Divinity is Where There is no Duality

Excerpt from an amazing workshop given by Kartar Singh (VA) at Summer Solstice 2008. Reproduced with permission.

Synopsis
“Fake it and you will make it.” This course explores what is a landscape of emotion and thought that encourages the movement from duality and pain to divinity and joy. It includes a powerful cleaning of the subconscious mind, an amazing activation of each of the chakras and a deep meditation with the gong.

~~~~~

Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam

There is One Spirit Beyond
Moving within the Creation—
Coordinating
Consolidating
Continually
Creating,

And this Spirit
Within me
Is my True Identity.

Most of us, maybe many of us here, are touched by these words. They vibrate compatibly with us; we have come to sense that there is One Spirit beyond moving within the Creation.

The challenge part is “And that Spirit within me is my true identity.”

The other night I was at the MPA graduation and one of the students read the famous quote from Nelson Mandela that goes “It is not our darkness that scares us, it is our power, our unlimited selves.”

When everything is obviously manifesting in a way that is congruent with our wishes, we are happy, even ecstatically happy.

But when things are manifesting in a way that doesn’t show an obvious correlation to what we want, we often turn away.

Our vibrational offering is based on what is, and not on what we want to be.

We pray, we have desires, we tell God what we want. Often, to get that there needs to be a process through which we can learn it.

You may ask for patience, and what you get is a situation again where you have been very impatient.

The universe wants to help you, it provides the opportunity. The decision to do it differently is your own.

So you pray for patience, you ask for patience---and what you get is the opportunity for patience.

So it is easy to let your vibrational offering be based on what is rather than what you want to be.

“Fake it and you’ll make it,” the SSS said. Said in other terms, let your vibrational offering be at the frequency of what you want, not what you had or something that is evolving that you may feel is not what you want.

Let me say this in a different way. The SSS would say, if you want to have something, if you want to know something, vibrate at the frequency of it.

If you want more money in your life, don’t keep harping on the same old thoughts of lack.

If you want more empowerment in your life, then don’t keep harping on the same old fears and insecurities.

Everything is vibrational first. A new life is vibrational before the sperm ever touches the egg.

Your vibration is totally within your control.

This doesn’t mean that if you want more money you think and think of riches. That would be like trying to drown out your poverty thoughts with richness thoughts.

That’s work, that’s tiring, that’s going upstream.

The universal energy, the Ek Ong Kar, and especially the Sat Nam, is all downstream.

If you are moving in the direction of relief, if you are moving downstream, if you can feel the current, you are on your way.

It’s not that you need to work and work and work to change your vibration. Just offer it, and if you want to work, work at finding all the ways you can be happy and grateful while your desire is manifesting.

Gems in the River

I gazed at her in awe. Her breathtaking beauty mesmerized me. I whispered inwardly, “She is beautiful”. Nay, to describe her merely as beautiful would be to do her disservice, for I beheld actual beauty itself incarnate.

Her raiment appeared as a bluish garment of sparkling light. Her face radiated a peace and composure I had yet to experience. She stood beside a river. The rising sun shimmering on its surface reflected the dawn in all its glory. Entranced I observed the rapture of day unfolding before me.

She held a bulky bag heavy with stones. Only when she reached to pull out one of the stones did I realized it was nothing ordinary. No, a gem surpassing the brilliance and elegance of any jewel I had ever previously seen glittered in the morning rays of sunlight, nearly blinding me.

Then she did a rather peculiar thing.

She threw the gem into the river. Before I could say anything she repeated her action. Over and over again she tossed unimaginably flawless gems into the streams current. I couldn't’t fathom why she would do such a thing or how such beautiful gems could be so easily discarded by her. Couldn't she see how precious, how valuable these gems were?

Once in a while, she would inspect a particular jewel holding it out to reflect the light. After caressing it fondly she would put the gem into her pocket. But then she would go right back to dropping beautiful gems, one after another, into the river.

Finally I broke out of my spell and asked, "Who are you"?

She looked at me and her eyes sparkling with life and mirth, said, "I am you".

It completely shocked me to think that I could be that beautiful. "But", I stumbled, "I am ugly and dirty, you are so pure and...?"

I could feel her laughter inside. "I am your soul."

Like a flash of lightening, I completely understood her. I saw her and me as one. My dirt and ugliness reflected the false and fleeting me. She embodied the true me.

Like a jewel wrapped in rags, I had hidden her from the world. Nay, I had hidden her from me.

I pointed to the gems in the river - she smiled and explained,
"The bag of stones actually represents our lifetime in the human body and the celestial beauty is indeed our soul. She is standing by the ever flowing river of time, spending the treasure of precious but limited number of breaths that the body is blessed with. Each breath spent in meditating on the Beloved is a priceless gem that she will carry with her as her spiritual treasure when the body breathes its last. Each breath spent on useless, materialistic pursuit is a gem wasted, never to be found again."

~~~~~

Above reply by me-ever-radiant-and-lovely-wife, Gurpreet Kaur Singh.

~~~~~

Other notable explanations sent in by readers:

Sukhmandir Kaur

How can one remember Thee, unless first we meet
Oh, but the nearness of Thee taste divinely sweet
Please bless and fill me with Thy Grace
Granting this unworthy one a glimpse of Thy Face
Blind me with thy Blinding Light
Empty me of weakness, and fill me with Thy Might
Once met,
How could one forget
Waheguru waheguru waheguru wahegur

Amrit Singh Sangha
That gem is your life breath being washed away with the strong current of the river.

I do not understand O my beautiful soul.

You have been given this human life to remember the One Lord’s Name with every breath. Each breath that passes without the remembrance of the One Lord’s Name, that gem is thrown into the river never to return again.

I felt a chill down the back of my spine and the hair on my neck stand.

She said all is not lost, that Gem is safe, which goes in my pocket. That Gem and only that Gem which is in service of the One Lord’s Name is safe.

I gasped and said "O my beautiful soul my breath of life is a priceless Gem that is being wasted away in thoughts other than the One Lord’s Name."

She looked at me, smiled with a gaze that pierced my mind and said now go meditate on the One Lord's Name. I do not know how many Gems I have left in this bag and my pocket feels Light weighted.

With these words she disappeared.

Sonu Kapoor
The gems were priceless moments/memories of life, good or bad they were all beautiful ... the soul was simply carefully selecting the ones it would keep with it and cherish forever, while letting go of the rest that did not mean much.

Gems made out of naam, simran and love for god were kept in the pocket , while the memories of friends family and loved ones were all discarded back into the river of maya. (depending on a person's beliefs, this can be vice versa).

Please see the comments too.

The Aquarian Footprints in the Sand

One night I had a dream. I was walking along the beach with God. Across the sky flashed scenes of my life. For each scene I noticed ONE set of rather deep footprints.

I fell on my knees and cried, "O great and glorious LORD, thy ...

"Enough of that LORD-ing!" she scolded, "and to tell you the truth, I'm pretty tired of the thy-s and thine-s!"

"But, but.." I protested.

She kindly pulled me up to her level and said, "Now stop your buts and watch this..."

The deep footprints continued - when the saddest and the lowest scenes of my life appeared in the sky, I noticed two sets of footprints!!!

"But.. but," I protested again, "Isn't there supposed to be only one set of footprints when I was sad - I remember that story when the Lord picked up the person when he was sad..."

And she replied,

"You see, for most of the time, your heart was open to me and we were one. Then there were hard times where you closed your heart and soul, and I was forced to walk beside you. Those were sad times for me as well, as it pained me not to be able to reach you and that you thought you were all alone. Remember you are never alone. Even when you feel cut off from God's love, I am right beside you. Say the word, and I'll come home."

