The month of Aasaarh seems burning hot

I failed to notice the heat. I thought "people are exaggerating about the heat in this country". Until I left the air-conditioned car. It was terrible. Sooo warm.

aasaarr thapa(n)dhaa this lagai har naahu n ji(n)naa paas
jagajeevan purakh thiaag kai maanas sa(n)dhee aas

aasaarr suha(n)dhaa this lagai jis man har charan nivaas 5

The month of Aasaarh seems burning hot, to those who are not close to their Husband Lord.
They have forsaken God the Primal Being, the Life of the World, and they have come to rely upon mere mortals.

The month of Aasaarh is pleasant, when the Feet of the Lord abide in the mind. 5


The desi month of AsaR (or HaR, as most people now call it) is here. Click here for a great katha of this Shabad.
It is really warm here in Punjab. The reason is probably that the "Feet of the Lord do not abide in the mind."

I'd first I'd like to thank for the sweet comment that have been left (",)
A little bit about my journey:

Being an owner of some Indian genes I was bound not be on time on the airport. My flight was at 11:55. I called the travel agent at 9:20, asking when I should be at the airport since the email I received didn't have this information. They recommended that we arrive two hours before the take-off (9:55). The absolute latest, one and a half hour before (10:25). We live about an hour to hour and a half from the airport. Although everything was packed, mum started doing Ardaas that Guru ji keep me in his Sharan and that I have a safe journey. Guess where my mind was...

After a speedy journey we arrived at the airport at 10:30 (too late). The lines were really long at the check in desk. Guru Ji had taken care of everything...

Journey was really good..met a few apney also going to Punjab..really nice people.....
Although I had booked my ticket for the Indo-Canadian bus service for Delhi to Punjab I ended up in a Tata Sumo (typical Indian van) with 4 stinking men who were sweating themselves off. Not funny at all. After a long journey, I'm finally in Punjab. Then Guru Arjan Dev JI's shaheedi divas came, one day after I arrived. Really wanted to go to the Nagar Kirtan the day after. Woke up really late due to tiredness and laziness, so ended up doing nothing at home.... I’m a bit sad I didn’t get a double visa for Pakistan..I could have gone for the nagar kirtan to Lahore (Place of Guru Ji’s Shaheedi)

So: Journey hasn't been the best. Haven’t been able to do much useful yet. Still waiting mum to come (coming in a few days)....and then we're going to met the person who is to teach me....she didn't want me to go by my own... ..So haven’t been able to do anything constructive the last few days.

Also: Punjabi people are very very superstitious... One of my on relatives (from far) claims to be a palm-reader. It is unbelievable how vague they are! The person read four people's hands in front of me..and everything she said to them seemed to refer to me to (she spoke about their personality and past..and barely mentioned future).... Very vague.. Unbelievable enough they all believed her. She’s really afraid of being home alone… because she fears some stranger will come in…yet she claims to be able to see people’s future…. Anyway.

But not everything is going wrong.... I hope to meet some interesting people soon...so everything isn't going out of planning. Mum will be coming here soon (cause she wanted to get me ‘established’ and all, so she will be leaving after a while) and then I will be doing constructive stuff…

Hope everything is great at home… in Europe (“,)

ਭਈ ਪਰਾਪਤਿ ਮਾਨੁਖ ਦੇਹੁਰੀਆ - Some thoughts

I do realise that many of my posts are pretty long and boring. I will try to cut them down. This post will also be quite long..but in future..I shall try to make the posts shorter.

While attending a Sikhi Week lecture about Why Are We Here? A few thoughts arose. The main Shabad that was brought up was:

ਭਈ ਪਰਾਪਤਿ ਮਾਨੁਖ ਦੇਹੁਰੀਆ ॥
ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਮਿਲਣ ਕੀ ਇਹ ਤੇਰੀ ਬਰੀਆ ॥
ਅਵਰਿ ਕਾਜ ਤੇਰੈ ਕਿਤੈ ਨ ਕਾਮ ॥
ਮਿਲੁ ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਭਜੁ ਕੇਵਲ ਨਾਮ ॥1॥
ASSG 12

This human body has been given to you.
This is your chance to meet the Lord of the Universe.
Nothing else will work.
Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; vibrate and meditate on the Jewel of the Naam. ||1||


Gurbani says that we've been blessed with this chance to make a difference. To change ourself. To change the world. Yet do we do this? The speaker stopped talking and arranged two small discussion groups about what our goal is in life. Out of 10-15 people sitting around in our group, only 1-2 said that their goal in life was to meet Vaheguru (I was not one of those..).


