Practical

What if you felt perfectly fine, and I sat you down and delivered the news that you have a grave illness. It will not shorten your life, but it affects your quality of life 24 hours a day. It takes away your bliss, your laughter, and peace. People who have this illness develop conflict with their families and others, getting into arguments. You might not feel the symptoms now but you just haven’t been paying attention, maybe you have already noticed how much it has taken away of your life and joy. What if I told you this grave and horrible life-sucking disease has a cure? Would you not do anything, to search high and low across the world, in desperation to get rid of this illness and restore your life?  

We all have this disease of ego. Gurbani tells us this. We are afflicted by the 5 dhoots who take our amrit and deprive us of the lives that we were born to live, from fulfilling our life purpose and moving beyond this cycle of reincarnations. The five put us into false love, we do not go to Sunn and recognize Sach or other minds there. We are stuck into the false reality of dreams which are just as false as the world we live in day to day because we don’t hear Naam or follow Hukam. What is real exists beyond the illusion of maya. It is this illusion that tells you that you are perfectly well when you are ill with this disease of homai/ego. In Asa Di Vaar, we hear the shabad “False is the king, false are the subjects; false is the whole world. False is the mansion, false are the skyscapers; false are those who live in them. False is gold, false is silver; false are those who wear them. False is the body, false are the clothes; false is incomparable beauty. False is the husband, false is the wife; they mourn and waste away. The false ones love falsehood, and forget their Creator. With whom should I become friends, if all the world shall pass away? False is sweetness, false is honey; through falsehood boatloads of men have drowned [in the bhavsagar]. Nanak speaks this prayer; without You, everything is totally false.” Maya plays tricks on us. When we start to do simran, kaal puts our mind into your body. That’s why we have to find comfortable positions, whether that is legs outstretched or lying down, or cross-legged, with a blanket over us for warmth, etc. so that we aren’t focused on the distraction of an uncomfortable body. Then kaal starts inserting thoughts as you look around, which is why it is important to start with closed eyes. One of the reasons Gurbani tells us about Amritvela is because it is a quiet time. Usually in the hustle and bustle of the noises we hear during the day, it is challenging- it is easier to meditate in quieter spaces whether out in nature/countryside, or in a quiet place of the home. It is possible and good to do simran anytime, but quieter places do make it a lot easier as there are less distractions pulling from the mind and it is easier to hear the Anhad Bani without those distractions. 

 

For a lot of people, it takes late into their lives to realize what was false, sometimes they never do. I often see a lot of posts about women who are in their 60s and finally having figured out how to be solidly confident within themselves. I guess the illusion of societal standards has worn off by then, there is an empty nest, and people start to explore further within themselves into other elements of the definition of who they are beyond physical beauty, motherhood, work life, etc. I often hear from a lot of people that it wasn’t until after they retired and removed the ego element of their job position or being in their job that they realize the falseness. Sometimes it takes a wake-up call. Around this time last year, I was incredibly ill. My family and extended family gathered in their homes while I was isolated alone in the hospital and they did their simran. The entire hospitalization I was alone, just trying to do as much jap as possible. It wasn’t my time to go, but it was a close one and woke me up to the reality of what my role is in life and in this world. There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for my breath. It strengthened my resolve to build upon what is actually important. It broke my image of reality and reminded me of this falseness.

Sometimes I find myself annoyed at the amount of time it takes to practically navigate life. For example, physically we have to learn to navigate within our bodies. If we develop a chronic disease or disability, we have to learn to adjust our lives around it. For women, we learn how to manage to keep working and going to school despite bleeding, cramping, and mood swings, and to learn to celebrate our bodies during and after pregnancy. We have to learn practical skills like communication, problem-solving, expression of emotions, etc. We have to go to work and school and learn skills to do a job. As second generations, we have had to learn to navigate with a different value system from the parental generation, and trying to learn to have a rooted sense of identity in our heritage. In our free time outside of school we had to learn about our own history, instruments, language, and roots. Our communities have to learn to approach problems in a new way than were traditionally done in India, as we learn to navigate elder abuse, gang violence, intimate partner violence, intergenerational trauma, mental health, and addictions. We have to learn to navigate disappointment, shame, failure, and heartbreak. More challenging are things like trying to figure out how to navigate work as a woman of colour, but also with a non-belief system. Our value systems in Sikhi teach us to stand for truth and justice, and I ended up having to make a choice very early on and I stood for these values at the risk of my career because I decided they were more important to stick by. This was at a point I had already invested a significant portion of my life into my work, but morally we must be able to live with ourselves, to speak up and improve the system for other people and create change. In the day to day, I learned to deal with problems of not the just the body and mind, but hear thousands of stories of poverty, abuse, food insecurity, family conflict, violence, etc. When we see and hear such a variety of lived experience, we have to find a way to make sure that our worldview stands up. If we interact with no one, we don’t challenge our views. In this context, I dug deeper into Gurbani to find explanations that are applicable to the entirety of Creation. We have to find a way to live with the brutalities of the reality of the world, of wars, missing and murdered, assaulted, the most horrific and heartbreaking realities and find a way to live with them, to co-exist. 

