What is Aarti?

Aarti comes from Sanskrit aratrika, “something that removes darkness.” In the Hindu religion, earth, air, water, fire, and space (represented by a flower, peacock fan, water, deeva, and yak tail fan) are offered to a deity in a plate which is circled around the image of the deity. Songs are sung and the “power” of the deity is transferred to the plate, then the blessing is passed to the worshippers when they place their hands over the deeva and then over their heads. I saw this when I went to a Hindu mandar in Toronto last year. Guru Nanak Dev Ji observed this ritual when he stopped at Jaggannath Puri with Mardana. In Sikhi we do not do idol worship in this manner, and Guru Ji instead composed the shabads below which are now sung in the Sikh aarti. Guru Ji emphasized that instead of idol worship and physical offerings, that the entire creation is an offering to God and is naturally occurring.

“Wherever my True Guru goes and sits, that place is beautiful, O Lord King.

The Guru’s Sikhs seek out that place; they take the dust and apply it to their faces.

The works of the Guru’s Sikhs, who meditate on the Lord’s Name, are approved.

Those who worship the True Guru, O Nanak- the Lord causes them to be worshipped in turn.

The Sky is Your platter,

The sun and moon are the 'Deepaks' the lamps (lights),

The Stars in the sky are the pearls,

The 'Dhoop' (Incense) is the fragrance,

That the wind propels,

The whole forest is Your flowers.

O! What a wonderful Aarti, this is!

You, are a destroyer of Fear,

The sound of Your Name, which is so subtle, that It goes unheard,

Resounds endlessly.

You have a thousand eyes, forms, feet, noses…And you have none…

I am charmed!

Your Light enlightens all!

It is by the Grace of the Guru that the real Light (Knowledge) Manifests.

What pleases the Almighty is this Aarti (Creation)

I yearn for Your Lotus feet,

Night and day,

Nanak is like the thirsty bird that asks,

For a drop of water,

From You O Lord!

That drop (Grace) will make Nanak find comfort,

In the uttering of Your Name.”

Sri Ravidas Ji, Sri Dhana Ji, Sant Kabeer Ji and Sant Sain Ji composed the rest of the aarti:

“O Lord, Your name is the Aarti, Your name is the Flower, the saffron, and the sandalwood That is offered to You. Your Name is the (Deeya) The Lamp, the oil and the cotton That is lighted in it. With the Light that Your Name gives out, The whole world is brightened. Your Name is the Thread and Your Name is also The Flowers that are strung into that thread. All that I offer to You is Yours. Your Name is the flywhisk, that you use, The (Chant of Your) True Name, We offer to You, All is false except Your Name!

The Aarti is adorned by the lighted lamp And the fragrance of the incense. All is Auspicious. Thou art the Supreme and Pure Light. Thou art the Lord of the Goddess of Wealth. My obeisance to Thee. And to the Lord Rama, Beautiful Govinda, Who is described as Replete Pure Bliss! Sain prays to Thee, Who obliterates all Fear.

Dear Lord! The Greatest of Yogis have not been able to comprehend You, Those who worship the Unmanifest, Fail to realize You. Even though they have persevered in their quest. Your Name resounds unheard (By the worldly) And only He can hear (On who Your Grace descends) Pray to Your satguru! Almighty Lord! Accept the Aarti, with the oil, Lit with the Chant of Your Name, By You, the Lord of the Universe! Kabirdas performs the Aarti of the 'Beyond Description' and the 'Without Form'

O Gopaala, (Accept) your Aarti! You grant the wishes of those who worship You! I ask for my basic sustenance (food, oil, lentils, good quality grains) Which makes me feel fulfilled. I also pray for a good wife, good clothes, good grain, a horse, a cow…”

Finally Guru Gobind Singh Ji writes:

“The Lord is pleased by the penance, prayers, rituals recitation of the Scriptures, Meditation, music, dance of the Celestial Beings, adorned with vermilion, various musical instruments, Ringing of bells and the showering of flowers, and the tune of the Aarti . The cosmic worlds rejoice and chant the Divine Name. I have come to Your door-step O Lord, having left the world behind, Protect me, I am in Your service. Because of the Lord's command, this order (Sikhism) Came into being. The Sikhs are urged to believe that the Granth is the Guru manifest, Whoever is pure in heart, will find the answers within the words of the Guru Granth Sahib. Its words are the Guru, and the Guru is in the Guru Granth's Utterings, And within the words is the nectar (Of knowledge) And the words urge disciples to believe in the Guru!”

References:

Above translation of aarti from https://manpreet159.wordpress.com/sikhism/aarti-english-translation/

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Aarti

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarti

http://www.geocities.ws/prakashjm45/sikhaarti.html

http://www.sikhanswers.com/rehat-maryada-code-of-conduct/what-is-the-sikh-view-on-aarti/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgdqi5-9EGQ

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Aarti

Critical Thinking

One of the things that our Guru Ji’s practiced in their daily lives, and taught us to do, is critical thinking. We are living in a time where this is increasingly important. The media is feeding us information all the time through magazines, billboards, television, and the internet (whether it’s news or social media). People are sending links of videos to each other via text or apps and news spreads like wildfire, whether it’s true or not, whether it’s a reflection of reality or not.

