Today was another fun day at the beach. As we were sitting eating some sandwiches for lunch a few seagulls flew around us. We then threw a few chips and the next thing we knew a bunch were all over. Because of the strong wind they would just glide/hover right above our heads (just feet away). Here are a few pictures of the birds.
Narayan held his hand up with a chip and the bird came and took it right out of his fingers while hovering above.
I’m still on vacation… but here are a few pictures from the past week or so. I have been relaxing and really taking a break from the computer (and it helped that the last place I was staying (in Orlando, Florida) didn’t have an internet connection; though that didn’t stop me from walking around with my laptop searching for wireless signal :)
One more day to go of beach and water fun and then we are off to Lake Wales, Florida for the Winter Solstice camp.
Here is a picture from yesterday in Delray Beach, Florida. On Saturday my parents flew down from New York and met up with us and we drove down further south to the beach. It’s nice being away from the big city (orlando).
Charanjeet at the beach playing in the sand….caught making a silly face.
Narayan and I making a sand castle
Seagulls would glide and float right over our heads. They were pretty close like they were waiting for me to throw up some bread or something to eat.
Dadaji and Charanjeet sitting outside in the morning by the lake watching the ducks go by. Charanjeet loved watching the birds in the morning as the sun came up.
A wave in the ocean crashing into Narayan
This is from our "Safari" ride at the Disney Animal Kingdom. Narayan watching for animals.
Waiting in line for a ride at the Animal Kingdom.
At the Disney Animal Kingdom the areas were broken up into different parts of the world. This picture is from the "Asia" part. and you can see the Anandapur Truck. This "town" was very well done. Every part of it had so much detail in it that it looked quite a bit like India. I did check the bathrooms, but they slacked a bit there…since they didn’t look like Indian bathrooms (I guess that might be a good thing! Hahaha….)
Narayan has been learning to swim but the pool that is near us at home is pretty cold, deep…and not open very often. Ever since we got here to Florida it has been great. Pools everywhere and most of them are fairly shallow. That coupled with a snorkle, warm water and a googles, he has been swimming away. Kids just love water! He just plays all day in the water!
Charanjeet and her favorite brother, Narayan. They love each other so much. I love seeing them play and break out laughing hysterically.
It’s definitely Winter… well in the Northern Hemisphere anyway… and this time of year is actually my favorite time of year. It is both very special and very potent. We are approaching the Winter Solstice - the darkest point of the solar year. The sacred energy of the Winter is the seed energy of the coming year. Under the snow, in the stillness of this time of deepest darkness, the seeds of the coming year lie waiting to germinate and awaken. Just as the Summer Solstice is the time of the most powerful male projective energy, Winter Solstice is the deepest time of the feminine power. That’s why this time of year is celebrated in so many cultures and traditions: Christmas, Diwali, Chanakuh, etc. The celebration of the return of the Light. Here in the northern latitudes, midwinter’s day has always been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. On the shortest day of the year, the sun is at its lowest and weakest point - the nadir from which the light then will grow stronger and brighter. This is the turning point of the year. The Romans called it Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. It is an opportunity for deep transformation. Within each of us new modes of perception and new ways of working together are opening up. It is a time for renewal and regeneration. In these times of so much change and transition, we need to move cautiously and be guided first by our negative mind so that we can listen deeply and be fully aware of all the forces at play. Then the positive mind can do its part, and through meditation, the neutral mind will function.
Some of us are blessed to gather and meditate together, but all of us, wherever we may be at this time, can do the following meditation which is effective for transition and for opening up hidden channels within ourselves.
(You can get this CD at SpiritVoyage.com)
…..Guruka Singh
by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa
There is a mocking bird at the Harimander Sahib in Amritsar with the most sophisticated warble I have ever heard. She flies to the top of the Temple in the early morning sun, and sings her heart. It’s a scale - not major, not minor, but an imitation of a scale that a Raagi might sing at the start of his Kirtan. So perfectly on pitch. So subtly in-tune - the notes sung in half or even quarter steps. She sings it so quickly - up and down, up and down the range. In imitation of what she hears around her.
