Thursday, May 17, 2012

 
Sat Nam everyone!


With Spirit Voyage we are doing a 40 Day Sadhana called Elevating Ourselves, Blessing Our Children.  To find out about it and even sign up you can visit the following link: http://www.spiritvoyage.com/Globalsadhana/ElevatingOurselvesBlessingOurChildren.

As a part of the practice we are chanting the following Shabad (Sacred Song) from the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan, called Pootaa Maataa Kee Asees.  We are reciting it 11 times a day for our children and the children of the world, with and without homes.

Here is the full Shabad:

Jis simrat sabh kilvikh naaseh pitree ho-ay udhaaro.
Remembering God, all mistakes are washed away and one's ancestors are redeemed and saved.

So har har tum sad hee jaapahu jaa kaa ant na paaro. ||1||
Always chant God's Name, Har, Har.  God is inside you, God is infinite.

Pootaa maataa kee aasees.
O my child, this is your mother's blessing,

Nimakh na bisara-o tum ka-o har har sadaa bhajahu jagdees. ||1|| rahaa-o.
May you may never forget God even for a moment, worshipping forever the Lord of the Universe ||Pause||

Satgur tum ka-o ho-ay da-i-aalaa santsang tayree preet.
May the True Guru be kind to you, may you love to be with the Saints.

Kaaparh pat parmaysar raakhee bhojan keertan neet. ||2||
May your clothing be the protection of God, may your food be the singing of God's praise

Amrit peevhu sadaa chir jeevhu har simrat anad anantaa.
Drink the nectar of God's Name and live long, may meditation on God bring you endless bliss.

Rang tamaasaa pooran aasaa kabeh na bi-aapai chintaa. ||3||
May love be yours and your hopes fulfilled.  May you never be worn by worry.

Bhavar tumaaraa ih man hova-o har charnaa hohu ka-ulaa.
Let this mind of yours be the bumble bee, and let the Lotus Feet of God be the flower.

Naanak daas un sang laptaa-i-o ji-o booNdeh chaatrik ma-ulaa. ||4||3||4||
O Servant Nanak, link your mind in this way.  Like the sparrow hawk finding a raindrop blossom forth.

The line from this Shabad that I am inspired to share my experience about is the first line:

Jis simrat sabh kilvikh naaseh pitree ho-ay udhaaro.
Remembering God, all mistakes are washed away and one's ancestors are redeemed and saved.

The gift of chanting this Shabad is that the presence of the Shabad Guru, the living presence of the Guru, comes to life, and essentially comes to your aid. It is a very real energy.  Things that you could never imagined to be healed get healed.  And when you chant the Shabad Guru for your children the effects are subtle, amazing, and beyond anything you could ever dream of asking for.  There is just this kind of energy shift that takes place within your own being, and in your environment when you call upon the energy of this Shabad.  Children feel it.  They feel this kind of energy above anything else.  It is the   energy of soul and spirit.  When you nurture the energy of soul and spirit, when you support it, when you pray for it, our children prosper.

Now here is the really deep part for me today in reciting this Shabad.  As the line above states, "Remembering God, all mistakes are washed away and one's ancestors are redeemed and saved."  This is an incredible opportunity that we have!  In chanting God's Name, in chanting with purity of heart we not only heal ourselves but our connection to our ancestors.   In essence, we are completely connected to our ancestors.  Now we have the opportunity to heal them as well.  So, not only are we praying for our future, but also healing our past and giving the gift to our children that they may move forward into their lives with a clean slate, and with purity of heart. This is the gentle, beautiful mother energy of the universe at work. 

God Bless You.  Thank you for your prayers for the children.


Love,

Snatam Kaur



Tuesday, May 08, 2012

 
This Mother's Day we are starting a 40 day sadhana dedicated to children called ElevatingOurselves, Blessing Our Children.    

Through a meditative practice together as mothers, parents, and human beings, we can clear our energy and truly give our children a gift of our love, our hope, and our prayers.  This is not only for children that have cozy homes and families, this practice is dedicated to those children who are orphaned, without homes, and without basic care.

The sadhana practice in its entirety includes a pranayaam meditation taught by Gurmukh for us parents to find balance and energy, the recitation of the Shabad "Pootaa Maataa Kee Asees" eleven times a day, and a meditation just for children.

