Daughter's Graduation - Chack De Simran!
Yesterday was my daughter's graduation from high school. It is really exciting to see this girl graduate and go on to college. This is a big acheivement for anyone in life. As I am going thru some old pictures of her growing up to make a little DVD for her graduation party, I decided to go on Sikhnet to check out news. The first thing I see is this article below on Sikhnet on Simran - Remembering... written by Guruka Singh Ji. It is short and sweet and describes everything what Simran means and should be. Now I know my daughter knew what the Gurmukhi translation of her name means like rememebring God's name or prayer etc. but I don't think she really knew teh depth of what Simran really means and this article does a great job of communicating it. So I am debating should I print it and put it in her graduation card or just give it to her. Now I know she doesn't get too excited about "Sikhi stuff" but I could not hold my excitement and give it to her anyways. I feel good and I did and hope she will read it on her own and one day will understand the beauty and gracefulness behind her name. May be it will inspire her to live up to it one day. I will never know since it would be done in silence anyways if she did. It may be a small thing but sometimes I do think things just don't happen coincidently and there a Master Plan that we just don't know or understand or believe. Everyone has a purpose and a journey on this Earth and they are not the same by path but destiny is same. I call this crossing a little path in life's journey towards the infinite. Happy Graduation to the ones that have finished this part of their journey in life! May Waheguru fullfil everyone's dreams and goals in life, bring them peace and happiness. I remember graduating from high school in India, it is a big relief especially given the pressure of studies in India. There is pressure here too but it is a little different in a sense people don't look down upon you at your failures as in India. You get scolded and you are made to feel like it is end of life. That is sad and it is wrong. Life is not about formal schooling but learning. Passing a formal test from some school doesn't mean he or she is smarter or wiser or richer or better learned. Real learning I think actually takes place outside of colleges and schools and universities. Anyways, enough rambling, here is the article and I better go get some Laddoos, Barfi and Gulab Jamuns to pass out on her graduation party:
Most of us, when we think of Nam Simran think of "repeating God's Name" out loud, either musically, or simply verbally we think.... "Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru..." but actually, that is Japa, not Simran. Japa is the audible repetion of Nam. In fact, the only command in the entire Siri Guru Granth Sahib is "Jap!" Jap what? "Aaad Sach, Jugaad Sach, Haybee Sach, Nanak Hosee Be Sach."
That mantram is commanded for Jap by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. What a powerful mantram!
But what of Simran? Simran is silent. It is not audible. Simran is the constant inner awareness of the Infinite - silently, through the breath and through a bij mantram (Har, Ram, Sat Nam, Hari, etc.) or through the Guru mantram "Wahe Guru."
Simran is not that you chant the Holy Nam loud and clear and wake up the whole neighborhood and then when it comes to the test, you act like the worst human being anybody has ever met! That is not Simran.
Simran becomes a state of mind. It is not something you do, it is something you are. It is the state of never forgetting your True Identity - being one with the One in everyone and everything.
When this habit of remembering becomes established, then you remember that you and God are One in every moment, with every breath, whether you are in pain or pleasure, whether the kids are crying at the top of their lungs or when you are just brushing your teeth or combing your hairs. You feel that everything is sacred and it is the constant awareness of the sacredness of all things that we call Simran.
"Simran has no other evaluation except its own self-generating power. A man without Simran is just a monkey on the tree. It will never change. Your grit, your strength, your stability, your depth and your totality is based on your simran. Simran is constantly tapping into the infinite. And then tapping into the Infinite you can have seva. There are four fundamentals. Tell me where we have gone wrong. Bana, bani, seva simran. We always say simran the last. Because simran is tek. Simran is our own 'tek.' Simran is our own strength. Simran is what we depend on. Simran is our companion. Our friend, our constant associate, our well-wisher. Our total support. Simran is the ambassador of God within us. It's our reality. It is the congeniality of man and God. Whosoever will do simran can do seva. Whosoever can do seva, can be understood through his bani and can wear bana. The order is actually reversed. The majority of people are very shaky when they wear bana. Especially in the United States. Because bana puts you right in front lines. The moment you wear bana, then you have to perform to what bana shows. If you do not match up with the performance of bana, you will be nakedly known for how stupid you are. A person will say, "Hey, you look different, but you talk common. Your feelings and emotions are common. You don't match up to who you are." Bana is a reminder to match up to who we are, to feel who we are, to understand who we are. And bana is also an invitation to people. It tells people, "There goes a Sikh of the Guru! There goes a person with purity and piety, who stands for something. There is the Khalsa." - SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa - March 25, 1990
Most of us, when we think of Nam Simran think of "repeating God's Name" out loud, either musically, or simply verbally we think.... "Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru..." but actually, that is Japa, not Simran. Japa is the audible repetion of Nam. In fact, the only command in the entire Siri Guru Granth Sahib is "Jap!" Jap what? "Aaad Sach, Jugaad Sach, Haybee Sach, Nanak Hosee Be Sach."
That mantram is commanded for Jap by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. What a powerful mantram!
But what of Simran? Simran is silent. It is not audible. Simran is the constant inner awareness of the Infinite - silently, through the breath and through a bij mantram (Har, Ram, Sat Nam, Hari, etc.) or through the Guru mantram "Wahe Guru."
Simran is not that you chant the Holy Nam loud and clear and wake up the whole neighborhood and then when it comes to the test, you act like the worst human being anybody has ever met! That is not Simran.
Simran becomes a state of mind. It is not something you do, it is something you are. It is the state of never forgetting your True Identity - being one with the One in everyone and everything.
When this habit of remembering becomes established, then you remember that you and God are One in every moment, with every breath, whether you are in pain or pleasure, whether the kids are crying at the top of their lungs or when you are just brushing your teeth or combing your hairs. You feel that everything is sacred and it is the constant awareness of the sacredness of all things that we call Simran.
"Simran has no other evaluation except its own self-generating power. A man without Simran is just a monkey on the tree. It will never change. Your grit, your strength, your stability, your depth and your totality is based on your simran. Simran is constantly tapping into the infinite. And then tapping into the Infinite you can have seva. There are four fundamentals. Tell me where we have gone wrong. Bana, bani, seva simran. We always say simran the last. Because simran is tek. Simran is our own 'tek.' Simran is our own strength. Simran is what we depend on. Simran is our companion. Our friend, our constant associate, our well-wisher. Our total support. Simran is the ambassador of God within us. It's our reality. It is the congeniality of man and God. Whosoever will do simran can do seva. Whosoever can do seva, can be understood through his bani and can wear bana. The order is actually reversed. The majority of people are very shaky when they wear bana. Especially in the United States. Because bana puts you right in front lines. The moment you wear bana, then you have to perform to what bana shows. If you do not match up with the performance of bana, you will be nakedly known for how stupid you are. A person will say, "Hey, you look different, but you talk common. Your feelings and emotions are common. You don't match up to who you are." Bana is a reminder to match up to who we are, to feel who we are, to understand who we are. And bana is also an invitation to people. It tells people, "There goes a Sikh of the Guru! There goes a person with purity and piety, who stands for something. There is the Khalsa." - SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa - March 25, 1990
posted by SikhsRus at 6:32 AM
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