~~~~~

Above reply sent by Kehar Kaur.

~~~~~

Other notable replies:

Sukhmandir Kaur
The times we are the saddest and most troubled is when we are in duality (vijog), the state of separation and viraag (deep longing), thus two sets of footprints. When we are happiest is when we merge into our Lord and become One experiencing sanjog union (so only one set of footprints needed :) The alternative could be whenever we are unhappy we turn to each other most, cuz misery loves company ;)

Anonymous
Okay - now let's see how She gets out of this one! By the way, I saw Her in the Gurudwara last night in the form of the sweetest little old lady dressed all in white. She was sitting next to me during kirtan. G said to her, you are great and she said innocently "acha...?" I hugged her and her essence is still with me.

Me
I had you in my lap all the time, but you decided to jump off!

Sheri Mahoney
It occurs to me that when we are separate from _ourselves_ we are under the illusion of being separate from God. Only the illusion suggeststhe separateness, though. Separateness from God is not actually possible, since he/she is in everything, no matter what its form.

Ratan to the Core

EkOngKar Singh, a dear friend of Didi, my awesome naami aunt, seldom spoke. Quite an interesting guy - to communicate, instead of talking he would say only "waheguru" for “yes” and "gurwah!” for “no”. He would show up once in awhile, hang around for a few days (saying even fewer words) and then would disappear for months. Nobody really knew where he came from and where he went. All I know is that whenever he showed up, more meditations, more singing, and a lot more dancing took place.

One beautiful spring day, he appeared and indicated that he would like us to go hiking with him in the nearby hills. On such a day, it would have been a crime not to take up his offer so we (me, sis and Didi) whole-heartedly agreed.

While we readied ourselves for the outing, I asked Didi to tell me about EkOngKar Singh.

"He is a very intriguing man," Didi began. "Believe it or not, only a few years ago everyone considered him to be one of the top diamond traders in the world. He traveled the earth searching for the most precious stones. One of his fellow gem-hunters, a man known as Ratan Singh, is largely responsible for the transformation into the fellow you see today. It's best if we ask him to tell his own story..."

We took off on our hike and started doing the WahWalk (repeating WAH! when we lift the left foot and GUR! when we step on the right). We clambered along for about 40 minutes, this way until we came to a shady place near a creek with a little waterfall. Deciding this to be the perfect place for a rest, we all plunked down. I found a nice smooth rock which looked like it would make a great pillow.

Didi asked my sister to read Guru Nanaks' Jap Ji stanza #6, while I translated (best as I could).

tirath naavaa jay tis bhaavaa vin bhaanay ke naa-ay karee
Only with grace can one bathe in the inner ambrosial nectar;
without grace, the outside bathing at pilgrimages is kinda mostly useless.

jaytee sirath upaa-ee vaykhaa vin karmaa ke milai la-ee
All of goodies we have are a result of karma, but...

mat vich ratan javaahar maanik jay ik gur kee sikh sunee
The gems within are revealed by grace - then we listen to the Guru's one gospel
(and then we bathe in the inner ambrosial nectar mentioned previously).

guraa eik dhaehi bujhaaee sabhanaa jeeaa kaa eik dhaathaa so mai visar n jaaee
I ask the Guru for this: that I never forget the Giver of all souls.

We kept quiet for while just enjoying listening to the silence and meditating on the meanings of the stanza. I drifted off. I could hear the gurgling sounds of the creek which has this really weird name (Bush Kill Falls), and it got me to thinking about life and death…

When I have finally met my end
Departed this path I'm on
Please commit my memory
To a stream that runs down to the sea
Tumbling over around a bend
When it seems I've finally gone
You will discover me presently
Found in the green of a tree
Whose rustling leaves echo in the wind
Answering to the song
Of ashes tumbling o’er a stony ree
Far scattered to the lee
How befitting a way to blend
Buoyantly carried along
Coursing over falls swept free
By a current wept out from me

Startled out of my morbid reverie I heard Didi ask EkOngKar Singh "Why don't you tell the young ones your special story?".

EkOngKar Singh smiled, flashing an amazing set of white teeth. "Where I begin? Long story... OK, me this guy who care only for money. I look for diamonds in remote places. I have everything - money, cars, friends, but inside I very lonely and sad. One time, me go Ivory Coast doing diamond-trading. [yes, yes, I know - his English is not perfect - please bear with me - he's going to go into silence soon] Rebels capture me. This one fellow Ratan Singh, who in Africa that time, come and give them *all* his money to free me. I very grateful. We fly back home together. He very carefree fellow, always happy, make me feel happy too. I never so happy before. I love him more every hour! We go my house and I take him to my vault and show him my all gems. I tell him "You take anything you want". Inside my heart, I very scared that he take everything, but he take nothing from there.

He remove only a small rock from my backyard. "This to remind me of this moment," he say and leave me. I very, very happy that time. But later I again get very, very sad. I wonder how come he happy with dirt, but I not happy even with diamonds? Next time I see him, I ask him. So he tell me his story."

EkOngKar Singh took a deep breath, it was obvious that talking was hard for him - he was definitely out of practice (perhaps I could arrange talking-lessons from my always-ahead-of-you-by-at-least-200-words-half-of-which-were-"OMG" sister). He waved his hand indicating Didi should tell Ratan Singh's story.

She began, "Ratan Singh, before he partook amrit [ie became a Khalsa], had an unusual nickname. Everyone called him 'Rock' since childhood, because of his love for stones. Not surprisingly, Rock grew up to become a geologist. While hunting for geodes on one of his solo camp outs to the Indian mountains, he fell severely sick after eating some leftovers. He lay in his tent delirious with a perilously high fever, retching, shivering, sweating and shaking; thinking that this might be his last night on Earth. Very late that night, towards morning, he heard the sounds of hooves. A mysterious light approached. Rock thought perhaps the fairy spirit of a sacred cow had come to carry him off to the netherworld (he was delirious remember). Then suddenly the apparition came to a stop right outside his tent. With great difficulty, he lifted the tent edge nearest where he lay, and peeked out frightfully.

Lo and behold, a magnificent sight awaited him!

Astride a blue horse sat a man emitting brilliant white light. A royal white turban adorned his head. The horseman looked directly into Rocks eyes. His searing white hot gaze seemed to penetrate; piercing him as though he had been struck by an arrow. His commanding voice reverberated in the sick mans ears, like echoes in a cave, when he spoke, ordering "Ratan Singh, wake up!"

Rock fainted away into a dead sleep. Much later when he awoke again he discovered he had been completely healed. Sitting up, he remembered the vision (how could he forget?), but shrugged it off thinking he had to have been hallucinating. He stretched, stood up and stepped outside his tent. Looking down, he observed tracks appearing to be horse hoofs. Shaking his head in disbelief he bent over to examine them more closely and then to his utter amazement he spied a small silver arrow with the name "Ratan Singh" inscribed on it. You can imagine the shock Rock felt upon discovering that his vision had indeed been real. Soon after returning home, he realized the one in his vision to be none other than the Great Guru Gobind Singh ji! Before long he had partaken amrit, receiving at that time the very name of Ratan Singh."

When he heard this last part, EkOngKar Singh became very excited and jumped up interrupting Didi. He told us, "So when I hear this tale from Ratan Singh, I want to be like him – I want this amrit too. I want to be happy and carefree. Ratan Singh tell me, "Do WaheGuru WaheGuru early morning, read Jap Ji and Guru Gobind Singh come to you too!"

After few months, I partake amrit and get the SatNaam diamond inside me. Enough talk, now we sing!"

Saying that, he started singing,

Guru Raam Daas Ji
I searched and searched and through Guru's Grace, found the True One, my Friend, the One who pervades and presides over all.
Within the walled fortress of my golden body, the True One's SatNaam is revealed.

The True One's SatNaam is a jewel, a diamond; by which my mind and body are pierced through and through.
By great good fortune, I have found the True One. Nanak is permeated with the One' sublime essence (sggs 449)

Morals for the Genie

The top 2 morals for the Genie story:

Anonymous
The Genie is the mind - let it do Sat with inhale and Naam with exhale, otherwise it will eat you up!

Beth Webb, Hurst, TX (www.bbyoga.biz)
Sometimes we THINK we have so much to do that our thoughts keep us from actually "DOING" the WORK.

The Genie

Once there lived a very a wealthy man with many farms and businesses all over the world.

He was also a devotee of a yogi who lived in his city. No matter how busy he was, he would visit the yogi at least once a day. The yogi was quite pleased with him and one day told him, "Ask for anything and you shall receive it."

The wealthy man thought awhile and said, "I have too much work and not enough good workers. I want a servant who will do things at very fast speed."

The yogi said, "There is a genie I have under my control who could be of service to you. The only problem with it is that it has a condition attached to his service."

The wealthy man said, "And what might that be?"

The yogi answered, "The genie is alright as long you have work for it, but as soon as it is free, it will eat you up!"

The wealthy man laughed at that and said, "Oh, no problem with that, I have plenty of work for it."

The yogi warned him again. Once again the man laughed it off. So the yogi gave him the bottle the genie lived in. As soon as he got home, the wealthy man eagerly broke open the bottle. A big genie appeared and said just one thing, "Work!"

The man told him to till his land. The genie disappeared and re-appeared in a few minutes!

"Work!" he demanded. This greatly surprised the man. He took a look outside his window and sure enough, all his land had been tilled. He said, "Now sow all the seed into it."

Once again the genie disappeared and re-appeared in a few minutes and demanded, "Work!"

The man remembered the yogi's warning and had to think quite hard to come up with work for the genie. He told the genie to feed all his animals. Once again the genie disappeared and re-appeared in a few minutes and demanded, "Work!"

Now the man started sweating. Surely he would be eaten soon because he didn't have much more work for this genie.

With panic, he thought hard and told the genie to deliver all his mail personally around the globe. The genie disappeared and the man quickly ran to the yogi shouting, "Save me! Save me!"

The yogi laughed and reminded him of the warning. The man told the yogi, "You were right, yogi jee, you were right! Now save me! For surely I am doomed!"

The yogi said, "This is what you should do. As soon as the genie returns, ask him to build a pole outside."

The man interrupted, "But he will do that in 2 seconds - you don't know that genie, please think of something else. Please save me.."

The yogi said, "NOW CALM DONE AND LISTEN! ... After the genie has built the pole, tell it to climb the pole. Once it is up, it should climb down. Then it should climb up again. And it should continue this until you have some other job for it. After which it should start climbing and descending the pole again."

~~~~~

If you have a spiritual moral for this story, please send it to daljitMsingh@gmail.com

The Hot One on the Beach - 3

read previous part...

So I'm sitting here on the beach with the hottest One EVER at my side. She just told me the secret of life and I am having a ball realizing how awesome life really is. Tornado, my 5-year-old wired cousin from hell (ok, I take that back - my sweet cousin from heaven) is busy counting the grains of sand on the beach [what a dork! - ok I take that back - what a cutie pie].


Most of the questions I have about life, birds and bees (and the 'emerald-eyes' girl in my class) have vanished completely from my mind. While we are on the subject of girls, I have to tell you that the girl I just mentioned - she and me are like... like... -have it- on! Like ... we are on the same wavelength, if you know what I mean! you know.. like ... we are like seeing each other.

ok, ok, we are not really seeing each other - she did however look in my direction once when we were in the chemistry lab; and winked. Yes, winked! Not once, but several times. ok, ok, she didn't really wink, but blinked - she had an allergic reaction to a chemical that was dropped on the floor. But so what? She still did look in my direction, didn't she? ok, ok, it was I who dropped the chemical on the floor. You should have seen...

What?! oh, you want me to stop my blabbering and ask some good questions while the Hot One is still around - not a bad idea I must say, not a bad idea at all.

One question pops in to my head - I turn to the Hot One and ask, "So what's the deal with the Guru? If we are all one why do .."

But before I finish my profound question...

~snap~

I am ... standing in the middle of the Ocean! Whoa! What happened?! I can't move! It's dark all around, only the wave crests are white with the reflection of the moon. I can't move anything ... except my eyes a bit - even those barely. OMG! What happened? And it's freezing!! Am I dreaming?! I am going to try to move eyes downwards to see what I am standing on - it's weird out here in the middle of the dark Ocean.

