to do. In this stillness I was able to see things from a difference perspective, and get a glimpse of the bigger picture. It came so much easier in this stillness. I probably wouldn’t have gotten to this point without getting sick and being forced to break the cycle of “must do” tasks. It forced me to stop and look inwards. Sometimes we have to go through terrible times and feel miserable to wake up out of the “routine” and see what is most important, and then actually make a change.

I find that everything in life can be a lesson and something to learn from. You just have to be conscious and pay attention to what it is. So often you might feel a victim of something, or wonder why God would do something so tragic or terrible. I see it all as part of God’s way of keeping everything in balance. Every day you have choice of how you perceive something and how you react. You can act from emotion/ego or you can act from consciousness and intuitiveness. Is the glass half full or half empty? That’s up to you how you perceive it. I don’t think it is a matter of just being positive or negative in a situation. It is more about seeing the bigger picture and learning something.

Ok, I officially feel like I’m preaching, which is not my intention. I just wanted to share what I have experienced and how I process things in my life. My hope is that the lessons I am learning will help others as well. I am in no way perfect, and am going through many of the same challenges as you all. I just think that we all have lessons in our own lives that we can share.

A State of Just Being

I am just now coming out of two days of “just being” as I was forced to stay in bed as a result of being sick. It was one of those things that was so unexpected, and just came on overnight. One day I felt great…and then next morning I couldn’t even walk. It was hard to be in a state where you can’t do anything and feel so bad that all you can do is just lie there and hope it passes soon. Last night was the peak as I tried to sleep, going back and forth between being freezing cold and burning hot. My wife made me some hot ginger lemon tea and gave me a homeopathic remedy. Shorty after that my fever broke to my relief. Now this morning I feel somewhat better. At least I can function somewhat and can move around, though it seems I am on to the next part of me being sick with swollen tonsils. I guess I am supposed to rest some more.The past two days seemed like eternity. As I lay in bed all I could do was try to sleep and pray that I would feel better soon. It was a humbling feeling to be in such a state where you can’t do anything but just be. I don’t get sick very often and most of the time not anything like this. I remember lying in bed in the a delirious state feeling like I was going to die (I know it’s a bit dramatic but that’s how it felt). It made me think of all those people who have major illnesses who have to deal with this type of thing every day, just struggling to be alive. So much in our lives we take for granted and it is not till we loose those things that we realize it.

I am not writing all this for sympathy or well wishes, but just to share the thought of not taking your health and everything in your life for granted. Try this exercise. Get some paper and a pen and start to write down all the things that you are greatful for in your life (personal, physical, etc., anything!). Think deeply about it and don’t overlook the simple things. When you finish take this list and post it in a place you will see everyday to remind you of the many gifts that you have. Just the act of consciously writing this down is a big step in bringing your awareness to these many gifts. So, the next time you feel some lack in your life look at this list and remember all the the many things that God has given to you.

The Biggest Mistake in Life

Here is a great lecture which is in continuation with yesterday’s blog post about developing an inner connection with yourself and relationship with your soul.  It’s always hard to pin down a single  title or topic to theses lectures since most of them he covers so many different topics. Anyway,  listen  and see for yourself :)

This Gurdwara lecture is from July 17th 1988 by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa  


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SADHANA and the SOUL

What is Sadhana?
Sadhana is the daily practice of waking up in the amrit vela time (2 1/2 hours before the sun rises) to meditate and chant God’s Name. In the words of Yogi Bhajan, "Sadhana is nothing but where a disciplined one, the love, talks to one’s own soul. It is nothing but where one cleans his own mind."

What is the purpose of Sadhana? Why do we do it?
"Sadhana is nothing but where one prepares for the day to become kind and compassionate for everyone, including the enemies. We get up early in the morning, we rise, and we do our sadhana so that we can match up with the day, so we can match up with absolute reality. Face the reality with reality. Don’t face the reality with laziness and slowness. If you do so, you will never be successful and then you are your own enemy. You can’t make it. And that’s why sadhana is an act."

How do I experience my Soul?

"Everybody has God’s light and it must be lit by a person’s own discipline. And the glass to keep it lit and shining should be kept by the person’s own courage, strength and grit. I believe it. I believe this is the love. I believe everybody has the chance to love one’s soul and every soul has the right to shine and every shine has to bring light and brightness, beauty and bountifulness to all, generation after generation.

You love your children? You do. They are beautiful. Isn’t that innocent soul in you also your life child? Have you kissed the soul? Have you hugged the soul? Have you communicated with the soul in the morning at the ambrosial hours when there is absolutely no disturbance? Sadhna is nothing but where a disciplined one, the love, talks to one’s own soul. is nothing but where one cleans his own mind. Sadhana is nothing but where one prepares for the day to become kind and compassionate for everyone, including the enemies.