Although we might all say that ideally, we should make more effort on the spiritual path... it is something we should really ask ourself: How much of an effort are we making?
Are we taking that little step that will make Guru Ji come so much closer?


Bhai Gurdas Ji writes:
ਚਰਨ ਸਰਨਿ ਗੁਰ ਏਕ ਪੈਡਾ ਜਾਇ ਚਲ
ਸਤਿ ਗੁਰ ਕੋਟਿ ਪੈਡਾ ਆਗੇ ਹੋਇ ਲੇਤ ਹੈ ॥

charan saran gur eaek paiddaa jaae chala
sath gur kott paiddaa aagae hoe laeth hai ||

By taking one single step towards the Guru
The True Guru will take many (I believe kot means Thousands? or millions?) of steps towards you to recieve you.

Yet do we take that step? Do we acknowledge that: Vaheguru, you are with me? I'm not sure I should be posting about this..since I personally do not. Although I might say that, in theory, the goal of my life is to meet parmatma, my practicle life doesn't show this. I do not remember Vaheguru. I do not treat my everyone with respect... It's so interesting how we read this shabad everyday...(sometimes) understand it...but fail to realise it.

There's nothing wrong with getting degrees and good job, as a matter of fact..it's a really good thing to do so... but should that not be something secondary? Doesn't Gurbani say you should live a practicle life..yet at the same time be pious? Isn't a Sikh to be beutiful like a lotus in a dirty pond?

Again, I don't know whether I should've posted this..since I do not do this myself..it's just some observations I made from the talk I listened to...

What is the point of your life?


Bhull Chukk Maaf

P.s I might not post for a while now. Hasdey roh, Vasdey roh (",)
The morning Hukam Guru Ji blessed me with.

My inspirations #2 - Through innocent love, the Lord is met.

ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਭਗਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਪਾਇਆ ॥
ਭੋਲੇ ਭਾਇ ਮਿਲੇ ਰਘੁਰਾਇਆ ॥4॥6॥

kahu kabeer bhagath kar paaeiaa ||
bholae bhaae milae raghuraaeiaa ||4||6||

Through innocent love, the Lord is met. ||4||6||
Says Kabeer, He is obtained only by devotional worship.
324

Continuing the series posts on people who inspire me.

My second post on people that inspire me is about:

Bhagat Puran Singh Ji. Or, as some would call him: ‘the bearded Mother Teresa'


Wow. What a personality. What devotion for mankind. Synonymous to compassion.
So much love. Truly a ‘Puran’ (complete) being.

Bhagat Puran Singh Ji, was the founder of the Pingalwara. The literal meaning of Pingalwara is, house of the disabled.

Born as ‘Ramji Das’, he later on became a Sikh. The story of how and why he became a Sikh is also so uplifting. There is a book by Patwant Singh about Bhagat Puran Singh Ji called, Garland around my Neck by Patwant Singh which can be ordered from both from singhbrothers.com and dtfbooks.com. The book has a lot of pictures and is simply amazing!

Bhagat Puran Singh Ji’s life was all about helping the needy, the destitute, the disabled.

Khushwant Singh writes that he was a

tall, shabbily dressed man, who may be found tramping with his wooden sandals or riding a rickshaw, along with an invalid.

Those words create is such a beautiful picture. There’s many photographs of Bhagat Ji trampling around on his rickshaw, helping someone who is in need. He wouldn’t ask anyone else: “Oye! Tu eh kar, Oye! To oh kar”. He did it all himself. He was such a great person, that he wouldn’t make any distinction based on creed, caste, race etc… he recognized the jyot of parmatma in everyone…

The Pingalwara created by him still stands in Amritsar (with more branches). When visiting Amritsar, make sure you visit the Pingalwara and check out the amazing seva that is being done there, and if possible, try to contribute to this wonderful task taken up.