All of these things are about the practicalities of living in the lives that we live, of being in the families we were born into, the clothing (body) we were given, the communities we live in, the context of how long ago we immigrated, and what types of strengths and skills we have. Unfortunately, all of this is a blank slate from lifetime to lifetime. It is knowledge of kaal, and not knowledge of Sach so it is also enveloped into falseness. So I think it is important for us to do it with efficiency, to help each other navigate it with as least time and effort as possible so we do not focus our entire lives on simply just figuring out how to navigate the day to day stuff. When I find I’m in a scenario that I think could benefit others to work through I usually make a document or a template, and in many cases have ended up sharing these resources with other people. After many years, I think almost all the useful tips and tricks that have improved the quality of my life significantly and have been life changing have happened within the last 5 months, because I finally just realized I needed to make these more efficient so I can focus on other aspects of life. The time of trial and error with a focused effort was worth it. This area is simply a distraction, yet I found it important to mention because perhaps we will spend our entire lives thinking that this was our purpose. As mentioned multiple times by Basics of Sikhi and by Nanak Naam, Sikhi wasn’t just about being a good person and doing good things, and thinking good thoughts. It is far beyond that. They have a part, but that isn’t the root. 

When I talk about the practicalities above, I mean the stuff about how to figure out how to be in this body in this lifetime…but the real practicalities come beyond maya. The real practice of living is learning how to be in this mind, which travels with us from lifetime to lifetime. The game is all the game of the mind. Our best guide has already been made for this. All of the background work has been done for us. The instructions have been compiled, the map has been laid out. Our most practical guide is our Guru Ji! We have been given all the understandings we need inside Gurbani, we have been given the way to live. How lucky are we that we don’t have to start from scratch and all the answers have been given to us as to how we succeed in breaking this cycle of reincarnation and living a fulfilled life. In this sense, "practical" and "practice" is used often to remind us that we actually need to practice our Naam Abhiyas- we need to do our jap in order for us to make progress in spiritual stages/avasthas. 

Lastly, our sincerest condolences to the victims of the San Jose shooting, including our Sikh brother Taptejdeep Singh who made heroic efforts to save others while the shoot was occurring. He is in the thoughts of the Sikh community. 

Prakash Divas Guru Amardas Ji

Yesterday was the Prakash Divas of Guru Amardas Ji. Guru Ji was the oldest Guru in our history. He was born to parents Tej Bhan and Mata Bakht in 1479. He worked as a shopkeeper and was a devout Hindu. He got married to Mansa Devi and had four children (Bhani, Dani, Mohan, and Mohri). He was on a deep search for spirituality and started regularly visiting the Ganga. He was longing for a Guru at the age of 61 when he heard Bibi Amro Ji (daughter of Guru Angad Dev Ji who was married to his nephew) singing the Gurbani of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. She was singing from Ang 990, starting “Karnee Kagad Man Masavanee” (Actions are the paper, and the mind is the ink; good and bad are both recorded upon it). It touched him so much, he went to meet Guru Angad Dev Ji and became his Sikh. Despite his old age, Amar Das carried water daily from the river Beas for Guru Ji. The water was so heavy in the pitcher that he would have to enter the water, rising from the river with the pitcher on his head. He would wash Guru Ji’s clothes, collect wood for langar, fan the Diwan Hall, and fan Guru Ji. Amar Das was criticized by people for living at his nephew-in-law’s house but it did not deter him. This teaches us that those doing this selfless work are indeed criticized and not to let others’ criticisms deter us from our tasks. After 12 years of sewa, he took over the Guruship from the age of 73 to 95. Guru Amar Das Ji established the city Goindwal and made a Baoli (well of 84 steps) for Sikhs to gather. Baba Dasu, son of Guru Angad Dev Ji had wanted to take over the Guruship and announced himself as Guru. He changed his ways and became a discipline of Guru Ji. Datu, the other son of Guru Angad Dev Ji, was hostile. He took on spiritual powers and kicked Guru Amar Das Ji. Guru Ji humbly grabbed his foot, and said “Pardon me, my master’s son! Let me massage your tender foot as it may have been hurt by my hard aged bones” (Sikhi wiki). Guru Ji revealed forgiveness and humility. Datu told Guru Ji to leave Goindwal, so he left for Basarke and locked himself in a house, putting a sign up that anyone who entered was not his Sikh and he would not be their Guru. Datu’s leg started to hurt as soon as he kicked Guru Ji. He stole whatever he could and sat on Guru Ji’s throne, but the Sikhs were preoccupied with finding their Guru. Datu left but was unable to take Guru Ji’s horse as it would not let him mount it. On his way to Khadur, robbers stole everything he had. Meanwhile the Sikhs went to Baba Buddha Ji to help them, who had the idea of using Guru Ji’s horse to guide them. The horse took them to the house where Guru Ji was staying, where they read the sign. Baba Buddha Ji cleverly made another entrance and got Guru Ji to return. 

