tva prasad

This one is interesting. It's supposed to be a contemporary painting of dasmesh pita from an old Dasam Granth bir:
 

One of my favourites.

 

Colored version:
 

 
Bhul chuk maaf

The Guru Ajran Dev ji painting has just so... so... many feelings of realism and emotions depicted in one fabulous painting. I always end up just looking,,looking..feeling..feeling ...looking again..  I've really got to hand it to you Bhagat,.. that painting speaks volumes.
My first thought is always.."Aad Guray Nameh, Jugaad guray naameh, Satgur namah, Sri guru devaih nameh"  and then the look of the hazy, smoke surrounding Guruji- which makes me feel that there is the mist or fogginess around those that cannot see Guruji for the Truth. ...But I love the way that right in the centre and nucleus of the picture, are the lighter shades and enlightened essence of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, because right there inside him is the Ultimate Truth of the Atma that is Ik-Mikh with paramatma. ...The completely untouchable satch.... You can do anything you want to Guruji's body cloth, burn it, scald, boil it....but You will NEVER hurt that Paramatma-atma inside him,,.Never.. and he knows it too well whilst sat there absorbed in meditation.................I could go on and on with some new elements and attributes every time!
His calmness, the complete relaxed and absorbed posture, and the sense of his complete disassociation to his body and surroundings.....You know this painting strikes so many different chords of emotions all in the same note. The emotions of love, connection, faith, pain, sadness and joy all rolled into one.
I applaud our Bhagat for this, and his many other magnificent pieces.
 

Ref: Healing Mantras by Thomas Ashley-Farrand
 
Bhul chuk maaf

You should listen to it whenever you can. You can try meditation by focusing on it instead of gurmantar, or even try both. Sometimes I used to focus on sound to get myself into a deeper, relaxed state much quicker.... Then I would go straight into saas saas or silent jap.
As Bhagat says, you should set your own goals and play around in the order that you feel comfortable with.
The sounds change and you begin to become aware of them 24/7, Gurmantar, in my opinion is a tool to get you disciplined and going. Once the jap becomes automatic, then you can put focus on anhad and try to become one with it.
 
I don't think that I could focus on it in early days, but I would advise that you at least practice listening to it. The more you practice, the easier it gets later on.
 
 

Very difficult to say because it's not a linear stream of uniform events because we are all different and here to learn our own lessons with our own learning curves.
There are many sounds that come and go before anhad gets pargat. These sounds all vary for each one of us and I'm sure they are related to the frequencies of nadi channels, chakras etc.. The idea is that you have to keep passing them and continuing with your jaap. The anhad shabad is itself indescribable and it won't manifest if you search for it or have your "matt' questioning for it.  The key is to lay, sacrifice, baliharey your mann and matt to Guru and then guru's matt takes over(Gurmat).
Even if someone replies yes or no, to your question of high pitched sounds, it will still not be of much benefit or any concrete reassurance.

Some one shared it on SikhSangat. Thought it would be useful in our SA Meditation section . ;-)
Wish it was a video though. Would have been nice to see exactly what places he was pointing at when giving certain instructions.

lol veer ji, tis not a sickness, but a good thing. it is the most common effect of bhagti one feels is the pressure or energy being build up at the 3rd eye. but it is not to say it is a necessary thing to have to happen. If it doesnt happen to someoen, it doesn't mean you are doing something wrong. Just keep on doing what you are doing. The energy will manifest itself in different ways.

In my view, thats energy flowing /moving.

ie- There were few american researchers went to study buddhist and meditation in himalayas.... they have observed that these monks take cold shower at amritvela and go sit outside in between very low temperatures between -5 - 10 degrees covered themselves with cold sheets(chadar) within seconds they can make their and surronding temperature plus 20 degrees. Thats energy of meditation within the body. There is soo much energy flowing in trikurti when you are doing constant meditation on trikurti chakar that nobody can dare to look to your eyes straight not more than 5 seconds...its soo much tap, energy and jalal..not any normal person can stare to your face even.

ie- Sant baba attar singh ji mustainawalie and many other mahatam's had that jalal after constant meditaton of yrs that when they come out and people couldn't stand the energy... they would back off...no one will dare to face him and look up to in his eye for an second....he was requested to decrease their jalal so people can talk to him and get guidance.

Another example of energy -

When Suleman ghost first came to Hapur to meet sant baba isher singh ji rara sahib. He couldn't even get to the room where sant maharaj ji was giving updesh...it was soo much energy that he had to beg sant maharaj ji sevadar to ask sant maharaj ji to decrease their jalal/energy so he can talk to him.

