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)
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)
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