Guru Amar Das went on a trip to spread the word of Sikhi. He spoke against rituals around the solar eclipse and taught people to look inward to bathing in Naam. Guru Ji contributed 907 hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji and wrote the Anand Sahib prayer. He composed Anand Sahib when seeing his grandson born named Anand. He said that this grandson was a saint in his previous life who came to merge into God in this lifetime, and he blessed this child with Gurbani so he could achieve his purpose. He wrote 38 Pauris, and the 39^th was added by Guru Ram Das Ji, with the 40^th added by Guru Arjan Dev Ji. He introduced the Anand Karaj(wedding ceremony), as a distinct ceremony from Hindus. When a Sikh came to him that the Brahmins refused to marry his daughter, Guru Amar Das Ji introduced this ceremony, which further distinguished the Sikhs. 

 

He worked to continue to abolish sexism by speaking against sati (women sacrificing themselves on their husbands funeral pyre) and pardha (veiling of the face). He established the Manji system, an administrative system for spreading the message of Sikhi. Guru Ji introduced the concept of dasvandh, sharing a part (1/10) of your earnings. The Manjis preached, collected dasvandh, did kirtan, and made decisions for their areas. There were multiple women in charge of Manjis including Bibi Bhagbhari Ji who was in charge of Kashmir andBibi Amro, who was in charge of Basarke. (In another source these Bibiyan are not mentioned in the Manjis themselves but are mentioned as preachers). Meanwhile he also set up a system of Peehris, for Sikhs to spread Naam. Out of 146, 52 were led by women including Bibi Bhani, Dani and Pal. Bibi Bhani served her father with great devotion. One day while in meditation, one of the legs of the platform he was sitting on gave way. To avoid interrupting his concentration she put her hand underneath and supported it. When Guru Ji opened his eyes and saw the blood flowing from the jagged edges having dug into her, she explained that she has longed to be able to be of service. Guru Ji then explained that her meditation and service would bless her whole lineage; her father was a Guru, husband, son, grandson, great grandson, great-great grandson, and great-great-great grandson were Gurus! 

from Sikhiwiki.com

Guru Amar Das Ji also introduced the concept of “Pehle Pangat Phir Sangat” meaning one would eat in the langar with others prior to meeting Guru Ji, to further solidify that there should be no casteism. He made Emperor Akbar eat with others before he met him and refused Akbar’s offering of village revenue for the langar because it should run on the earnings of the community. He convinced Akbar to waive a tax put on non-muslims crossed the Yauma and Ganga Rivers. Guru Ji started a large gathering of Sikhs every year for Vaisakhi and Diwali. Guru Ji’s son Mohri spent his time looking after Guru Ji’s household. His brother Mohan was given a pothi (writings of Gurbani that are larger than a gutka and smaller than a Granth) with the writings of the Gurus to hold onto. Not much is written about Bibi Dani. Guru Ji told people not to cry at his death and his great-grandson Sundar Ji wrote Ramkali Sud, which is read during funerals now. Thus, Guru Amar Das Ji also influenced a distinct funeral ceremony as well, with no pandits, lamps, or lamenting. When he was becoming Jyoti Jyot, Datu asked for forgiveness for kicking Guru Ji but he explained that when Guru Ram Das Ji’s son is on the throne, he will meet Datu and his pains would go away. We wrote more about this is "Sikh History Part 1" which is where this is excerpted from (see references there). 

Happy Prakash Divas! Lastly, today marks 6 months of the farmers protest. May we continue to support the farmers in whatever way we can.

Tanti Saaj Lessons (Rabab, Dilruba, Taus, etc.)

Looking to play our traditional Sikh musical instruments? I posted a while back when I bought my Rabab about my desperate search for a teacher- it took me nearly a year to find Bhai Karanjeet Singh Ji, and that was by a chance incident, and again by chance incident recently encountered Hazuri Ragi Bhai Siripal Singh Ji. It can be challenging to find people but now that I have some practical experience here's some tips: 

Raj Musicals in India sells great instruments, make sure you get a hardcover fiberglass case, and associated things, for example you want rosin for the bow of a Taus or Dilruba, and a tuning peg. 

Lessons: 

Jhankar Center of Performing Arts: run by Bhai Karanjeet Singh in Mississauga, also can be virtual. https://www.facebook.com/Jhankar-Center-of-Performing-Arts-294002081491553 

Tanti Saaj Sri Gurmat Academy: run by Hazuri Ragi Bhai Siripal Singh Ji- he teaches Dilruba, Taus, Esraj, sarangi, saranda and rabab. He is currently stuck in California since covid started, but was hoping to come to Canada and does lessons on Zoom right now for people all over the world. He charges 40 USD per lesson.  https://tantisaaj.com 

Satnam Academy: run by Bhai Surinder Singh Ji- he teaches tabla, harmonium, surmandal, tarshanai, and vocals. They are based out of Surrey, but they unfortunately don't teach the dilruba but they do teach virtually as well. They can be found on facebook and youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqrUz6RXPmMq_O3eu6h45sQ 

Bhai Mardana Gurmat Sangeet Academy, Abbotsford is run by Bhai Narinder Singh Ji and he teaches dilruba as well as some other instruments I believe. They can be found on their youtube channel 

Raj Academy does lessons as well although quite expensive they do have an established syllabus that is run online. https://www.rajacademy.com 

I believe Bhai Mahabeer Singh Ji does teach the rabab, I know he plays Afghani Rabab but I've seen the contact information on one of his videos (whatsapp 8568947400) and he can be reached by facebook too. 

