Camouflaged Insanity

I was listening to a lecture (Ek Ong Kaar) by Shri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa 'Yogi Ji'. In his lecture he used the words 'Camouflaged Insanity' to describe a certain point he was getting across to the congregation. I got hooked on this 'phrase' instantly, what I mean is that the words started bouncing around in my head. My mode of thought recently has been pretty geared towards thinking about how society is gripped by 'MYA' (materialism) all the way from a young child to multinational corporations. Young kids these day's seem to be wearing expensive branded shoes and clothes etc, including my own 2!!! I suppose a large part of it is down to the parents and their ideals. Multinationals seem to be going against all moral values in order to succeed and even in some cases even just to survive. Anyway enough ranting on.... I decide to have a dig at society at how almost insanity is just absorbed into eveyday life. I got this really crazy picture of a website (source unknown) and decide to add it to my few lines of twisted reality, enjoy!

Camouflaged Insanity

Insanity rules our senses
Insanity rules the mind,
Insanity rules the soul,
Insanity rules the world!

To kill and eat animals is ok,
But we set up trusts to protect them?
Insanity rules our senses!

To poison our lungs is a way to relax – smoking,
To pollute the world with toxins is ok - no joking,
Insanity rules our mind!

Too busy to visit the house of god.
Plenty of time to hang out with mates.
Insanity rules our soul!

We chop trees, the primary provider.
Materialism rids the protecting ozone layer.
Insanity rules the world!

Camouflaged insanity is all around us - help……anyone???

True King Poem

Sri Guru Gobind Singh (10th Master of the Sikhs)

The True King

Honour Is Bestowed By The Master Within
By The Grace Of The True Lord Salvation Begins
When Tolerance Rules The Throne Of Your Soul
The Joy Of Compassion And Love Will Make Your Life Whole
Inheriting the True Name Of the Unfathomable Lord King
Along With The Holy Men And Women In Prayer I Sing
Blessed Are Those Who Tune Into this Sound
They Will Find The King Of Kings In All Things Around

I will be posting my line by line explanation of the above poem soon!

Grace & Strength

Grace and Strength, these words sprung to my mind as soon as I saw this beautiful photograph of this majestic 'Snow Tiger'. Both words sounded almost antipodean to me at first, but the more I think about them, the more they seem to complement each other.

In terms of the Spiritual Warrior both words would befit the dynamic personality of such an individual:

"Graceful in action and Strength in one's ability to perform those actions."

The above line has inspired an image of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji the 10th Master of the Sikhs. All his actions bore immense Grace and he pocessed unequivocal Strength in his ability to perform those actions.

Meditation

WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru.....................

I really like this picture of a 'Sikh Elder' sitting in deep meditative thought. I think the pillar has been superimposed over the original picture of the gentleman sitting in a carpeted room.

The one absolute command in all of the 1436 pages of the Sikh Holy Scripture the 'Sri Guru Granth Sahib' is 'Naam Japo'. Which means repeatedly chant the name of god (WaheGuru - O' Great Guru).

I went to GuruDwara (Sikh place of worship) on last night (Sunday) and yes I prioritised it over the football world cup final (which Italy won in a penalty shootout, incidently).

About 25 to 30 people were there in the main Diwaan hall (prayer hall). We all meditated along to chants of 'WaheGuru' accompanied by beautiful vocals and music being played by Raagis (devotional musicians). My experience of it was so uplifting that the hour and a half I was there seemed literally like a few minutes. My mind was so intune to the sound current that I only opened my eyes near the end when the beat slowed down to the finish. This has got to be one of my most beautiful expeirences I have ever had! I can't explain the joy and upliftment that I experienced. The inability to explain my joy has reminded me of a saying from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib:

"Kaho Kabir gungay gur kahiya
puchey thao kiya kahiye?"

In the above 2 lines Bhagat* Kabir Ji (15th Century) is asking:

"After tasting a sweet, how can a dumb person (one who cannot speak) explain his/her indulgence of deavouring it?

