Notes From the Road

Sat Nam everyone. This morning I peeled myself out of bed and my husband and I left our hotel at 2:30 in the morning for a windy and cold motor rickshaw ride to the Golden Temple. For the first time in our visit to Amritsar the streets were quiet. Sopurkh wrapped his arm around me, giving me comfort that I wouldn't go flying out of the rickshaw as our driver careened around the corners and over the unavoidable bumps and pot holes of the empty streets.

Upon arrival to the Golden Temple, the number of early rising devotees was astounding. I remember the sacred Parkarma (marble walkway around the Golden Temple) being virtually empty at this time of the morning in 1990 when I spent a few months in Amritsar. Every morning we would go to hear the sacred music of Asa Divar. It was one of the most incredible and transformative times of my life.

As we arrived, the gates to the Golden Temple were just being opened and a group of about 200 devotees poured in. We joined them to go and bow our heads. As we came to the threshold of the Golden Temple I brought my forehead to the marble of the threshold... something I had prayed for, remembered, and longed for all of these years. We made our way to where the Guru sits and gave our prayers and bowed. My usual spot on the bottom floor was already completely full. In conjunction with much of the energy of my life these days, I suddenly became a newcomer in a place I was once familiar with.... searching, and finding something new.

We made our way up one of the narrow marble staircases. The smell of the marble was almost sweet, bringing me back to my earliest memory of being at the Golden Temple when I was six years old and used to run up and down the staircases to find the Sevadaars serving the sweet and blessed treat called "Gur Prashaad." On the second floor we found a seat by a window that still allowed us to hear the beautiful Gurbani Kirtan. The morning air came through the window bringing in the sacred waters of the nectar tank that the Golden Temple sits in. The alchemy of the golden walls, the soft marble, the wind, the water, and the nectar of the Divine Gurbani Kirtan brought me right into my heart center. I could do nothing but close my eyes and receive the blessings of Guru Ram Das. Sopurkh and I sat for quite some time in the bliss of this energy.

At about five am it was time for us to go back to our hotel. We made our way out of the sanctum of the Golden Temple and passed over the walkway to bring us to the Parkarma. We were just in time to see our beloved Guru, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, being brought out onto a beautiful palaquin of gold, covered in fresh flowers. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib is a collection of writings from the Sikh Gurus and saints of the Hindu, Muslim, and Sufi tradition that was solidified as our Guru by the tenth master Guru Gobind Singh in the 17th Century. Sometimes people wonder how I can bow to a Guru that is not in a living body form of a human. I can't explain it, but there is this energy that my soul is just connected to. As I caught a glimpse of the Guru, I dropped to the floor and bowed my head, and just started crying. My Guru, my Guru.... total surrender, love, and peace. The tears flowed as the Guru made its way to the Golden Temple, carried by loving devotees amidst the powerful horn being blown, and chanting.

On this day of Monday, of Gratitude, in the vibration of Thanksgiving, in the blessings of the Golden Temple... may your day, your week, your life and your next breath be filled with the remembrance and nectar of God's Name.

Blessings,

Snatam Kaur