So its energy flowing and its good sign...keep it up...

[align=center:b851a5ff23]SANT BABA RANJIT SINGH JI (DHADRIANWALE)

AND

GIANI THAKUR SINGH JI (DAMDAMI TAKSAL)







HONOURED BY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JOHN GARAMENDI


Lt. Governor John Garamendi of California USA, honoured Sant Baba Ranjit Singh Ji (Dhadrianwale) and Giani Thakur Singh Ji (Damdami Taksal) based on the positive impact they are making on the community. He was mainly attracted by the number of community members influenced by the Parchaar done by these individuals. Sant Baba Ranjit Singh Ji are currently on their 2008 three week Visit to California (U.S.A.) for Gurmat Parchaar. Sant Ji and Giani Ji are working hard to promote peaceful and spiritual lifestyles across the world with the aim of Gurmat Parchaar and Amrit Sanchaar according to the Panthic Sikh principles.[/align:b851a5ff23]

sant ka marg dharm ki pauri katha discusses this (by Sant Kartar Singh). You can get this from www.gurmatveechar.com.

stages, as far as I'm aware, can be sliced up in different ways for explanation purposes. For example, sunnai (listening), mannai (obeying), mastering, and then bhramgyan is one way of looking at the stages.

You already have started off, just Amrit, rahit (incl nitnem kakaars naam simran amritvela) good sangat etc.

On the right path? IF you're increasing in bani/rahit etc, like over time you notice you're getting more kirpa on you, I think those are solid signs of being on teh right path. A decrease signals a withdrawal of grace, means that you may have made a mistake but may still be on the right path overall.

Darshan of Guru in dreams means you're out of chaurassi lakh joons (lower janams - but doesn't mean you won't come back as human). I don't know what partakh (like in person, real life in front of you) darshan means, just that it's kirpa.

When you're stuck you can always do ardass and open up a tika of Gurbani to a random ang with your question in mind. Just start reading from there. Or go to the gurdwara and sit by the stage with the question in your mind and listen to katha. There are also lots of kathas by powerful sants available, I think Das posted a list of Baba Isher Singh ji's kathas with the topics of all those kathas listed.

He is referred to as Baba as a term of respect, b/c he is most likely a sant.

Age has nothing to do with kaam to some extent. Very old men sometimes fall prey to kaam, and young men sometimes conquer it. To assert that he feels kaam is really specious. there is no way that anybody can know that.

As for him being a sant, I do think that he is. I know the singh whose home he stays at when comign to Canada, that singh is a jeevan wale singh, not a normal person. He would not have any pakhandi stay at his home.

So far, all of the above ''issues'' that people seem to raise about him haven't the slightest grounding in any fact. I find this very surprising given the generally open minded nature of this forum.

I don't know him personally, but what I do know of him is reliable, so if you have questions feel free to ask.

Sorry if it sounds like I have a harsh tone in this message, that is completely unintentional and meaningless I assure you.

the only way we coud know his spiritual status is by being with him. then we would get an idea but an idea only. i think the appeal with him is his young aage, but for his detractors its a weapon to use against him.

anyway he has brought more people to sikhi than i could in many lifetimes so i appluad him. Im sure that Guru Gobind Singh would prob feel the same.

For a person in Kaliyug not being a womaniser is a pretty big thing. Many Sants, Sadhus have given into Kaam. It's only natural when you have so many women devotees who serve you with full faith. Under normal circumstances any man might actually give in to temptation. We all know Bhai Ranjit Singh Dandariawala is no high avasthaa wala Gursikh. In fact my personal opinion is that his spiritual state is about the same as the average Raagi/Kirtani. He is very young right now. He is at an age when men feel a lot of kaam and being in the position he is in, it's very easy to give in to temptation. Yet despite all complaints against him, I have never heard of him being involved in a sexual scandal.

For a young man with no extra ordinary spiritual state, yet not having sexual scandals is worthy of respect. All he really does is just kirtan and tell some nice Dharmic stories. If such actions brings people into doing more Paath, increase Shardhaa, then I see nothing wrong. Of course the problem arises when his Chele and the average people began making him out to be a super human Brahmgiani. In fact, I remember some people a few years ago even going to the extent of claiming that he might be a reincarnation of Sant Jernail Singh Jee Bhindrawalay. In the end he could not live up to people’s expectations of him.

