sarabatam

Im actually trying to get into this field.
 
What i noticed is that a lot of our desis sre dealing with problems such as bipolar, depression, anxiety issues etc. But the thing is that our desis are too scared to seek out help. Its such a stigma for our desis.

Welcome to our forum. Hope you enjoy your stay. Excellent idea. Baru sahib is highly rated Sikh school in india. You can alternatively explore some local Sikh school as well in Brampton and Mississauga for example Khalsa school Malton and Gobind sarvar school in Brampton.

Akal Academy schools are highly rated and the one at Baru Sahib is the oldest and most well known. Weather wise, Baru Sahib (near Simla) is also very good. Best of luck with his admission process

ਅਪਰੋਖ - means perceivable. ਪਰੋਖ is its opposite. These terms are used as adjectives for Gyan too, i.e. Aprokh and Prokh Gyan.
 
Bhul chuk maaf

I am a single mother from Ontario who had just been accepted into a four year bachelor of science Nursing degree program that starts next June  and I was wondering if I should let my 7 year old son enroll in the Akal Academy at Baru Sahib next year? His best friend is a Sikh (my son is of christian background) of the same age and his parents plan to enroll him next year and my son wants to join him. Any suggestions?

Sehaj could mean unshakable. Therefore,
By listening to Gurbani, one will attain unshakable concentration/samadhi. This unshakable state will not be affected, even if the body is cut limb by limb (Shaheed Baba Mani Singh jee), or if the body is cut into two halves (Shaheed Bhai Mati Das jee), etc.
Sehaj could mean habit. Therefore,
Making the act of listening to Gurbani as a habit will ensure that a person attains equilibrium poise.
 
Bhul chuk maaf

If one listens to Gurbani in a peaceful environment, then that person will be able to concentrate better on it.
If one listens to Gurbani with a peaceful (calm and composed) mind, then that person will be able to concentrate better on it.
Sehaj can mean Gyan too. Therefore,
If one concentrates on Gurbani with Gyan, then that person will be able to listen to the various sounds (Anhat Naads) present within the body.
If one concentrates on Gurbani with Gyan, then that person will be able to listen to the Anhad Naad (voice/sound of Waheguru) within the body.
 
Bhul chuk maaf

Since we are at it at such a insightful topic, can someone share their thoughts on 
Sunye Laigee Sehaj Dhyan ||
I look at the above gurbani pankiti as - glimpse or abidance in sehaj avastha-equipoise equilibrium ease (sehaj) while deep listening in quietude.
Your thoughts?
 
 

Just wondering if there any sikh psychologist on this forum, if so,  tell us about your experience being psychologist- what are some of cases and crisis situations you have to deal with in daily life? what are common issues people have?
How do you incorporate sikhi teaching into your daily profession?

The suniyai lines follow on from the gaviah lines about who sings and does sift salah of akaal purakh..  These are the 1st "gavieh" lines and refer to sift salah on our world here.
The suniyai is telling us about ALL that listen to the Primal shabad, the Ik-ong. . Refers to this the planet, the skies, the stars in fact the whole of consciousness hears this primal shabad. YES, it will be heard i space with sukham ears
Later in  japji, the gavieh lines come again, but are referring to all those "mannai" (chosen faithful ones), th=tand at sing outside the darbar of Akaal purakh. VERY IMPORTANT to understand this because the same lines are repeated exactly in so dar rag asa of rehiras for the evening.  There is another important reason why the same so dar keha and gavai tudhn  pangtees need to be recited in the evening.  
 
 

Kavi Santokh Singh gives a plurality of meanings to the suniai lines, - the first being a praise of the art of listening. By listening (to peoplw with wisdoom and knowledge), the siddhs, peers, sur etc attained their high status. by listening to people of knowledge you aquire knowledge about the planets, solar systems etc.. So it has more of a secular tone to it - listen to people with knowledge.. However, the last meaning is given as specifically as listening to the name of God , hence a more of a spiritual meaning, which is also the one given by the normal english translation, Faridkot teeka (ਅਬ ਚਾਰ ਪੌੜੀਆਂ ਮੈਂ ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਨਾਮ ਦੇ ਸੁਣਨੇ ਦਾ ਮਹਾਤਮੁ ਕਥਨ ਕਰਤੇ ਹੈਂ), Sahib Singh teeka and Lucky's analysis above.

