"The strength of the man does not lie in what he has. The strength of man lies only in what he can give. Only those can give who have the capacity to tap into the universe. If the universe is not in your mind, your heart cannot give."
"There is much wisdom around us but there is no heart to feel it, there is no brain to compute it, and there is no compassion to understand it." - SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji
If you have been a regular visitor of MrSikhNet.com you have probably noticed things slowing down quite a bit. I used to post something almost every day. I love blogging and sharing with the world, but these past five + months have been a serious challenge. Come to think of it, ever since I had a second child and started the virtual group 40 day sadhana with many of you it’s been an uphill "battle" both personally and at work.
Here are SikhNet we used to have more people helping with projects. Now it is just Gurujot Singh, myself and Guruka Singh (part time). We are missing Joginder Singh who worked with us at SikhNet for many years and has moved to Columbus, Ohio. Another member of the SikhNet team (Ashvinder Singh) is now immersed in the business world and it seems like we rarely have time to work on fun projects anymore. I guess he is moving on to the next stage in his life. When we met, he was just out of school and was quite free flowing. Now he is in big time jobs…and about to get married. Things sure do change when you have a family and get older. I always tell my other youth to enjoy the freedom and flexibility while they still can. It all changes with age and having a family.
Charanjeet doing what babies love doing best. Here she is eating spaghetti noodles and then playing with the food.
Triple decker bus heading to the bedroom for sleep time.
Amaji with the kids..
Swinging fun…
by Shanti Kaur Khalsa
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Khalsa Women’s Training Camp in the summer of 1983 was a revolutionary time for women in Sikh Dharma. For the first time, SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji set the roots of the Khalsa women of the west deep into the identity of Guru Gobind Singh and the path of the spiritual warrior. What we discovered that summer is that, unlike what most of our mother’s had taught us, women are true warriors by nature. It is in our psyche. And as all Khalsa warriors, we found ourselves at the feet of the Tenth Master.
That summer the Siri Singh Sahib taught us the meditation we now call the Bowing Jaap Sahib. Normally as humans, the progression on the spiritual path come from some type of inspiration or illumination, such as; we feel the Hand of God, and that inspires us to get up in the morning and meditate, or we are awakened by the words of a spiritual teacher, and that gives us the inspiration to lead a spiritual live. Guru Nanak came on to the earth and reversed that mode entirely! He taught that we get liberation from our actions, and it is through our actions that we get the inspiration to lead a spiritual life. We have the power to grasp our own destiny. "Karmi aapo aapani, key neyrai key door" By our freewill we can control our actions, and it is by our own actions that we find ourselves nearer or further from God.
Guru Gobind Singh took this one step further in the Jaap Sahib by defining God Himself by His actions. Karam Nam are the action-names of God, and Karam Naam Barnat Sumat means by the Action-Names of God, we come to know Him. So when we recite Namastwung Akaaley, we say "I bow to the Undying One." These are powerful words, and if you say them they will become a reality. But if you DO them, if you actually bow your head, then actions become inspiration and inspiration quickly becomes transformation. This is the essence of the Bowing Jaap Sahib meditation.
Here’s how it is done. Sit on your heals (Rock Pose – Vajrasana) with your spine straight and your hands on your thighs. Recite the Mangal Charan of the Jaap Sahib – the opening stanza – with meditative attention. When you come to the first Bujung Prayyat Chhand, bow your forehead to the floor with each recitation of "namastung" and rise back up onto your heals. 
There is a rhythm to it – "Namastwung Akaaley; Namastwung Kirpaaley…" Bow down…rise up …bow down…rise up. Keep this rhythm of bowing and rising all the way through to the very end of the bani. The Siri Singh Sahib taught this meditation to us while listening to Raagi Prof. Sat Nam Singh’s musical version of the Jaap Sahib. Raagi Sat Nam Singh sings the Jaap Sahib in a steady tempo and a very smooth beat making it easy to bow and rise, taking about 30 minutes to complete.
