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! :)
Shanti Kaur Khalsa played kirtan on Sunday and she started one of the Shabads with this introduction about the Shabad and Guru Gobind Singh ji.
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!
Continue reading ‘Man Jeetai Jagjeet - Conquer Your Mind & Conquer the World’
Here is a short soothing Mul Mantra introduction that Hari Bhajan Kaur played in Gurdwara yesterday before she started playing kirtan. (with Gurujot Singh on Dilruba). Download; set your player on repeat; and relax to the soothing sounds.
You can also download another variation of Mul Mantra by Hari Bhajan from a previous Gurdwara..
This weekend I have been thinking about various things, watching my thoughts, and how my mind reacts to different things. I wanted to share these thoughts since I know they are common issues that many of us face, and hopefully it will make you think differently about similar things that you deal with in your life.
On Saturday Baba Iqbal Singh (Kalgidhar Society, Baru Sahib) visited us here in Espanola, New Mexico along with four young female students (and a few other guests) who tour with him.
To this point I had heard the name "Baru Sahib" and Akal Academy, but knew very little about the organization and what their schools were like. Before Baba Iqbal Singh arrived I was talking with someone else in the room who was telling me about the school and how boys and girls dressed exactly the same (not being able to tell if the person is a girl or boy). I also heard that there were no mirrors in the whole school (I think to prevent vanity/ego/self consciousness). I wondered how they tied their own turbans. Then later on Babaji was telling all of us about the school and how the senior children start their morning at 12:30am in the morning and finished their Amritvela sadhana at 4:30am! He went on to describe how the children were very well behaved and obedient and that many of the graduates of the school have achieved a lot in life. He "painted" a picture that appeared too good to be true as if it was a sales pitch of all the good things. I couldn’t imagine kids this way. In my mind I started wondering if the kids were happy there, or if they felt repressed or forced by their parents to become the "perfect Sikh". (Keep in mind, these thoughts were not based on any real experience except for hearing a few things about the school and talking with two students for a few of minutes). I remember going to boarding school in India and being punished harshly if I was late for Gurdwara or didn’t wake up for morning Sadhana. It wasn’t a positive experience for me and many others (Though, I turned out OK, didn’t I?) Maybe this was why I was thinking about the school in this way because of my own experience in boarding school.
Continue reading ‘Judgement, Criticism, The Mind, & Being a Sikh’