Bhagat Ji was awarded by a Padam Pooshan (an award from the Indian Government), which he later on returned after the Attack on Sri Darbar Sahib.

Bhagat Puran Singh Ji renders true love for humanity, and shows how a Sikh should serve humanity shattering all superficies labels.

For many years, Bhagat Puran Singh ji physically carried Piara (an incontinent and mentally disadvantaged person) on his back while he carried out the great sewa for the sick and handicapped. In paying tribute to this, the book mentioned earlier has been named "Garland Around My Neck".

I still havn't worked our how to post pictures properly so, you will have to check the links:

Bhagat Puran Singh and Piara 1

Bhagat Puran Singh and Piara 2

More info and pictures of Bhagat Ji can be found here

Here is my favourite. I use this as my wallpaper:

Just look at the peace. The calmness. The sehaj.

Read more about Bhagat Puran Singh Ji:

Here

and here

Dhan Guru Dhan Guru Pyaarey.

P.s Leaving for Punjab soon check the wicked Hukam Guru Ji blessed with tonight:
Click here for Hukam
Just that I havn't really been "Contemplating my Lord and Master, my True Guru".
Seems like a happy Hukam (",)

Bhull Chukk Maaf

My inspirations.. #1

Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh

There's certain individuals/pious people that inspire me. Every time I'm feeling sad and, they happen to cross my mind... Everything changes.

Since I'm passing through a 'low period' and am in an emergency need of inspiration [getting a lot of it from some blogger friends...mentioned in the links to the right...smillies to all of you (",) ], I decided to make a series of posts about people that really inspire me. This will be the first post. I will make a post now and then about someone who really inspires me. Hopefully these individuals might inspire some of you too, to read more about their life and contributions... I will not write about their personal life, but mainly what makes them inspire me.


First:

Bhai Sahib Bhai Gurdas Ji

What's the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Bhai Sahib? Nirmarta. Gureebi.
It is not for no reason that Guru Arjan Dev Ji gave Bhai Sahib's Vaara the status of 'konjee' (key) to Gurbani. The key to a deep appreciation and deeper understanding of Gurbani. Vah Vah!

Bhai Sahib was given the duty to write the bani according to the instructions of Pritham Shaheed Guru Ji - Guru Arjan Dev Ji. How high ones spiritual level one must have...to be entitled to such a great seva. Offcourse, it was later on 'checked' by Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

There is so much that can be written about Bhai Sahib, yet he can only be understood through his composition. The immense humility. The immense love and compassion that can be found in Bhai Sahib's composition is unbelievable. It has to be read to be understood, and cannot be described in words. Absolutely wonderful

Bhai Sahib composition also shows how humble and compassionate a Sikh should be, and how a Gursikh should generally be...

Two of the Shabads by Bhai Sahib that render his humility:

ਹਉ ਅਪਰਾਧੀ ਗੁਨਹਗਾਰ ਹਉ ਬੇਮੁਖ ਮੰਦਾ॥
ਚੋਰੁ ਯਾਰੁ ਜੂਆਰਿ ਹਉ ਪਰ ਘਰਿ ਜੋਹੰਦਾ॥
ਨਿੰਦਕੁ ਦੁਸਟੁ ਹਰਾਮਖੋਰੁ ਠਗੁ ਦੇਸ ਠਗੰਦਾ॥
ਕਾਮ ਕ੍ਰੋਧ ਮਦੁ ਲੋਭੁ ਮੋਹੁ ਅਹੰਕਾਰੁ ਕਰੰਦਾ॥
ਬਿਸਾਸਘਾਤੀ ਅਕਿਰਤਘਣ ਮੈ ਕੋ ਨ ਰਖੰਦਾ॥
ਸਿਮਰਿ ਮੁਰੀਦਾ ਢਾਢੀਆ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਬਖਸੰਦਾ ॥21॥36॥

ho aparaadhhee gunehagaar ho baemukh ma(n)dhaa||
chor yaar jooaar ho par ghar joha(n)dhaa||
ni(n)dhak dhusatt haraamakhor t(h)ag dhaes t(h)aga(n)dhaa||
kaam krodhh madh lobh mohu aha(n)kaar kara(n)dhaa||
bisaasaghaathee akirathaghan mai ko n rakha(n)dhaa||
simar mureedhaa dtaadteeaa sathigur bakhasa(n)dhaa ||aa||aa||


I am a sinner full of sins doing mistakes all the time and have turned my back to the Guru.
I am a thief, lost in lust,a gambler and I loot other people's homes.
I am a slanderer, bad person ungrateful and do corrupt acts.
I indulge in sexual desire, anger, greed, attachment and ego.
I break the trust of people (not trustworthy) and ungrateful and nobody wants to keep me.
After all this o friend, If one remembers the Creator, Satguru Ji will forgive you.