I haven't been able to find any meaningful tanti saaj lessons on youtube. I think there are many well intentioned ones, but they are hard to follow and don't tell you how to tune the instrument properly which is the biggest part of starting off, depending on either male scale or female scale and which Sa you are using.  

Chapters 21 and 22: The End

This brings us to the end of the chapter summaries of Bhai Sewa Singh Ji Tarmala’s book, Forgetting the Way of Love, Pantha Prem Na Janiye.  

These last two chapters are largely summaries of the rest of the book, reviewing again the key concepts that the subtle and physical bodies are two different things that are connected by our breath. Our subtle body has non-physical senses and vision that it uses. The physical body is simply a clothing for the mind in this lifetime. The mind travels from lifetime to lifetime, and got this lifetime as a human life. This is the only form that it can merge into God. Even Angels want this life! It is very special that we were born as humans. We only have so many breaths and kaal will tighten the net (jaal) so that we use these up and waste them away. When the time is up, the Jum beat us and bring us back to account for our breaths, which have been recorded by Chitrgupt throughout our lives. Bhai Sahib Ji very powerfully points out that a dying person begs for more breath, but it cannot be bought by any wealth or worldly means possible. We must protect our breaths, and protect our mind in this lifetime. (In the below translation head beaten refers to how the Jum take us if we haven't followed Hukam). 

Reflections:

I saw something recently that said, “successful habits of billionaires”. I didn't find this to be a very useful topic- show me the habits of the spiritually wealthy and then you will have something meaningful. The spiritually wealthy are those who have Naam. These habits are the ones described in Gurbani, in fact, to wake up early at Amritvela and contemplate God’s name. This is written into Japji Sahib Pauri 4, where the question is raised- the Provider provides all, so what can we place in front of You that we might see You sitting in Your court and what words should we speak that would give us this love? The answer is given that at Amrit vela, we must contemplate the Greatness of Waheguru. Guru Ji tells us that our physical wealth will not go with us and it never belonged to us. What use is there in having pride over it? We should be able to look back at our day and think, if this had been my last day to live did I spend it fruitfully, did I invest my breaths wisely knowing that this would determine if I returned to this cycle of reincarnation and suffering in maya if I didn’t. Did I do my best? I remember one of my dad’s friends used to say “you’re using up my oxygen” when someone was wasting his time. This is such a clever way of understanding that we only have so many breaths in this life, Kaal does loot us and we get caught up in either thoughts or meaningless conversation with others. We should be guided and inspired by those around us to make our time in this world meaningful according to Gurbani and achieve the path that is universal for all of humanity. 

In a Nanak Naam Katha, Bhai Satpal Singh mentions this line from Ang 404: “Who has seized and conquered the five warriors? Is there anyone strong enough?” This refers to the 5 dhoots, kaam, krodh, lob, moh and hankar. They are a powerful five. Hopefully now that we understand they are looting us of our Amrit ras that is our natural mind’s food, we can fight using the Gurmantar (Waheguru Jap). Guru Ji tells us "their army is might and unyielding." Who can be called a warrior? The one who conquers these, and breaks the wall of illusion/doubt (param da parhda). That is a true warrior according to Guru Ji. 

I got a lot more out of re-reading this book now that I already had some practical experience and knowledge of the terminology from prior. I got the Ida, Pingla and Sukhmana clarified by Bibi Sukhwinder Kaur Ji, she told us that they do correspond to the words Ganga, Jamuna and Sarsa that appear in the book and this deeper practical knowledge is also contained in Gurbani. I think this was delved into further in one (or multiple) of the other books but I can’t remember which one. It is with much passion and enthusiasm that many Gurmukhs do kathas and share this knowledge worldwide about how we merge back into Waheguru, using the knowledge imparted from Guru Ji. I am much appreciative of their efforts, as I know there are the rare few who actually listen wholeheartedly. I know that too is written as part of the game.  

Chapter 20

There are only a couple of chapters left in Bhai Sewa Singh Ji’s book, Pantha Prem Na Janiye. In this chapter, they explain that once a person gets to Nij Mahal, they have conversations with Sach/Waheguru. These conversations are often not to be shared. They discussed that our efforts alone do not get us to Nij Mahal, it is by God’s grace/blessings that we get this. 

When doing our sas gras simran, if we focus on the trikuti too much we enter illusions, if we focus on the belly button too much we get too much “fire” element. We must stay focused on the voice at first. When our thoughts are imbalanced the air through the nose is also imbalanced. The right side is tamoguni, the left is rajoguni. Notice now, which side is more. When there is a balance it is satoguni. The balance comes through sas gras simran and helping to get rid of thoughts. (In a recent Q+A katha, husband of Bhenji Sukhwinder Kaur Ji answered a question relating to ENT causes of imbalance for example deviated septum, etc. He answered that this is of course a cause of imbalanced air but in their practical experience some people have been able to not even achieve balance after surgery so there is more to it than just this). If we cannot balance the air we won’t be able to enter the 10th gate to go to our homes. 