Similary I am unable to explain the intense ectasy and yet sublime peace that I experienced at the Gurudwara meditaion. Eventhough I am able to write and speak about it I know that I can never do justice to my experience.

I will try and get one of the programmes recorded and put a link to from this blog. So watch this space!

*Bhagat - A holy person who has devoted their life to God. Equivalent word in Christianity is Saint. The word Bhagat is derived from the Sanskrit word Bhakti meaning Love & Devotion.

Life The Double Edged Sword

Sometimes life can be like a double edged sword (Khanda). What I mean, I think, is that following a path of spirituality or religion involves treading a fineline of high moralistic and karmic values in everday life, its like walking on a fine blade and trying to balance youself with every step - if you kind of understand my drift. On the other hand you could live a life of a 'Manmukh' a person who lives for only the moment and totally for the pleasures of his or her mind and physical being. In this situation the other side of the Khanda comes into play where the blade strikes against the strength of your soul each time you perform a spiritual 'misdeed' by accumulating a sin against your 'Karmic' bank balance. Hence making your soul/spirit weaker and less able to defend angainst temptation and lure. So I suppose, the trick is to walk the fine line of spirituality to 'feed' your soul and nuture it in spiritual depth and understanding. Below are some words I have put together that represent a part of spirituality to myself. The leading letters of the words also make up another word (vertically) - hows that! I Could entitle a post on the word Khalsa sometime soon... just a thought.

Kind

Helpful

Accepting

Loving

Sincere

Accomodating

Life offers us the opportunity to become a Spiritual Warrior. A warrior is one who bravely goes into those dark areas within themselves to ferret out the Truth of their being.
It takes great courage, stamina and endurance to become a Spiritual Warrior.
The path is narrow, the terrain rough and rocky. You will walk alone: through the dark caves, up those steep climbs and through the dense thick forest. You will meet your dark side. The faces of fear, deceit, and sadness all await your arrival.
No one can take this journey but you. There comes a time, in each of our lives, when we are given the choice to follow this path.
Should we decide to embark on this journey, we can never turn back.... Our lives are changed forever.
On this journey, there are many different places we can choose to slip into and hide. But the path goes on.
The Spiritual Warrior stays the course, wounded at times, exhausted and out of energy. Many times, the Warrior will struggle back to their feet to take only a few steps before falling again.
Rested, they forge on, continuing the treacherous path. The journey continues. The Spiritual Warrior stays the course. Weakened, but never broken.
One day, the battle, loneliness and desperate fights are over. The sun breaks through the clouds; the birds begin to sing their sweet melodies. There is a change in the energy. A deep change within the self.
The warrior has fought the courageous fight. The battle of the dark night of the soul is won. New energy now fills the Warrior. A new path is now laid before them. A gentler path filled with the inner-knowing of one who has personal empowerment.
With their personal battle won, they are filled with joy. A new awareness that they are one with the Spirit beams as they go forth to show others the way.
They are not permitted to walk the path for others. They can only love, guide and be a living example of the Truth of their being.

Unfortunately I'm still at the very begining myself - I kind of feel scared of walking alone???

The Spiritual Warrior Poem

I really wanted to share this poem on the blog. I wrote it on June 7th 2006 (which was, incidently is my son's 7th birthday!)

The Spiritual Warrior


Hatred Is My Enemy
Acceptance Is My Bride
Integrity Is My Strength
Selfless Service Is My Pride
True Faith Is My Armour
The Horse Of Justice I Ride
Equality Is My Sword
The Name Of God Is My Sheild
The Flag of Compassion, In My Right Hand, I Weild
Charging Into The Battlefield Of Temptation And Lure
Please O’ True Lord Keep Me Sincere And Pure

Definition Of.....

Spiritual
Concerned with, or affecting the soul/spirit.

Warrior
One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict.


"Spiritual Warrior - one who is engaged in the conflict of disciplining one’s mind and body in order to exhalt one’s spirit by dedicating time and actions to his or her soul."

Harvinderpal Singh (aka Sarbaloh Singh)