Notes From the Road

Sat Nam. Happy New Year to you! What an incredible time we live in. We are on the brink of either a major global shift in consciousness or a major environmental catastrophe that finally may bring in the shift within each of us. This morning we went to the Guru Ram Das Ashram in San Francisco. In a kind of dream way the weather was sunny. This type of weather never happens in January. In fact this year there has been so much sun in the cloudy city, that I felt prompted to think that it is global warming.

As much of my life seems to be these days, God was giving me this complete beauty of a sunny day in San Francisco... an opportunity to be present. The type of shift in consciousness that it will take to solve global warming is bigger then anything I can do, or even inspire others to do. It will take millions and millions of people.

This is one of the greatest challenges of our day, of this New Year. How do we as meditators, yogis, people of light and love enter into the reality of the times? I do believe that we will find a way, that we will collectively transform, and that it will be a beautiful story in our human history.

This morning as I sat meditating the thought came to mind to share with you the power of the Mul Mantra. This mantra was given to us by Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs who walked this earth in the fifteenth century. It is a mantra that gives you the compass so that you may find your true self. This true self sits within the opening of your heart. Some say that the most difficult journey in life is moving from the energy of the navel center to the heart center.

The navel center is very important especially in its balanced state. The navel in a balanced state gives you the fire of courage to stand up for truth. It gives you the capacity to know your center, to be rooted in your inner truth. It gives you the basic energy of digestion... both in how we digest food, but also in how we digest energy. One beautiful teacher, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati once said to me, "I eat pain for breakfast" referring to the energy that she dealt with after spending time with AIDS patients. Emotional or mental pain is a part of living life, especially for someone on a spiritual path. The drug companies and popular media make you believe that one should not have pain this kind of pain. Take a pill. Do something to shut yourself off. But the moment you go through the pain, the moment you digest it so to speak... you allow it to be... you embrace it... then that pain is healed forever and released. This takes a balanced navel center.

When our navel center is in an imbalanced state we are greedy, looking to acquire things and energy that we don't really need. We look to fill up an abyss within that can never be filled. That abyss comes from all of the pain that we haven't figured out how to digest. This energy I believe is prevalent in the world today. What is the remedy to bring us back into a balanced navel center which allows our heart to open? How can we be fulfilled without needing things from the outside? How can we find a simpler more sustainable way to live on this planet?

There are many tools to do just these things. A very powerful mantra tool is the Mul Mantra.

I invite you to chant it with me and let its energy unfold within you.

Here is the mantra with the translation. The translation is simply a reflection of my experience as a student of Yogi Bhajan, and as a seeker at the feet of Guru Nanak.

Ek ong kaar....
God is One, I am One with all beings

Sat Nam...
Truth is God's Name... The vibration of God's Name is what created all beings.... that vibration is within me.... therefore in my core I am true.

Karta Purkh...
God is the Doer.... God does all things... God works through me.... God works through everyone in my life.

Nirbhao...
God is fearless... I am fearless.

Nirvair...
God has no revenge.... I exist in my heart... I stay present... I don't hold on to the past.... I live in this moment in full compassion and acceptance of what is.

Akal Murat
God exists in the undying form... God is in the purity of our efforts to live in a spiritual way, and these efforts never die... these efforts live on forever.

Adjoonee
God is unborn.... God does not relate to birth and death.... God is beyond the cycles of life.... God is infinite... I am infinite

Saibhang
God is self illumined... I am self illumined. Within me I have the power to find light, to find love, to find joy. I don't need anyone or anything for this.

Guru Prasaad
It is by Guru's Grace.... it is the Grace of the teachings of the Divine One.... the Guru.... Guru Nanak, Jesus, Mohammed, the Masters of all traditions that give us Grace.

Jap
Meditate!

Aad Sach
True in the Beginning

Jugaad Sach
True throughout the ages

Haibhee Sach
True here and now

Nanak Hosee Bhee Sach
Oh Nanak, forever and always true. Spirit, Truth, Love, and Light.... these are the things that are true, that have always been true.


This is the Mul Mantra....

Let us chant it together.

Let us let go of the dream... and find the reality of our truth.

We can be free.

Chant it with me.

Sat Nam.

Love and Blessings,

Snatam Kaur


Here is a link to my CD Anand where we have the Mul Mantra recorded.

Here is a link to the Spirit Voyage website with all of their artists who have recorded the Mul Mantra. Enjoy!