So what is critical thinking? Critical thinking is simply defined as the “ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe” (1). It doesn’t mean that we should be criticizing other people, because that’s not what Sikhi is about. If we picked everything apart we could never really have any faith. What it does mean is that we evaluate what we see and believe actively instead of passively. There are so many sakhis from our history that demonstrate critical thinking in action. For example Guru Nanak Dev Ji questioning the janeoo (see my post on this for more background), or questioning when people were throwing water to their dead ancestors. That is a very well-known sakhi but I will summarize it briefly here. During Guru Nanak’s travels, there were some individuals throwing water towards the sun while bathing in the Ganges as part of a belief that this would reach their dead ancestors (2). When Guru Ji started throwing water in the opposite direction they asked what he was doing, and he stated he was watering his fields in Punjab (2)! The people insisted that this was not possible as his fields were far away, to which Guru Ji asked how far the ancestors were and how the water they were throwing could reach there (2). An important point to note here is that instead of criticizing the individuals, Guru Ji asks them to question their own actions and they realize the emptiness of the ritual. He wasn't criticizing, he was teaching critical thinking. The Gurus taught us to think about what you are doing and why you are doing it, rather than having empty ritualistic practices and superstitions. Rather than just blindly doing and believing things, the Gurus taught us to actively choose our way of life. This is still relevant to us today and we should be actively asking ourselves why we are doing things.

In the media nowadays it is popular for people to show a small clip out of an interaction, or a quote, in order to get us to feel something or do something. Our minds are quick to jump to conclusions if we don’t stop for a second and think about our assumptions. Usually we are only seeing a small portion of the real picture. I think unfortunately a lot of people get trapped into exactly what other people want them to believe, like when the fashion industry shows us photoshopped pictures of models to get us to buy their products. Sometimes it’s an outright scam, like when someone pretends to be the “CRA” and phones your house, or when the Nigerian prince wants to give you an inheritance on your email; but sometimes it’s not as obvious and we really have to use our brains to think about what’s not right in this situation. Interpersonal conflicts happen all the time due to lack of critical thinking and not listening to the other side of the situation. Someone whispers something in your ear and next thing you are exploding and fighting their fight and they’ve stepped away quietly. We need to have more discipline than this, and we need to think more clearly than this otherwise we will fall into a lot of bad situations as pawns in someone else’s chess game. In my schooling, I’ve spent the last 8 years of my education learning how to develop my critical thinking. People challenge us and ask us why we are ordering things like basic bloodwork because everything has potential for harm and decisions must be based on rational evidence-based thinking and problem solving. I think it’s important that we incorporate this into all aspects of life. We need to ask ourselves: how biased is the information I am getting? Am I open minded? Am I understanding all sides of a situation? What do I believe and why?

References:

1 http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php

2 http://www.realsikhism.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1193332397&ucat=9

Who was Bhagat Kabir Ji?

I have always been so touched by the shabads of Bhagat Kabir Ji so I decided to read more about him. Bhagat Kabir Ji was a poet born in 1398 (dates of his passing are debated, but thought to be 1518). He was born to a Muslim family of weavers and went on to marry a woman name Loi. They had two children together and he practiced the life of a householder, like all of our Guru Jis. He spent much of his time trying to teach others to get out of ritualism, casteism, and superstitions. He was a disciple of Ramanand, who taught him to rise early in the morning to remember God. He practiced compassion and humility and encouraged others to do the same. Because he spoke against the empty rituals Hindus and Muslims were practicing at the time, this angered many people and he was tortured. Nonetheless he continued to express his loving devotion to God and speak the truth.

Bhagat Kabir Ji contributed 541 hymns to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

“From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad?” (Ang 1349 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji)

"Kabeer, nothing is mine within myself. Whatever there is, is Yours, O Lord. If I surrender to You what is already Yours, what does it cost me?" 

References:

http://www.sikhlionz.com/bhagatkabir.htm

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Bhagat_Kabir

Guru Angad Dev Ji Parkash Divas

Over the weekend we celebrated the Parkash Divas of Guru Angad Dev Ji, our second Guru Ji. Happy Parkash Divas! Guru Ji was born into a Hindu family to parents Bhai Pheru Mall Ji and Mata Sabhrai Ji with the name Bhai Lehna. He was a devout worshipper of Goddess Durga until he came across Bhai Jodha Ji singing the 21^st Pauri from Asa Di Var. After hearing this, he decided he must meet Guru Nanak Dev Ji and went to go meet him in Kartarpur. From them he became a follower of Guru Nanak. After many tests and years of service, Bhai Lehna Ji was renamed Guru Angad Dev Ji and the Guruship was passed on to him. For example, when a cup fell in the dirt, Sri Chand, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s son would not go to pick it up, but Bhai Lehna Ji gladly went into the mud to pick it up. 

Guru Angad Dev Ji was married to Mata Khivi Ji at age 16 and lived the life of a householder. They had four children: Dasu, Datu, Amro, Anokhi. Both of them did an incredible amount of hard work and sewa in their lifetime. Guru Ji created the Gurmukhi script. This is particular important because at that time, most religious writings were in Sanskrit and only the elite could read it. Punjabi was simple enough that there was no division among people- it was easy for anyone to learn to read and write. It was also clear enough that there wasn’t misinterpretation. Guru Ji believed in education and created many schools. He also taught about equality and carried on the tradition of langar. He established many religious institutions. I actually learned for the first time that Guru Ji was an advocate of physical wellness as well and used to teach youth to exercise and play sports after their prayers in the morning, because he believed that being fit was a foundation for being able to have higher goals for your mind. I think nowadays perhaps we under-value how important it is to keep physically fit! Guru Ji contributed 63 shabads and saloks now in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

References:

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Angad_Dev

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Angad

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/people/angaddev.shtml

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Angad_Dev

http://barusahib.org/general/prakash-utsav-guru-angad-dev-ji/

Book Illustrated Life Stories of Guru Sahibs’ by Dr. Ajit Singh Aulakh (really awesome English resource!)

Picture from http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/gurus/nanak2.html