BhagatSingh

Precisely why Siharis should be pronounced as they are critical to the arths of Gurbani.

Both answers are partly correct and partly incorrect.
It is true to say that Guru Sahibs used mantras and procreated without having sex. It is also true to say that Guru Sahibs had sex to create children.
But
What is not being understood here is how the absorption in a mantra can change the nature of sexual activity or indeed any activity (Karm).
The is known as the concept of Nish-Karm or Neh-Karm.
The idea is that your soul is like clay and any activity (karm) you perform leaves an imprint on soul. This imprint is known as Sanskar. So doing an activity without leaving imprints, is known as Nishkarm, or Nehkarm ਨਿਹਕਰਮ
In this way the actions you perform reduce suffering, instead of causing suffering. They become pure, they become good because they minimize the suffering that is produced.
There are many ways to perform activities like this.
I talked about this concept in this thread quoted below about - Krishan ji being celibate after having sexual intercourse.
And I spoke about it without giving any name to it, about the idea of doing activities without seeking fruits. That is essentialy Nishkarm.

 
 
Guru Arjun Dev ji says to his Sikhs and sets a standard for who they should strive to be. He says -

ਬੈਸਨੋ ਸੋ ਜਿਸੁ ਊਪਰਿ ਸੁਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ ॥
Those are Vaishnavs with whom Vishnu (nirankar) is pleased.

ਬਿਸਨ ਕੀ ਮਾਇਆ ਤੇ ਹੋਇ ਭਿੰਨ ॥
He stands apart from the Maya that is created by Vishnu.
ਕਰਮ ਕਰਤ ਹੋਵੈ ਨਿਹਕਰਮ ॥
They act without acting. They perform karma while being non-karma (Nishkarm/nehkarma).

ਤਿਸੁ ਬੈਸਨੋ ਕਾ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਧਰਮ ॥
The Vaishnava who does this is doing pure Dharm.

So we gotta act without acting? Perform karma without performing karma? What is he talking about???
Guru Sahib explains this -

ਕਾਹੂ ਫਲ ਕੀ ਇਛਾ ਨਹੀ ਬਾਛੈ ॥
Such a Vaishnav, does not desire for the fruits of his actions.

ਕੇਵਲ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੀਰਤਨ ਸੰਗਿ ਰਾਚੈ ॥
He is attached to Bhagti and Kirtan, of worship and singing praises.

ਮਨ ਤਨ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਸਿਮਰਨ ਗੋਪਾਲ ॥
He meditates on Vishnu, inside his mind and body.

ਸਭ ਊਪਰਿ ਹੋਵਤ ਕਿਰਪਾਲ ॥
He is kind to everyone.

ਆਪਿ ਦ੍ਰਿੜੈ ਅਵਰਹ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪਾਵੈ ॥
He strengthens the power of Naam ("mantar technology"), that is meditation, inside himself and inspires others to chant as well and become more meditative.

ਨਾਨਕ ਓਹੁ ਬੈਸਨੋ ਪਰਮ ਗਤਿ ਪਾਵੈ ॥੨॥
Guru Arjun Dev ji says, such a Vaishnav, such a Sikh, obtains the Supreme State.
 
The idea that Guru Sahibs put forth is that your karma is essentially eliminated if you diminish your Ahankar, when you do not seek fruits of your actions, remaining absorbed in meditation.
Performing actions in the zone.
In this manner, the action you perform becomes pure. If eliminates suffering instead of causing suffering.
So the idea that Guru Sahibs didn't have sex to procreate is correct because they did not seek fruits of their sexual intercourse. They remained fully absorbed in mantar sadhana, in the home of their Supreme Self. Their ahankar was diminished. ਕਰਮ ਕਰਤ ਹੋਵੈ ਨਿਹਕਰਮ ॥ They were being Nishkarm while having sexual intercourse.
In Bhagvad Gita, this process is also explained, through which one becomes Nishkarma. The process came to be known as Karma Yoga. To unite with the Supreme Being, through action/non-action.
Btw
I am not just saying stuff I have read. I am speaking about this from my own experience as well. This can be done by anyone provided they are fully determined to do it... err I mean to non-do it. ;)

They will fall in to the hands of criminals regardless of whether they are banned or not.
But whether or not they fall into the hands of good, law-abiding people, that is the question.
If you ban guns, good people will not have access to them.
And if good people cannot get access to them, they cannot protect themselves from the criminals who will have them... and from the government who will also have them.
Remember when you prevent the people of a nation, from getting access to guns, while simultaneously giving government access to guns, all you are doing is making the government stronger.
If the government decides to abuse that power, if it turns tyrannical and oppresses its people, then the people stand no chance against it.
When this happened to the Sikh community back in 1600s, when the government tortured Guru Arjun Dev ji, even though he was innocent, then Guru Hari Gobind ji relied on weapons to fight the government.
So a Sikh asking for weapons to be banned does not know his own history.

ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ - ਆਰਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਕਰਨ ਤੇ
" ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇਤਨੀ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ ਮੁੱਕਣ ਵਿਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਉਂਦੀ]. "
The count is so high that if you patiently count it, it won't come to an end.
All of those definitions can be pulled out of the root word "patience".
Patience is a natural state, inner nature, it's an effortless state, it's peaceful, restful, it is the way of being. Problem with the word patience is that people equate patience to the lid of a pressure cooker. They think it's something you lose as the pressure builds up. Lol

" ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇਤਨੀ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ ਮੁੱਕਣ ਵਿਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਉਂਦੀ]. "
Basically he is saying it is countless. That when you start counting them, your counting won't come to an end.

" ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇਤਨੀ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ ਮੁੱਕਣ ਵਿਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਉਂਦੀ]. "
Basically he is saying it is countless. That when you start counting them, your counting won't come to an end.

ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ - ਆਰਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਕਰਨ ਤੇ
" ਗਿਣਤੀ ਇਤਨੀ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਸਹਿਜੇ ਕੀਤੇ ਮੁੱਕਣ ਵਿਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਉਂਦੀ]. "
The count is so high that if you patiently count it, it won't come to an end.
All of those definitions can be pulled out of the root word "patience".
Patience is a natural state, inner nature, it's an effortless state, it's peaceful, restful, it is the way of being. Problem with the word patience is that people equate patience to the lid of a pressure cooker. They think it's something you lose as the pressure builds up. Lol

^
All emotions become transformed into higher levels, more purified levels.
I have noticed this.
The way to do it is to feel that emotion in the presence of God.
So first work on feeling the presence of God around you and then whenever you feel that emotion coming, then bring the presence of God there and feel that emotion as clearly and purely as possible.
You may notice after a while of doing this that that emotion has started transforming.
It's quality is changing. It's becoming a higher quality emotion.

Suraj Prakash

Suraj Prakash

I don't why you equate jantar, tantar, mantar with dark forces.

Jantar - instrument
Tantar - method
Mantar - incantation

There is nothing inherently dark about those.

OMG you watched Ancient Aliens! Lol

 
But yeah, Brahma, Indra, Shiv, Krishna are not aliens, they are names of Parmatma. These are four different religions. Shiv ji and Krishan ji aren't actually blue. Krishan ji is dark-skinned (which has blue hues) and Shiv ji has traditionally been represented with a body smeared with ashes (which are white), in his puratan paintings.
Vishnu ji was always depicted as blue however.

Chaz
My understanding is that both ways come in handy in different situations.

In some situations I need to push myself into tough situation and learn deal with them.
In other situations I leave it to Hari to prepare me for any upcoming challenges.

I practice both.

In Pauri 38 of Jap ji, Guru Nanak Dev ji describes the advanced meditation process using the analogy of a goldsmith. He describes the process as if it were being performed with a bunch of tools.

We might read it often, perhaps in the nitnem, but do we really understand what he is talking about?
Hopefully this thread will help you to understand this part of Guru Granth Sahib, and will help to put it on the map for your own inner journey.
Let's get started -
ਜਤੁ ਪਾਹਾਰਾ ਧੀਰਜੁ ਸੁਨਿਆਰੁ ॥
(ਜਤੁ) Ability to Withdraw the Five Senses from the world is the (ਪਾਹਾਰਾ) Workshop.
(ਧੀਰਜੁ) Patience is the (ਸੁਨਿਆਰੁ) Goldsmith.

ਅਹਰਣਿ ਮਤਿ ਵੇਦੁ ਹਥੀਆਰੁ ॥
(ਮਤਿ) Intellligence is the (ਅਹਰਣਿ) Anvil.
(ਵੇਦੁ) Vedas - listening to spiritual texts - is the (ਹਥੀਆਰੁ) Hammer.

ਭਉ ਖਲਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਤਪ ਤਾਉ ॥
Blow through the (ਖਲਾ) Pipe (ਭਉ ) the Fear of God, and increase the heat of the (ਅਗਨਿ) Fire.
This is called (ਤਪ) Tapasaya.

