Gobind Milan Ki Eh Teri Bariya

In my previous post I spoke about the importance of Naam and what we can do in our capacity in order to achieve that which we have always wanted (Naam Sukh). That brings us to the next topic which is related ...Our purpose in life!

So why are we here? On this earth. Running around our daily affairs. Getting up in the morning, getting ready, going to work, arguing and laughing at the same time with our bosses, customers, colleagues, wife, family. Coming back, taking care of kids, doing chores around the house, taking care of the house, running on the weekend to the grocery store, to parties/movies/clubs, to Gurudwara/Temple/Church, eating, sleeping and everything in the whole 24/7/365 routine. So is it that we are born by accident (feel like making a funny comment here, but I will hold it for now) or is that we came here for a purpose?
I wont go deep into the whole accident phenomena of it is a whole other philosophical discussion, but would stick to the idea laid down in Gurbani, that we do have a purpose in life. So what is that purpose? Lets take look at what Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Nanak has to say:

bha-ee paraapat maanukh dayhuree-aa
This human body has been given to you.
gobind milan kee ih tayree baree-aa.
This is your chance to meet the Lord of the Universe
avar kaaj tayrai kitai na kaam
Nothing else will work
mil saaDhsangat bhaj kayval naam
Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; vibrate and meditate on the Jewel of the Naam
saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai
Make every effort to cross over this terrifying world-ocean
janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai
You are squandering this life uselessly in the love of Maya

Now there is a lot of masala (I say it more so with love towards the Bani, so lets not focus on its inappropriateness if you feel so) in the above verse and its very important to understand it correctly as this verse itself defines the purpose of our lives.

Guru Sahiban says that we have received this human body after a lot of hardships. We really had to work our way up , spiritually speaking, in order to attain this human birth:

ka-ee janam bha-ay keet patangaa.
In so many incarnations, you were a worm and an insect
ka-ee janam gaj meen kurangaa.
in so many incarnations, you were an elephant, a fish and a deer.
ka-ee janam pankhee sarap ho-i-o.
In so many incarnations, you were a bird and a snake.
ka-ee janam haivar barikh jo-i-o.
In so many incarnations, you were yoked as an ox and a horse. ||1||
mil jagdees milan kee baree-aa.
Meet the Lord of the Universe - now is the time to meet Him.
chirankaal ih dayh sanjaree-aa.
After so very long, this human body was fashioned for you.

So now that we have been given this human body, what should we do with it? Guru says use it to meet The Primal Being (whatever name you call it with). Gobind milan ki eh teri bariya. This is your time to meet God. Its not possible in any other form. Human birth is the only time where we have the wisdom to understand God and how He manifests in all forms of Beings.

Whatever else we do (without the above basic purpose in mind) would be of no use. So although doing our daily duties is important, its not the ultimate purpose we are here for. Remember Guru Sahib have never asked us to renounce our worldly duties. Instead they have taught us the phenomena of "Jeh Prasad" (Sukhmani Sahib). Jeh Prasad means that we acknowledge and thank the Creator for all that He has given us and enjoy the bounties of life with this feeling of thankfulness. The idea is to remember and see the Creator in everything/everyone and not be attached to the Creation.

So what are we supposed to do in order to achieve the ultimate purpose? Guruji says..."Mil sadh sangat bhaj keval Naam". This does not mean that we sit in Sangat the whole day, it means that whatever we do, we do it with constant remembrance and awareness and dedicate it to the Lord. Again, keep in mind the concept of Jeh Prasad. It also means that we need do amrit vela (will talk about it another post), do shabad vichaar (contemplation and leading a life of God's word). From the shabad vichaar we learn that we should lead a life of love for all and service to humanity (sounds pretty idealistic but dont seem to have much of a choice here. Will cover this aspect in a later post). This is also the saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai. Meaning this is also the effort that we have to put in, in order to obtain Naam. We will have to take out time and money to help others, to raise a family (with love and not with moh), to show small acts of love without expecting anything in return, to help those in need . This is the effort we need to put in.

When we do all this we wont be wasting our life just enjoying the fruits of it (janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai).

At this juncture after writing all this, a strong realization dawns upon me that I have wasted quite some time now. Gotta do some shabad vichaar and some mindless act of kindness right now...Bye for now.

Jis Naam Hriday Soi Wad Raja

In my previous post I talked about the importance of having mastery of ones thoughts/mind. Also how Naam Rang helps us to understand our true self and to wash off the dirt of mind. Since then, I have been contemplating on what exactly is Naam. We have heard it so many times in Gurbani, but what is the true meaning of Naam. Before we try to understand Naam...which I believe is harder to explain than I ever thought, let me ask you a question.What are we seeking in life? What is it that we really want/desire. The other day I was watching TV and I saw politicians, singers, dancers, actors who came from very diverse backgrounds and they all seek fame, money and recognition for their work.

To list it out, here are a few things that man seeks in world (not necessary in the same order):
1) Become a leader (Reminds me of the famous song of 1985 from the band Tears for Fears "Everybody wants to rule over the world")
2) Fame
3) Money
4) Recognition
5) The need to love and be loved
6) A life of comfort and happiness with all the worldly necessities, namely...food (Grand Buffet), shelter (a big white house), clothing (Polo, Armani, Gucci and CK)

I was just chatting with an old friend of mine, and he said that he wants peace of mind. This kind of desire which comes when one is fed up of the desire/wants listed above.