OMG! OMG! I see a thing sticking out where my nose should be.... it's a CARROT!!! And my cheeks are all white ... I... am.. am.. a SNOWMAN!!! A SNOWMAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!!! THIS IS CRAZY!! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS? A SIMPLE QUESTION!! I CURSE THE BUMPER STICKERS WHICH SAY "QUESTION AUTHORITY" AND...

WHAT?! OH?!!! YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?!! CALM DOWN MY ... ... OMG OMG DO I STILL HAVE AN...

OK, OK, you have a point. What does my Kundalini yoga teacher always say? "Mul Bandh!" (no! not sure if that's possible in these circumstances) ... "Deep inhale deep inhale"... but HOW DO I INHALE THROUGH A CARROT?!.. I'M DYING. GOODBYE READERS, HELLO GRAN-DADDY!

This is probably the last half-story I will write. Oh, why did I listen to you readers?! You sitting in your cozy chairs somewhere warm and I, freezing my butt off (if I still have one - and mine is/was a really good one!) and have a carrot for a nose ... and... and what ELSE has been substituted by a vegetable? OMG?!! Dear readers, save me.. the girl with emerald-eyes.. ohhh, she really looked in my direction... really! I wasn't lying about that...

ok, ok, I got to calm down - I can't go out like this! Dear readers, please tell my sister that I really thinks she awesome - I only say mean things about her because I'm.. I'm jealous! Please tell the Principal that it was I who painted her poodle pink. I am getting really cold...really cold... and last thing, my blog's password is....

Wait a minute... I see something rising right in front of me. It's like an iceberg! It's getting to be dawn too, so I can see a bit better. The tip of the iceberg is a few feet away from me. It's directly in my vision, so I can't help but look at it. And... and, I hear a sound. Oh... it's the most beautiful sound! I'm melting into this sound. The sound is getting stronger and more beautiful. And more subtle. It's .. it's bliss! Bliss! Bliss! I am melting. I am in bliss. I am bliss! I love it! I love me; I love you. Love, love... Oh, I can't take this - it's too wonderful! I am melting, I am melting. This is not possible. This is too beautiful! I can't ... I can't.. describe it.... I'm melting into the sound and the waves below me. Ah, the warm, warm embrace of the waves... They gush over me... I am going into the water.. warm, blissful water.. Here I go into the water...

I am the water! I am everywhere at once! This is incredible! I am the Ocean, the rivers. I am the clouds and I am the trees! I am the mountains. I am everything! I am human and and I am animal and I am vegetation and I am rock! This is incredible. I can't describe it! I have melted into everything. Everything is ALIVE! I am vibrating with LIFE! I FEEL everything! All emotions are mine. All love is mine. I am Love and Love is me. I love you. I love me. I hear everything. It's a perfect symphony! I am one! I am all!

~snap~

I am back in my body lying next to the Hot One. I look at her and cry out. I don't know why I am crying, but I am. I can't keep the cries inside. She, me, you are too beautiful. There is too much depth and beauty for me not to cry.

She turns to me. She is indescribably kind. Everything about her is love and kindness. She is ... is... I cant' describe this - she is love. Bliss. ALIVE! So alive...

My sobs end. I take a deep breath. Oh the delicious breath! Incredible! I didn't realize how sweet breath is. I feel the power and joy of each breath particle, each molecule of air going into my alive body. My body is alive with vibration. All parts of my body are singing! I didn't know they could sing! And the song is breathtaking! It's joyous! It's bliss! bliss bliss.

I take a breath, eternity passes,… I visit each wonder of the cosmos in an instant, I breathe all that is beautiful, all that is sad, the drama of each life plays out before me joyously, tremulously. I live and die myriads of times in myriads of existences, taking place in myriad of worlds, in oceans, in sand. A wave washes over me, I exhale…

Tornado whips by showering me in a wave of sand still counting, as only a child who can't count can, one billion gazillion trillion, 39 billion gazillion trillion, 2 hundred 89 thousand hundred trillion gazillion billion zillion; he scoops and tosses handfuls of sand showering me and the Hot One who smiles sweetly, sizzling each grain into threads of spun glass, which shimmer and fall back to the beach to be swept out to sea by an incoming wave on its way out.

I become aware of a sand crab tickling my toes, I watch as it climbs my leg. It scuttles up my torso and climbs my neck and pauses to whisper into my ear. I hear its crabby little voice say… "breathe". I hear my breath as I inhale and exhale in a long sigh as my air is coming out.... I inhale the present and turn to Hot One in awe of blissful eternity, still hearing the ringing of its song through my being…thrilling my fibers of existence.

"I... I.." I hopelessly begin, "didn't know!"

She nodded.

"I didn't know you cared so much?!" I finally managed to say, "I .. thought you were carefree!"

"The Guru is part of me which cares.
The Guru is the part of me which loves.
The Guru is the part of me which sings to you.
The Guru is part of me which unites me and you!"

~~~~~

Guru Nanak's Jap Ji, stanza #5
The immaculate and pure One cannot be established or created.
Those who serve, experience the One. O Nanak, sing of the One, the treasure of excellence.

Sing ... and listen, and let your mind be filled with love. Your pain will be replaced with peace.
The all-pervading Guru's Word is the sound-current of the Naad and the wisdom of the Vedas.

The Guru is Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Paarvati and Lakhshmi.
The True One cannot be described in words even by those who know.

The Guru has given me this one understanding: may I never forget the giver of all souls.

Morals for Sher Singh

I got several great responses - here are the top 3 (please see Comments for more).

Parvati, Enid, OK
"DON'T MESS WITH EMS!"

Anonymous
Mughal = Ego, Sher Singh = Guru, Sher Singh's sword = SatNaam
Any questions?

Sonu Kapoor
The Spiritual Moral of the story goes back to a Sakhi ["true story"] related to Guru Gobind Singh Ji [the tenth Sikh Master], a moment in his life period where he was once surrounded by enemy forces and a Mugal leader who challenged him for a dual.

Guru Gobind Singh ji offered 3 chances for the Mugal Leader to gain victory, when the 3rd attack came close and touched Guru Gobind Singh Ji, he then took his turn and finished off the Mugal Leader with one strike.

Allowing the enemy to go first, allows a saint to stand behind his principals with confidence, it also brings self assurance that he/she is Right and therefore has the support of the almighty. It is a test of confidence and faith in the principals of one's beliefs; "if I am wrong, than may I die, but if I am right, than victory shall be mine" The moment the first blow of the enemy is missed/altered, the saint gains confidence and assurance that he is correct and therefore uses that bliss of energy to return a blow back to his enemy and gains victory.

Often in a battlefield the weaker opponent will strike first because of fear, by resisting the desire to strike first the stronger opponent projects confidence in himself and in the almighty.

Sher Singh let his opponent go first, being alone in a battlefield, surrounded by mugals and not choosing to take the first strike, showed his confidence in his Guru "ja ko rakhe sahina mar sake na koye". The method which Sher Singh used to strike his opponent sent a clear and precise message to the entire mugal army "You may talk all you want, but the moment you make a move against what is right, you will crumble to the ground, for neither your head nor your body will support your useless talk"

Sher Singh and the Moghul leader

One morning after EMS (please see http://seekerofone.blogspot.com/2008/09/beware-of-ems.html for the dangers of doing this Early Morning Sadhana/meditation), Sher Singh was travelling into the forest. He was drowning in the spiritual bliss of SatNaam and walked right into a Mughal soldier's ambush (yet another danger of using the EMS drug - you walk into Mughal soldier's ambushes).

Since he was an adept saint-soldier, he had no problem escaping the trap. The Mughal leader called out to him, "I have heard much about the Khalsa and their Guru - come and show me what your Guru has taught you!"

Listening to the challenge to his Guru - Guru Gobind Singh ji - Sher Singh could not resist the Mughal's call.

So he returned.

The Mughal growled, "We will each show our swordsmanship - the winner will walk free."

Sher Singh agreed. They stood a few feet apart. First, the Mughal took his sharp sword and with "whooshs" filling the air, managed to unhook Sher Singh's battledress clean off.

All the other Mughals soldiers were impressed - they shouted something in ALL CAPS.

Then Sher Singh took out his sword and a few "whooshs" later, re-sheathed it. Apparently no damage had been done to the Mughal leader.

The Mughal smirked, "What good is that?!"

Sher Singh suggested, "Move your head..."

The Mughal leader turned his head and lo and behold, it came clean off his body.

~~~~~

Yes, there is a spiritual moral in this story. And no, it ain't "The Mughal leader had it coming!" If you can come up with the spiritual moral for this story (I bow to you), please send it to daljitMsingh@gmail.com - the best one(s) will be published.

Beware of EMS!!!

Beware!!!! Deadly drug on the streets - EMS!

I usually don't write about stuff like this but THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Please do read.

There is a lethal drug on the streets - it's called EMS (aka AVSN by old users). A friend cried to me about it the other day; said she, "It COMPLETELY changed my life," she told me between tears, "I no longer enjoy anything without a dosage of EMS!!!" she admitted.

It was heartbreaking to see someone so lively BECOME SO STILL!!!
This friend used to love hanging out at the malls for hours - NO MORE!!!
She used to have great arguments with her friends about the latest fads - NO LONGER!!!
She would spend hours on the Internet - YOU GUESSED IT, THE MOUSE SITS IDLE ALL DAY!!!
I'm telling you: do what it takes to avoid this drug. Someone who is beloved to you MIGHT ALREADY be hooked onto this drug. People who take this drug usually do it because of peer pressure - SO PLEASE DON'T HANG OUT WITH PEOPLE ON THIS DRUG!!!
How can you tell who the users are - well, here are some common symptoms:
~ EXCESSIVE stillness
~ IRRATIONAL cheerfulness
~ COMPLETE LACK of gloomy outlook
~ UNCOMMON health, happiness and holiness
~ UNHOLY wholesomeness
~ UNNATURAL love of trees and stars and rivers and lakes
~ NON-ATTACHMENT to monetary things (gasp!)
~ UNGODLY loving and hugging of other humans
~ HIGHLY DISRUPTIVE "enjoy the moment" mindset

This drug, EMS - Early Morning Sadhana (meditation) or AVSN (Amrit Vela Sach Nao, as Guru Nanak calls it) is DANGEROUS!! It has ruined many lives and it will surely ruin yours (as you know it). The whole of civilization (as we know it) is at stake here.