It’s one of those moments for me, sitting on the roof of the Harimander Sahib, the fall sun warming the air, that seems almost miraculous. For here is a bird that has a musical talent and accomplishment many humans could never aspire to. There are mockingbirds in Houston, too, and I remember them fondly – the way they would imitate the scratchy caa-caw of a grakle, or the shrill warning of a jay. But to find a soul in the form of a bird practicing raag in the morning light of the Golden Temple - well, one must consider it a very blessed little life.
The time has finally come for a much needed break, for a bit of rest and relaxation. I’m off to Orlando, Florida to visit with some family and for fun with Narayan at places like Disney World, Sea World, etc. A week of that…and then down to the Winter Solstice camp in Lake Wales, Florida. This will be our 10 year meeting anniversary (where me and Arjan met 10 years ago!).
For those of you who are regular blog readers, it is likely that I won’t be updating this blog very often for the next couple of weeks (till after Christmas). I know if there is internet access available I’ll be tempted to at least post some pictures from time to time when I am able. I’m trying to take a break from the computer to allow my body to heal a bit and spend some time with my family (I practically live on the computer).
If you think you might go into blog withdrawals from not getting your "blog fix" 
(or just want to see some interesting blog posts) you can browse through my picks of the interesting blog posts of 2006.
If you want to know when I post something new on this blog you can subscribe to the MrSikhNet email list and you’ll automatically get an email with the latest content whenever I post something.
Continue reading ‘Chardikala Jatha - Touring Australia & New Zealand’
"… And all the energy you put in the past you take away from tomorrow. That’s where lies your sorrow. That’s why you don’t have energy to make everything possible"
"…Every day you are newborn. Every seventy-two hours your cells change. You are a new person. What yesterday? "… What do you want to do with your yesterday? If you have anything to do with yesterday, you will never be prepared for tomorrow. And you will always be poor, handicapped, miserable, exploited, useless idiots."
Q: Then why does the mind produce it when we meditate?
A: Meditation is to clean yesterday. All the garbage left of yesterday, you clean by meditation. There is no other way to clean it.
Q: So we shouldn’t dwell on it?
A: Once you clean it, why dwell on it? Then the garbage man takes it. That’s called GOD. Mental garbage is taken by the garbage man. That’s called God. That’s why we meditate. We don’t meditate to ask for something. We meditate to be pure. Our purity and piety is done by simran. Simran is: meditate, and cut the negativity with the positive sound - the Word of God. If you can clean your subconscious and do not let those thoughts pour into your unconscious, you can never have a problem in life. You’ll be super-successful. You’ll be able to be one-pointed, and that’s what it takes for success. You have to be very one pointed. You can be in duality over this and duality over that. Here, there, everywhere. It’s too scattered. It’s like you are driving a car with a shattered front glass. It’s very difficult to drive. It’s just like a blind thing. …A broken glass cannot hold water. A split personality cannot have the juice of life. You are so unfortunate…"
Excerpts from lectures by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji
I wanted to let you all know that registration is now open for the new Khalsa.com email system which is powered by google! You can now get your own Google powered email account at the "khalsa.com" domain. For example: yourname@khalsa.com. This is a totally free service offered by SikhNet and has all the same features/functionality of a standard gmail account (2GB of storage, spam protection, POP mail, email forwarding, calendar, etc).
Just as the good domain names got taken up, now is your chance to get a good email address while it is still available.
A long while back I was playing around with creating a browser toolbar which allows you to have some common areas related to SikhNet always at your "finger tips". (SikhNet Radio, Live Kirtan from Harimandir Sahib, SikhNet News, Hukamnama, etc). I never did add all the things that I wanted to add….but thought I would share the concept with you. There are some cool features which you might find useful. You can even create your own customized toolbar too if you like!
Well, another day has flown by. The days and weeks seem to pass by faster than ever! Life has been extra busy for me juggling all the things with my family and work. I haven’t had the time an energy lately to create the usual involved blog posts so am resorting to sharing some Gurbani from my collection.
I am really looking forward to my vacation (a few days away!) and getting some time to renew and relax. I hope to come back with new enthusiasm and energy!
Tonight I would like share two Gurbani audio files of Bhai Charanjeet Singh. I remember listening to some of these clips over and over in the early "SikhNet Days", so they have lots of memories embedded in them for me.
Mere Man Mere Man Jap
Download
Bhukian Bhuk Na Uthari
Download
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