This gets a little too confusing with different subdivisions. 
I need some help making some sort of "dummy's guide to mukhti"
in gurbani, i note two different kinds of mukhti. One mukhti is from lakh chaurasi. This means that one goes to any of the attained baikhunt or devlok heavens.  They are out of lakh chaurasi cycle but cannot necessarily move in between those heavens. There karam blueprint is still tied and they would have to take human janam to bhog those karams. However, they CAN do this by choice and won't have to go through lakh chaurasi.   
The other mukhti is what i always thought of as kaival mukhti. Here one goes completley back in reverse to nirankar. No identiry or ego remains and your chit(consciousness) completely dissiipates into Nirankar as he was when in primal smadhi before Ong-kar.  Very great avataars of God, can go back in reverse in such a rapid manner that they can dissolve their full 5 elements back into consciousness of maya at will whilst on earth.  This is how Guru Nanak ji, Guru Gobind Singh ji,  Buddha, Jesus and probably more; ALL vanished with just leaving their cloaks behind. The physical bodies (5 tat) merged back into 5 tat of maya at instant and by will. They became nirankar immediately.  Remembering that Nirankar is not sargun or nirgun either, but is what exists behind the consciousness(chit).
 
I aim to get to grips with this topic because it gets too confusing for me with the other definitions. Somehow, i felt that the house of nanak taught us not to get wrapped up with heavens and in saroopya, sampiya muktees etc..  My impression was that we should just focus on direct Nirankar kaival mukti using nanak naam jahaz hai for immediate transformation.  Correct me if i'm wrong or if i've had the wrong end of the stick all this time. But every time I try and start learning the mukhtis, my mind forces me to switch off and says just focus on absolute?  This is why i suggested a dummy's guide may be a good idea for me to digest.
 
 

Good question. I've looked into this myself some time ago.
Before I explain my understanding,  I want to mention that the above brief description of "naam ras" is my grasp of the term as per gurbani. It's not something made up willy nilly. Some of it has been confirmed with more experienced gurmukhs for purposes of reassurance.
This naam ras/naam amrit is different from the initial ras that abyasee experiences with saas saas. That first one is a "physical taste", akin to approval from Waheguru confirming that bhaghti will bear fruit if continued in gurmat.
Most of my explanations like the one above, are from practice and learning directly from gurbani.  Simran, abyaas, self inspect, introspect, check with gurbani, confirm with gurbani and develop further. This is the approach that I now use.
 
Answering your question,...."Whats the difference atam ras and naam ras? "
In short, Naam ras is a major development stage filled with many levels and stages within itself.  There's explanations as per sukhsham sareer, physical sareer, yoga science, and more importantly; multiple nishanees of naam being pargat. One's physical perceptions will have changes, their subtle perceptions will have different changes, and on the other hand, more nadi channels will be opening and activating as the kundalini rises further.  Things like heart lotus opening(Hirda charan kamal), seeing the unseen with the hidden eyes, seeing brahm everywhere and much much more. It's as if your multiple body layers start awakening within themselves.
This stage of naam ras is ongoing in terms of development and rising and I don't know when or if it stops.
Atam ras on the other hand is AFTER Naam ras.  This is what i make from gurbani.
At Naam ras, one experiences and learns from a lot of akath katha(unspoken inner speech), whereas with ATAM RAS, one will be recieving brahmgyan and will attain brahmgyan avastha.
 
In gurbani, there are 3 main references for ATAM RAS that I've come across and I'm aware there are some in dasam granth and sarbloh granth. But I am sticking to gurbani for now because the sarbloh granth description goes on slight tangent or I just don't get it yet.
 