Here are some expert opinions:
~ Guru Nanak (jap ji stanza # 4)
True is the One, True is One's Name - speak it with infinite love.
We beg, "Give this to us, give that to us", and the great giver keeps on giving.

So what offering can we (the receivers of gifts) place before the One (giver), by which we might see the One's court? What words can we speak to evoke One's love?

The answer: In the Amrit vela, meditate on the True Name, and contemplate One's glorious greatness (Amrit Vela btw is the ambrosial hours before dawn - the time when it is hardest to get up, since the blanket is ohhh soooo comfy and the snooze button is ohhh sooo seductive - I am thinking of getting a alarm clock which has snore-recognition - if I'm snoring, it should unplug itself).

By the karma of past actions, the robe of this physical body is obtained, but the gate of liberation is found only by grace.
Nanak says: then (and only then) we realize that the True One is the only one around!

~ Guru Amar Daas jee
If a seeker cries (to the beloved) at amrit vela, those cries are heard in One's court (sggs 1285)

~ Guru Ram Das jee
One who calls herself a seeker of the Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on One's Name (sggs 305)

~ Sheikh Fareed JiIf you do not awaken in the early hours before dawn, you are dead while yet alive [zombies rule!] (sggs 1383)

~ Yogi Bhajan (more of Yogi ji's views on Sadhana)
"SADHANA!!!!"
Only word in Yogi Bhajan's reply-letter to a long, long letter from a seeker who asked for a cure for his fledgling spirituality, lousy prosperity and failing relationships.

~ Bhai Randhir Singh ji, a great Sikh spiritualist
The seeker that does SatNaam at amrit vela, is assured of enlightenment

~ Baba Nand Singh ji, another great Sikh spiritualist
(Upon finding out that someone will be writing his (Baba jee's) biography)
Imagine an almond. It has the outer shell, the brown part we all see. Then it has a white inner part that is not seen. My life is like that almond. The biographer will be writing about that brown outer part - what I did, what I said - but my real life, the inner white, is from 1 am till 6 am. Nobody can possibly even imagine that life, let alone write about it. Only I know that real life.

~ Rumi
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill
Where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.

Morals for Inka, the Monk

There were several astoundingly insightful and inspiring responses. I picked the top four - here they are (in no particular order).

Sukhmandir Kaur Khalsa, CA (http://sikhism.about.com/)
Because he had not achieved total awareness. Think for instance of a ninja master who is able to jump through a moving fan. He has to be absolutely aware.

I've known a few people with heightened awareness, I was aware enough to catch on to the fact that they were aware of something I had not yet become aware of, like an approaching car and the person in it, a half mile away.

Once when I had first learned breath of fire I was doing it for 31 minutes sitting out in the woods while some friends were doing some winching with a jeep pickup truck which had a come along on the front bumper trying to pull out a tree stump. Suddenly the wench broke and the truck sprang back several feet.

In an instant of awareness I swear I levitated, I moved instantly (snap your fingers) without changing position (sitting in lotus) over to my left as the truck flew back in that same instant to where I had been sitting. That was not an isolated incident.

A master would be in that state at all times. We window-shop, she owns the store. Continual uninterrupted awareness is a big key to the whole master concept.

The master in this case was aware that the student was unaware of the umbrella. Also the student had way too much ego worrying about the outcome.


Rob Abbott, NC
In that one moment, he was living in the future with anticipation ignoring the present. To be a true master one can only live in the present not wasting time in the past which cannot be changed and the future which you cannot predict nor control. The only moment you can control is the present.

I see the umbrella being included in the surroundings of the present moment and he was unaware of its position.


Gurpreet Hothi, NC
The mind projected itself into future, through hopes/expectations, and thus missed out on the present. The present was the misty and breezy weather, of which the Master was aware, and thus prompted an act in the present, i.e. securing an umbrella.

Inka (the Master, NOT!) got caught up in the expectation of being declared a Master and so busily projected himself in this future and thus neglected living/acting in the present. Sehaj was still eluding this seeker.

Enlightenment is when there is transcendence of even the recognition of enlightenment (from other and even oneself). There is just being, nothing more. No dwelling on what happened in the past to the ego-self, or projecting hopes/expectations for the ego-self into the future. Only acting in the present.

In the present, there is the immaculate mind devoid of egocentricity. As soon as the past and future are brought in, the mind becomes tainted by relating to past failures and successes of the time-bound false-self, and acts from this falsehood and loses the focus on the present. Actions, good/holy or bad/evil, arising from the false self are ALL false.

Siri Kirpal Kaur, OR
Yogi Bhajan always used to say, "If you love me, don't question me; if you question me, don't love me." The student does not become a Master until he or she knows the Master's mind without question.

The Monk and the purple Umbrella

Today with the sunrise, Inka's annual testing day had come. He felt serenely confident that on this day, the 24th anniversary of his entering the Monastery, he would be named Master. His own Master had discontinued giving him formal lessons months ago. Surely it could be considered a sign that the Master believed Inka's learning to be complete.

Even the misty and breezy weather showed itself perfect for this occasion. Inka felt a deeper than usual joy. He knew himself to be enlightened, not in a prideful way, he simply recognized it to be true. His mind dwelt only in the present, like a tranquil lake in which no ripples of worry over past or future disturbed the surface. He loved his fellow monks. All the animosities of earlier times had disappeared, fading with the years gone by. His brethren treated him with utmost respect and love as did the Master.

Inka walked into the Master's room. He knelt down, humbled with gratitude and awaited the formal announcement.

The Master, his eyes clouded with age, looked at Inka and smiled. He spoke softly, his voice quite weak. Inka leaned closer to hear his words. "My purple umbrella is by the door. Is it on the right side or the left?

