I headed to Brampton a few weeks ago to attend the Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam Ji camp and to learn the rabab. It was a great time to reflect on life, as I have achieved some of the life goals that I had written on my bedroom wall: doing Darshan of the 5 Takhts, getting halfway through my Sehaj Paath of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, furthering my spiritual path (path of liv), and being in the final year of my program. While I was gone, I came up with some new goals and expanded ideas of things I was excited about. I think it is vital to continue to have this direction. Often times people wait around as their goals get stale, lose interest and never achieve them. It is important for our goals to remind us of our key values and goals in life, as well as keep us invigorated. My cousins and I set some of our goals together which was also fun.
I took lessons in Rabab while I was visiting. The Rabab existed before the times of Bhai Mardana, however the Sikh rabab is a modification and has no frets, making it perfect for singing kirtan (read more about this in the post Sikh Saaj). One of the things I got told by various people (none of whom knew how to play the rabab), was that it would be very difficult for me to learn. My Massi Ji incidentally saw someone carrying a traditional Saaj at Turban Up in Toronto and asked who their teacher was, which led to the discovery of my teacher. I had trusted one year ago when I bought my rabab that through God’s will, this part would also come together and it did. I have met many teachers over the years both inside and outside of school. Not everyone has the same skillset, will mesh with you, understand you or even really like teaching. Yet some have an absolute passion to share what they learn with others and to pass that on to the next generation. Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ji from Singapore played an enormous role in my life introducing me to Raag kirtan when I was 14. Although it had been difficult at the time, his humbleness and dedication was a key feature of his teaching and made it worthwhile. I was so grateful that my rabab teacher had the same passion. When I was searching for a teacher, I realized that not a lot of people even understand the need or desire to revive how kirtan was originally played by Bhai Mardana Ji with Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Of course learning anything presents a challenge, but when you love something you give it time and dedication. It was not as much of a hurdle as I had been told or expected. On top of that, I didn’t just gain a teacher but I gained new sangat as well. Learning our traditional saaj is a great hobby for anyone to pick up, of any age. I would recommend being very mindful of where you buy your instrument and make sure to ask someone who has knowledge of the instruments before making your purchase.
I got to listen to traditional saaj being played in Aasa Di Waar for a few hours at Gurfateh Sewa Center. Initially I thought it was just a bookstore but I learned that once a month Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is brought for a program. Sometimes different groups such as seniors from the retirement homes or non-Sikh groups are brought in. Those that owned the store weren’t earning from it and were providing an amazing sewa of connecting people with education on all topics, ordering musical instruments and other religious items. They also advocated and got Giani Gulzar Singh Ji to go to the jail to do rehabilitation and connect Sikh inmates to their roots. Imagine if people at every Gurdwara spent that time for more advocacy and proactiveness in outreach to at-risk Sikh youth. I found it to be really inspiring and it is worth a visit.
The Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam Ji camp is very similar to Sarab Rog Ka Aukhad Naam which I have written about in the past. We attended the camp for four days. On the last day I got to speak about the life-transforming experience I had attending these camps since 2016. The biggest thing I gained was bharosa (faith). People don’t think they should go because they don’t have anything wrong with them (rog or disease), but even if you don’t have a physical, mental illness, or stress, we may have diseases that we are unaware of in our body. If we don’t have any problems whatsoever, then we should go to thank God, and to address our biggest disease of ego. I found that each time I go, I find I have more faith and connection, and it convinces me more of the power of Gurbani. The more people attend, the more benefit as you sing the Gurbani collectively. The Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam Ji camp will be coming to our Gurdwara Sahib in Prince George in September in the third week- I will post dates once they are confirmed. It would be great for people to attend with their families. Again even if you have no rog- we all need to address the rog of Ego.
We attended Simran programs and katha. We also attended the AKJ (Akhand Keertani Jatha) Smagam and another program of famous Raagi Jathas from India.
I always seem to find a lot of spiritual fulfillment from these trips. It was about finally having some people around who were seeking the same purpose, made me feel understood and also challenged myself to be a better version of myself. I am so appreciative of the experience sitting in sangat and gratitude for cousins who are invested in singing shabads together. There is definitely a hunger for that type of sangat, because it is difficult in a smaller town when there aren’t many people around at the Gurdwara. I am finding despite having an increasing population of Sikhs in our town, we seem to have less and less individuals attending Akhand Paaths or just normal Sunday programs. At the AKJ smagam I attended, the Gurdwara Sahib was packed and almost everyone was singing! The teenagers who are normally video gaming are also singing and engaged. The impact was enormous. It wasn’t just that people physically attend but they were also mentally present and participating. That felt like home to me- to forget your body and where you are physically, to look inside yourself and listen to Naam. I do struggle when I come back. We are very lucky here locally that we have a small community to be able to hold initiatives and make big changes, we don’t have traffic and live close to nature, we can sing kirtan on stage, etc. and it is great for family living. I think sometimes though it can be isolating and lonely when there isn’t sangat around that is discussing Sikhi to expand our own views. Some people are stuck at the same thoughts and level they were for most of their life because there’s no one to challenge them or bounce off ideas. I’ve learned a lot even talking about topics I thought I knew something about and I think its useful to just be around people who you can gain that knowledge from. In a matter of seconds our life can change by new sangat- it can kill us or give us a whole new life. Let's make us of as many opportunities as we can to engage with others who help us further our path.
