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What should the yogi have to fear? Trees, plants, and all that is inside and outside, is he himself.

For the last 10 months, I've been waking at 4am every morning, jumping into a cold shower (cf. Ishnaan), and then listening to Jap Ji as a tune-in to morning sadhana. The rhythms, the cadences, the magic of the words is like being absorbed into a new world of rapture; following along with Snatam Kaur's slower Tantric version—from her CD set Meditation of the Soul—and reading the words, learning portions of the pauris by heart, and getting Guru Nanak's meanings to really reverberate in every cell of the body has been a transformative experience. It sets the tone for the day; it allows the kriya that follows and the meditation that ends just as the sun is rising to have a much deeper and more resounding effect.

For those new to Jap Ji, I would recommend this slower but very heartfelt version, which has the English translation on-screen.

Nanak was a revolutionary, truly; he was a householder, not a reclusive, ascetic sadhu; he was a rule-breaker; he traveled with musicians all over the world to spread the message of enlightenment and wisdom and love to all who would listen, despite caste or creed; he traveled with one Muslim and one Hindu to accompany his hymns on the tabla and sitar, breaking down religious barriers and being the first to fashion what would become known as Sikhism.

People flocked to him; his wisdom was palpable. And when he took his pre-dawn bath in the river one morning and never surfaced again, some left thinking that he had died; but the true believers stayed and waited, and after three days he emerged from the river, and the first thing he spoke was the entirety of Jap Ji. He had understood something; he had also understood that it was his duty to spread this teaching to others.

Dhillon's book sheds immense light on the devout man, without casting him in an exalted or untouchable light like so many who have touched on similar men (e.g., Buddha, Jesus) in religious history. Nanak is human, and he is someone whose kundalini—spark, awareness, spiritual potential—has touched so many people and informs the daily life of countless people around the world that these stories, parables, and highly-readable anecdotes from his life and the exegetical accounts of his teachings speak across all borders. Just as Nanak wanted wisdom and truth to be passed along without any regard to barriers of class, race, or religion (as he stated: "He who regards all men as equals is religious"), his teachings—and Jap Ji especially—are such an immense comfort and solace, in a world rendered frenetic and chaotic by technology and the demands of the Aquarian age.

As Yogi Bhajan said: "God is inside you; the Guru is outside." Whether you believe in God or not is your call. I'm still ambivalent about this, although God in the acronymic G.O.D.—the generating, organizing, and destroying force—is undeniable if you look outside yourself, if you can calm down the ego and join the community of others tapping into this universal consciousness... substitute "infinity" or "source" or "universe" or whatever you think is beyond you for God, and you still have Nanak's meaning intact, as potent as ever... particularly during the amrit vela, or ambrosial hours between 3-7am. In this quiet time, create a quiet space for yourself (above all, do this for yourself), and allow some of Nanak's teachings to speak to you, in fragments, in nuggets of wisdom. If you listen, the change will come, as it has come for so many before you and as it will for so many after you.

And, for those who are new to Kundalini yoga and the practice of sadhana, Jap Ji, humanology, and both the kriyas and the meditations, I would strongly recommend Snatam Kaur's [b:Original Light: The Morning Practice of Kundalini Yoga|26778870|Original Light The Morning Practice of Kundalini Yoga|Snatam Kaur|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454882009s/26778870.jpg|46799649]; even if you are familiar with Kundalini yoga and its long, complex history, this book will open your eyes to some aspect of practice. Coming from someone like myself who has practiced for 17 years, Kaur's book has helped me so much over the last 10 months while undergoing teacher training—and it's worth noting how much of Nanak's teachings inform her view of the practice, because his teachings are really the root of it all: they are where Raj yoga became Kundalini yoga, when the practice began to be offered to anyone who wanted access to truth, to wisdom, to the unknown.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
proustitute | Apr 2, 2023 |
There is nothing wrong with writing historic fiction, but the Sikhs are still to learn the art. Banda Singh Bahadur was a multifaceted personality, a Sikh statesman and warrior who conducted an almost decade long guerilla campaign against the incumbent Mughal (read theocracy) regime.

Banda's nascent republicanism became the cause for his betrayal at the hands of his own lieutenants. In the ensuing decades he was much maligned by prejudiced sophists such as Ratan Singh Bhangu and the Nihangs of the Budha Dal.

Today, there are two tangents with which Banda Singh is treated in the literary world. Either we have the Banda was a traitor line, or either we have the he was holier than thou line. Dhillon takes the latter line while ignoring the former. What we have then is a flat dimensioned Banda whose character development is essentially nugatory.

True to prior novels published on the holier than thou formula, Dhillon follows an established trek failing to chart any substantively new courses. Essentially, one is left confounded as to whether the author is giving vent to his creativity or allowing his religious devotion an escape.

The finesse with which historic fiction is usually treated is lacking in Dhillon's treatment. The author is "relating" history rather than "narrating" history.

While I understand that Banda Singh is one of the foremost personalities in the post Guru-era epoch, Dhillon's devotional overtones render him deified and above the grasp of human tangibility. The reader is left with a God-like treatment of the man which annuls his true self: an ascetic transformed by the Sikh ethos. A common man who battled against the odds to become a hero.

"First Raj of the Sikhs" is a disappointment for seasoned readers. But as an introduction to Sikh history for children, it is a gem.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Amarj33t_5ingh | Jul 8, 2022 |

Tilastot

Teokset
6
Jäseniä
23
Suosituimmuussija
#537,598
Arvio (tähdet)
3.0
Kirja-arvosteluja
2
ISBN:t
8