Inka thought for a moment. In shock, he realized that he was not yet fit to be Master. He bowed deeply and left the Master's room. He would have to try the following year.

~~~~~

Can you figure out why Inka thought he was not fit to be Master? If so, please send your response to daljitMsingh@gmail.com and the best one will be published on my blog - along with the sender's name and place of residence (if available).

The Hot One on the Beach - 2

read previous part...

I sat in dumbfound-land for a while staring at the Hot One - she wore sunglasses (the reflective kind) and looked simply ... well... divine! Slowly it dawned on me that I could ask all the questions about life rushing around in my head I’d had since I was yeah-high. But somehow none of them seemed important enough to ask anymore.

Tornado came running up and asked me, "What comes after 999?"

"1,000" I answered distractedly, "Er... why do you want to know that?"

"I am counting all the sand grains on this beach!" he said proudly. He turned to go, but stopped and looked at the Hot One, cocked his head for a while and said, "You are so full of light - awesome!"

They high-fived and he ran back to his counting. "What a sweet soul" she murmured.

I had heard several descriptions of Tornado. The most polite one being "handful" but usually "wired", "high-strung", "impossible" were the adjectives muttered along with his name. Never, ever (going all the way back to when I was yeah-high) had I heard the word "sweet" associated with him.

She looked at me, "All souls are sweet."

"You made all the souls sweet?" I asked.

"No, we made all the souls sweet!"

"What do you mean?!" I wasn't ready to take that kind of responsibility!

"Let me tell you a story...so there was this one Being all by herself. She didn't mind being alone, but decided it would be fun if there were more of her kind. So she split herself into many parts (and here is the real fun part), she made all the other parts forget her!

Ok, ok, you are old enough to know the truth. I am that Being mentioned in the story; and you, my fab friend, are me too. You have just (quite conveniently) forgotten who you are, and are on an epic and unique quest to find out that you are me! Isn't that just the most marvelous plan?"

"Uh... uh..argg..." I managed to say.

"Yes, it is!" she answered herself.

"So... so... " I stuttered, "What is the secret?"

"I ... I ...I .. " she imitated me, "just told it to you!"

"It can't be that simple!" I almost shouted, "There have been volumes written about how to .. how to .. get on your good side.."

"Surprise! You are already on my good side and ... ," she leaned close to me and whispered, "I guess you can be entrusted with this knowledge - I don't really have a bad side."

Now I was furious. Surely all the spiritual stuff I did made me .... well... better then .. say my shallow and petty, party-obsessed sister?! It had to! She did nothing remotely spiritual! And I, on the other hand, did deep things - like reading, meditating, and philosophizing.

"Your sister is such a sweet soul! All the stuff she does is just her way of singing Wow! Life is awesome!" she injected into my thoughts. "Tornado is saying the same thing by counting sand grains."

I sat there staring at her. Could this be true? Could it be so simple and easy?

The Hot One pointed to a group of kids playing in the sand. Their grandma (presumably) sat a bit away watching with a perpetual smile on her face, "So what do you think granny wants her kids to do on the beach?"

I stared at the scene for a while as gradually it began to dawn on me - I turned to the Hot One, "You just want us to experience different things .. and have fun .. creative fun. No matter what we do, you are pleased."

"Yes!" the Hot One exclaimed, "You are getting it, kiddo! I watch (quite blissfully, I might add) everything you do. You know how a baby starts baby-step walking, and goo-goo talking, the mother always goes ga-ga. But if you really think about it, walking is not much of an accomplishment, because almost everyone does it eventually. I look at you in the same way, and get goose bumps (well, formless ones) whenever you do something creative and passionate - I don't care if it's a Mona Lisa or a stick-figure - I go ga-ga over it."

"But" my mind refused to accept this simple truth, "what about the hurt and pain we go through? I mean..."

She pointed out at a couple of guys playing Volleyball. Just then one of them dove and took a pretty bad spill (I'm sure she had something to do with it) and completely tore up his shirt (again I'm sure she did that too - shirts don't usually get torn up playing beach Volleyball, because guys are not usually wearing them). He lay there for a while, sat up, grinned, stripped his shirt off, and put on a new one. Then he got up and began playing again.

"The soul doesn't really get hurt, the body it’s wearing does, and you get to change it when it gets really messed up."

We sat there in silence - I think I understood. I looked around and started seeing everything quite differently – When I quit judging, everybody looked quite interesting - in fact, they looked downright awesome!

"Wow!" I said after getting awed-over with everything, 'Life is awesome!!!"

read next part...

The Hot One on the Beach - 1

So Didi, my fav naami aunt, and my 5-year-old cousin brother Tornado (more about his name shortly) from hell (more about his origin shortly) were relaxing at the beach. Well, I was trying to relax - it's not that easy to relax with a 5 year-old cousin brother named Tornado from Hell terrorizing the seagulls and all other species on this planet (seen and unseen).

Didi care-freely meditating, suddenly opened her eyes, turned to me and asked me to recite the 3rd stanza of Guru Nanak's Jap Ji. I had just rubbed suntan lotion all over my 12-year-old fab bod and was ready to impress some female members of the human species. But when Didi asked you to do something, you basically did it because ... because .. come to think of it, I'm not sure why - but you just did.

So she read the gurmukhi part, while I translated best as I could:

gaavai ko thaan hovai kisai thaan The True One's praises are sung with the amount of strength that the True One bestows upon the singer (and usually the inner strength is reciprocally proportional [who said middle-school mathematics won't help you in real life] to the amount of outer strength - you know - book-thumping, foot-stomping, such-and-such-is-the-lord-ing).

gaavai ko dhaath jaanai neesaan Some sing of the One's gifts using these as a sure sign that the True One is around (and listening, so more gifts would be on the way).

gaavai ko gun vaddiaaeeaa chaar gaavai ko vidhiaa vikham veechaar Some sing of the True One by discussing the True One's virtues (you know, Ek-Ong-Kaar, Sat Naam, Karta... wow!Guru! WaheGuru) while other take the more scholarly approach (you know, Ek-Ong-Kaar, Sat Naam, Karta... wow!Guru! WaheGuru).

gaavai ko saaj karae than khaeh gaavai ko jeea lai fir dhaeh
Some sing that the True One creates the bods (like my fab one), and then again reduces it to dust (ouch!). Some sing that the One takes life away, and then again restores it (somehow this reminds me of the movie "The Sixth Sense" - if you haven't seen it - oh, you are missing a fabulous one, dearies).

gaavai ko jaapai dhisai dhoor gaavai ko vaekhai haadharaa hadhoor
Some sing that the One is infinitely far away, while others see the True One all over the place.

kathhanaa kathhee n aavai thott kathh kathh kathhee kottee kott kott
There is no shortage of words uttered in the One's praise. Millions upon millions of sermons and stories have been delivered (to millions of millions of sleepy ears).

dhaedhaa dhae laidhae thhak paahi jugaa juga(n)thar khaahee khaahi
The Great Giver keeps on giving, so much so that the receivers grow weary of receiving. Throughout the ages, consumers consume (entire economies of nations depend on consuming - hope they don't take it away).

hukamee hukam chalaaeae raahu naanak vigasai vaeparavaahu (3)
All walk on the path of the True One's will. O Nanak, while the True One watches blissfully, carefree and untroubled.

"Thank you!" Didi said and promptly got up and left! Pretty unusual - she usually had a story or something after we read the Guru's words. I stared lazily at her for a while, shrugged my fab shoulders and decided the Sun and some fab females members of the human species needed some fab attention.

The next thing I know, Tornado was shaking my fab elbow and grinning (his grin usually meant calamity for some species), "What comes after 99?" asked he.

I told him after deciding it's not worth the effort to find out why he wants to know. He grinned again - showing his yellow teeth. "Tornado, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?!" He was thoughtful for a while and asked, "What year is it?" I let it go and waved him away - sometimes ignorance is bliss.

You probably already have an idea why his name is Tornado and why he's from hell. But let me divulge into it a bit more...

Well, just suppose you have a sister who really annoys you and sometimes even embarrasses you in front of others and just suppose you want to get back at her and you want to leave no traces whatsoever and just suppose Tornado is visiting you (from hell) and your sis happens to be at a slumber party with her dorky friends - please note this is all just suppositions - nothing like this ever happened.

So this is what you would do - hide a can of Coke (or any caffeine-fueled beverage) and a bunch of candies in sis's neat, manicured room. Then take Tornado to her room; tell him where the can of Coke is; slowly back out of the room (keeping your eyes on him while you leave) and GET AWAY (after locking the door from the outside) as far as you can (having an alibi is highly recommended). Within minutes, her room would be unrecognizable. There, that's how he got his name.

Of course, some of you smart ones are saying, "Well, didn't Tornado simply tell on you?"

Well, dear smarty ones, Tornado, by my calculations, is coherent only 18% of the time - and he was in the 82% mode when the interrogation happened (I mean *would* happen - once again, no such thing happened).

Anyway, let's get back to my fab bod on the beach...

So I'm hanging out when I felt someone sitting next to me - thinking maybe Didi had come back, when I turned around to see... (I'm not sure how to stay politically correct here) .. the hottest young female member of the human species I have ever set my eyes on sitting next to me. I mean sizzling hot! (No, I am not falling for the "How hot was she?" routine this time).

All my ten bodies (yes, we have 10 of those) went into high red alert. My spine involuntarily elongated. And I turned to her (all puffed and macho) and said, "You come here..."

"Often?!" she completed my sentence, "Oh Pluuuease! Is that the best you could come up with, kiddo?"

Five of my fab bods deflated. But there were still 5 left (including the outer fab one), "I am not a kiddo! I am actually ..."

"12 years, 5 months, 2 days, 14 hours, 23 minutes and 57 seconds old. Yes, I know! ... And please deflate the rest of your bodies, I know the actual true puny dimensions of all of them!"

I stared at her and unconsciously covered my fab (now in non-fab flab mode) bod.

"Who are you?!!" I managed to ask through my bewilderement.

"I am the One!"

I stared at her, "The One?!"

"Yes, the One who pervades all!"

"But you are so..."

"Hot?! Yes, I know."

"But I thought you would be ..."

".. an old-ish man with a gray-ish beard pointing my old-ish gray-ish judgemental-ish finger at you?! That is soooo Piscean-ish... This is the new age, kiddo - get used to it!"

read next part...

The really really Nasty Villain

Once, a traveling theater came to a Village. A dashing Hero and a beautiful Heroine starred together in a play which, of course, featured a nasty Villain. The nasty Villain was really, really nasty - how nasty, you ask? So nasty that rainbows would turn black and white whenever he came on stage.

The Villain had done just about every bad thing possible: robbed the hero's father; poisoned the hero's dog; neutered the heroine's cat ... and that's just before breakfast.

In one night time scene, after extensively frolicking with the Hero (who had to rush home so that he would not be late in giving his old mother her medicine), the Heroine had to walk home alone just as it got dark.

Hiding behind a tree, twirling his nasty mustache, the nasty Villain lurked waiting to kidnap the fair maiden. Having completed his customary evening chores of tipping over all the cows and painting all the sheep purple; he smirked in his nasty self-satisfied way rubbing together his hasty hands and grinning a nasty grin on his nasty face showing all his nasty teeth and nasty gums.

The Heroine slowly approached the tree...

Well, one of the audience sitting in the front row - a Villager - had had enough of the Villain. The Villager shouted out to the Heroine, "HEMA JEE!!!! WATCH OUT!!!! I WILL SAVE YOU FROM THIS ##@@@##!!!" (if you want to know what ##@@@## is, please send a note stating you know Punjabi).

Saying that, the Villager took off his slipper, and waving it about jumped on the stage and starting slapping the Villain with all his might!

Of course, there was much running around. Many stage-hands tried to save the Villain but the furious Villager (especially about the cow-tipping) mistook the stage-hands for the Villain's goons and beat even some of them!

The director had the good sense to turn on all the lights and bring the Villager back to "reality".

The Villager turned out to be no less than the sarpanch - the Village headman. He felt quite embarrassed and walked away mumbling some sanskrit mantras and adjusting his dhoti.

This is a true story and it is said that the actor who played the Villain refused to give back the Villager's slipper prizing it above any acting award.

~~~~~ Guru Nanak's Jap Ji; second stanza ~~~~~
hukamee hovan aakaar hukam n kehiaa jaaee
The True One's True Will (hukam) creates the Universes (and cool stuff like that). Hukam is too infinite to be told in a hopelessly finite human language.

hukamee hovan jeea hukam milai vaddiaaee
Hukam creates the birds and the bees and it is hukam, (not Hollywood or even the Queen), which bestows greatness upon us.

hukamee outham neech hukam likh dhukh sukh paaeeahi
It is hukam (once again) which is responsible for our highness and lowness; and for our pain or pleasure.

eikanaa hukamee bakhasees eik hukamee sadhaa bhavaaeeahi
Due to hukam, some are graced (with enlightenment) while others are not; and some wander aimlessly (Author's note: My sister certainly fits in the aimless lot because I have seen her wander aimlessly in and out of malls for hours).

hukamai a(n)dhar sabh ko baahar hukam n koe
Everyone, yes even the mighty I, is under the power of hukam.

naanak hukamai jae bujhai th houmai kehai n koe
Nanak says the ones who understand (and experience) hukam, don't say "I exist"

The Old Man and the Ferrari

My amazing naami aunt - Didi; my older sister and I were hanging out in the park, when we heard a car rev up and drive off angrily leaving a lot of dirt and gasoline smell in the air.