In this blog post I would like to go a little deeper into my experience of the Shabad "Pootaa Maataa Kee Asees".

Yogi Bhajan, my spiritual teacher, taught that in reciting this Shabad eleven times a day we can effect the vibratory frequency of how we feel in relationship to our children and thereby provide for them an energy field of our beings that is in a state of calm, and prayer.  There are other unspoken miracles that happen with this recitation as well that you may discover if you practice this.  All that I can say is that this recitation has been my life line as a young mother.  I have been practicing it so much that I couldn't even really tell you anymore distinctly what it is doing for me. 

Over the course of this sadhana practice I will share my experiences with this Shabad.  Let me just start off with the most elemental shift in me that happened through the recitation of these sacred words.

During pregnancy my husband and I recited it eleven times a day together.  It brought clarification to me so that as a mother my energy shifted from worries about the physical state of my baby to prayers about her spiritual state. Granted, physical things are important... such as physical health and well being, having clothes, diapers, a good place for your baby to sleep, means and ways to support all of his or her physical needs in babyhood, childhood, and off into college years, etc., etc..  But there can be a kind of obsession with things that can take over.  It happened to me.  All of my friends who had babies were showing me all of there gadgets, beautiful clothes, high chairs, amazing nurseries, electric rocking chairs that everyone must have (!), the works!  Oh my, the "maya" or the "earthly desires" of young parenthood are alive and well!  I got to a slight panic point as  I realized two things, 1) I would never have the time to come close to getting all of the things that it appeared that I needed, and 2) I didn't want to... I lacked the general desire to get out there and shop! I felt inadequate as a mother because I was failing in this ever seemingly so important area.

As my mother taught me so graciously, and passed on to me so naturally, when in panic mode, chant, recite.... let God do the work.

So, every day my husband and I chanted this Shabad.  We walked together in a beautiful neighborhood in Northern New Mexico.  The fresh air, the walking, the shade of the trees, the blue skies, and the chanting all worked together.

Here is the full Shabad:

Jis simrat sabh kilvikh naaseh pitree ho-ay udhaaro.
Remembering God, all mistakes are washed away and one's ancestors are redeemed and saved.

So har har tum sad hee jaapahu jaa kaa ant na paaro. ||1||
Always chant God's Name, Har, Har.  God is inside you, God is infinite.

Pootaa maataa kee aasees.
O my child, this is your mother's blessing,

Nimakh na bisara-o tum ka-o har har sadaa bhajahu jagdees. ||1|| rahaa-o.
May you may never forget God even for a moment, worshipping forever the Lord of the Universe ||Pause||

Satgur tum ka-o ho-ay da-i-aalaa santsang tayree preet.
May the True Guru be kind to you, may you love to be with the Saints.

Kaaparh pat parmaysar raakhee bhojan keertan neet. ||2||
May your clothing be the protection of God, may your food be the singing of God's praise

Amrit peevhu sadaa chir jeevhu har simrat anad anantaa.
Drink the nectar of God's Name and live long, may meditation on God bring you endless bliss.

Rang tamaasaa pooran aasaa kabeh na bi-aapai chintaa. ||3||
May love be yours and your hopes fulfilled.  May you never be worn by worry.

Bhavar tumaaraa ih man hova-o har charnaa hohu ka-ulaa.
Let this mind of yours be the bumble bee, and let the Lotus Feet of God be the flower.

Naanak daas un sang laptaa-i-o ji-o booNdeh chaatrik ma-ulaa. ||4||3||4||
O Servant Nanak, link your mind in this way.  Like the sparrow hawk finding a raindrop blossom forth.

One line in the Shabad began to really show itself to me:

Kaaparh pat parmaysar raakhee bhojan keertan neet. ||2||
May your clothing be the protection of God, may your food be the singing of God's praise

Day by day the meaning of these words began to sink in.

And one day I had one of those "Aha" moments.

I realized that the most important gift I could give to my new baby was a teaching, or an assistance to her being to know that she could always connect with God no matter what.  In pregnancy my energy would be so connected to her that through my own experience she would have an experience too.  Into her childhood as she began to take steps away from me and find her own way in this world the recitation would become a prayer for God's hand to uncover the miracles in her life to have that Divine Connection with the One. 