Reflections: At the end of our lives, we don’t want to be regretful that we had saved up these breaths over 8.4 million lifetimes and now we wasted them without even attempting to achieve our purpose. Your day to go may come today, and for many it will. Today is the day to start, without delay, of this path. Start doing just a few moments of simran. 

As usual, a bit of art! I'm trying new styles so I watched a youtube video on how to make this one. 

Chapters 16, 17, 18 and 19

These combined chapters of Bhai Sewa Singh Ji Tarmala's book, Pantha Prem Na Janiye, reiterate a lot of the same points in previous chapters. Bhai Sahib expands that the Harmandir Sahib was built to teach people about the internal Nij Ghar- that the pool of nectar signifies Sunn and the temple at the center represents Nij Ghar. When our mind connects with Naam and bathes in Amrit, this sukham (non-physical) place is called Amritsar, and so was the name of the city.  In Japji Sahib Guru Ji reminds us that we don’t have to physically have pilgrimages to bathe at places to elevate our mind’s status. Here we are reminded once again that Amritsar exists in our minds to bathe, that we must cleanse our minds and wash away our sins. The references to Amritsar in Gurbani refer to this internal place where Amrit resides. Bhai Sahib reminds us it is up to us to make the efforts to meditate, and the role of the importance of Grace of God as well. Gurbani says “Shabad Guru, Surat Dhun Chela” meaning the Shabad is the Guru, consciousness is the disciple/student. 

Bhai Sahib tells us that our body is like a country, with the head (president, or king) being the mind, and the castle of the mind being the Nij Mahal and the wealth being breaths. The king mind is supposed to provide Amrit to its people (all the cells in our body) but if it isn’t connected to Naam it can’t do this. Thus the mind becomes ill and then diseases start in the body. We have explored the idea of Naam medicine and Gurbani healing in previous posts. (It is recommended people continue the treatment plans set out by their doctors but then also use this spiritual medicine). It is described that the mind’s fever is the three qualities of maya (rajogun, tamogun, satogun thoughts), the doctor is God and the hospital is sangat. They describe in Gurbani that Amrit is a special type of intoxication. Hence the line "Without the Lord I cannot live, even for a second. Like the addict who dies without his drug, I die without God" Ang 668. 

Reflections: I was recently watching a bunch of AKJ kirtan videos, and the sangat is really just intensely loving the simran. I only got to attend AKJ kirtan once in Toronto and I cried almost the whole way through because it was so incredibly moving to hear the entire sangat engaged and singing. I’ve always wanted to go their NY or California smagams, I’ll be excited to do this at the first opportunity when programs start to open up again. There are so many videos of kirtan that express the vast variety of feelings from longing to pure Anand, and I feel like these two videos capture bliss really well. 

https://youtu.be/uxN_4nlHc7A

Chapter 15

This is a continuation of chapter summaries from Bhai Sewa Singh Ji Tarmala’s book Pantha Prem Na Janiye.  

This chapter starts off explaining about how Bhai Mani Singh and Baba Deep Singh Ji were able to merge into Dasam Dwar to be able to get the Banis and write Guru Granth Sahib Ji. During the day the mind is in the body via the air and is living its life here. At night, the mind disconnects from the body and either falls into Bhavsagar or connects to Naam. If it is connected to Naam it can learn to use its sukham (subtle, non-physical) senses and vision. It can do this day and night if it is connected to Naam. When the mind can be awake and aware of both worlds (parlok and lok) then it is called dib drisht and it will be able to understand deeper meaning of Gurbani from God’s mouth. Sumdrisht means a person who is able to be in the world and listening to Naam at the same time. 

Our real house is Sunn, and we must remember that when we enter this body it is a drama. In this chapter the Kumbh Kirya technique was discussed. In this method, you pause air at the belly button, take a few breaths, and then the breath stops at the Sunn Ghaat between the eyes and nose. Next, a person is absorbed into Sunn and hear Anhad Bani. Then a person stays awake by Gyaan in a state called Sun Smaadh. Then a person is absorbed into Sunn by listening to the Anhad Bani, and the mind is able to cross the Bhavsagar/Dhaval. At the Nij Ghar, there is a bright light from jot, the Divine sound resonates, and it rains Amrit.  

Remembering the Chotta Ghallughara

Here is the background history of the Chotta Ghallughara, which is the "small holocaust" that is being commemorated today. 

 

Zakaraiya Khan became Governor of Lahore in 1726. He ordered rewards for anyone who removed the scalp of a Sikh, hair of a Sikh, or give information on a Sikh’s location. He punished those who sheltered and protected the Sikhs. Under the rule of Zakaraiya Khan and Lakhput Rai, Bhai Mani Singh Ji was martyred in 1737 cut joint by joint. 