The problem is not Ranjit Singh Dandriawala, the problem is people. Punjabi people start giving Brahmgiani status to just about anyone with the word Sant attached to their name. They don’t realise that term can’t just be used for anyone. Men like the Bhindrawala Sants like Sant Gurbachan Singh Jee, Sant Kartar Singh Jee, Sant Jarnail Singh Jee or even Sants of other groups like Baba Bir Singh Naurangabad, Baba Karam Singh Jee Hotimardan, Sant Attar Singh Jee Mastuanay, Sant Ishar Singh Jee, Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh Jee. These great men were Brahmgianis. I just can’t imagine placing any tom dick and harry into that divine category men. But our people still do, and that’s where the problem begins.

At the same time, I believe that people can be of very high spiritual states yet still not be a Brahmgiani. That is what we need to understand. Coming back to the point, Ranjit Singh Dandriawala is not a bad person. He’s not perfect, but he’s not a bad person. For people of a certain mental level he actually brings people into Sikhi.

Unbreakable and the others, do you have any proof of what you're saying?

Amazing how we believe rumours and hearsay without a second thought isn't it? You know what they say about nindya and chugli.....

Age has absolutely nothing to do with avastha, as Guru Ji showed us.

Why not look at the FACT that literally tens of thousands of people have become Amritdhari just by listening to his parchaar. How many people have we inspired to do the same? Exactly.

All existence is constantly changing, moment to moment.
Energy is also in constant continuous motion.......
TIME is consuming (eating away) into this existence at a constant rate also.
 
Good stuff, I'm out of popcorn
 
 
 

Guru Arjan Dev Ji explains on Ang 884 about where you hear the different anhad shabads :-)

Make your hands the cymbals/drum, your eyes the tambourines, and your forehead the rabaab you play.
kar ker taal pakhaavaj (dholak) nainhu maathai vajeh rabaabaa

Let the sweet flute music resound in your ears, and with your tongue, vibrate this song.
karnahu maDh baasuree baajai jihvaa Dhun aagaajaa

Move your mind like the rhythmic hand-motions; do the dance, and shake your ankle bracelets.
nirat karay kar manoo-aa naachai aanay ghooghar saajaa.

This is the rhythmic dance of the Lord.
raam ko nirtikaaree.

I believe internet online translation websites have made a mistake with reference to pakhaavaj. You can google it yourself and see it's a stringed dholak not cymbals.

Another translation in a book I'm reading explained it as follows:

With the entry of divine light in the six chakras, the divine melody of drum beat appears and eyes act as tambourines. The sound of the guitar is heard in the forehead area. The sweet flute music resounds in the ears. The mind starts to dance is reflected by presence of sound of shaking ankle bracelets. This is the rhythmic dance of mind for the Truth. The truth, sees all the make-up and decorations of such a mind.

Ang 886

The celestial harp plays the incomparable melody,
kinkuree anoop vaajai.

but in your intoxication, you do not hear it, O Yogi. ||1||Pause||
jogee-aa matvaaro ray. ||1|| rahaa-o.

With Guru's grace I can sometimes hear the rabaab type instrument, on a couple of occasions I have heard the jingle of bracelets which was really loud, but most of the time I hear the flute-ish type sound in my ears but much more higher in pitch more like a whistle.

I'll be honest even I'm becoming skeptical I'm actually hearing these. Either the anhad shabad is slowly beginning to manifest or I've got something wrong in my ears. So far it is not causing me any discomfort or pain so will keep going...

I'll share a true event that happened to me a few weeks ago and how I believe simran/Guru ji/Waheguru saved my life.

I was driving to the gurdwara early one morning around 5am for a simran session. I had simran on the car stereo and was japping along whilst driving on a 3 lane carriageway. I was in the 3rd lane and approached a long HGV truck that was in the 1st lane on my left. Either the driver of that truck fell asleep at the wheel or he lost control because his truck suddenly swerved across the middle lane and straight into my path cutting me up at high speed. I was literally sandwiched between the central reservation barrier and the front of his truck and could see the rest of his long vehicle getting closer and closer on my left. I was hitting the brakes and was just about to be crushed like a grape with my car being only a hair length away from full on side impact, when he suddenly regained control of his vehicle and pulled back to the left. Feeling relieved with Waheguru's grace I had just survived what could have been a fatal encounter.

