Over the past years my practice of reciting the nitnem banis has been sporadic. It’s like any spiritual practice, it takes commitment and discipline to continue day in and day out. Sometimes I am on solid, and sometimes not. My challenge is to be stable all the time. In the past I had my daily routine of kundalini yoga, meditation/simran and Japji Sahib. I would sometimes do Rehiras and Kirtan Sohila, but that wasn’t always regular.
In my school days in India we used to have Gurdwara in the morning and evening and we would recite Japji & Rehiras. So I did not get familiar with the other Nitnem Banis till later in my life. We used to practice Gatka to an audio version of Prof. Sat Nam Singh Sethi reciting Jaap Sahib, so I knew a bit of that bani, but had never really practiced it. I remember reading Jaap Sahib, and it taking a long time since the words/language used was very different than what I was used to. Then after practicing Jaap Sahib it became much easier and I moved on to, Shabad Hazare. This is a short bani so was easy to add on to my daily routine. Then came Tav Prasad Swaya, and finally Anand Sahib.
While learning the new banis I found it very helpful to listen to audio recordings of someone else reciting the banis. This gave me a sort of "sound memory" of the banis and pronunciation, so that when I actually sat down and read the bani I would remember some of the parts and words. Definitely try this out if you are learning a new bani! (Sukhmani Sahib is next for me!)
Continue reading ‘Experiences Doing Nitnem Banis’
This morning as I was editing the latest audio files (from Diwali) that Ek Ong Kaar Kaur sent me to post up on SikhNet for the "Sounds from Hazur Sahib Audio Journal" section it occurred to me how different this was for me. I’m a very visual person and am used to taking pictures and capturing visual type things. Listening to the audio and putting it together has changed my awareness. It’s like reading a book as compared to watching a movie. When you just read or hear, it leaves a lot of room for your visual imagination. So when I listen to the audios it has more impact for me because I close my eyes and imagine I am there, and it feels so much deeper than if I was just watching a video. I think it’s pretty cool.
If you haven’t heard any of the audios or want to listen to the latest reports from Hazur Sahib (Nanded, India) during the 300th Anniversary Celebrations that are going on, then head on over to SikhNet. Close your eyes and just listen as if you were there with the Sangat.
A few days ago my battery died and I had to get a jump start from someone else to start my car. I was in such a rush to go to an appointment that I accidentally put the jumper cables on the wrong terminals so red went to black and black to red. If you have ever plugged two nine volt batteries together you’ll know what this does (The batteries get really hot!). Anyways, I figured out what I had done within 20-30 seconds, but the cables were already pretty hot and melting some of the plastic covering of the jumper cables. I then put the cables on correctly and was able to start my car and go to my appointment.
The one thing which didn’t work after that was my car tape/radio/cd/mp3 player. So for the past few days I have been driving around in silence and it has made me think. At first it was so odd and a bit uncomfortable to drive my car around in "silence". It was as if I was going into withdrawals and couldn’t handle the silence. I had to get my "fix"! My cell phone plays mp3 files so I put some music on and listened to it on speakerphone. It seems so desperate now thinking about it. Hahaha…
Continue reading ‘Swimming in Distractions’
Sometime this past week I had put the live local Gurdwara video broadcast on the television (I have a computer connected to my TV system so can listen to music on the stereo and watch live internet video broadcasts). For our family this wasn’t a very unusual thing to be able to tune into remove Gurdwaras live through the internet in our home. However, this time we happened to all be sitting on the couch relaxing and it was one of those funny moments where we were all sitting there in front of a TV screen watching the Gurdwara that was going on a few miles away, as if we were sitting there in the back of the room. There we were watching and listening, but it was kind of like a game though, as we try to guess who was in the Gurdwara sitting down, or had just walked in. When I realized what we were doing it seemed so comical. It was like we were watching some reality TV show or something.
Today I put the live broadcast on again and my Narayan and daughter Charanjeet just sat there staring at the TV watching the Gurdwara and listening to the Kirtan. When I walked in the room and saw them, it felt like a virtual Gurdwara, and as if I should bow down towards the TV as if it were going to be “beamed” through the TV/Internet to the physical Siri Guru Granth. It was just one of those odd moments that started me thinking and wondering how things might be in the future.
Continue reading ‘The Virtual Gurdwara and Change’
Here is a video clip titled "The Health Benefits of Yoga" broadcast on ABC’s Good Morning America TV Show. There is a segment with Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. where he talks about the scientific studies done which shows the benefits of doing Yoga.