In gurbani,  1st is on ang 252
ਆਤਮ ਰਸੁ ਜਿਹ ਜਾਨਿਆ ਹਰਿ ਰੰਗ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਣੁ ॥ 
Āṯam ras jih jāni▫ā har rang sėhje māṇ. 
One who knows the taste of the Lord's sublime essence, intuitively enjoys the Lord's Love. 
ਨਾਨਕ ਧਨਿ ਧਨਿ ਧੰਨਿ ਜਨ ਆਏ ਤੇ ਪਰਵਾਣੁ ॥੧॥ 
Nānak ḏẖan ḏẖan ḏẖan jan ā▫e ṯe parvāṇ. ||1|| 
O Nanak, blessed, blessed, blessed are the Lord's humble servants; how fortunate is their coming into the world! ||1||
 
This is the ultimate prem and feeling of pure faith and hukam in heart. We may have only felt a 5-10% fraction of it and I reckon the absolute and utmost 100% could be the pure love when Guru Tegh Bahdaur ji, walks to shaheedi after Gobind Rai suggests Akaal purakhs hukam. s
In effect, at this stage, i would assume that atma is enshrined in the Paramatma and the gyan of brahm is known. "Tera kiya mithaah lagay" is at the absolute. If hukam tells premi to jump off mountain,  then there would be no hesitation and just pure love of 2 become 1....atma & paramatma become ONE.
 
2nd is on  ang1389 
ਗਾਵਹਿ ਇੰਦ੍ਰਾਦਿ ਭਗਤ ਪ੍ਰਹਿਲਾਦਿਕ ਆਤਮ ਰਸੁ ਜਿਨਿ ਜਾਣਿਓ ॥
Gāvahi inḏrāḏ bẖagaṯ par▫hilāḏik āṯam ras jin jāṇi▫o.
Indra and devotees like Prahlaad, who know the joy of the soul, sing of Him.
Very important to note that they are still "singing" of him, still ਗਾਵਹਿ, gurbani doesn't say that "they sang" whilst here. It says that they are singing NOW at the darbar of Nirankar.
 
3rd and last is from brahmgyanee ashthpadees sukhmani sahib...
ਆਤਮ ਰਸੁ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਚੀਨਾ ॥
Āṯam ras barahm gi▫ānī cẖīnā.
The God-conscious being knows the nature of the soul.
The brahmgyanees know the totality of the ocean (paramatma) and which droplet (atma) they are.
 
This is my limited explanation of Atam ras because i have no experience of it. Naam ras, I understand a little more,,.. But of course it's still narrow and limited as I face the continuous battles of maya like all of us .
I wont go into the sarbloh granth references of Atam ras. But it kind of implied that atam ras was prequisite for khalsa, wherea gurbani shows that atam ras->>brahmgyan. --->and brahmgyanee is above dharam(padaraths) and knows the the gyan of antarjami. Seeing as there is contradiction here, then I probably don't understand the depth somewhere, so can't comment further.

Good find, will take a look in depth shortly.

According to my understanding, suniya would be just listening to one intuitive awareness in stillness/ silence/quietness when mind is quiet in meditation

Whats the difference atam ras and naam ras? 

Just wondering if there any sikh psychologist on this forum, if so,  tell us about your experience being psychologist- what are some of cases and crisis situations you have to deal with in daily life? what are common issues people have?
How do you incorporate sikhi teaching into your daily profession?

A verse from Guru Jee, on the topic of the present thread.
 