If you think you are poor, you are poor because you do not communicate with your soul, the source of prosperity, the source of reality. If you think you are desperate, you are desperate because you have no Sadhana. Desperation, depression, and a feeling of destitution comes only to those who have no discipline or Sadhana. Only a house which is not cleaned looks dirty and the mind which is not cleaned, stinks. sadhana is the most selfish act of every act, because it is a self-cleansing. Cleanliness is Godliness. It is good to wear good clothes, look good, be bright, beautiful. But when you want to be blissful and bountiful, you have to have a clear mind, a mind through which your soul, your spirit can shine.

When you stand, take a stand, and stand tall. Walk tall and stand by the strength of your soul. Not the strength of your intellect, intelligence and your cowardice. If you want to speak to anybody, to deal with anything, to have any relationship, just have relationship by the strength of your soul. Otherwise you will miss the goal of life." -
Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa

How do I start and keep up a Sadhana?
You start with what you think you can handle. First, try getting up one hour earlier than usual; this may mean going to bed earlier. It is good to start with some simple yoga exercises to stretch your body and get it going, and then practice a meditation/bani of your choosing. Do this routine until you are able to do it easily, daily for a month or 40 days. Then slowly expand it to an hour and a half, then two hours. For some people, all they can manage of a morning sadhana is one 11-minute meditation, but doing that is certainly better than doing nothing!

It is important to understand that yoga and meditation bring light energy into the body, and over time, this replaces the need for that extra hour or two of sleep in a normal routine (not counting illness and late nights!!).

It helps a great deal to have a sadhana partner or community. Then you can support each other to get up and take turns leading the exercises and meditations. Yogi Bhajan used to say that half of sadhana is showing up, so if your local Sikh community has an organized sadhana routine, participate in it whenever you can get there, even if it’s only for the last 20 minutes.

Many of us find that the more we do sadhana, the more we find we need it and the support it gives us. In other words, it grows on you.

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Girl Friends

After Gurdwara some a few of the kids just hanging out. All the kids head over to the Gurdwara playground and have lots of fun.

Look into my crystal ball

Charanjeet entranced by one of Narayan’s toys which is this spinning light ball/wand.

Charanjeet Kaur is growing fast! She is teething like crazy (droolling all over) and making all kinds of sounds. She loves making gurgle sounds. When I make sounds with her  she smiles and laughs. It is so amazing having a child. Charanjeet is so joyfull and full of love. When I am tired…Charanjeet gives me one of her huge smiles, and everything seems to melt away. The innocence of children!

Narayan is pretty smiley now….but when he was a baby…we were lucky if we got a minor smile once a day. Charanjeet on the other hand makes everyone feel her love, with smiles served out like parshad for everyone; Making all feel special. What a gift!

Ramala for the Guru by the Children

The children of the Sangat have been working on a gift for the Guru all month. First they learned the story of the orphan Jetha (Guru Ram Das’ name as a child - which means "first born") and how he sold wheat berries in the streets of Goindwal to provide for his grandmother and himself. They then took packages of wheat berries around to the offices here and sold them for $1 each, explaining their project to everyone to make a ramalla for the Guru. With the money collected, beautiful cloth was purchased for a Ramala designed by the children. Each child decorated a square using special fabric paints, and these were put together by (auntie) Guru Nam Kaur (SikhNet wale). This creative Ramala, blessed with the innocence of our children, was presented to the Guru this past Sunday in celebration of the Guru Gaddee Day of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.

This was a great way for the kids to learn and be involved. Rather than just hearing a story, they had a chance to experience it in some form and be involved. Guru Simran Kaur has done wonderfull seva with the kids and continues to organize activities like this for the kids to learn and deepen their experience with the Guru.

A while back they did a treasure hunt for the nine treasures (From Ardas: "Guru Teg Bahadur Simmeriye, Ghar NAu Nidh ave Tiyahe",  Meditate on Guru Teg Bahadur and the nine treasures shall come to you). In order for them to know the hint for the next location of the treasure they hear some sikhi related clue. They had quite a bit of fun and learnt a lot!

Who said learning about Sikhi can’t be fun!! One just has to take the time to think about things to do…and be creative!

Walking towards the Guru

The kids all holding an edge of the Ramalla, chanting the mul mantra as they walk together towards the Siri Guru Granth Sahib to present their gift.

Presenting to the Guru

The kids and other sevadhars placing the new Ramalla on the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.

Ramalla On the Siri Guru Granth Sahib