I reached the gurdwara and proceeded to sit down. The Giani ji, who unbeknown to me came up and asked if I would come up and do Guru Ji's Chor de Sewa. I was rather surprised to be asked because I wasn't local sangat member and there were other sangat members there who I have seen on other occasions doing this sewa. Because I wanted to record the simran stupid me refused the Giani ji's request. As the programme of that morning progressed it suddenly dawned upon me what I had declined to do. Seeing the error of my way, I immediately got up and rushed to Guru Ji's tabaya and asked for the chor sahib. When the Giani ji came back later he looked at me and just smiled. Then he asked if I would be willing to serve the sangat parshad. When he made the second request I knew a more divine power was requesting through him that morning...

Dearest HSingh6

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh

I'm not doing anything special Bro that I'm aware off. Any knowledge I have gained I have already shared in my posts on this forum. I'm have no strict routine where and when I sit down although I wish I did. I just do as much simran throughout the day as I can. That means from the moment I wake up I try and get the simran going verbally or mentally. As per Gurbani it says try and do it 24x7. That not easy if you have a job/family etc but you got to start somewhere. Nevertheless whatever I'm doing, getting dressed, walking, on the train keep I try and keep the simran going verbally if possible or mentally if in a crowded area amongst others. I'm also listening to simran with headphones as much I can so my elephant mind learns to listen to it with full concentration and fall in love with the word Waheguru. (We all have our personal tastes, which seems to connect us) Believe you me, there are times when I just can't do it or don't want to. If I have a few minutes where I can fully concentrate then I close my eyes and just say WaheGuru with my diyan/focus in my ears and on the sound of my own voice just slightly in front of my lips. You will then clearly begin to hear the jaap as it comes out of your mouth. You will also begin to recognize the difference between when your mind is listening and when your just japping and not listening.

It's been drummed into me that learn to kill those thoughts/mind (i.e. to die in the shabad) and the only way this is going to happen is when our mind learns to listen to the jaap that comes out of our mouth. If the mind is wondering say the Gur Mantar louder, not necessarily faster. As your mind begins to become still then you start bringing the volume down. Do this for some more time at the lower volume and observe if the thoughts are still coming. If your mind starts wandering again bring the volume back up. If its still listening then lower even more down to dull whisper. At this stage you will begin to notice that the jaap syncs with the breath. So on inhale say Wahe pause for 0.5 to 1 second exhale say Guru. An ever so short pause between the Wahe and the Guru. You will know what feels right to you.

The other thing I've mentioned on other threads is slight navel pull in on Wahe and release on Guru. This is not kapal bhati that Ram Dev or Yogi's do. Its only a few millimeters, 1 cm is probably too much pressure, its ever so slight pressure that is put on that region. I'm sure I mentioned it on another thread before.

How long has it taken me to get to this stage? What stage! I don't know if I have reached any stage at all yet. I'm just drawing upon little snippets of other people's knowledge that seems to make sense to me and taking small steps myself. I'm just a nobody drowning in this world of Maya. But one thing Guru Ji has now drummed into my head good and proper is that only his Naam is going to be the rope that I can use to get me out. I'm hardly interested in anything else. When I hear anything to do with Naam simran my eyes and ears open in excitement. Any other topics I just feel like I'm wasting my time reading and listening to.

I read these pungtis in SGGS a few days ago which gave me a real wake up call.

The mind is in the body, and the True Lord is in the mind.
tan meh manoo-aa man meh saachaa.
(Now the game to find him in the mind is you have to kill your own first. The way ordained by Guru Maharaj is use his GurMantar to stop it thinking anything else. The more still it becomes and the 9 doors through which the mind loves to escape close, then slowly the anhad shabad sounds begin to be heard. When I put in the effort I sometimes begin to hear but as I back off I don't do the simran it disappears again for days even weeks. Then I have to put in intense effort again and with Guru Ji's grace it sometimes returns.)

He Himself watches over us, and He Himself makes us see.
aap dikhaavai aapay daykhai.

He is not pleased by stubborn-mindedness, nor by various religious robes.
hath na pateejai naa baho bhaykhai.

He fashioned the body-vessels, and infused the Ambrosial Nectar into them;
gharh bhaaday jin amrit paa-i-aa.

God`s Mind is pleased only by loving devotional worship.
paraym bhagat parabh man patee-aa-i-aa.

Reading and studying, one becomes confused, and suffers punishment.
parh parh bhooleh chotaa khaahi.
(This was my own fundamental mistake. I spent more time reading about the subject rather than putting in the actual effort. The more I read the more confused I became about what technique should one use. I was all over the place. Then I did sangat and the first thing I was told was forget everything you have learned and just learn to listen to the shabad. Put your diyaan in the GurMantar until your mind is dead. Everything else will happen on its own when the time is right. No eye straining, no nothing. Just relax and listen! Then I started reading Gurbani and it's saying exactly the same thing.)