ਭਾਂਡਾ ਭਾਉ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਤਿਤੁ ਢਾਲਿ ॥ ਘੜੀਐ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚੀ ਟਕਸਾਲ ॥
In the (ਭਾਂਡਾ) container of (ਭਾਉ) Love - your heart - (ਤਿਤੁ ਢਾਲਿ) pour in the molten gold - (ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ) Amrit.

Amrit needs a bit of an elaboration here because there is no substitute word in English. Amrit means A - non, Mrityu - Death. It means non-death, non-dying. It is referring to the subjective, the qualitative state of eternity.

Imagine eternity not as a quantitative state, not as in - "How many years?" - that's quantity.
But rather as a qualitative state, as in - "How long is 1 minute?" - that's quality.

The word Boredom comes somewhat close. For example, when you are bored in class, the clock seems to be ticking a lot slower. So Amrit is like a sweet, joyful boredom. The clock ticks slower, as if it were eternity.


ਘੜੀਐ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚੀ ਟਕਸਾਲ ॥
(Take this Amrit and pour it into the mould of Love) and mint the Gold coins of your guru's words - his or her instructions.

ਜਿਨ ਕਉ ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰਮੁ ਤਿਨ ਕਾਰ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਦਰੀ ਨਦਰਿ ਨਿਹਾਲ ॥੩੮॥
Those who are looked upon kindly by their guru, they find out how to do this method. And when they apply the method, they are liberated.
 
It's just mind-blowing how he describes it using hammers and stuff!

When you withdraw your senses from world, now you have your inner space, this is your workshop.
If you are not patient, you will break/leave this space. So you have to be patient to maintain state in order to progress.

Your intelligence is what the spiritual texts must strike on. Your soul becomes the basis for the spiritual texts to have their effect on you. You need to constantly hit your intelligence with spiritual texts in order to make something out of it.

You need to have a Fear of God, because this will make your fire hot. The fire he is referring to is alertness/consciousness. The fear of God, as it increases, is like increasing alertness.

Why is there fear of God?

When you are becoming more and more conscious, the more conscious you become the more God comes in. When more God comes in to you, you will become frightened, because you will now start dying. Your haumai/ego will start dying the natural response of your ego to death is of fear.

So when you ego is dying it becomes fearful, and the more fear there is, the better the flame of consciousness.

But there can't just be fear because then you'd want to run away. There has to be love for this type of state, otherwise you will be out of there quickly. Your workshop will close down if you are afraid to go in so there must be love, there must attraction towards this process, and towards God so that you stay in and continue hammering away.
So in that love, pour in eternity, that is, maintain this state for long period of time, and use the guru's instructions to stay there and experience God, and let him in fully.

Curiosity can make the mind wander. But without curiosity who has ever found God?

Curiosity is good, you just need to give it a dose of discipline.

Whatever you do in life, do it with a purpose, put your full attention into it and fully embody that activity with every cell in your body.

Suppose you chant Waheguru naam, then you chant with the purpose of going deep into it, you put your full attention towards it, and embody the sounds and meanings of Waheguru naam. You feel those vibrations, you hear those sounds and see many eyes, each sensation drives you deeper and deeper in the essence of Waheguru naam.

Practice it and apply that to all activities in life, and you will notice a big difference in your well-being.

Sure thing.
Basically any activity of the mind is pulling the mind into the direction of the activity. This takes the mind out of its natural state (sehaj avastha, ਸਹਜ ਅਵਸਥਾ) and take it into other things.
The five categories of mind activity are - 1. (ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣ) Perception 2. (ਵਿਪਰ੍ਯ੍ਯ) Intellect 3. (ਵਿਕਲਪ) Imagination 4. (ਨਿਦ੍ਰਾ) Sleep 5. (ਸਮ੍ਰਤਯਃ) Memory
These cause a wandering mind, which leads to suffering. Enlightenment comes when the mind stops wandering and the mind begins to rest in its natural state (consciously).
 
So you understand how perception (eyes, ears, etc), imagination (dreaming, future) and memory (past recollections) take the mind away from its natural state.
 
Sleep and Intellect also do the same.
By Intellect we mean knowledge (idealized knowledge) that is stored in the mind. This knowledge and experience takes your consciousness away from the reality of what is. Because in order for us to make sense of reality we must create structures/ models in the mind that help us understand it.
We create models of the world in our mind, in order to make sense of reality. However those models themselves are not reality. The models are idealizations of reality, not reality itself.
So when you see reality through those models, then they take you away from your natural state.
 
