New address

Dear all,

After having certain technical difficulties with the blog I had to change it to a different spot.
Thank you for your patience.
Here is the new address nihalle.blogspot.com
Hopefully now you can put some comments too.

 With Warm Nanak Love

Winner!!

Guru Pyaree Sadh Sangat Jee,

WGKK WJKF


Each one of us is a winner in one way or another. Do you believe?

I do.


I am a winner of a special lottery - a lottery that is not exclusive to me. In fact it can have an infinite number of winners. The best part is that the jackpot never diminishes. The treasure that I have inherited is however buried, and I have to work hard at discovering it.  I am referring to the immense jewels and wealth of universal truths embedded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee (SGGS). This is my inheritance, riches that have been passed on to me by my ancestors. I feel both privileged and extremely thankful for this powerful presence in my life.

Usually, when someone inherits something of value the response may take one of the following forms:


.

	How this applies to my treasure
A person who has inherited an unearned wealth can become very careless and spend everything very quickly, thus going from debit to credit or let's say going from positive to negative.	By choosing not to bother finding the treasures hidden in my precious inheritance (SGGS) I can carelessly throw away everything. I let my life pass me by.
A person can become a hoarder- one who puts everything into a bank account. Just content in the knowledge that there is something there but personally continues to live a life of a pauper.	By wrapping my inheritance (SGGS) in beautiful ramalas and following meaningless rituals I never put the effort to actually find the treasures and thus never apply them in my life - treasures that were meant to make me a prince and princess. I still live in spiritual poverty.
A person can acknowledge the preciousness of the wealth, realize its full potential, and invest in it prudently thus using it to become more affluent.	By putting in effort (simran, sangat, seva) I start my journey of inner growth – my road map to hidden jewels. I slowly realize the immenseness of the spiritual wealth; I learn to apply these secrets in my own life. I begin to realise that the more I share the more I grow. The potential is endless.

Does this analogy work? Maybe you can think of one that is even better.

I have been through all three stages in my life. I was at Stage 1 (careless, unaware) during my teens – the reason for this was a lack of direction. I was absolutely engrossed in my studies. I then got married and much older now I progressed to Stage 2 (aware but never bothered to understand the deeper meanings). Religion for me was dry, loveless ritualistic procedures that I followed. Each Sunday.

Then a miracle happened. I won another lottery.

What are the chances of that?

Bauji and Mataji came into my life. My life was transformed. It felt like I had just woken up. Bauji showed me how to make theory (gurbani treasure) into a practical, realistic tool (sangat, simran,seva) to apply in my life. Himself an embodiment of Love he lived and breathed gurbani. He was a living example of what one could achieve from following the dictates of gurbani which comes directly from our Gurus.

I learnt to value Gurbani. I learnt to how to make the required effort to get to know these treasures. I never realised what I had been missing.

How does one find words of deep gratitude? There aren't any. One can only feel it.

At the Ottawa Samagum’08, during the time Sikhs all over were celebrating the 300^th anniversary of SGGS Jee, we shared a power point presentation in the children’s class. Some of you who were there might recall it.

Here is the link for it:  http://www.slideshare.net/jussrani/sri-guru-granth-sahib-jee-3267382

You might also recall that we discussed the urgent need of knowing the secret code for deciphering our gurbani, our treasure. 

The secret code is -you have to know Punjabi – Gurmukhi. I wonder how many of you have started learning Punjabi so that one day you too will be able to find the treasures. You cannot rely on translations – they are someone else’s interpretation.

Remember you, yourself must be your own guide.

 With Warm Nanak Love

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee

P.S.
I know that several of you have been trying to add comments to the blog.  I have been waiting with great anticipation, as this space has been created for you and your thoughts. For some reason the comments are not uploading. I need help with this. If you know why, would you be kind enough to contact me please. Meanwhile please bear with me until we get this rolling.

A Mystical World - Avatar

A very loving guru fateh Guru pyari sadh sangat jee,


I really missed being at the Sacramento samagam.Although I was engrossed in some family affairs my mind kept flitting to the sangat and what might be happening at that moment. I would then revert back to the present, and where I was and remind myself of the importance of being 'fully present' in whatever and where ever my thoughts have brought me to. So I fully immersed myself in the work at hand and tried to find peace with that thought.

Bauji's ever green presence in my life - either through cherished memories, or through his Lekhs has been and continues to be monumental. Mataji, in turn reinforced his loving presence and still does. One of the many ways I have been blessed with, as a direct result of keeping the sangat of enlightened souls, is the awareness of the power of thoughts.Some of you might recall that we read a part of this lekh. Here is the link to it:

http://www.slideshare.net/jussrani/power-of-thoughts

(Even if you read one page a day (there are only 6), try to understand what it says. It is very powerful when applied in life).

"As you sow, so shall you reap"
"Sow a thought, reap an idea;
sow an idea, reap an action;
sow an action, reap a habit;
show a habit, reap a character;
sow a character, reap a fate;
sow a fate, reap a destiny"

The reason i bring up the topic of the power of thoughts is because it is very beautifully represented in the movie Avatar which is the rage nowadays. I rarely watch movies, but when i do it is carefully selected. I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to find affirmations of Bauji's lekh on Power of Thoughts. Don't worry, if you haven't seen it, I am not going to give the plot away, but I will try to make some connections.

At its core, Avatar's philosophy is not new; it is ancient, profound, and liberating. The word avatar represents a higher self - one which is more god-like.

Like mystics here on Earth, the Na'Vi (the indigineous people of Pandora) have an experience of unity of consciousness with other beings, all of which (themselves included) are really just manifestations of one Being or God, which they call Ai'wa.

