The words of Sri Guru Granth Sahib open inner worlds – Jessi Kaur
Abstract
They are the sublime expression of the experiences of gurus and saints, sages and seers who transcended the human boundaries and soared in spiritual spheres.
They come to us love-drenched, and hold our hand and lead us to eternity. They evoke the miracle that lies dormant within us. They awaken us to possibilities beyond our intellect and beyond our comprehension. Sometimes we glimpse their meaning. Sometimes we sense their luminosity. But often they remain distant and elusive.
If we understand them, they will communicate to us the mysteries of the Universe; divulge unspeakable wonders that lie hidden within our own depths. But herein is the rub. They can’t be understood. They can only be deciphered in the mystical dynamics of the soul. They reveal new dawns in the confluence of silence, and solitude, reflection and prayer, love and gratitude.
The Unstruck Melody is a collection of words from Sri Guru Granth Sahib that have touched me, and lit up my inner landscape for fleeting but precious moments. I share them in all humility because it is only through grace that I have experienced their kinship.
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Excerpts from
The Unstruck Melody
By Jessi Kaur
The words of Sri Guru Granth Sahib open inner worlds.
They are the sublime expression of the experiences of gurus and saints, sages and seers who transcended the human boundaries and soared in spiritual spheres.
They come to us love-drenched, and hold our hand and lead us to eternity. They evoke the miracle that lies dormant within us. They awaken us to possibilities beyond our intellect and beyond our comprehension. Sometimes we glimpse their meaning. Sometimes we sense their luminosity. But often they remain distant and elusive.
If we understand them, they will communicate to us the mysteries of the Universe; divulge unspeakable wonders that lie hidden within our own depths. But herein is the rub. They can’t be understood. They can only be deciphered in the mystical dynamics of the soul. They reveal new dawns in the confluence of silence, and solitude, reflection and prayer, love and gratitude.
The Unstruck Melody celebrates the wisdom enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the only scripture in the world that contains the mystical experiences of men of faith belonging to different traditions. With lyrical commentaries on 51 concepts, it seeks to integrate various strands that run through the spiritual magnum opus, elucidating common themes and spiritual insights on a personal level. These concepts share the hidden beauty of our clay, celebrate the mystery of the Unknown, rejoice in the oneness of all and show the path to inner peace without which there is no possibility for peace in the World.
EK
Eko hai bhai eko hai
Sahib mera eko hai
There is the One, oh my brother, there is only One
My Lord and Master is only One.
Ek is the power that created the Universe in a moment of effulgent joy and remains an indivisible part of its creation. Self –existent and Self-illumined, it is the unifying presence in all. Ek is the Cause, the Law, the Unseen One that permeates every atom and its parts and, yet is beyond human utterance or intellectualization
Ek doesn’t take birth or die. It is without beginning and without end. It was, is and shall be. It has no foes and is fearless. Living in its awareness keeps our internal landscape lit up and endows us with the qualities of Ek.
Ek is visible in the inseparable color of the rainbow and the rays of the sun that gather in its fold at dusk. Ek is the spray of the wave that comes back to the embrace of the ocean. Ek is the clay of the body that returns to dust when the rosary of breaths is completed. Ek is what the soul bride longs for and finds in the embrace of the Beloved when the play of this life time is over.
Acceptance of Ek is the first baby step on the path to the ultimate union with the Source we come from. Underneath all the striving, the struggle, the race to happiness, unknown to the conscious mind the soul longs to merge back with Ek. It is the bliss we seek, the nirvana.
There are no middlemen between the experience of Ek and us. It is a part of us. We just need to embark upon an inner journey with an illumined consciousness.
The wonder of Ek will unfold spontaneously.
Ongkar
Ek Ongkar Satnaam
One Manifested in the Universe, The True Essence
Ongkar is the manifestation of the Invisible One, the form of the Formless.
Ongkar are the worlds that are created; Ongkar the worlds that are ceased at the Will of the One.
Ongkar is the seed that flowers; Ongkar is the seed that doesn’t flower.