During deep sleep you become unconscious, you have no feeling, no concept of any thing. You sink into darkness of sleep. You cannot come to see your natural state if you become unconscious. In order to see your natural state, you must remain conscious.
Thus sleep takes your mind away from your natural form.

Well it's simple. If you are trying to reduce distraction as much as possible then you have to recognize the amount of distraction is there when you are receiving information from the five senses.

Remember Patanjali's sutra?
योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥
ਯੋਗਸ਼ਚਿੱਤਵ੍ਰੱਤਿਨਿਰੋਧਃ [[੨]]
[[2]] (ਯੋਗ) Enlightenment comes when the (ਵ੍ਰੱਤਿ) wandering of (ਸ਼ਚਿੱਤ) consciousness (ਨਿਰੋਧਃ) stops.
तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेवस्थानम् ॥३॥
ਤਦਾ ਦ੍ਰਸ਼ਟੁਃ ਸ੍ਵਰੂਪੇਵਸਥਾਨਮ੍ [[੩]]
[[3]] (ਤਦਾ) Then (ਦ੍ਰਸ਼ਟੁਃ) consciousness (ਸਥਾਨਮ੍) comes to dwell in its (ਸ੍ਵਰੂਪੇਵ) own form.


Your mind wanders when it receives information from the five senses, which form your perception.

Try to stay with your conscious form and be still and you will notice, little sounds from the outside environment will tug you away from your own form.
It's as if your attention is attached to external stimulus with a rope and any external stimulus tugs at the rope.

That tugging is called wandering or distraction and Patanjali says that there are 5 ways your mind wanders.

प्रमाण विपर्यय विकल्प निद्रा स्मृतयः ॥६॥
ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣ ਵਿਪਰ੍ਯ੍ਯ ਵਿਕਲਪ ਨਿਦ੍ਰਾ ਸਮ੍ਰਤਯਃ [[੬]]
[[6]] 1. (ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣ) Perception 2. (ਵਿਪਰ੍ਯ੍ਯ) Intellect 3. (ਵਿਕਲਪ) Imagination 4. (ਨਿਦ੍ਰਾ) Sleep 5. (ਸਮ੍ਰਤਯਃ) Memory

...and you need to tackle all of them.

I think we have a different perspective on this. I agree with the overall spirit of the post. However, I thought I'd clarify a few things that I think you are over-looking.
While I think breath exercise is helpful in achieving states of meditation, I don't think the pauri is talking about breathing exercise.

ਭਉ ਖਲਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਤਪ ਤਾਉ ॥
ਭਉ ਖਲਾ means you pump up your fear state and the fear state causes the fire to burn hot. The fear causes the ਤਪ, tapas.

Tapas does not come from using stomach and lungs.
Tapas comes from single pointed focus.
And then it rises when Hari comes in, causing the pumping of the fear state and causes even higher states of dhyan.
This is the key.

Where we differ is that you want to associate the breath exercise with this pauri. Whereas I don't think the pauri is referring to breath exercise.

I think the pauri is talking entirely about what is happening in the field of awareness. It is not referring to the body, it is only talking about your field of awareness.
 
Yep and all takes place in the field of awareness. There is an effect on the body but this pauri is not talking about that.
 
Where it says that amrit cools agni, the agni is referring to desire.
Amrit is an anti-dote to our desires.

The basic human desire is to seek stimulus.

In any given moment the tendency of the mind is to seek out stimulus. It won't sit still.
Constant distractions, seeking the next thing, one after another without taking a break, "what is next thing? what is next thing?"
This takes us out of the eternal moment - amrit.

Desire = seeking stimulus
Boredom = state of no stimulus

Desire is a response of the mind to run away from boredom.

People are bored but they don't want to be. They are constantly chasing after the next stimulus so they don't have to face their boredom.

But boredom must be faced!
 
Body crucible... I get what you are saying.

However 
ਭਾਂਡਾ ਭਾਉ  ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਤਿਤੁ ਢਾਲਿ - in the container of love pour in the amrit

So the amrit has to be in a mental state of love.

Why is Guru Sahib saying that?

You have to understand that Amrit is referring to a state of boredom.
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਪੀਵਹੁ ਸਦਾ ਚਿਰੁ ਜੀਵਹੁ
Guru sahib says, drink amrit and live forever. This is moment by moment. This is not a quantitative lengthening of time, this is a subjective lengthening of time.