The effects of this kriya are powerful and difficult to describe. You are uplifted to the extent that you feel as if you have bowed in front of the Creator Lord with Guru Gobind Singh guiding each namastung. It stimulates the flow of spinal fluid to the brain, activates the glandular system and renews the energy in the body like nothing else I’ve ever done. Siri Singh Sahib spoke about this kriya, saying: "I’m telling you how Guru Gobind Singh uplifted his people who were crippled mentally and physically and downgraded to the extent that if somebody sat on the ground less than two and a half feet from a Moghul, his punishment was to be beheaded. If a soldier spit at you and if you didn’t catch the spit, you could be beheaded. Ten, twenty, a hundred thousand men were picked up and their blood was fed to the emperor’s hounds. That was the price of life. Men sitting normally doing a normal chore were picked up to be mincemeat, so that the hunting lions of the emperor could be fed. These were the times and this was the state of affairs. That was the rule of tyranny then. There was no appeal. There was no life. After a couple of hundred years, a movement started where man began elevating and becoming conscious and becoming visible to God and God became visible to man. And when the victory came, that is when Guru Gobind Singh used the praise of the Lord in naad. That is what is beautiful about Jaap Sahib: it raises the soul and the self of the being."
This summer, we will be celebrating the Jaap Sahib – Song of the Warrior Saint August 5-9th . One of the highlights is doing the Bowing Jaap Sahib meditation every morning in the Amrit Vela. Sat Nirmal Kaur Khalsa, Sangeet Kaur Khalsa and their jetha sing the Jaap Sahib in a beautiful melody and the whole sangat bows with each namastung. This year, several other jethas are preparing to sing this seva as well, and it promises to be wonderful experience.
See you then! - Shanti Kaur Khalsa
For more information or to register for the course, go to www.sikhnet.com/jaapsahib
Pre-registration discount ends on July 1st, so be sure to make your plans.
Here at SikhNet we could really use your help in spreading the word about the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival. There are lots of people that view SikhNet who are on the internet, but many more who are not online and might not know about this event. This is where your help comes in! I’m trying to find some volunteers that can help spread the word about the event in their local community.
We all talk about helping the Sikh youth; well this is a concrete way that you can do so. All it takes is some of your time and energy to help make this event successful. I’m looking for committed individuals who can help in any of the following ways.
If you would like to be a part of the SikhNet organizing group for this event and help with any of these items, please email me and let me know how you are able to help.
We have created a few different ways to help spread the word. There are two options for flyers. You can print them out and then give to friends, hand out at any local event or youth camp, post in your Gurdwara, run in your local newsletter or newspaper, radio, TV, etc. I’m sure you can think of other ways to get this information out too! View and Download the Flyers.
For those of you who have a website or blog, you can show your support for the event and help get the word out by posting a small web image which advertises the youth film festival. Even if people already know about it…it makes people remember the event and think again about potentially making a video. View and download HTML for your website
Email anyone who you think might be interested in this event.
Send a message to your friends on any of the social network sites that you are a part of. Rally up your friends to get involved and make a video (and have a chance at winning cash prizes!).
It’s summer time and there are always lots of different youth camps which happen at this time of year. One idea is for camp organizers to create a part of the camp where the youth have a project of making a video for the youth film festival. I’m looking for individuals who know of camps and could talk to the organizers about doing such a project.
What better way to engage the youth and have a creative means for them to communicate and learn something!? Many youth might feel uncomfortable doing a video on their own, but with a few other youth they could all work on it together and learn a lot. This was what one school in India did last year and it was very inspiring seeing the young kids make this video. If any camps or groups would like to do a project like this I would be happy to help advise and give more ideas.
Do you know of anyone who might be interested in supporting this event? We need help with getting people and companies to become sponsors of the youth film festival. This is a unique opportunity to support SikhNet and the Sikh youth who are entering the competition. Plus, you or your company will be recognized all over the world by tens of thousands, so it is great exposure. You can read more about the different sponsorship options.
There are always lots of events happening all over the world where Sikhs gather. It would be great if you could make an announcement or encourage youth in local communities to make a video for the film festival. We are planning to make a video about the film festival which could be shown at Gurdwaras or other events. When that is completed we will post it online.
In return for your support, those of you who run camps, have organizations, or similar type of organization we can potentially list you as a Youth Film Festival Partner on the website. This would be beneficial for those that want some exposure for their own activities.