ਹਰਿ ਜਪਿ ਲਾਹਾ ਅਗਲਾ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਹਰਿ ਮਨ ਮਾਹ ॥੪॥੨੩॥
Har Jap Laahaa Agalaa Nirabho Har Man Maah ||4||23||
Those who chant the Name of the Lord earn great profits; the Fearless Lord abides within their minds. ||4||23||
 
Raag Sri Raag
Guru Nanak Dev Maharaj

haha nice one,  yeah man. If you are married, just do it..thinking about it causes suffering, causes more desires-ensues more karma, the problem is wider society made sex so trivial, everyone is thinking about it more than doing it without thinking but in reality need for it is similar to eating, one eats food, becomes one with food the cycle continues, thats it not even more second is spend thinking about it.
Has anyone heard of someone taking rebirth either in literature or katha because  need of food? NO!!, sex is same thing, its biological need for humans, its not the sex causes karma/samsara-suffering/rebirth its just the desire for it/thoughts about it causes future wheel of suffering in birth and death.

This pure enlightened jot(knowledge/being/awareness) already exist in all of us, according to gurbani. Our mind have to quite/silence to experience it or abide it in and function through until it effort becomes effortless, until realization of that dawns.
ਗਉੜੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥ गउड़ी महला ५ ॥ Ga▫oṛī mėhlā 5. Gauree, Fifth Mehl:
ਅਗਮ ਰੂਪ ਕਾ ਮਨ ਮਹਿ ਥਾਨਾ ॥ अगम रूप का मन महि थाना ॥ Agam rūp kā man mėh thānā. The Lord of Unfathomable Form has His Place in the mind.     Ang-603 ਮਨ ਰੇ ਤ੍ਰੈ ਗੁਣ ਛੋਡਿ ਚਉਥੈ ਚਿਤੁ ਲਾਇ ॥ मन रे त्रै गुण छोडि चउथै चितु लाइ ॥ Man re ṯarai guṇ cẖẖod cẖa▫uthai cẖiṯ lā▫e. O mind, renounce the three qualities, and focus your consciousness on the fourth state.   ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਤੇਰੈ ਮਨਿ ਵਸੈ ਭਾਈ ਸਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਇ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ हरि जीउ तेरै मनि वसै भाई सदा हरि के गुण गाइ ॥ रहाउ ॥ Har jī▫o ṯerai man vasai bẖā▫ī saḏā har ke guṇ gā▫e. Rahā▫o. The Dear Lord abides in the mind, O Siblings of Destiny; ever sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. ||Pause||

Meditate and listen to the Name of the Lord, and give it to everyone. In this way, the filth of lifetimes of #karma# shall be removed and egotistical pride shall vanish from your mind. Sexual desire and anger shall not seduce you and greed will depart (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 135).
 
Lust, anger, egotism, jealousy and desires are eliminated by chanting the Name of Lord (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 1389).
 
Renounce sexual desire, anger, falsehood and slander; forsake maya and eliminate egotistical pride. Renounce lust and promiscuity, and give up emotional attachment. Only then shall you obtain the Immaculate Lord amidst the darkness of the world. Renounce selfishness, conceit and arrogant pride, and your love for your children and spouse. Abandon your thirsty hopes and desires, and embrace love for the Lord. O Nanak, the true one shall come to dwell in your mind. Through the True Word of Shabad, you shall be absorbed in the Name of Lord (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 141).
 
Sexual desire and anger are the wounds of the soul. The evil-minded ones forget the Naam, and then depart. True are the teachings of the true Guru. The body and mind are cooled and soothed by the touchstone of Truth. This is the true mark of wisdom: that one remains detached, like the water-lily, or the lotus on the water. Attuned to the Shabad, one becomes sweet, like the juice of sugarcane (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 152).
 
One who commits to Naam and sees this world as merely a temporary pasture. For him, lust and anger demolish like breaking a jar of poison (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 153).
 
Sexual desire, anger, greed and ego are eradicated in the Saadh Sangat (Company of the Holy), all sinful mistakes are washed away (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 194).
 
He washes outwardly but his mind is filthy inside; thus he loses his place in both worlds. Here, he is engrossed in sexual desire, anger and emotional attachment; hereafter, he shall sigh and weep (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 381).
 