Anyone who has sat through the last 5 minutes of a presentation or class and felt like the clock was moving very slowly, has just experienced amrit.

Had they been in love with that state, they would have been minting coins right there and then! 
But they suffered through those moments because they were not in love with amrit that was given to them. They did not see the value of it.
 
People do not realize the value of being bored. They are constantly seeking the next stimulus. What is next? What is next?

Whereas the reality is, that amrit is in the boredom, if you can be ok with being bored.
 
PS I know they will be many who disagree with or doubt my assertion that amrit = boredom.
However this is crucial to make this connection.
It is important to realize that boredom is a good thing, and when you make that connection with boredom, something will click, it will drastically change how you view your moment to moment experience, in a good way!

In Pauri 38 of Jap ji, Guru Nanak Dev ji describes the advanced meditation process using the analogy of a goldsmith. He describes the process as if it were being performed with a bunch of tools.

We might read it often, perhaps in the nitnem, but do we really understand what he is talking about?
Hopefully this thread will help you to understand this part of Guru Granth Sahib, and will help to put it on the map for your own inner journey.
Let's get started -
ਜਤੁ ਪਾਹਾਰਾ ਧੀਰਜੁ ਸੁਨਿਆਰੁ ॥
(ਜਤੁ) Ability to Withdraw the Five Senses from the world is the (ਪਾਹਾਰਾ) Workshop.
(ਧੀਰਜੁ) Patience is the (ਸੁਨਿਆਰੁ) Goldsmith.

ਅਹਰਣਿ ਮਤਿ ਵੇਦੁ ਹਥੀਆਰੁ ॥
(ਮਤਿ) Intellligence is the (ਅਹਰਣਿ) Anvil.
(ਵੇਦੁ) Vedas - listening to spiritual texts - is the (ਹਥੀਆਰੁ) Hammer.

ਭਉ ਖਲਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਤਪ ਤਾਉ ॥
Blow through the (ਖਲਾ) Pipe (ਭਉ ) the Fear of God, and increase the heat of the (ਅਗਨਿ) Fire.
This is called (ਤਪ) Tapasaya.

ਭਾਂਡਾ ਭਾਉ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਤਿਤੁ ਢਾਲਿ ॥ ਘੜੀਐ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚੀ ਟਕਸਾਲ ॥
In the (ਭਾਂਡਾ) container of (ਭਾਉ) Love - your heart - (ਤਿਤੁ ਢਾਲਿ) pour in the molten gold - (ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ) Amrit.

Amrit needs a bit of an elaboration here because there is no substitute word in English. Amrit means A - non, Mrityu - Death. It means non-death, non-dying. It is referring to the subjective, the qualitative state of eternity.

Imagine eternity not as a quantitative state, not as in - "How many years?" - that's quantity.
But rather as a qualitative state, as in - "How long is 1 minute?" - that's quality.

The word Boredom comes somewhat close. For example, when you are bored in class, the clock seems to be ticking a lot slower. So Amrit is like a sweet, joyful boredom. The clock ticks slower, as if it were eternity.


ਘੜੀਐ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚੀ ਟਕਸਾਲ ॥
(Take this Amrit and pour it into the mould of Love) and mint the Gold coins of your guru's words - his or her instructions.

ਜਿਨ ਕਉ ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰਮੁ ਤਿਨ ਕਾਰ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਦਰੀ ਨਦਰਿ ਨਿਹਾਲ ॥੩੮॥
Those who are looked upon kindly by their guru, they find out how to do this method. And when they apply the method, they are liberated.
 
It's just mind-blowing how he describes it using hammers and stuff!

When you withdraw your senses from world, now you have your inner space, this is your workshop.
If you are not patient, you will break/leave this space. So you have to be patient to maintain state in order to progress.

Your intelligence is what the spiritual texts must strike on. Your soul becomes the basis for the spiritual texts to have their effect on you. You need to constantly hit your intelligence with spiritual texts in order to make something out of it.

You need to have a Fear of God, because this will make your fire hot. The fire he is referring to is alertness/consciousness. The fear of God, as it increases, is like increasing alertness.

Why is there fear of God?

When you are becoming more and more conscious, the more conscious you become the more God comes in. When more God comes in to you, you will become frightened, because you will now start dying. Your haumai/ego will start dying the natural response of your ego to death is of fear.