Ongkar is the unknowable in every being that pulsates in each breath and knows the whispers of each heart. It is every breath and every heart.
It is the light that illuminates. It is the manifest that illumines darkness and yet is the darkness too.
It is the movement in every song, the passage of every dance. It is the art in artist, it is the translucence in light, it is the vibration of thunder, and it is the ache in every longing.
No picture or idol, no temple or edifice, no form or feature can adequately represent the fathomless wonder of Ongkar, and yet it is every picture and every edifice, every temple and every worshipper.
It is the Sound. It is the Word. It is all and it is none,
Sat
Satnam prabh ka sukhdaee
The True Name is comforting
The essence of Ek Ongkar is absolute Truth -Sat.
It defines the indefinable as the unchanging – the only Truth.
It is not your truth or mine, it is not partial truth or poetic truth, and it is the truth that abides where the finite merges with the infinite.
Change is the only reality we are aware of. Everything thing that is, changes, withers, dies. There is no one above or beyond change except Sat.
Passions ebb and rise, loves flower and falter, youth blossoms and withers; Sat remains unchanged, unfaltered, and radiant above all.
Sat is immutable and eternal. Beyond analysis and beyond comprehension, it is the truth that can neither be perceived by the senses nor understood by the intellect.
It existed before time and pervades outside of time. Though beyond understanding, this Truth can be experienced in solitude and stillness, in moments of poise and praise, in the sublimation of ego and the benevolence of prayer.
The sages have taught how to cross the fiery ocean of life; on the wings of Ek Ongkar the breath touches Sat and reaches the bank of immortality. It is a narrow flight that keeps its face turned to the light; the path is finer than a strand of hair and sharper than a razor’s edge, but leads with unwavering intent to Sachkhund, the abode of the Truth.
Saran
Prabh charan saran anath aayeo
Nanak har sang chali (page 1121)
The orphan has come to the sanctuary of God
Says Nanak, the Omnipresent walks with him
When we consciously seek saran, the circle of divine protection, we are no more entangled in the web of fear or uncertainty.
Saran is comforting like a mother’s lap because it is the Mother’s lap. Saran offers a cozy blanket of reassurance that keeps us shielded from the storms and avalanches of life. The presence of the Omnipotent is the umbrella that protects us from the downpour. It strengthens our faith and we relax and let the tempest pass.
As we step into saran, we stop struggling. Recognizing our own helplessness and inability to control the outcome, we find ourselves on the gateway of surrender. We can turn back to grappling and struggling or float into saran where the countenance of reassurance smiles gently upon us, like the morning sun, benign, beautiful and safe.
The gentle touch of saran ushers the mind into ease.
Saran is a sublime sanctuary open to all. Those who seek it, walk with the Divine. In the circle of saran one experiences benevolence and abundance. It is the meadow of plenty where anxiety is not admitted, where fear does not strangle aspiration. The price of admission is humility and faith
Author Bio
Jessi Kaur is the author of Dear Takuya, Letters of a Sikh boy, and The Royal Falcon, two highly acclaimed children’s books. She produced The Royal Falcon Musical, a show that won accolades as the first ever Sikh musical of its kind.
Jessi has traveled widely sharing the message of Sikhi in youth camps, seminars and conferences. She is a frequent speaker at interfaith conferences and addressed the Parliament of World’s Religions in Barcelona, Spain in 2004 and in Melbourne, in December 2009.She has written for several mainstream and ethnic magazines on a wide range of topics of contemporary and cultural interest. She has been a monthly guest in the EKONGKAR segment of Women Now, a South Asian cable TV show and has been featured in award winning documentaries: Mistaken Identity, Encountering Divinity across America, amongst others. She is the Chairperson of the Fine Arts Commission for the city of Cupertino, California.
Jessi was the Co- Founder of International Institute of Gurmat Studies and is the founder of IGS NOW a non-profit spiritual organization that is committed to working in and towards global synergy. She taught English Literature at a Delhi University college before moving to California where she has been a Human Resources Consultant for high-tech companies in the Silicon Valley