Shabad 2: Click here

I strongly recommend everyone to read Bhai Sahib's Vaara.

Tomorrow I shall try to post about someone else who inspires me a lot...

Denmark

Back from Denmark.

When I get everything to work as it should, I’ll try to post pictures of Denmark stuff.

The first Nagar Kirtan in Denmark was great. Unfortunately permission to make a lot of sound wasn’t granted... so although there were people who could do gatka, play dhols and do Kirtan… It wasn’t aloud. Nevertheless everyone went around peacefully and sung Satnam Vaheguru..

Some Singhs had arrived from the UK, who did Kirtan. Not really the style I prefer. And no, I don't only prefer Raag Kirta...I really like the way some people sing Shabads outside raag...

Personally didn’t have such a great time. I’m not sure why. Don’t get me wrong. The Danish Sangat was great. Really sweet Sangat. It’s most likely some shortcoming from my side..

Denmark Sangat is really wonderful. If you have the chance, you shoudl have their darshan. It was probably because I was stressed and everything that I wasn't very inspired by the quick visit. I, however, didn’t get what I hoped to get, and I guess I should’ve listened to mum and not been the jiddi bacha, I was (and usually am).

Once piece of advice: Try to obey your parents as much as possible (although I don’t always.. mum always lets me make mistakes in the end… if I’m too stubborn and lets me learn on my own... in the hard way).. What they say might not always seem to make sense, but they usually base it on quite a few years of experience and with a pinch (or quite a lot of actually) of knowledge.

Now I’ve got ≈ 2-3 days to pack for six months in India. Mum being sweet as she is.. has bought everything that needs to be bought…Now I just need to get the passport and vaccinations (I’m a bit wary when it comes to getting vaccinations from India).

Will try to post something useful in my last few posts before I leave.. instead of my normal rambling..

Will leave this post with a Shabad that really hit me:


ਸਲੋਕੁ ॥
ਫਿਰਤ ਫਿਰਤ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਆਇਆ ਪਰਿਆ ਤਉ ਸਰਨਾਇ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਕੀ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਅਪਨੀ ਭਗਤੀ ਲਾਇ ॥1॥

salok ||
firath firath prabh aaeiaa pariaa tho saranaae ||
naanak kee prabh baenathee apanee bhagathee laae ||1||

Salok:
After wandering and wandering, O God, I have come, and entered Your Sanctuary.
This is Nanak's prayer, O God: please, attach me to Your devotional service. ||1||

Done.

Today, Friday 9 June, 2006, I've been to the doctor.
Eaten (a lot). Haven’t been to Pakistani embassy - didn't have time for that... will go on Monday.
Soon off to Denmark for their programme.

The reason I'm happy my A-levels are over is...
Because my university education is starting in January 2007... Which means I've got an entire semester free. During this semester (as many of you probably predicted from the Visa business..) I'm going to Punjab.

In Punjab I'll be learning something I've been wanting to learn for years. My thirst to learn Raag Kirtan is to be quenched (somewhat). I’ve always wanted to learn the Taus. So beautiful. Magnificent. One wonders what the creator of the Taus must be like…

I want to learn following saaj while I'm there for 4-5 months: Dilruba /Taus, Tavla, vaja, Saranda and Rabab. I realise that's pretty unrealistic, so I'll probably stick to the first three.

I also hope to travel around Asia as much as possible (Pakistan is for sure.. hopefully Singapore and Malaysia too!)

Finally! The day of departure is getting closer and closer. This obviously means I won't be blogging much after I leave (occasionally..leaving a note)... But no-one loosing anything from that :D.