Not only was it the most important thing I could give my daughter, it was what I deeply wanted to give her... with my whole being.

Yes, granted, we got the stroller, the car seat, the high chair, etc. etc.  We did a good job with all the "stuff"  But, my prayer penetrates through all of these material things.

I invite you to join us for this sacred practice together.  Please see the following link here for more information. 


Love,

Snatam




Sadhana - personal practice, or daily practice
Shabad - sacred prayer, or poem



Thursday, May 03, 2012

 
I grew up with the Aquarian Sadhana, an early morning practice that includes doing Japji, yoga and chanting. My parents would bring me down to the sadhana room all bundled up in blankets. My mother said when I was little I would always pop up out of my blankets and sing along with the chants when they started. Later as a teenager and in my early twenties I really identified with the chants as I began to compose tunes for them on my guitar. And now as a mother these chants have brought great comfort and peace to our home.

The following is what I know and have experienced personally from these chants. I hope that you enjoy reading this and that it in some way helps your practice.

The first chant is the Long Ekongkars. I learned that every fear, every emotion, every physical discomfort could be channeled into Long Ekongkars. With a straight spine, chin locked in and plenty of breath I soon discovered that this mantra has the power to cleanse anything. It vibrates from the central channel, the Shushmana, and actively purifies and cleanses this channel and connects the entire charka system.

Wah Yantee is the mantra of creativity and renewal. This is where the joy begins and the journey. The tunes for me are totally different every morning. Sometimes I am surprised by the energy of this Mantra because it is so creative in nature and yet so ancient. It is the most secure creative energy that we have available to tap into. For any creative person out there, you must know the importance of being secure in your creativity and that is why I tap into this mantra every morning.

The Mul Mantra connects you to the Infinite Truth where there is no question, boundary, or lack of energy. Whatever thoughts or ideas that may mislead you will be corrected in this Mantra. This Mantra corrects you, without you knowing it because very simply you vibrate with its eternal truth and it becomes your eternal truth. All of the sudden things that were unbearable to deal with, challenges that you didn’t know how to deal with, thoughts that kept coming back uninvited are brought to light. The eternal truth always comes into play and relaxes things… that’s all that is needed. Then you see what is real and what is not.

Sat Siri Akhal is the Mantra that prepares us for death, for that moment when the Prana leaves the body and the soul answers for all vibrations, all thoughts, and all actions. The penetration of this Mantra helps us to guide our lives so that we take the right course on a day to day basis, and are in the Infinite Flow at the time of death.

Then following this comes Rakhe Rakhanhar. This is the most powerful Mantra that can be practically applied for protection. I have used it many times in my life. The beautiful thing is that it is a Mantra for protection that not only surrounds you with protection but your entire community. People don’t understand the level of protection that I am talking about; it is real and strikes down any negativity coming your way. It is essentially a very sweet and beautiful Mantra. Many musicians will choose beautiful and lovely tunes naturally because of the energy that this Mantra vibrates. However, the affect is like a steel sword as used by the fiercest warrior you can imagine. This combination of sweet and fierce actually protects our innocence.

The Waheguru Waheguru Waheguru Wahejio Mantra is where the chanting practice goes very deep into the psyche. First of all it is really long. So after you have gotten into it, enjoyed it, gotten thoroughly bored of it, then it takes hold of you. It is in this moment of boredom that if you stay with it and allow the rhythm of the words to keep beating on your consciousness that Guru Ram Das will come in and lift you into a place where the mind has no domain any longer, where it is between you and your soul and the vibratory frequency of your own consciousness. We all have complete awareness, we are all enlightened beings, and this Mantra takes us into that state.

Finally we are ready for the healing of Guru Ram Das when we chant to him at the end of Sadhana. The sun is usually rising or the first light is coming depending on where you live and what time of year. But this sensation of the sun rising perfectly describes the feeling of this Mantra. It is the Infinite space where Guru Ram Das exists and you are right there with him. It is the time for your inner most prayers, the ones you didn’t even know existed, the prayers that come from your Soul.

There are many incredible and beautiful morning sadhana recordings. You can check some of the CDs available here. Currently I have recorded one sadhana album, and it is called Amrit Vela. You can find Amrit Vela by following this link.

Love,

Snatam Kaur



This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?