This article was originally written in 1981 when I was working as a Research Associate in High Energy Physics at Ohio State University. Reading Rawel Singh’s recent article that he submitted to the SikhNet News reminded me of this article I wrote 27 years ago, and so I dusted it off and updated it for publication here. - Guruka Singh Khalsa
THERE has always been science, and there has always been religion as long as the human race has walked on this mother Earth. In fact, these two are not only related to each other, but they are really, in essence, identical.
Examining the meaning of the word “science” we can see that it is derived from the Latin “sciens” which is the present participle of “scire” which means “to know or to understand”. Many people completely misunderstand the word ‘religion.’ It comes from the Latin word ‘ligare’ which means to tie or fasten. It is the same root as the word ligature or ligament. It means to be connected, tied. So the actual meaning of religion is to experience that state of being connected or tied to the One – to our origin and our Infinity.
In sum, science is the technology of knowing or understanding the essence of the universe, and religion is the actual experience of one’s own identity with that essence.
My mother (Satkirin Kaur) just came out with a beautiful new CD titled "Ignite Your Light". I have been listening to it often since I got it in December. The CD was made to use for meditation and has directions for each meditation included with the CD.
Here is one of my favorite tracks from the CD for your listening pleasure:
The past few weeks have been great in a very different way for me. I recently started getting solid with getting up early and doing my sadhana and it feels awesome! Cutting out all the TV watching and spending much more time in meditation and doing banis really changes a lot in how I feel and react during the day. I used to feel a bit of monotony from work and daily chores of dealing with kids and house stuff. But now it feels like I have so much more time, and my day centers around the time in the early morning when I get to "connect with my soul". My life feels more real and less about the daily comings and goings. It’s a pretty cool feeling. (Of course the challenge is to maintain this and keep up!).
I know this topic is never short of arguments and debate but here are a few short interesting videos from the Jaap Sahib course here in Espanola, New Mexico. These (4) videos are excerpts from on class during a talk about the Dasam Granth and Writings of Guru Gobind Singh. In the videos Jugat Guru Singh and Sada Sat Simran Singh (Chardikala Jatha) share their thoughts on the various related topics.
The above video is a playlist of 4 videos, so after the first one ends another one will start.
Here is a quote that I typed up a week or so when I was watching the video that I posted earlier about the mind. I thought it was very relevant and worth sharing, since most of us don’t always relate to giving, and what the reasons are that we do this as Sikhs.
"You cannot give to anybody if you do not have it. You cannot give anybody satisfaction if you don’t have it. If there is a glass; Suppose this glass has nothing in it. It can’t give anything. All it can give me is it’s glasshood. But if this glass has water, then it can give itself to me with water, which I can take. You all want to take everything! Remember this law…You cannot take until you give. If you do not know how to give you will never be in a position to take. There is a place….right? If you do not make some space and do not empty some things, where are you going to put the other things? The problem is that you all get drowned because you take and take and take…and you have no place for things. You don’t have the capacity to take. First create the capacity to take, then take. And the law of capacity to take is: first give. Because the world is governed by the law of vacuum, which is that there can be no vacuum. When you create the vacuum, things will come in…." - SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa - June 25 1987, Summer Solstice
This quote also relates to giving in relation to our time and money. As Sikhs we are supposed to give Dasvandh (10% of our earnings) back to the community and those in need. By giving you create this "vacuum" and the capacity to receive even more.
Here is an inspiring talk by SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa on the topic of "Chardikala" and your relationship with the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. It’s only about 28 min long so definitely have a listen! :)
This past week I have been thinking a lot about my recent blog posts which are on the topic of judgment and the mind. Then on Sunday I was looking through my videos at home and came across an old video tape of a class taught by SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa (Yogi Bhajan) during Summer Solstice of 1987 (almost 21 years ago!). For some reason I was compelled to watch it. It had been sitting in the cupboard for so many years and for some reason today I noticed it and felt like watching it.
As soon as I started watching the video I was surprised to find that the lecture covering many of the very topics that I was just blogging about, in relation controlling your mind, religion, self discipline, intuition, love, and spirituality. As Guru Nanak Dev ji wrote: "Man Jeetai Jagjeet"; By conquering the mind you conquer the world!
During the past months it’s been really hard for me to get up early in the morning and have a regular spiritual practice. I felt like every day was finishing a marathon between work and family duties, so by the time all my "duties" were done after 9pm I just wanted to disconnect from the world and veg out on the couch watching TV shows that I had recorded earlier. I then got caught up in the habit of doing this (watching TV at night) and it became harder to stop. It wouldn’t be a bad thing….but when you have a full season of a TV episodes and they leave you hanging at the end of one, you just can’t help watching another….. and then another….and another. It becomes a common mental mantra to think "Just one more" after a show ends… hahaha. If I stayed up late there was no way I was going to be able to get up early in the morning for my Sadhana. I have to get up around 4AM in order to have enough time to do banis, yoga and meditate. Once Charanjeet wakes up (5:30-6:30am) then I’m pulled back into family duties.
Espanola, New Mexico is a small town so there is not very much to do compared with big cities. One of the nice things about having the sangat here is that it is very cozy and everyone gets together often. Throughout the year there is always something happening at someone’s house. It’s like a big family and everyone is almost always invited. So when someone has a birthday (which is often) there is normally a meditation/chanting/kirtan; and then of course, food and socializing. There always seems to be something that is a reason to have Kirtan and/or meditation at someone’s house. For example, before Guru Gobind Singh ji’s birthday every night (for a few weeks) someone different in the sangat hosted Rehiras, Kirtan and food at their home. There is something sweet about getting together in people’s homes and being together in this way. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.
Gurujot Singh, Hari Singh and Others chanting as we meditate to Gurbani Kirtan at someone’s house.
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