My aunt smiled and told us this story:

~~~~~

Once a teenager with a hot new Ferrari was revving up the engine at a red stoplight. An old man on a bicycle squeakly came alongside and leaned into the window admiring the car. The light turned green and the impatient teenager pealed out tires squealing.

The teenager laughed as he thought of the old man eating his dust. But lo and behold, he saw the old man racing really fast on his bicycle. Unbelievably, the old man zoomed past him (while the car was doing 100+ mph). Then lo and behold, he saw the old man riding backwards and zoomed past him again at top speed. Every time the old man passed the car, he shouted "STOP!!"

"What the..." the teenager was heard to mutter as he slammed on his brakes. The old man and the bicycle still zoomed past him in both directions a few times until finally the old man stopped by the car and panted, "Please O please, don't drive off - my suspenders are tangled in your rear view mirror!!"

~~~~~

We laughed and laughed until Didi asked "What's this story got to do with Guru Nanak's first stanza of Jap Ji?"

"OMG! OMG! I know this! I know this! Is this, like, a game - like, guess what the color of the car is? OMG! This is so easy - it's a red Ferrari!!" my sister happily exclaimed while I rolled my eyes into my thinking turban on and started wondering - what DID this joke have to do with Jap Ji's first stanza?

Didi asked my sister to read the stanza in gurmukhi while I translated as best (read loosely) as I possibly could...

sochai soch na hova-ee jay sochee lakh vaar.
Even if we purify our body to the zenith level, our mind is not going to become pure.


chupai chup na hova-ee jay laa-ay rahaa liv taar.
Even if we take the vow of silence, our mind is not going to shut-the-heck-up.


bhukhi-aa bhukh na utree jay bannaa puree-aa bhaar.
Remaining hungry or getting overloaded on food will not get rid of our mind's hunger.


sahas si-aanpaa lakh hohi ta ik na chalai naal.
Our intellectual capabilities (even if they do impress the beauty sitting next to us) are not of much use on the spiritual path.


kiv sachi-aaraa ho-ee-ai kiv koorhai tutai paal.
Then how can we get purified enough to merge with the True One?


hukam rajaa-ee chalnaa naanak likhi-aa naal.
Guru Nanak answers: by flowing with the True Will (hukam, Tao ...) that is written within us.

Didi smiled again, "In other words,

be here now
relax
stop and smell the roses
be cool
don't worry, be happy
just chill!

Our mind is never in the present. It's either racing into the future or the past. It zooms by the present. Guru Nanak says, bring it into the present. And Guru Nanak gives us the tool for bringing it into the present; and that wonderful tool is SatNaam. It is perhaps the easiest and definitely the most fun way of being in the present.

When we are listening to Naam, we are in the present; otherwise we are not. Only in the present can we detangle ourselves and become free."

At the End of the Rope

Once upon a time, a traveling fair come to a Village. All the Village children went running to see it. The child-like Village simpleton too was very excited. But the simpleton had been told that it is easy to get lost at fairs, so he was quite scared to go to one. But he desperately wanted to go.

So he decided to consult one of the Village elders. The elder knew that there was no chance for the simpleton to get lost. So he pretended to think for a while and said, "I will show a way of not getting lost."

The elder then put a short rope around the simpleton's neck (not much unlike a necktie) and said, "Whenever you feel lost, just pull at the rope. You will always be at the end of the rope."

The simpleton tried it a few times and sure enough, he was always at the end of the rope. So he joyfully clapped his hands and joyfully went to the fair. The simpleton walked around the fair feeling good. Whenever he felt a little overwhelmed in the crowds, he would pull at the rope around his neck and say, "Aha, here I am." And would continue feeling good.

A Village joker was also at the fair and was, as usual, on alert to play jokes. When he saw the simpleton, his mind went "Bingo!" He asked the simpleton about the rope. The simpleton joyfully told him. The joker joyfully listened.

It was afternoon by that time. And everybody in India takes a short nap in the afternoon! So the simpleton found a nice shady spot and dozed off. Of course, the joker did not - this was work time for him!

The joker quietly stole up to the simpleton and carefully removed the rope. Then he went to a nearby sleeping Villager and carefully put the rope around his neck. Quite satisfied with his work, he retired to a corner.

As soon as the simpleton woke up, he felt for his rope and completely panicked - he started running around shouting, "Where am I? Where am I?"

Then he came up to the still dozing Villager wearing the rope. The simpleton gave a cry of joy and pulled at the rope. The rudely awakened Villager was naturally quite cross and said, "##@@@###" (if you want to know what "##@@@###" is, send a note stating that you are over 21 years of age).