I’m sure you can think of other ideas and ways to support this event. If you have an idea or think of other ways to get the word out about the film festival or support it in other ways then please let me know :)
"Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need to have a heart full of grace. A soul generated by Love." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Time sure does fly by! It seems like yesterday it was summer time…and now a year has gone by and Summer is just around the corner. If you are in the the UK (or anywhere in the world), mark you calendar for 5th to 11th of August to participate in the Annual Sikh Student Camp. This is an exciting and inspiring camp for Sikhs from any background. For more information you can visit their website at: http://www.sikhstudent.org
Here is a cool video about the camp. Have a watch below…..
Last year’s debut of the SikhNet Youth Film Festival was a huge success and so, we’re doing it again this year! The Second Annual young filmmaker’s competition for Sikh Youth is designed to encourage and inspire our youth to get involved in media and video and use their creativity to produce interesting and inspiring short films filled with the spirit of Sikhi. And this year, we’ve added a New Senior Division so that filmakers older than 25 are able to participate as well.
Most people in the world don’t know who Sikhs are or what we are all about, nor have they experienced our Chardhi Kalaa spirit! This unique event is a great way to publicize the experience of Sikhi and Sikh identity and give people the experience of our spirit, values and culture. Our hope is that this educational and fun event will allow people to get involved in the world of film and media and continue to use it for the benefit of the Sikh community.
So grab that video camera and come to SikhNet
for the Second Annual Young Filmmaker’s Competition!
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Cash Prizes Junior Division (11-17 years old) Intermediate Division (18-25 years old) Senior Division (26 - 126 years old) |
Help spread the word about this event by printing out flyers, or displaying a Film Festival button on your website.
Senior Division (26-35) winners are not eligible for cash prizes (we want to give those to the younger generation) but all the winning films from the Senior Division will be publicized and screened on SikhNet, so give your film career a boost and enter your work!
by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa * ekongkaar.blogspot.com
Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh.
It’s been a long time coming. This particular translation. Not because it took a very long time to do. But just because it took a very very very long time to find out that this even existed. Lifetimes, probably, when you get right down to it.
In the last year, there have been a few people who have asked if I had translated the Lavaan yet. Because they wanted to use the translation for their wedding. Once you’ve heard a request three times from three entirely different people - you begin to get the feeling that the Universe is trying to tell you something.
Whenever embarking on a new translation project, I like to discuss the subject with my Gurbani instructor, Dr. Balkar Singh. When I asked him about the Lavaan, what he told me was that I couldn’t translate the Lavaan first. What he taught me was that there are four Shabads right before the Lavaan in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. (Starting on page 772). These shabads are written by Guru Ram Das. And they are the called the Engagement Shabads.
"You have to understand the Engagement Shabads before you can translate the Lavaan," he told me.
In the June 2007 Edition of Vanity Fair Magazine (USA) Gurmukh Kaur is featured on a two page spread in front of the Golden Temple. In this edition of the magazine they feature Gurmukh Kaur who is a very popular teacher of Kundalini Yoga in Los Angeles (and also an old friend…though she is my mothers age). The article features about 15 different yoga teachers and how the different styles of yoga have become very popular all over the world. I didn’t actually read the article, but I thought it was cool for a Sikh (and a friend) to be so publicly visible in a magazine like Vanity Fair which is read by millions(?).
Here is the summary from the magazine about the article:
"No wonder Americans are Downward Dogging by the millions: yoga can work wonders on mind, body, and soul. In the U.S., 16.5 million people practice it, and it’s thus become a coast-to-coast, Zeitgeist-defining phenomenon as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry. In these outtakes from the yoga portfolio featured in our June issue, Michael O’Neill photographs the movement’s leading figures, from Christy Turlington and Sting to Rodney Yee and B.K.S. Iyengar." - Vanity Fair
Photo and text from Vanity Fair Website
"Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa: queen of Kundalini. Kundalini is a rigorous yoga involving meditation, chanting, and breath exercises which harmonize the body’s energy centers, or chakras, and tune the nervous and glandular systems. The glamour girl of Kundalini is Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, an erstwhile flower child and veteran of love-ins, whose Golden Bridge Yoga center in Los Angeles is the hub of her empire; a second branch recently opened in Manhattan. Many Hollywood figures (Courtney Love, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams) have taken her classes, alongside civilians who have become addicted to the yoga’s powerful positive effects on physical and psychic well-being. Photographed in the Ganges River near Rishikish." - Vanity Fair