Now lets see how Guru Sahib shows us how we can achieve the things that we long for. I was reading the Guru Granth Sahib yesterday and this is what I found:

Pg 1155 (Sri Guru Granth Sahib):
jis naam ridai so-ee vad raajaa.
He alone is a great king, who keeps the Naam, the Name of the Lord, within his heart.
jis naam ridai tin kot Dhan paa-ay
One who keeps the Naam in his heart, obtains millions of treasures
naam binaa janam birthaa jaa-ay. ||1||
Without the Naam, life is useless. ||1||
tis saalaahee jis har Dhan raas
I praise that person, who has the capital of the Lord`s Wealth.
so vadbhaagee jis gur mastak haath
He is very fortunate, on whose forehead the Guru has placed His Hand.(Pause)
jis naam ridai tis kot ka-ee sainaa
One who keeps the Naam in his heart, has many millions of armies on his side
jis naam ridai tis sahj sukhainaa
One who keeps the Naam in his heart, enjoys peace and poise

Guru Sahib goes on in this verse to show us the importance of Naam and how we can achieve all that we desire in life through Naam. So Naam by definition is what we are all seeking in life but are not sure how to get there. When we don't know how to get there then we seek it in worldly things. Also Naam is the net result of the actions of a Gurmukh (the one who has turned his back to the worldly ways and walks in life in accordance to his Masters/Guru/Har hukam (Universal Law).
So what are the actions of a Gurmukh..
1) Satsang (holy congregation) : A Gurmukh (person inclined towards knowing the Inner Being) would have the curiosity to understand the workings of life and his Inner Being (Atman). This curiosity is satiated when he sits in Satsang and listens to the discourse/keertan with the intention to understand it. Now how do we know that we are in the right Satsang. There are numerous Satsangs happening all over the world which prescribe to formal and informal religions of the world. How do we know that we are in the right Satsang? Guru Nanak has given the definition of Satsang below:

satsangat kaisee jaanee-ai.
How is the Society of the Saints to be known?
jithai ayko naam vakhaanee-ai.
There, the Name of the One Lord is chanted.
ayko naam hukam hai naanak satgur dee-aa bujhaa-ay jee-o. ||5||
The One Name is the Lord`s Command; O Nanak, the True Guru has given me this understanding. ||5||

Here Guru Nanak defines Satsang as a place where only God is meditated on, talked about, discussed and known.

2) Keertan: Listening to Keertan or worship songs creates an atmosphere of music and love so that the mind can focus easily on it

3) Yoga/Execrise: Yoga and other exercise helps in keeping the body active and ready for Naam. It also helps in delaying distractions created by ill-health.

4) Reading: Reading Spiritual books gives a better understanding of what we listen and sing. (Koi Gaave Koi Sune Har Naama Chit Layee - Some Sing and Some Listen, it should be done with one set focus)

Now that we understand the importance of Naam and the importance of having the spiritual bent of mind, it is easy to understand what we need to see the effects of Naam. Develope a curiosity, learn through Satsang, Keertan, Discussions and then act on what we have understood. Through this understanding and action, we develop the love for the teachings of the Guru/Bani/Shabad and through that we develop our understanding of God, Life, Atman and purpose of life. This in turn gives us more edge to deal with the day to day ups and downs in life.

This is the essesnce of Naam.

In my next blog I will talk about the purpose of life.

Man Jeetay Jag Jeet

I was going through some quotes and came across this one from Plato:

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile."

The same thought is shown in one of the most beautiful line in the Japji Sahib (in the current context, although everything written in Guru Granth Sahib is awe inspiring) ...Man Jeetay Jag Jeet (By winning over your mind, you have won over the world).

Does that mean that we are at a constant battle with our minds...Yes and No. No because there are a billion thoughts running through the mind and we cannot battle each one of them. So how do we deal with them...
Rakhanhaar samaar jana, sagaley chhod vichaar mana - Sukhamani Sahib (Keep your Creator in mind and leave all other thoughts).
This means that we need to keep coming back to our true self again and again. Our true self is not our thoughts or who we think we are. Our true Self is the place within us for the Highest of the High - Man Mandir Tan vesh kalandar (My mind is a temple and my body is the simple cloth of the humble seeker).
Yes (answer to the question that do we need to fight our mind) because sometimes some of the thoughts stick out and keep coming again and again and then they form a habit (Kar kar karna likh ley jaao - Actions repeated again and again are engraved on the soul). Habits are really hard to break and then we need to fight it (take affirmative action) to overcome it.
Now this is easier said than done. Through countless lifetimes we have accumalated so much filth on our mind- Janam Janam ki is man ko maiel laagi kala hova siyah (The mind has become black like ink from the filth of sin birth after birth). Guru Sahib has given us a very simple method to take our "Daily Shower". Bhariay mat papan ke sang, oh dhopai naave ke rang (When the intellect is stained and polluted by sin it can only be washed by the love of the Name/Love of God).
But how do we get the Naam Rang? To be continued.....

Hello World!

Hello World, I am Sandeep Bhatia and I am HERE! Finally decided to take a leap into the blogosphere. Why am I here? Well I wanted to share and learn through feedback more of what I know and eager to learn. My intrests include Sikhi (being a Sikh), spirituality, the journey of a soul, life, death and everything in between.

So in the coming weeks I will be having more details about my journey and how I have come to be what I am.