By great cleverness, one is consigned to coming and going in reincarnation.
bahut si-aanap aavahi jaahi.

One who chants the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and eats the food of the Fear of God
naam japai bha-o bhojan khaa-ay.

becomes Gurmukh, the Lord`s servant, and remains absorbed in the Lord.
gurmukh sayvak rahay samaa-ay.

With Guru's grace I think I had a first experience of jaap entering the heart (wondering if this is what is meant by jaap in the hirda). With Guru's kirpa on most occasions the jaap travels between the Navel and my chest in an up and down motion as I breath. Was given bit of an extra push and it entered the heart literally on the left side. All of a sudden I could feel my heart pumping really strong as if I was having some kind of heart attack. The heart beat became totally synchronised with the jaap, to the point I couldn't recite jaap verbally anymore and became too aware of the heart pumping like it was going to explode. It wanted to speed up the jaap but I slowed my breathing down and the sensation began to reside.

I must admit the first time these new sensation takes place it can totally shake you because one has never experienced them before.

The sweetness of Amrit russ comes before opening of the dasam dwar. It's normal and happens when a person meditates for a long time. It can go away if a person leaves meditation. It's definitely not metaphorical.

btw, the ruhani satsang website is a radhasoami site. before i came into sikhi i read a fair bit from that site. a lot of the teachings are correct and a lot of them are wrong. i would advise that you stay away from that site. if you want more information than i recommend the katha and books of sant waryam singh ratwara sahib, and atam marag magazine, and katha of sant baldev singh ji balandpuri. any mahapurkhs katha is helpful really, but these tend to focus more on naam than most.

no i had started to meditate on chakras before i started doing simran now i just follow the sound on my eyebrow center.In my experience mind cannot be kept quiet without simran and just concentrating on chakras...for me now simran is everything...........everything else is false

edit- 3rd eye continues to open until one can see the presence of Nirankar everywhere. Inside and out. Eyes closed and eyes open.

My simran has taken a battering this past week. Can't seem to knuckle down and focus. Think this was the reminder I needed...

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji says on Ang 456

Ang 456

Make the effort, O very fortunate ones, and meditate on the Lord, the Lord King.
udam karahu vadbhaageeho simrahu har har raa-ay.

O Nanak, remembering Him in meditation, you shall obtain total peace, and your pains and troubles and doubts shall depart.
naanak jis simrat sabh sukh hoveh dookh darad bharam jaa-ay.

Chant the Naam, the Name of the Lord of the Universe; don`t be lazy.
naam japat gobind nah alsaa-ee-ai.

With each and every breath, worship the Lord in adoration; meditate on the Lord God in your mind and with your mouth. (I think the reference to man mukhee refers to the mouth of the mind i.e. internally with sass sass)
saas saas araaDh har har Dhi-aa-ay so parabh man mukhee.

Prays Nanak: may I meditate on the Lord`s lotus feet, and not be lazy in chanting the Naam, the Name of the Lord of the Universe. ||1||
naanak pa-i-ampai charan jampai naam japat gobind nah alsaa-ee-ai. ||1||

The Purifier of sinners is the Naam, the Pure Name of the Immaculate Lord.
paavan patit puneet naam niranjanaa.

By the healing ointment of the Guru`s spiritual wisdom, one meets the Immaculate Lord God, who is totally pervading the water, the land and the sky.
gur gi-aan anjan parabh niranjan jal thal mahee-al poori-aa.

Wherever the Saints worship the Lord in adoration, there He is revealed.
jah jah sant araaDheh tah tah paragtaa-i-aa.

God blends Himself with His devotees in His natural way, and resolves their affairs.
parabh aap lee-ay samaa-ay sahj subhaa-ay bhagat kaaraj saari-aa.

In the ecstasy of the Lord`s Praises, they obtain supreme joy, and forget all their sorrows.
aanand har jas mahaa mangal sarab dookh visaari-aa.

Ang 458

The brilliant flash of the One Lord is revealed to them - they behold Him in the ten directions.
chamatkaar pargaas dah dis ayk tah daristaa-i-aa.

Prays Nanak, I meditate on the Lord`s lotus feet; the Lord is the Lover of His devotees; this is His natural way.
naanak pa-i-ampai charan jampai bhagat vachhal har birad aap banaa-i-aa.