The Na'Vi have a convenient plug, attached to their bodies at the end of their long pigtails (which to me showed the significance of  long hair and its power)   which physically unites them to other beings (such as horses, winged or otherwise) and to Ai'wa Herself/Itself.. Once this bond has been established, their mere thoughts can direct what ever they are riding. At this point I remembered - ah! the power of thoughts. You can do anything, but yes, you have to be connected with the source first.

In the Na'Vi cosmology, what's really happening is that  the Ai'wa in me is connecting with the Ai'wa in you. This is echoed in their greeting, "I see you"-  which doesn't mean ordinary seeing - it, really means "the God in me sees the God in you." I see Myself, in your eyes.

How beautiful is that! So many lines in gurbani echo this. Can anyone think of them? Can you share?

Here is one:

sBu goibMdu hY sBu goibMdu hY goibMd ibnu nhI koeI ]
God is everything, God is everything. Without God, there is nothing at all.

If we are all one - then there is no individual self - it's an illusion, a mirage.

"I" exists, sure, but only just like a wave on the ocean: here one minute, gone the next, and never apart from the ocean itself.

These ideas have important practical implication in my own life as i recognize that all  my desires revolve around making my own wave bigger or more comfortable than others. I forget that I'm water. Only when the connection is made with the whole, and the 'I' disappears - even if it is momentary- one feels the impact of the energy that we are all made up of.

This concept is elegantly portrayed in the movie.

At one point, when the entire community prays in complete unison, connecting, becoming a whole I was reminded of how this very phenomenon happens when we are in a samagam or regular sangat, when we are all one, all concentrated - how the energy flows from one to the other. Bauji explains in one of his talks that we all bring our positive and negative vibrations to the ether, hence to sangat. At times when the positive vibrations overpower the negative ones we feel a powerful lift in our spirits - we fly on the wings of the giants.

Yes, I really missed the Divine congregation - would anyone like to send us their loving thoughts about it?

Dhan Dhan Dhan Sangat
Dhan Dhan Dhan Sadh Jan

With warm Nanak Love


p.s. this is where you can find the complete lekh:

http://www.gurbanivichar.com/eng/Power_Of_Thoughts.pdf

p.p.s. Could you please tell me if you found the last article readable? 

San Diego Samagum Jan 2010

DMn guru nwnk

Dhan Dhan Sat Sangat Jit Har ras Payea

(Blessed is the aura of sangat wher one can taste his ambrosial nectar (his Love)

 What a lovely place San Diego is!

The samagam was particularly amazing. It was held in a quaint little gurduwara, with the sangat doing seva with a lot of love. As Bauji used to say - 'Love is caught - not taught' - one could practically 'catch' the sweetness. 

In one of the classes we talked about  being an Ambassador of our Guruji.

An ambassador is a representative of a country - one who represents its people and  policies.  In a similar manner, each and every one of us, as a 'sikh' represents our Guru and His teachings. The question then is -"How can we make sure that our behavior, whether we are at home or out in a public place, reflects our Guru"?

The children were very enthusiastic about the idea and came up with the following answers to the question:

 To be kind, respectful, gentle, helpful & happy.
(Bauji used to say - Sikh da kum hai khir keh rehna teh khara keh rakhna - which means, the job of a sikh is to be happy and smiling and to keep everyone around happy and smiling. This can only be achieved by being in 'chardian kala' or 'high spirits' which is an after effect of being in His Presence.

Love towards all, malice towards none
 (To truly love everyone, regardless of caste, color or religion)

To do nam simran, to work honestly and hard, and to share our blessings with the less fortunate.

(Nam japo, kirt karo, vand chako)

 To be generous with our time. 

(Time for seva, time for the sick, time for parents & grandparents.)

These were only some of the suggestions. If anyone remembers others please do remind me.

Our actions speak the loudest.  They define us. We have to be vigilant at all times, especially if we wear the uniform that our dear Guru adorned us with. 

With the knowledge that we belong to our Guru, an inner, knowing smile brings about a certain glow, a radiance, a spring in our gait that makes others wonder - who is this person? Who is His Master?

iqsu gurisK kMau hMau sdw nmskwrI jo gur kY BwxY gurisKu cilAw ]

I bow forever in deepest respect to that Sikh of the Guru, who walks in the Way of the Guru

I was also fortunate enough to do another type of sangat - kudrat dee sangat - company of nature.

The sheer immenseness of the Pacific Ocean, its beauty, its depth and hidden treasures is truly humbling. 

As I stood in the water,the waves came, one after the other. I felt as if it was rushing to meet me with open arms. The powerful giant then became meek -  even though it knew its power it had the humility to lower itself to touch the feet of anyone who came near it - just like a true Gursikh. 

 Next Tuesday I will post the slides on 'Universal Religion' - lekh (essay) written by Bauji.

Guru Ang Sang Sada Sada

(May you remain in His Presence always)

 Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji ki Fateh

Los Angeles (Nov'09) & Detroit (Dec'09) Samagams

It was wonderful to see some of you again at Detroit. Here is the link for the much awaited  article i promised you in LA. Once again, sincere apologies for taking so long. I just hope it works now.

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/vtCFmgQ8USG3Ip

This article has been read and underlined in several places by Bauji (Jaswant Singh in 1983).

For some of you younger children this article maybe somewhat difficult, but do get whatever you can from it now and then come back to it again and again. You will be pleasantly surprised to see that you understand just a little more each time. There are so many hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.

 I would love to hear some comments from you. I will post one thing from the previous classes once a week.

Guru ang sang

(May you feel His Divine Presence always)