Master and Disciple
Excerpt from "Order of the Khalsa" Lecture, by Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan

“Three hundred and some years ago, the finite being known as Guru Gobind Singh, the father of the Khalsa, could see the unseen times to come. He understood completely, in the very depth of his being, that times were going to come when humanity would have unlimited technology of the machine, but would be very limited in their technology of the mind. And it is that barrier of technology of mind which we are unable to cross, which is causing us nothing but neurosis and insanity.

It is towards the one reality, that humans can live as humans, humans can enrich themselves as humans, humans can behold themselves as humans and humans can behold themselves in the form, shape and in the energy and extension of their ecstasy unto God, that Guru Gobind Singh established the order of the Khalsa….

Once I was asked, 'What is the difference between a Sikh and a Khalsa?' And I answered, 'Sikh is the seeker of the state of consciousness of deathlessness. Khalsa lives it'.

Today we have sat together to enjoy, to remember and to remind ourselves. We are not going to be just a handful any more. We are going to be millions, billions and zillions of human beings. And we are going to practice the path of Guru Gobind Singh, because this is our privilege - to be here and hereafter.

He is not only our Guru, but he is also our father. He took away from us the orphanhood. We never can be orphans. He gave us not the promise of heaven, but he gave us the heavens. He never gave us the message of Son of God – he made us sons and daughters of God.

We do millions of fashions and trillions of tricks to be known, to be recognized, and this is one of the human natures, human weaknesses. He accelerated us, so that among the thousands and hundreds of thousands, we are unique, and shall continue to be unique, and shall never be in a position to hide ourselves. He took away from us any place of retreat and he set us on the path, where we have to just experience everlasting life.

'Jivan mukht hoey so jeeah'. We are deathless. We have bowed ourselves before our Guru, before our God, and thus we have earned the right to call: Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!"


Sharing Their Thoughts
About Amrit
As part of the Journey into the Heart of Sikh Dharma course, the students learn about, discuss and share their thoughts about Amrit. Four recent JHSD participants shared with us the assignments they did on the subject of Amrit. Here are their thoughts:
From Gururaj Singh
Western society, in general view, doesn’t value or encourage us to make a commitment. There is a common quote that says today that “everything is relative.” Well, not everything is relative; there are things that are absolute, like the values ​​that bring us closer to our soul. These values ​​should not be negotiated in any situation, however challenging it may be. So for me, making a spiritual commitment is to commit myself to sustaining those values ​​in any situation, and not letting the situation define my behavior or who I am....

From Siri Didar Singh
I took Amrit about 40 or so years ago at Summer Solstice in NM. At the time I was still in the beginning stages of transforming my identity, and to me it simply seemed like the logical next step. I was already practicing the 5 K’s, so that part didn’t really faze me back then—for me it was more a way to really solidify my commitment to the Dharmic Lifestyle, to put in place in my mind barricades against what I guess you could call spiritual recidivism.

When I read in the Akhand Path a phrase from the Guru always pops up and never ceases to bring me back to myself: “He hugs close in His Embrace those who shatter and reform their beings.” (Shalok, Third Mehl, page 3251 Dr. Sant Edition) For those of us who come from a typical American or Western upbringing, usually in the Christian tradition, taking up the Sikh lifestyle can indeed entail a “shattering and reforming” of our being.

From Guru Amrit Kaur
When I was doing the meditation assigned for the Journey into the Heart of Sikh Dharma class on Amrit, I had a very profound spiritual experience. During the middle of the meditation, I experienced a moment of feeling “shuniya” – the zero point of ultimate Stillness. I was watching my life’s journey to this point through my soul’s eyes and could see myself at a spiritual crossroads.

As I was approaching the crossroads, I could clearly see my destiny written out and knew that me walking toward this moment was written from the beginning. There was piercing clarity. I saw a khanda (double-edged sword) sitting in the middle of a greyish blue pond of water – a pool of infinity. I could hear drops dripping slowly from above and echoing continuously around it. The moment felt like it was stretching into infinity. I experienced a feeling of inevitability around myself ultimately taking Amrit and saw myself falling through space into the Guru’s arms.

From Adi Nam Kaur
Taking the Amrit vows equates to the commitment to let go of all the layers of the ego. That is how I understand the meaning of “giving my head to the Guru.” It is like bowing to the Guru’s feet and saying: “I am going to accept everything You will send to me and I am going to serve You. I will serve others in Your Name as well”.

When I heard the Baisakhi story the first time, I thought that Guru Gobind Singh was testing the people by asking them to give their heads to him. I feel he was sure that these ones (the Panj Piare) would appear. And this was an example to show the ones left in the crowd to have faith in the Guru, and that if you fully surrender, you will be rewarded. I like the end of the story the most, the part when Guru Gobind Rai asks the Five Beloved Ones to give him Amrit and be baptized himself, showing that they are all equal. The Guru and his servants, receiving the same family name of Khalsa.

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