 

Subsequently, Nadir Shah, a Persian invader (Emperor of Iran) was plundering Punjab in 1738-9. Nadir Shah only kept Zakaria Khan as governor by bribe and keeping his son as a hostage, then left. Zakaraiya Khan ordered Bhai Taru Singh Ji to be martyred by removal of his scalp and Bhai Mehtab Singh to be martyred on a wheel in 1745. Bhai Taru Singh Ji stated that Zakaraiya would be killed by his shoes, which he was...he developed urinary retention and then asked for forgiveness from the Khalsa Panth, which they told him he would have to beat himself with Bhai Taru Singh Ji’s shoes. He was cured of his urinary problem but died from the injuries of hitting himself with the shoes. Bhai Taru Singh Ji survived without his scalp from 9^thJune to July 1^stuntil after the death of Zakaraiya Khan.

Next, Yahiya Khan, the son of Zakariya Khan, took over as governor of Lahore. At this time (1745) the Sikhs were living in forests, deserts, and marches; in the dens of lions and wild animals because of the persecution they faced. Having been pushed out of the cities, the Sikhs continued tactics of guerilla warfare. A jatha of Sikhs, led by S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and S. Sukkha Singh Marikambo Ji, then ended up near the estate of Jaspat Rai, brother of Lakhpat Rai, Zakariya Khan’s minister. The Sikhs stopped at Gurdwara Rori Sahib (see pictures and history from our Yatra to Pakistan posts). Jaspat Rai then threatened the Sikhs to vacate the Gurdwara and would not allow them time to make langar; the Sikhs attacked and killed Jaspat Rai. In revenge of his brother’s death, Lakhpat Rai wanted to kill the entire population of Sikhs. He gathered the Sikhs working in Lahore in government departments with their families, and killed them on March 10, 1746. Several thousand Sikhs were killed on this day. Lakhpat said whoever used the word Guru would have their stomach pierced, he said people had to use the word rori for gur, he threw Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jis in the wells and rivers, filled Sri Darbar Sahib with dust and said 1000 Sikhs were to be killed daily.  

 

The Sikhs, led by S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, and S. Sukkha Singh were attacked. Using guerilla tactics, they were able to cause a huge loss to Lakhpat Rai’s forces. Lakhpat Rai then fired cannon balls, set the jungle on fire, and sent out the infantry. The Sikhs were then caught between the flooded Ravi and Lakhpat Rai’s forces, so they headed towards the hills of Jammu hoping for help from the Hindus, who unfortunately had also tied forces. The infantry Sikhs then decided to climb the sandy hills of the Jammu, while the mounted stayed behind. Though they faced losses, they did make it up while the mounted forces were heavily attacked and had to retreat by crossing the Ravi. In the area of

Kathua, 1000 Sikhs were martyred, and 500 were arrested then martyred. The remaining Sikhs made it across, but this terrain was incredibly difficult to live and fight in- it was incredibly swampy, thorny, and with sanded mounds. Lakhpat Rai got the jungle set no fire and thus the shaheeds in this chotta chhamb were all martyred by being set on fire. Fighting continued for two months. The dates of the total Ghallughara are sometime between March and June 1746. The main encounter is said to have happened on May 1, 1746, when 7,000 Sikhs were killed and 3,000 captured then tortured and executed (these skeletons were later found buried at Shaheedganj mosque). In one source it’s estimated in this whole Ghallughara, 40 000 Sikhs were martyred, in others it states this Ghallughara resulted in a loss of ¼-1/3 of the Sikh population. This was a time when the Sikh population was already small due to persecution, but the Khalsa continued to expand and developed 25 misls by 1747 and 65 bands by 1748. 

 

References: 

image and history https://singhstation.net/2020/05/chhota-ghallughara-the-sikh-holocaust-of-1746/

Sikh History Part 2 post 

Sikhiwiki.com 

Chapter 14

This chapter was quite short from Bhai Sewa Singh Ji Tarmala’s book Pantha Prem Na Janiye. It explains the title of the book, from Ang 1426:

In this chapter, we review that regardless of which religion we practice, we are all waiting to unite with God. Many people end up being stuck in worship instead of actually following the teachings. I thought it was really powerful of Bhai Sahib to point out that the mind has forgotten God to the point that we don’t look at him (jot Prakash) or speak to him (in Sunn). We don’t listen even to God’s voice, which is Naam/Naad/Sehaj Dhun. Unfortunately many of us are so egotistical about how much we know that we don’t want to be taught, we think we know it all already. We don’t go to Guru Ji or other Gurmukhs for direction. 

This chapter also elaborates on the path of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, as they tried to remind people to get out of maya and into the deeper avasthas that their minds are capable of, for example Sajjan Thug and Kauda Rakshish. This reminds us that every one of us is capable of this merger, even if we are criminals. Guru Ji united into the elements of the river and spent time united into God, then came out and spread this Divine message. 