So when you ego is dying it becomes fearful, and the more fear there is, the better the flame of consciousness.

But there can't just be fear because then you'd want to run away. There has to be love for this type of state, otherwise you will be out of there quickly. Your workshop will close down if you are afraid to go in so there must be love, there must attraction towards this process, and towards God so that you stay in and continue hammering away.
So in that love, pour in eternity, that is, maintain this state for long period of time, and use the guru's instructions to stay there and experience God, and let him in fully.

It does.
That magic power is known as meditation.
Chaupai Sahib -
Sunai moord chit laye chaturta avaee.
Listening to this Chaupai, the ignorant will become intelligent.
One of the best ways to raise your IQ is to meditate, learn to focus and master your attention.
Meditate on this shabad from Sukhmani Sahib -
Prabh kai Simarani Riddhi Siddhi Nau Nidhi.
Prabh kai Simarani Gyan Dhyan Tatua Buddhi.
Simarani means "In Simaran" - in Remembrance.
In Remembrance of God, is the Spiritual treasures (Riddhi Siddhi) and Material treasures (Nau Niddhi).
In Remembrance of God, is Knowledge (Gyan), Meditation (Dhyan), Essence (Tatua) and Intelligence (Buddhi).

Sat
The Trikutee and the Third Eye Chakra are the same thing. Dasam Duar and Crown Chakra are teh same thing.

Sat
What may help is if you concentrate and clarify the experience. For example, you can clarify the heart chakra by determining its true form through concentration, determining it's boundaries, it's form, it's composition. This fully opens up the chakra. If there are negative thoughts, you would do the same. As the thought arises you pay close attention and feel the effects on the thought on yourself. This will often neutralize the thought and its effects. If there is pain in the body, you do the same. You concentrate and clarify by paying attention to the pain, it's location in the body, it's boundaries become aware of areas of the body are in pain, and the areas that aren't and clarifying that further. This alleviates teh suffering caused by pain.

The same principle can be applied to any experience even sweetness in the mouth. Waheguru may not be the sweet taste but he can certainly be found in it.

PS If the taste is bugging you too much then you can also stop meditating until it dissipates.

Nope nothing visual or auditory for me. Just blackness of the eyes and silence of the room. I am experiencing sensations down my spine. If there are Chakras I think this might be it. I can somewhat sense things in my pelvic region, my stomach region is active, my chest region becomes pretty active (and heart starts pumping or I notice it more), my throat becomes very tight and lots of pressure there. My forehead is the most activ, it feels like something is applying a lot of pressure there. And then I have these tingling sensations at the top of my head, sometimes there is pressure. Body also heats up a bit. Becomes more than relaxed. But at the time time becomes full of energy and sometimes start shivering and shaking.



My experience of the Anhat (unstruck) is blissful silence. To call it silence does not do it justice.


Veera just seeing if we can compare notes if there was something common in our experience. I haven't had the sounds and stuff that you have experienced.

You mean mata ji.
Gurpreet Kaur
Sare bolo!
Zor se bolo!

Mala is an ancient device for keeping track of time (amongst other things).
In Guru Granth sahib, you will never hear Guru Sahibs say "meditate for 20 minutes" or "24 hours" or "meditate around the clock".
There were no clocks.
Their unit of measuring time was breath "meditate Shwas Giraas" meditate with every breath and every swallow, which translates to "meditate all the time".
Their unit of measuring time was the positioning of the sun "meditate Atth peher", which translated to "meditate 24 hours" or "meditate around the clock"
This is how tehy said to meditate all the time.
So what about specific amounts of time like "meditate for 20 minutes". Well that is done with a Mala. And it's a rough unit of measurement. It's your own personal unit of measurement.
Suppose - When you count on a mala, you can see that if you do 101 Malas that it goes from afternoon to evening, (roughly 3 hours in modern age).
So when you sit down with your eyes closed and going into a state of being, which is a state where you cannot keep track of time. Then you can rely on your Mala. You can do 101 Malas and you will know only 3 hours will pass by. 
You can focus on maintaining state, instead of worrying about time.
Can you imagine if you sit down to attempt samadhi and the whole day goes by because there are no clocks or alarms to tell you, you've been in smadhi for far too long? You will miss the day's work and all the chores you need to do.

Do you know those saints who went into Samadhi for days? Some even went into samadhi until their death and became fossilized!
Can a Grihasti banda afford to go through that?
That's the functional and practical aspect of having a mala. It acts like a timer, like an alarm clock.