The Village simpleton exclaimed, "The Village elder told me that I will always be at the end of the rope. Therefore, I am you! I am you!"

~~~~~

I had several thought-provoking morals sent by readers for this one. The response that completely blew me away was this one:

Karen Peters (Winnipeg, Canada) http://karenfood.blogspot.com/

wow! even the village simpleton knew that all was one. :) Its so obvious to him and no one else. Of course he would want to be assured of his connectedness to oneness since he was labeled an outsider. No one else had that need since they were unaware of their connectedness.

Note: I heard this story from a recording of Baba Isher Singh jee, a great Sikh spiritualist. The moral he attached to the story was:

The trickster Maya has taken the rope of consciousness from our soul and put it around the body; thus we think we are the body.

The WaheGuru Ocean

OMG! Didi is just amazing! She's like ... totally .. totally amazing! OMG! It's like she knows the secrets of the Universe and all the planets! Even the ones outside it! Like totally! I mean she does this thing ... this thing .. called Naam. It's like SatNaam Wahe... Wahe.. whatever... - like "SatNaam" is like totally cool! It's like the best thing EVER!!!! It means ... like...

Thank you sis, that will be all.... That was my older sister. She is fifteen years old - please forgive her. Sorry you had to read all that - just imagine having to hear that all the time! No wonder I am interested in deep spiritual stuff.

OMG! My little brother is like soooo ... froggy! I mean he's like planet zitface! Like...

Again I apologize - she is fifteen. Only three older than me yet .... I often wonder where I went wrong with her ... girls tch tch.

But I promise - no more interruptions.

So me, my sis-OMG!-ter and Didi, our really cool Naami aunt were on a hike. Didi stopped at this huge oak tree by the river and sat down. We sat down too.

My sister was about to say something (my guess is "OMG! The water is like totally amazingly wet!!") when Didi raised her finger to her lips and indicated "shhh".

Didi softly whispered, "Listen."

We listened - suddenly we heard stuff we had not noticed before. The wind embracing branches of trees - its breeze dancing in among the leaves. A nut breaking free and a soft plop as it landed in a mossy nest of tall grasses. The pattering of tiny scampering squirrel feet carrying the nut to its nest. A tirade of scolding chatter and a far-away sound of bird wings flapping to carry away the nut in its beak. The sound of water droplets carried along in a gurgling current caressing river rocks and softly stroking the finger like tendrils of lacy tree branches which stooping low reached out to touch each drop trickling by.

We discovered another world within our world - a world full of sound and sights which we had completely tuned out and ignored before.

My senses quickened, heightening my inner awareness. I felt a little more awake; a little more happy; a little more graceful; a little more pure than I had just a moment before

Didi told us a story:

~*~*~*~*~*

Bhai Sahib Veer Singh jee, a great Sikh spiritual writer, once went sight-seeing in Shimla. There he went to a certain place where there was a very deep and big lake. There were many fish in the lake and the people who ran that place had built a small pond adjoining the lake.

The pond served the owners and the tourists very well; the tourists would throw food into the pond and fish would come out of the lake, grab the food and rush back into their lake. This way the tourist would get to see some very exotic fish (and the owners would get to see some very exotic tourists).

Spiritual people like Bhai Sahib see small truths in everything. Bhai Sahib was greatly inspired by this and later wrote,

"Spiritual people are like the fish in the lake. They stay in their deep spiritual state at all times. But if there is need to come out to work, they come out and as soon as the work is done, rush back to their deep spiritual state."

~*~*~*~*~*

There was complete silence for a little while (except for the gentle sounds around us).

Didi smiled, "When we sit for meditation, our mind wanders. Our body might be reciting WaheGuru, but our mind is shopping online!

But as we progress spiritually, a day comes when the opposite happens - our body might be working or driving; or even talking; but our mind will be in deep meditation.

Longing to merge with the blissful WaheGuru, the mind is tuned to Waheguru in the way that...

a mother remembers her child while going about her chores
a child flying a kite chatters with friends but is always conscious of the string
a young girl in love giggles with her girlfriends extolling the virtues of her husband-to-be
a bride plans her wedding ...

the mind is ever merged in the blissful deep ocean of the One WaheGuru."

The Rose

We were driving to Sadhana (early morning meditation) and Didi was at the wheel. Not exactly the best place for her - since she mostly drove with her closed eyes! My older sister had told me I didn't have to worry because her third eye was always open - but when you are twelve years old, worry becomes your middle name, especially if you have an sister with a princess-syndrome (aka "I am a princess while you, little bro, are a slimy frog" syndrome in psychologists social circles).


But despite my young age (and handsome pimple-less face - ok, ok I had a few but whats a few dozen zits between a writer and readers), I had seen a few things that had convinced me that Didi was no ordinary naami (naami btw means "the one who is imbued with naam - which, btw, means "essence of One WaheGuru").


I know most of you are thinking, this can't really be true - a twelve-year-old can't possibly know so much. To that charge, I admit guilt. Yes, I am only twelve years mentally; biologically, I am forty-something and chemically eighty-something. Psychologically, I have barely just lain down on the couch and spiritually, I am a tiny dot on some ultra-sound result (maybe even just a tiny yellow spot on a pregnancy test). Astrally, I am at the south end of the first chakra of the first chakra; Yogically, I'm just rubbing my hands......


What? Oh, you want me to get back to the story .... I don't blame you ... and being the great listener I am, I will oblige.


But only after I tell you that all of my characters in my stories are a deep metaphor for either things I lacked in my childhood or I had too much of - wow! I can't believe I just wrote that! That's like a major breakthrough... wait a minute... wait a minute... that sentence I just wrote is an exact copy of what I read on a website somewhere... geez, at this rate, I will never have a psychological breakthrough, let alone a metaphysical one (or even a chemical one).


OK, OK, back to the story .. where were we? Oh yeah, in the car, at early morning, with eyes-closed driver-Didi; sister with an advanced case of the princess-syndrome; and me, a handsome young man with more wisdom than a well full of old frogs.


Didi asked, "So what is the importance of early morning meditation?"


Before my sister could give her definitive answer, I ribbited in, "Guru Nanak calls it Amrit Vela. Mrit means death, A-mrit means deathless; thus "Amrit Vela" mean "the deathless time"".


My sister's jaws dropped at my wisdom (thank you, website!) and Didi smiled, "Good job! Of course, the next question now is why it is considered the deathless time?"


Before I could google that (or yahoo it or wiki iti ... wow! I just came up with that - "wiki iti" - told ya I was clever), she asked my sister to read the fourth stanza of Jap Ji:


True is the One, True is One's Name - speak it with infinite love.
Many beg and pray, "Give to us, give to us",
and the Great Giver gives gifts.

So what offering can we place before the One,
by which we might see the True One?
What words can we speak to evoke the True One's love?

In the Amrit Vela, the ambrosial hours before dawn,
chant the True Name,
and contemplate the One's glorious greatness.

By the karma of past actions,
the robe of this physical body is obtained.

By the One's Grace, the Gate of Liberation is found.

Then, Nanak says, we will know that there is none other than the True One.
(Guru Nanak, sggs 2)

Didi had just started to say something about this stanza when we saw tiny ~*sparkles*~ coming from her huge bag (there was this huge bag she carried around - it had enough stuff in it to run an emergency Sikh youth camp). Didi clapped her hands and exclaimed excitedly, "Oh, excellent! I have been waiting for this!"


We all got excited too. (I even forgot to worry that Didi had now taken her hands off from the steering wheel; on the plus side, all her three eyes were open now). She nudged my sister, "Open it and read it quickly! It's a letter from Sukhmandir Kaur - my sakhee!"


My sister opened Didi's bag while explaining to me (as if I didn't already know), "sakhee means spiritual soul mate" and took out a glowing piece of paper which shimmered incandescently, lighting up the inside of our car. We all just stared at it. It was beautiful; its words glimmered, etched in soft light - emanating a mellow blend of bright white and sunrise yellow. Even more astonishing, when my sister read from the letter, its gleaming lights gathered forming to create miniature characters who played out the scenes described.

My sister read, while we listened (and watched)...

~*~*~*~*~*~

A young girl had been captured and enslaved by 5 cruel masters. At first they had appeared inviting and seemed entertaining, but once they had lured her into their trap and caught her fast she knew no mercy. Her life became an unbearable infliction of horrors. No recourse availed her but to seek escape. Heavy chains bound her preventing any possibility of flight so she sought sanctuary in an imaginary garden of her own invention.

One day news came that the King traveled their way. As he passed by, the 5 miscreants threw themselves to the ground - faces pressed into the dirt bowing in subservience. The girl, seeing opportunity, struggled against her bonds. She'd heard rumors of the monarch's mercy and a tiny spark flared in her heart. Hope of rescue prompted her into action. Dragging her heavy chains, she attempted to attract attention to her plight.

The kind king did indeed take notice of her effort and commanded that she be freed and employed in his service. His attendants paid her captors a sum, removed her shackles and carried her away with them to the royal palace. When they left her, she found herself in a bare room built into an alcove of a stone wall. Weary, she sank onto a pallet in a corner and fell into a deep slumber. Hours later she woke. In another corner she discovered a spinning wheel, a loom, and a basket of flax. There were plain provisions provided and a pitcher of water. She ate her simple fare, drank the clear water, washed her hands and set to work.

She had no idea at first of how to go about her task. The gratitude in her heart made her determined however, and soon she found she could twist the long flax stems. With the spindle she fashioned a length of thread which she wound on to the loom and shuttle. By days end she had woven a bit of cloth. She removed this and finished the edges. The sun had set. She finished her provisions and slept.

After a few hours she woke to an enchanting fragrance. Enticed, she slipped through the door of her hut and found herself in a garden. The dark night sky glittered with stars and the moon shone faintly illuminating the landscape before her in pale light. A sultry breeze blew gently. As her eyes adjusted she became entranced for all around her petals opened releasing their scent. Her heart swelled. Overcome in awe at the beauty she beheld, tears formed in the corners of her eyes, not tears like those of yesterday's captivity, but tears of unfathomable joy. She reached for the scrap of cloth she had woven, pulled it from her pocket and dried her tears. She sought for and found a perfect rose. The first rays of morning sun glistened on fresh dew droplets wetting the rose. She plucked the rose and folded it gently into the cloth she had woven, the perfumed essence permeating it.

When attendants came with her morning meal, she asked to be shown to the king so she might express her gratitude. She quickly washed, covered her head and arranged her robe as best she could, then followed them to the throne room. Lowering her eyes she crept to the king's feet. Before him she placed her offering of his lovely sunrise garden's flower petals bloom oozing droplets of perfume, wetted by morning dew mingled with tears. Bowing low, she backed from the room.

Her days and nights passed similarly in this way. Devotedly she spent her mornings weaving, her afternoons tending the garden, and evenings nurturing the rose bush. Every morning before the sun rose she reveled amongst the perfumed petals of the rose garden seeking the most perfect blossom to convey her gratitude to her sovereign. As the weeks passed, unbeknownst her beauty increased the traces of her former life struggles erased by the blooming devotion in her heart. She began to hum during her work making up songs to sing.

Merciful master you freed this slave,
Every wonderful thing to her gave
My king you are perfect in every way
Yet of others you have only good things to say
Your ways are so gentle so sweet and so kind
Desire to serve you is first in my mind

Loving you has given me reason to live
I only wish I had something worthy to give
That I might somehow in someway repay
All the joy that I have in living this day
Your ways are so gentle so sweet and so kind
Desire to serve you is first in my mind

So I offer to you this scented bloom
Upon a cloth woven from my simple loom
Soaked in my tears and wetted with dew
I realize it to be hardly fitting for you
Your ways are so gentle so sweet and so kind
Desire to serve you is first in my mind

You are so gracious to compassionately accept
This boon from one so utterly inadept
Your ways are so gentle so sweet and so kind
Desire to serve you is first in my mind
Your ways are so gentle so sweet and so kind
Desire to serve you is first in my mind

Repeating his name over and again she sang,

Emanating Light
Particles shimmer golden
Floating suspended
Sparkling on soundless waves
In the spectrum of Thy Name
Sultry breezes waft
Scenting the night with perfume
Of a thousand blooms
Intoxicating this one
With the essence of Thy Name

Though the girl thought herself to be alone when she sang, there are many ears in a palace and her songs came to be known to the king. One day when she had come to place her rose at his feet, He bade her look up at him. What he saw in her eyes moved him completely. Her unending gratitude and depth of devotion awed and overwhelmed him stirring him to request that she sit by his side as his bride. She could refuse him nothing although she knew herself to be his inferior and requested only that she be allowed to continue serving him in her humble way. That she might always present to him the budding blooming fragrance of her heart.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Right at the end, when we heard the words "blooming fragrance", a delicate white rose formed in the center of the sakhee's letter. Right before our eyes, it opened up and from it came the lushest, most tantalizing intoxicating scent - we just sat there enraptured by it as it seeped into us. The letter slowly dimmed, but the fragrance lingered on.

A special joy permeated me. I felt wonderful and without want. Although this had been the most fantastic morning in my life, somehow it felt perfectly natural that I should feel this way - this was my inner most right; I was created to feel like this!

After a long time, Didi said, "Wow! That was special. What timing!" It was rare to see Didi so moved. "That Sakhee! Oooh, I am going to send her a big hug right now!" And to our utter amazement, we saw a small glow of bright light come from Didi's heart and streak out of the window into the dark sky!

Me and my sis said this simultaneously, "This can't be happening. Am I dreaming? Ouch! I guess I am not. Didi, what was THAT?"

Didi laughed, "Well, where should I begin? … Ok, the story sakhee wrote in her letter is the story of our soul. The True One has given us so much, what can we possibly give back? The enchanted Guru Nanak says there is one thing that is worthy of the True One and that is one of the most beautiful things that the True One has created and given to us. Do you know what that is?" she asked me.

Normally, I would have thought about this for a long time (before answering "no"), but today the answer came quickly, "The mind."

"Very good!" Didi continued, "That is the gift that is hardest to give - the mind is very difficult to capture, let alone present as a gift. But Guru Nanak says (and here is the essence of this stanza) that we can capture it at Amrit Vela, wrap it with Naam and praises, and present it to the True One. When our gift is accepted, we become the True One's bride and we see the True One permeating all. Then we recognize the essence of everything (including ours) to be

Ik-Ong-Kar - consciousness,
Sat Naam - deathless Truth,
WaheGuru - bliss!"

We drove the rest of the way to the Sadhana in silence. By the time we arrived, it had already began and it was a special one for me - every time I said or heard "Ik Ong Kar, Sat Naam, WaheGuru" I felt the most awesomely soothing wave wash over me. I kept having visions of the rose releasing its scent - every time the rose opened up, I could sense, even taste, its pure scent filling and pervading the room...


My eyes are wet with the Nectar of the True One,
and my mind is imbued with True One's Love, O Lord King.

The Lord applied Truth to my mind, and made it pure gold.
Through the Guru, I am dyed in the deep red color,
and my mind and body are drenched with True One's Love.

Servant Nanak is drenched with True One's Fragrance;
blessed, blessed is my entire life
(Guru Raam Daas jee, sggs 448)

Baba Bakale

The Merchant was a devout Sikh and he loved to recite and explain gurbani (Guru's writings) to the not-so-spiritual-ship-captains like me and even-less-spiritual-sailors like my crewmen. He had hired me along with my Ship and my men a few weeks ago and we had become good friends because of his warm and generous nature. Slowly I had developed a taste for this spiritual truths; the hours spent with the Merchant discussing Guru's words had fast become my favorite pastime.

We had had fair weather throughout the day and my cabin was gently rocking when we sat for dinner when unexpectedly a strong wave slammed into our Ship, throwing us off our seats and onto the floor.

We stumbled up to the deck. I had seen never such a sudden storm. Wave after wave washed over our Ship, beating and hammering it relentlessly, making it roll wildly and groan as though it would split at the seams. The frightened voices of my men could be heard above the howling winds, calling to each other as they struggled to lower the sails. We could see large dark menacing rocks looming along the jagged coastline waiting to break and smash our ship to bits.

Soon, tipping at a crazy angle the ship began taking in water. Before long I stood up to my knees in water - the end seemed inevitable. The morale of the men completely dropped and slowly they all stopped their activity and as if the Merchant could save us all, they started quietly looking towards the him.

He looked back helplessly at us and shrugged; then a sudden inspiration hit him and he knelt down. His lower body submerged, he raised his clasped hands and he prayed, "O Guru Nanak, light that shines in every heart, please have compassion and mercy on us. Please deliver us, for without thee we perish. Please give us the shelter of thy Embrace. Please make it possible for me to return to the Guru a small part of what was given by the Guru. If it is your will that I live, I vow that as soon as I set foot safely on shore, I will come and present to thee 500 gold bars personally. Our safety lies in thy hand, O beloved Architect of destiny, please uplift us and carry us across this dreadful sea. We are surely lost without thee. Thou are the True captain, thy gurbani the True life boat."

And lo and behold, almost immediately, the fury of the storm subsided. A great heave cleaved the waters. Our sinking ship righted and set afloat. The men collapsed in relief (and in awe of the power of prayer). The men looked at the Merchant with even more reverence; and I decided I would visit the Merchant's guru at the first chance I got.

