This week when I was listening to kathas I realized that
there is a lot of basic terminology in Gurbani that I don’t fully understand.
It feels kind of embarrassing to now be asking these questions, after so many
years of both hearing them and saying them. For example, understanding what
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh means. What does meeting God mean?
What is the mind? How were we created? What is maya? What is the meaning of sakhat? Manmukh?
Gurmukh? I’ll tell you, in all honesty, I still don’t know the full answers to
all of those questions, and I only started learning the deeper answers in this
last year. I may have been doing kirtan and reading Gurmukhi since I was a
little kid, but I still have a lot of learning to do. I think it just points
out that it’s never too late. I remember one Gyani Ji telling me how he didn’t
ever go to school and didn’t know the alphabet, and people told him he wouldn’t
amount to anything. He started on this path and he is now not only able to read
the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, but also teach others the meaning behind it and do
kathas. We shouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed to ask questions. If we don’t
ask or seek out the knowledge, we won’t find the answers and we will continue
to pretend to know instead of actually gaining real knowledge. We shouldn’t let
our ego and pride get in the way of our learning.
I think not understanding what’s happening at the Gurdwara
is one of the big reasons why people of my generation don’t attend. I have been
attending the Gurdwara my whole life and as I mentioned earlier, a lot of it
was my parent’s example and inspiration. There were a couple of years of
university, though, where I felt like well I’m busy and I don’t understand the
katha anyways, so I didn’t make it a priority to go each week. I kind of
started to lose interest. The reason I went back wasn't that I suddenly had more time- actually I had less time because I sometimes had to work at the hospital on weekends, and I had more to study. The reason I went was because one of my friends kind of made me feel guilty about not going as much,
and said that I should set an example for other people, so we both agreed to start going
more often. After attending more, I learned more, and the more I learned, the more I understood and I made it a priority. So it’s nice to encourage
others to go too. I probably wouldn’t be this passionate about Sikhi if I hadn’t
gone back because someone encouraged me. Now I'm excited to go and the learning never stopped. This last Sunday I was sitting in the Gurdwara and just had this amazing realization that we sit together each
week, for years, and pray together. Some of us, young and old, have been praying together for
our whole lives, and perhaps we don’t know each other or we otherwise would not
know each other outside of the Gurdwara. God puts us all together based on our
past associations (having spent time in meditation of God together in our past
lives) and gives us the opportunity to spend the most powerful, deep and
meaningful moments together in the sangat. I just found it really heartwarming to realize that we are all learning together and working towards reaching God together.
So I’m going to share with you what I learned about Naam and Gurmantra. “Waheguru” is our Gurmantra. It is a tool given to us by the panj pyare, for us to reach God. Gurmantra is also referred to as Gurshabad in Gurbani. Naam is often translated as “Name of God” in English translations, but rally refers to the sound of God’s voice from which all of creation was created. This sound cannot be described. Naam is referred to by many names in the Gurbani as well including Shabad Guru, Shabad, or Ong (in Ik Ong Kaar). It comes in multiple forms- we can experience it as a sound (anhad shabad), taste (amrit ras), and jot (light). When Gurbani refers to Hukam (translated in English translations as God’s will/command), it means Naam. When we have Naam, we are in Hukam and without it, we are not in Hukam. Naam can only be found within ourselves. We stop using our physical senses, close the 9 doors of the body, and shut off our thoughts through simran (repeating the Gurmantra) to experience it. Learning also comes through practical experience and we also must simultaneously do the simran in order to understand what cannot be explained with words.
There continues to be simran upstairs (not in the main hall) at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara at 1 pm on Sundays. Feel free to join us!
Bhul chuk maaf karni