Watch the video clip here
Whenever I hear Sikhs ragging on Yoga saying it is "against Sikhi" I can only laugh at the ignorance and lack of understanding of Yoga. Some of this opinion seems to be from the perception that Yoga = Hinduism. There is a strong will to want to dis-associate from anything Hindu-ish. I can understand where this comes from with all the things that have gone on in India in the past 50 years, but in fact, Yoga is not a religion and is not a Hindu practice.
Continue reading ‘The Health Benefits of Yoga’
The past month or so I have been working really long hours trying to get the new SikhNet website ready. With this comes physical and mental exhaustion and other side effects. I would get home late feeling totally tired. All I wanted to do was eat and then watch some TV to disconnect from the day and then go to sleep, wake up, get the kids ready for the day and start over again. Somehow in this busy schedule there never seemed to be time to do a proper sadhana. I was going to sleep later and was so tired that it was hard to wake up early (which is the only way to have time to do banis/meditate/yoga/etc).
It is during times like these that I start to remember what life is like without meditation and a spiritual practice. There is this emptiness and feeling of being overwhelmed by life and everyday affairs. It feels like your mind is full and spilling over like a trash can. When I don’t meditate it’s like the thoughts and input from every day life just piles up in my sub-conscious and leaks out in my every day affairs which effects how I act and react to people and situations. I also notice that my dreams at night become much more intense and draining. There is so much pressure in living life today that without this cleaning and clearing of one’s mind it can be hard function and be happy.
Continue reading ‘The Mind: Like and Overflowing Trash Can’
Over the years I have observed some characteristics that some Sikhs have taken on regarding an effort to reduce ego/pride. As Sikhs we are taught to not get attached to the five "challenges" of Lust, Anger, Greed, Pride and Attachment. In an effort to prevent these feelings I have seen some practices by Sikhs which I think are unnecessary.
The first routine is the overly humble guise. It goes something like this: "I am just a lowly sinner…" , "I am the dust of the dust of the dirt"… "I am a das of the das", "I know nothing…", etc. Most of the time when I hear this type of thing from people it feels just like a cover to try to negate any ego. In reality for most people it feels like a false routine to portray ones self as humble. I know in Gurbani Guru Nanak and other Gurus have used similar words as this…but this was our Gurus expression. It’s one thing if you say this to yourself as an internal thing in your mind…..but to say it to other people is very different. It’s as if you have to say it out loud to prove, or make sure that people know you are humble. It’s sort of a false humbleness. If you are humble people will see it in your actions, words, and in your presence (not by words and statements about your humbleness).
Continue reading ‘Dust of the Dust of the Dust….’
The past few days I have been watching old videos of SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji in dialog and question and answer sessions with Sikh Youth in various places. Here is one that I really enjoyed and highly recommend that you watch or listen to! I’ve already watched it at least five times in the course of editing and reviewing the videos and it really hit home for me so wanted to share with you all.
In the video yogiji starts by talking about just "being" a Sikh verses experiencing and living as a Sikh (He related this in the terms he called "Concept" and "Conception"). He then talks about how Sikhs have been betrayed by the so called "Sikh Leadership" and how youth should not rely on them and BECOME the leaders themselves. He shares inspiring experiences from his youth before the partition of India when he was part of creating the All India Sikh Student Federation. He explains how the youth worked together and formed a powerful force with Sikhi as a base and through trust, honesty, equality. He shares the ingredients of what made this work and how youth of today can do this as well.
Continue reading ‘Awakening to Leadership - Are You Ready?’
by Snatam Kaur
The sun was beautiful, shining warmly on the Los Angeles neighborhood nestled between the two busy streets of Fairfax and Beverly. I was using some free time between recording sessions on my upcoming children’s album to take a walk. One of my favorite things to do is look at houses and lawns. It’s a fascination for me, really. I love to see beautiful homes and gardens, and in LA there are so many that it is just pure entertainment. As I walked, I was enraptured by the beautiful white roses climbing up white picket fences, the perfectly manicured lawns, the fancy gates with pathway lighting, the exotic orange flowers that look like flamingo heads, and the beautiful windows and stone-laden driveways. I wove in and out of the quiet streets for quite some time, feeling serene and meditative, and then I took a turn and suddenly found myself right in the middle of one of the busiest streets in LA. What a shock.
Continue reading ‘Affirmation for the Soul’
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’
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