Like the mad dog running around in all directions, the greedy person consumes everything, edible and non-edible alike. Engrossed in the intoxication of sexual desire and anger, people wander through reincarnation over and over again (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 50).
 
The world is drunk, engrossed in sexual desire, anger and egotism. Seek the sanctuary of the saints, and fall at their feet; your suffering and darkness shall be removed (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 51).
 
Engrossed in sexual desire, anger and egotism, one wanders around insane. When the messenger of death hits him on the head with his club, then he regrets and repents. Without the Perfect Divine Guru, one roams around like satan (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 708).
 
The compassionate perfect Guru has eradicated my doubts and fears. The horrific demons, unsatisfied sexual desire and unresolved anger have been totally destroyed (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 854).

How funny, i've been looking at these verses over and over again in the last couple of weeks. Funny I was also interested in these verses back in 2008.

atam chintan mangal- 
Nanak de kar hath..
From,.....
ਡੰਡਉਤਿ ਬੰਦਨ ਅਨਿਕ ਬਾਰ ਸਰਬ ਕਲਾ ਸਮਰਥ ॥ 
Dand▫uṯ banḏan anik bār sarab kalā samrath. 
I bow down, and fall to the ground in humble adoration, countless times, to the All-powerful Lord, who possesses all powers. 
ਡੋਲਨ ਤੇ ਰਾਖਹੁ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇ ਕਰਿ ਹਥ ॥੧॥ 
Dolan ṯe rākẖo parabẖū Nānak ḏe kar hath. ||1|| 
Please protect me, and save me from wandering, God. Reach out and give Nanak Your Hand. ||1|| 
 
Nanak de kar hath is the same as "put your hand in my hand,  and let me show you the way". This is giving  your "hand" (hand is the working doer for ego).
Give your atam and chit straight in to HIS hands, and he will take you where you need be.   Similar to "Mann tan tera, thanh vi tera" (Mind and body is yours and so is all my wealth).
It's not a question of contemplating in how to do this, but it's everything about the "mindset" and your "intentions"  The "intentions" should not be for peace, joy, sukh shaanti etc..  But you just give yourself and baliharey mind and soul. Whether this ends up in your death(shahedi) or gains for dharam,  it doesn't matter. Because his "bhaana is mithah" 
 

Yes, there is some overlap with this and understanding Four Padaraths.  Pal 07, actually made a reference in the other chaar padarath thread.

It may well exist in Sanatan Mat, and in Sikhi too. But a couple of points brother: It does not define the faith. It is not a fundemental of the faith. Nor is it an absolute necessity. And it certainly isn't a core teaching for those who choose grist jeevan.
As for the Christianity comments, those were in response to you saying that all types of sexual activity, as a whole, are an outright "sin"; an attitude which was prevelant in many Christian societies (and still is in some). This is partly one of the reasons why sex is viewed with such a liberal attitude in the west today. It being a "sin" simply isn't true for Sikhi.
Sexual repression can be dangerous, and can have damaging personal and social consequences.
I'm not denying celibacy as a concept. It has its advantages, but it is not for the masses. It is reserved for select individuals. Celibacy in marriage, as ridiculous as I think it may be, works for some and that's fine, but such teachings are not for widespread consumption as they do not apply to the majority and are not promoted in Sikhi as a must or even as something one should strive for.
To promote it as unquestionable doctrine is a complete misrepresentation of grist jeevan in Sikhi.
If, and when, a couple make the decision to live a life of married celibacy, then the info is out there for them, and if they are truly committed to it they shall find it as it's only intended for those who have voluntarily made such a choice.
My humble Namaskaar to the great Rishis and their Gyaan which still lives on today. But lets be real here, the chances of one becoming a Rishi in todays day and age, are extremely far and few between.
Those who practise celibacy, married or not, Rishis or not, practise it not because sex is a sin/bad/evil, but because it's not compatible with their preferred lifestyle. They see it a a hindrance to their specific goals, goals I might add, which the majority are not aiming for nor intend to.