 

Reflections: There was a line in this chapter that talked about the dangers of religiousness. We have certainly explored topics along these lines before. People get very caught up in the physical actions and make activities ritualistic, rather than actually focusing deeply on self-change. I think often times people who are trying to get back into Sikhi, or aren’t sure and are thinking about reconnecting ask a lot of questions around specific topics. People tend to ask questions about the topics of hair, “is blah activity right or wrong”, eating meat, alcohol, etc. It is valuable to have conversations and questions of all kinds, but I think we are often missing the mark for inspiring people into this path, and into the true journey of the mind. One can be following all these “rules” and still be completely rotten inside… we’ve all seen it. The topics we should talk about are ones that address real life problems today. How to deal with stress, overwhelm, mental health issues like depression, ADHD, PTSD, bipolar, schizophrenia, addictions, and intimate partner violence? How to manage terrible life events and emotions like grief, anger, and betrayal? These questions really get to the crux of what is the mind, why are we in this life, and what is our goal on this journey? If you don’t understand the mind’s journey, and only are ritualistically acting you will not be able to apply your knowledge to your life. It is important that we also have these conversations as a community. We should be redirecting conversations to deeper directions rather than being stuck on superficial arguments. These are the directives that were given for all of humanity in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Bhai Satpal Singh Ji answers who a Sikh is (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oJchR8cBdE) in Pauri 6 of Japji Sahib- a Sikh is one who listens to the Sikhiya of the Guru. Just like a medical student studies medicine and a law student studies the law, a Sikh is one who learns from the Guru and follows this wisdom. We must, therefore, follow our Guru Ji's wisdom. We are graced and blessed with this knowledge of our life journey. We are blessed to have our Guru Ji to guide us. 

What Is Sewa? Why Do You Keep Mentioning Simran?

When we first think of sewa, we think of the definition as selfless service. We imagine people cleaning shoes at the Gurdwara Sahib, of people making langar, of people caring for the environment, volunteering at homeless shelters, setting up medical aid, or offering legal services. We think of jobs like counsellors, paramedics, and police officers. We think of people who have done online translations for Gurbani or created resources for the Sikh community around important events like preservation of our ’84 history. We might think of parents doing sewa of their children, or children doing sewa of their aging parents. We might think of people who are working on some of the world’s biggest problems like poverty, diseases, mental health, water scarcity, and food security. Some might be working with the vulnerable, dealing with addictions, abuse, and violence. Some are educating, some researching, and some carrying out actions. Near and far, there are sewadaars all over, trying to help one cause or another. As quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Many of us are very committed to our sewa and do it with passion. After all, one of the major pillars of Sikhi is that we work hard (kirat karni) and share our earnings (vand shakna)- those earnings also include things that are non-monetary like our time and efforts. Any task and job can be done as a service, as was evidenced by the Bhagats who came from a wide variety of trades. We can think about the various types of Sewa that shaheeds and key players in our Sikh history have done for the panth and the world at large.  

Gurbani tells us something else that is really important, though. We might see all these physical forms of sewa in this world of maya, but there is another sewa to be done. Bhai Satpal Singh from Nanak Naam reviews the first time Sewa is mentioned. It is in Pauri 5 of Japji Sahib, Jin Sevia, Tin Paya Maan; Nanak Gaviye, Guni Nidhaan. Jin sevia, means whoever does Waheguru’s sewa, those get honour (tin paya maan). The next line then tells us how we do that sewa. It says Nanak, sing the praises of the One who is the treasure of excellence (Jap Naam). The next lines tell us how to sing those praises- by japping Naam, listening to it, and keeping Divine love in your mind. Bhai Sahib goes on to explain that we are not praising one imaginary “Mr. God” that is faraway in the sky, we are praising that God that is both formless and formed, that makes up the entire universe. He elaborates that everything from our food, to the sunny day and our breath and life is worthy of this praise. That jap can be done by singing various mantrs, from Raam, Allah, Waheguru, Tuhi, Har, to many others, as long as it is done with this intention. This definition of sewa here is also translated in the Punjabi version as Naam Japna. To serve the Oneness. Bhai Sahib explains to do sewa is one who is looking for and serving the Oneness within, to contemplate the knowledge of what the Guru is telling us, to listen to and practice what the Guru Ji has told us (Gur Ki Sewa Sabad Veechar). This is not the sewa and simran of maya. He goes on to point out that we are all doing some kind of simran- for example if we are thinking of someone we hate over and over, we are doing simran of that person in maya. Whatever thoughts we have are a type of simran, it is what we remember constantly. Thinking about money? Thinking about your kids? We have explored this in our recent posts about thoughts and maya- rajogun, tamogun, and satogun. The remembrance of the Oneness is outside of all of this. 

Naam Japna is a central pillar of Sikhism. Unfortunately, I think a lot of us have pushed this japna to the side. Perhaps we have become disillusioned seeing people that are supposedly doing this all the time, living their lives out in religious garb, and doing their paath but their lifestyles do not reflect the Anand and elevated avasthas that we are told in Gurbani. Especially as children we grow up seeing this and we might not question why this is so. I didn’t used to have any concept of what the importance of simran was. I just knew Naam Japna is in the pillars of Sikhism. As I have mentioned in past posts, so-called Gurmat camps actually very adversely and negatively influenced me further as I thought that this is a very forceful style of having to just keep reading without any understanding. It felt very superficial, focused on externals and not about the mind’s journey or relevance to me today and how I am living and struggling in this day and age. People would scare you, pressure you, guilt you, and shame you into following a certain way- the motivation for reading the Bani was not one of love, understanding, or direction. This is not a sustainable way of having people join this path. Many of us maybe wonder why we should keep saying the same mantr again and again, after all it doesn’t make Waheguru any greater or less. 

