Valentine

It’s Valentine’s Day today. I guess somewhere along the line we all figure out what holidays we celebrate and how we do so, and what meanings they have to our families. I was singing this shabad today from Ang 862, written by Guru Ramdas Ji in Gond Raag, Har Darshan Ko Mera Man Bahu Tapte… (apologies the Gurmukhi doesn’t carry through here so I’m having to transliterate and translate) https://www.igurbani.com/shabad/3225?verseId=36621

Gond, Fourth Mehl:

My mind yearns so deeply for the Blessed Vision of the Lord's Darshan, like the thirsty man without water. ||1||

My mind is pierced through by the arrow of the Lord's Love.

The Lord God knows my anguish, and the pain deep within my mind. ||1||Pause||

Whoever tells me the Stories of my Beloved Lord is my Sibling of Destiny, and my friend. ||2||

Come, and join together, O my companions; let's sing the Glorious Praises of my God, and follow the comforting advice of the True Guru.. ||3||

Please fulfill the hopes of servant Nanak, O Lord; his body finds peace and tranquility in the Blessed Vision of the Lord's Darshan. ||4||6||

 

I am reminded of a few things from this shabad. Firstly, that there is an abundance of love in the world, that Waheguru’s love is the matter that forms everything. I am reminded of the importance of cultivating that love within ourselves, that we must be kind and loving towards ourselves. When I got to the line, Mere Har Preetam Ki Koi Bat Sunave, So Bhai So Mera Bir (Whoever tells me the Stories of my Beloved Lord is my Sibling of Destiny and my friend), I really got emotional. Our whole lives we spend figuring out our sangat. I thought it was just an issue here because of our isolation in smaller centers, but it is just as much an issue for my cousins in their big cities with classes full of Sikhs and Punjabis. Guru Ji tells us that there is a rare Gurmukh. In the last few years, whatever opportunities I have gotten, small or large to meet people and soak in that feeling of talking about Sikhi, to learn and share learnings, has been so important to me. Guru Ji is telling us here in this shabad, what is the sign of a friend. Valentines has never really resonated with me personally, but I found ways to make today meaningful to me this year on my journey to self-compassion and greater spiritual awareness.