~~~~~

As soon as we made landfall, the Merchant and I set out in search of Guru Sahib. We soon learnt though that Guru Har Krishan, the Sikh's eighth Guru, had recently left the earthly abode. His final words had been "Baba Bakale," indicating the Guruship would be passed to one residing in Bakala.

We made haste for Bakala, but upon reaching there discovered that there were not one, not two, but 22 people claiming to be the true guru. The Merchant came up with a plan saying he couldn't live with the debt of 500 gold bars on his conscience. He decided to give each of the "gurus" 2 bars to see what would happen.

I, on my part, felt extremely disappointed that I couldn't see the Guru right away. I had become thirstier and thirstier for the Guru's sight. I had been reading Jap Ji quite regularly by that time and it's ever-deeper-meanings had been a source for comfort and delight for me. I silently did a prayer in my mind asking that the Guru answer my question "When did the Creator create this World?" with the answer of "Only the Creator knows" (Jap Ji pauree 21, sggs 4). That was my naive plan but that's the best I could come up with (we sailors are not known for sophisticated ideas).

We started our search. The first "guru" (actually rugu, for "ru" means light and "gu" means darkness and these adepts led away from light and into darkness!) we went to was a piece of art! We noticed right off how he sat with his back towards the men and his one wide eye fully on the women and the other on the money in front of him. He would remark, "Oh, that's a wonderful suit you are wearing," to the young pretty women in the congregation, "It fits your slender supple body perfectly!" The Merchant didn't even bother giving this one any gold bars.

I have to say, we did not make a good start. But it did get a little better. One of the tricks we noticed was that when we got close to the rugu's place, the resident rugu would send his agents to meet us and check us out. Seeing the Merchant's royal clothing they would make inquiries attempting to get information. Then they would sneak back and tell whatever they had learned about us. Once we entered the place, the clever rugu would say things like "So how your trip from the sea?" hoping to impress us with his "divine" knowledge.

We caught on quickly and fed the agents ridiculous knowledge about ourselves; one of the rugus, after closing his eyes and then dramatically opening them and looking at the Merchant exclaimed, "You should go ahead and marry Pipia - she really does love you - she will make a great wife and bear you many strong children!" That seemed like pretty good advice, except for small fact that Pipia was my pretty Parrot!

To be fair, some rugus were pretty serious and even had some bona-fide spiritual aura about them. But none could answer my answer correctly; each of them had their pet theories about creation but none of them matched up with what I had read in Jap Ji. Finally we ran out of prospects having interviewed each of the 22 rugus. We returned to our rooms at the Inn, disappointed and feeling quite lost.

~~~~~

The next morning we had breakfast on the terrace and discussed what we should do. The merchant had decided that he would give away the rest of the gold bars to the poor of the city and be done with it. All our humor had abandoned us. In a foul mood we just sat there silently watching people milling about.

Then… we saw a tall man making his way through the crowd. There was nothing extraordinary about him; but there was nothing ordinary about him either. Yet it seemed as though a spotlight shone on him. He walked with a carefree gait that reminded me of Merchant's rich friends, yet he was dressed quite modestly.

The Merchant asked, "Do you see him?" I nodded and kept watching. He turned the corner and disappeared from our sight. That shook us out of our stupor and the Merchant shouted to the bellboy below, "Stop that man!" The bellboy, without looking at the merchant's pointing finger, ran towards the corner where the man had turned. We ran and caught up with him.

He turned to us. His eyes and face were brilliantly lit up. He might have been a disguised King, or a fantastic blissed-out artist of some sort. "How can I help you gentlemen?" he asked in a wholesome voice. We caught our breath. The merchant requested that he join us for breakfast so we could talk. He declined politely saying that he was already late for a meeting. So the Merchant quickly explained that we, "for personal reasons", were looking for the Sikh Guru.

"Oh, there are plenty of those!" he laughed indifferently. Then he narrowed his eyes scrutinizing us intently for a moment. His aloof attitude gave way to interest. He accepted the invitation to join us for breakfast.

He divulged to us that there was one other Guru by the name of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. But warned us the Guru does not host guests preferring instead to remain in meditation. It was this guru he was on his way to meet when we had seen him. Indeed as it was per his daily routine, he would go to Guru before starting his day spending blissful moments in his company. His countenance shone divinely while recounting these details so that we readily believed him.

We begged him to take us along. He kept quiet for a little while, before speaking very deliberately. "I am getting a message inside that I should take you to the Guru!" He looked at our delighted faces and added, "Indeed I felt the same when we were talking earlier but I thought perhaps I had misread the message. But ... I don't wish to sell you anything that you don't want to buy. I will gladly take you to the Guru's house. I will also gladly ask the Guru if you can visit him. But if he says no, that will be the end of our acquaintance. Because it is possible that I am misreading the message from within – I have done so before."

We eagerly agreed and followed him to the Guru's abode. He told us to wait outside on the porch. He entered the door and paused; he looked at me and winked, "The answer to your question is "Only the Creator knows!""

Needless to say, we were overjoyed and waited with abated breath.

He came out a few minutes later, very excited, "The Guru has agreed! This is the first time in years that he has said "Yes" to anyone!" He held our hands and said, "I have been waiting for this for a long time!" We looked at each other; excited and a little apprehensive. We knew this was it. If this turned out not to be the real thing, a misinterpretation had been made of the 8th Guru's final words. A moment later, upon entering, all our doubts left us.

This was indeed the real One!

The tranquility in that place seeped even into an old Sailor like me. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib sat alone, eyes closed, quietly absorbed. I had set my eyes on a great many awesome sights in my travels - ocean sunsets, mountain sunrises, exotic waterfalls, glorious Islands, but these paled in comparison to what they now beheld. The Guru was beauty itself! A stunningly overpowering magnetic radiance surrounded him. We stood there for a long time, just drinking the Guru's aura blissfully.

After what seemed an eternity, the merchant moved close to the Guru and bowed respectfully; placing an offering of two gold bars in front of him (the merchant later told me that he already knew this to be the True Guru, but offered 2 bars out of sheer habit). The Guru opened his naam-filled eyes and with a voice that resembled the freshness of an early morning, he mirthfully expounded, "That leaves 498 mohars still owed to Guru Nanak's house!"

Prostrating himself, the merchant grasped Guru Sahibs feet with both hands. Overcome, he wept wordlessly. When finally he could speak, his voice trembled; thanking Guru Sahib profusely for protecting and saving him along with the ship and it's men. "Guru Sahib jee, words are inadequate to express the depths of my most sincere heartfelt gratitude..." he attempted helplessly.

Gathering his composure, the merchant withdrew the five hundred gold mohars tied at his waist. In deep gratitude and undying love, he placed them at Guru Sahib's feet. He spoke reverently saying, "My wonderful, compassionate, kind, generous life-giving Guru, I have been searching so long and have found you at last. Guru Sahib jee, please accept my humble offering. Please accept what is already yours, what rightfully belongs to you. I offer you my all; these are the five hundred gold bars I promised you. They have not been touched. They are for you only, no other!"

I just stood mouth agape in complete admiration as I observed the scene unfolding before me. The merchant straightened up joyfully. He looked in to Guru's Radiance confirming aloud, "I am yours and you are mine!"

Determinedly grabbing me by my arm, he took me up to the rooftop of the house. Waving a flag, he shouted out declaring, "Gur Laadho Rae! Gur Laadho Rae! The Guru has been found! The Guru has been found! I have found Him at last, after searching, I found my TRUE GURU, Dhan Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib! He has been right here all along. Come Sikhs, come and join me in joyous celebration for I have found the TRUE GURU. Let us together beseech him to come forward now, and lead us to the True One's abode!"

Hearing this, the Sikhs came running, and on evidence of the Merchant's tale and seeing Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib's naam-drenched eyes, begged the Guru to claim his rightful seat, as their own One True Guru, on Guru Nanak's eternal throne.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****