We are Sikhs of our Guru, then we have to follow what our Guru has laid out. Guru Ji laid out Naam Japna for all of humanity, not just the Sikhs. Over and over is the repetition of the same key concept in Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The method of Naam Japna is very clearly laid out in Gurbani. We are going through these methods in detail as we summarize the chapters from Bhai Sewa Singh Ji Tarmala’s book. The methods of sas gras, rom rom and sass as simran are actually very simple- speaking and listening to one’s voice, one can start simran. In whatever comfortable position one can remain still for a time without a distraction from the body, it doesn’t need to be cross legged or even on the ground. It can be anywhere, anytime. As Bhai Sewa Singh Ji’s children and he himself used to tell people, you shouldn’t be blindly following Sants and other people, the message someone conveys in a katha or otherwise should always be coming directly from Gurbani. His book directly has quotations from Gurbani to support the methods of simran being described, and the katha of exactly what our journey is – why are we here and where are we going? Naam Japna is central to the entire concept of why we are here. This is such a key and core question and yet perhaps we attended the Gurdwara Sahib for our entire youth and never came to understand what the purpose of this life was. Our minds didn’t come here just to do some good things and services and then die. There needs to be a transformation within otherwise we will be reincarnated again. Gurbani also repetitively mentions that Naam Japna should be Aath Pahar (24 hours a day), where we still live in the world and do our duties (jobs, take care of kids, have a family), and explains how it is possible for the mind to get into a state where it can simultaneously be in this world and be connected to the One. Naam Japna doesn’t just mean the physical action of speaking, but also of remembrance with the mind and of listening to Naam (Waheguru’s voice, Anhad Bani). 

This sewa is our most core sewa. We must be doing this sewa so the rest of our worldly matters aren’t just a temporary waste of us coming and going. Why do we care to be free of the cycle of reincarnation? Because we will suffer otherwise, going from lifetime to lifetime in dukh sukh, to be jailed and hungry, as mentioned in Gurbani. Gurbani describes the condition of these humans as animals “Those who have come into the world without understanding are like animals and beasts” (Ang 251). There are many gifts in Dasam Dwar for example Guru Ji tells us that they are honor for the dishonoured, that the mind becomes disease-free and above the dukh sukh of the world. The benefits of Jap are described in detail in Sukhmani Sahib ex. Prabh Kai Simran Dukh Na Santapai, “Remembering God, one does not suffer in sorrow.” Anand Sahib tells us what it is like to be in the state of Anand once one has already reached this state. While the western world is focusing on mindfulness for stimulation of the vagal nerve (parasympathetic nervous system), simran achieves that for us as well.

I sometimes have been confused about individuals, about whether they are in such a significant avastha that they have no dukh sukh anymore, or whether they are just so immersed into maya they have no concept of the suffering their mind is already undergoing. It was a costly mistake for me to keep someone close in my sangat for years who actually brought me with them into the spiral of maya, but I didn’t know which was which. After all our conversations were about Sikhi. As we read more Gurbani, we get to know the features and qualities of a gurmukh and manmukh. We might outwardly see that people are carefree, joyous, and smiling in the world. They all look to us to be in “chardi kala”, but actually their mind is trapped in maya and suffering. They are smiling because Kaal has kept them fully entertained, they think that they have won this life, they are experiencing the full joys of what the world itself has to offer, in all its tricks and illusions. They are so immersed into maya that they cannot see beyond it. We’ve all at some time lived like this, or even presently are living in this state. It is by default how the game is played! It is the very action of Kaal to keep us busy. Yet Gurbani tells us if we are like this, we have actually lost the game, we will die and be reborn, as we have not advanced. Gurbani describes us as fools in this state. We might even be “good people” who do “good things”, but we have not advanced spiritually. On the other hand, those people who have gotten to Dasam Dwar and are mukht are of such an avastha from a completely different place. Their divine joy, and love comes from a non-ending source that occurs internally, it is effortless and limitless. These people have completely won the game, their minds have merged into God. We are all capable of this. Why would someone who is fully immersed and joyful in the game of maya have any interest in working hard to pay attention in dhyaan and naam jap or change anything? To them they think they have everything. This is probably why Gurbani tells us “Suffering is the medicine, and pleasure the disease, because where there is pleasure, there is no desire for God” (Ang 469). Dukh can actually break people’s vision of the illusion and help them to see that there must be another way of living. Often times people go to God out of their desperation and seek guidance from Guru Ji at that time because there is no other direction for them. When I think about why I came upon this path in the first place, it was from a space of mental, physical, and spiritual suffering. There was a deep restlessness within me for something more. Years later it was the same thing, but on a much deeper wounding level that brought me back again when I strayed off this path. I am far from home, but still dedicated. I was inspired by the love of the rare true Gurmukhs, of which I have met only a handful in my life, the sweetness in their voices, and even just knowing that simran has forever changed my own life for the better. It is this love and this deep internal change that has inspired me to spread the word to other people. 

Sewa is not a duality of one or the other. We need to help out in this world and remember our duty towards humanity, but we also must remember our Naam Japna sewa. Guru Ji can spend time explaining the benefits, but we must just experience it for ourselves.