I will be leaving next week.
That's why there’s so much stress. Graduation, Denmark, [Mum didn't want me to go.. but the jiddi bacha that I am, she finally allowed me to go with some friends (",) ] and my Punjab flight ... which is two or three days after I return from Denmark...

Gosh. I've got so much to do, and I've only got two days after I come back!
Friends coming with huge van.... So I should be going... so that they don't have to leave.

If possible I'll try to post some pics (",)..
I'm going to try to post a few things on the blog before I go to Punjab... since after that I'm rarely going to post (I think)..

Enough rambling and musing from me, for now...
Hope you're all in Chardikala and have a wonderful weekend!

A-levels completed.

Firstly I’d like to thank you all for the sweet comments (“,).

Yesterday was graduation. Finally done with A-levels...

Never going back to that school. But is that why I’m so happy? Nope. I shall reveal why I’m so happy about it in my next post, now I shall just briefly sum up the day.

Where I live, completing A-levels is a big thing. Not academically, just that it’s traditionally celebrated with great joy, perhaps even more than when you take the degree.

What happens is, after you get your certificate you run out of school (everyone graduating runs out of the exit.. together...)…and your family would be waiting outside with a poster with your name and a childhood picture…

Everyone goes around with sailor hats (I’m not joking) . They’re usually white with a black stripe…where the name and the year of graduation is engraved.

Here’s a picture of you’re typical a-levels student when graduating.

[Pic coming soon]

(this guy is one of my best friend…)

After that people typically hire huge cars/trucks and yell there throats off that they’ve completed a-levels…. And that they’re now ready for university. Usually the trucks are hired by entire classes (people spend several thousand quids on these thingies...) or by the family. Off course, there is really loud music going on.

My graduation day was, however, somewhat different.

Firstly I wasn’t wearing a topi. I was wearing a white Dastar instead ...with a little band saying I’ve graduated, the year, the name and everything on top of the dastar:

[Pic coming soon]

My mum being so sweet as she is, had prepared parshad in the morning…

Despite the fact that the band was as made by me.. I think it looked awful… so nani ji fixed it slightly… and although I was still reluctant on tying it, mum forced me to. Everyone thought it looked great.

I didn’t go with the class, instead my entire family (Mum, sis mamey, mamiya, cousins, sweet uncle jees n aunti jees etc etc) were all there…. They had designed the car…and we left the school with or car with loud Punjabi music...

Mum had planned it in such a way, that we would first go and Matha Tekna at Gurdwara, before doing anything else….

Ardas was done and Guru Ji blessed us with the following Hukamnama:

Ang 705-706
http://www.sikhitothemax.com/Page.asp?SourceID=G&PageNo=&ShabadID=2681&Format=2
http://www.sikhitothemax.com/Page.asp?SourceID=G&PageNo=&ShabadID=2682&Format=2

Next we went and had dinner at some restaurant… go to the city central.. yell 'n' scream n whatever else....if anyone had any energy to do so, (which no-one did...everyone had eaten too much)

Since I’m one of the youngest in the family…My graduation was the last one…(except for my ‘littlest’ cousin who is graduating in about 9 years…by which time some of my other cousins will have kids..) and everyone wanted to go extra wild. No-one felt like yelling after the big pizzas, so we played games and stuff in a little hall we had rented.

Mum put a lot of time and effort into the day. It was a really crazy and long day.

On another note, one of my teachers seemed apologetic for giving me a ‘B’…(“,)..But it was too late to change grades..(He even mentioned it while I was outside meeting my family n yelling and screaming ..…what an occasion!)..

Last week was another friends graduation that I went to. That was quite fun too... I was outside though waiting with her family..for her to come out... (she wore a white lenga..with a empty black stripe below her dastar....)

Day was crazy. Long. I’ll write why I’m so happy in the next post (“,)

P.s tomorrow I'm going to the Pakistan embassy to get my passport (they take one week for the Visa...)..Next to the doctor appointment...(for which I've had to starve for almost 24 hours...dying of hunger!!!)...and then we're going to Denmark! They're having a Nagar Kirtan n everything.....

Weekend is going to be lonnnngggg..... N I'm dying of hunger.....

Everythiing is so hyped up at the moment...