Meditation – The Way to God
This post was updated and excerpted from an article originally Posted on May 31, 2019 by Siri Singh Sahib Ji & filed under 01-Guru Nanak, 11-Siri Guru Granth Sahib, Lectures-Siri Singh Sahib. Posted April 13, 2021 by Teachings of Yogi Bhajan & filed under Meditation
Meditation is self-healing. It gives self-respect, contentment and confidence.
Mudra: Men connect the thumb and middle fingertips of the right hand and the tip of the thumb and little finger of the left. Fingernails don’t touch. Women reverse the mudra (connect the thumb and little fingers of the right hand, and the thumb and middle fingers of the left hand.) With the shoulders hanging, hold the hands 7-8 inches apart, fingers pointing forward, a little in front of the center of the chest.
Eyes: The eyes are 1/10 open.
Breath: Breathe normally, relax every part of your body and meditate for 11 minutes.
To End: Inhale, make tight fists with both hands for a few moments, and relax.
Time: 11 minutes.
About this Meditation
This meditation is self-healing. Sit still, relax the body, and let the energy exchange. It gives self-respect, contentment and confidence.
It works to balance the brain by reinforcing your inner ability to always be in touch with your higher self.
Sometimes we feel our lives are normal. We make money, we have children, we are very happy. Then why meditate? Well, basically a man as a human being has no defense mechanism except a meditative mind. You have to be intuitive. You don’t have claws, you don’t have hooves, you can’t protect yourself. Cause will have an effect. And life is cause and effect. If you cannot perceive a danger, you cannot save yourself from it. And there’s no way within time and space that you can see danger without a meditative mind.
Guru Nanak in very simple words has said:
“Jinee naam djiaaiaa gai masakat ghaal Nanak te much ujale, ketee chootee naal.”
Those who dwell on the Name, and depart after putting in their efforts,
Shining are their faces and they save many others.
It requires masakat, hard labor. When I sometimes say there is no liberty without labor, that is exactly the analogy which my Guru has given. It is amasakat. It is not a child’s game. The company of the sadh sangat, the company of the holy, can give you initiative, it can kindle the meditative path in you. But people expect miracles to happen; that they will simply sit and will see God and Guru. I have talked to many, many people in my life who tell me that Guru Nanak came to them. I say, “He came only once?” Normally Guru Gobind Singh should be with you every moment, with every breath. That state of consciousness is Ang Sang Wahe Guru: with each limb of mine, with each fiber of mine, and with each breath of mine, God and Guru live. That is the initial state. It is the start.
The state of meditative mind is the initial equipment of the Khalsa. You cannot remain pure without an intuitive mind, that intensive caliber of your own in which you can see the Unseen, hear the Unheard, know the Unknown.
We can prove scientifically that our Guru is living. It is not a philosophy, though it is a complete philosophy; it is not a Ved, it is not a human being, though it is a surmounted, pure, vibratory human being. Even John said in the Bible, “In the beginning there was the Word, Word was with God, and Word was God.” Word is the highest value, and we the Sikhs worship Word. We do not worship a man. God is personal and impersonal. We do not worship duality. Let this be on record so that five thousand years from now we may not misunderstand what our Guru said about God.
It is true that the Mul Mantra has been spoken by Guru Nanak, and Guru was speaking it to the disciple. It is very simple. Guru said, “Ek Ong Kar” – you are One. Ek Ong – the One Creator. Kar – the Creation, which includes us. Therefore your destiny in this time and space is to rise above the time and space. Kartaa Purkh, Nirbhao, Nirvair – there are three bodies in you: the physical body, the mental body and the spiritual body. The spiritual body knows no fear, Nirbhao, Nirvair.Your mental body is what creates revenge or goes beyond revenge. Man is created in the image of God, Akaal Moorat – you are the very picture of God on both a micro and macro level. As God made us, so we are. Guru Gobind Singh gave us the rahit (the basic code of conduct) but Guru Nanak told us the most basic rahit, of all, Akaal Moorat, be as God made you.
We all talk about the Will of God; we all talk about the beauty of God. But we don’t believe in God, because we make-up. We believe in our own beauty. What hypocrites we are. It has reached the annoying point. We feel that if we trim our beard and color our hair we will look young and pretty. But we don’t understand, that is not Akaal Moorat.
Ajoonee – you are not born and you are not dead. You are you. This coming and going is time and space and the human being is above time and space.
Sai Bhang – by thy own grace. You have come to face the reality, to experience the reality. You are Sai Bhang. Why so? Why are you “by thy own grace?” Because: Gur Prasad. Gurbaanee is very complete.
And then, the most beautiful part, the part of all parts. There is a decree, a Hukam: Jap (meditate). If it is a Guru, then Guru must give a Gurmantra. Guru must give the direction, this is the faculty of the Guru. Instruction must be complete. Whereas the Guru explained the faculty of the human being in the image of God, Guru gives the faculty of the human being in the purity of the Khalsa. Then he gives the orders, too: Jap (meditate).
Aad sach, Jugaad sach, Haibee sach, Nanak hose bhee sach
You should meditate on, “Truth is, Truth was before time, Truth is now, and Nanak, Truth shall ever be.” And there’s nothing to be confused about except rituals, non-experience.
Why do we chant, “Sat Nam?” My Guru says, “Sat Nam.” This whole manifestation is the blessing of only one word: Sat Nam.
What is a Guru? Is Guru a man? No. The one who possesses or professes to be a Guru has to speak. And sarota, the disciple has to hear. And those words should be so computed that when he hears or she hears, it should change the consciousness.
What we have got is a very living Guru. It can exist without pages and paper. Siri Guru Granth Sahib is the only one Guru which you can have in your heart. I can recite my Guru by heart. I don’t need paper. I don’t need a pencil, I don’t need to open anything, I don’t need to close anything. Every other Guru you have to go to; I don’t have to go to any Guru. Tell me, is there another Guru you can keep in your heart, who describes the gates and doors and the pleasures and the music?
So Dar Kehaa so ghar Kehaa hit beh sarab samaaleh
O where is Thy house and how to open Thy Door?
You talk of bliss and my Guru says:
Anand Bhaiaa meri maae Satguru mai paiaa;
Sat gur taa paaiaa sahaj setee man wajeeaa vaadhaaeeaa
O my mother, I am in ecstasy for I have found the True Guru;
Yes, in a flash I found my Lord and my mind is filled with the song of bliss.
the time has come when you must walk on your own feet unto the Guru, and onto the path of the meditative word, where you may have a meditative mind. Few or many does not count in the court of the Guru. What shall count is your spirit, which has been described very well ascherdi kalaa. The spirit should be so rising, so endless, that nothing on this planet through time and space can stop it. And that is the gift of the meditative walk with a meditative mind unto the One who gives the power to meditate.
In the scientific times of today, those who by their own faith and virtue want to keep Guru in their hearts and achieve the state of God through the blessing of Guru, need only recite Gurbani in perfect notes. You need not go and bow to any person.
You have a decent home which is the House of the Guru. You fly your flag which is the praise of the Guru. You wear beautiful clothes which is adoration to the Guru. The Guru lives in each and every part of us. Guru says that you must reach a state of mind which is Ang Sang Wahe Guru; with each part, action, limb, and personality that Great One lives. And for that it is a very ordained duty, it is an ordained religion, it is such a priestly religion that every body has to achieve the state of a priest. It is required of you to proceed into the destination that Guru described. And that path is a laid-out path. There is no left and right to it. It is very easy, it is very convenient: Sadhana, Aradhana, Prabhupatee – That one who does Sadhana as told, it becomes his routine – Aradhana. And then he automatically becomes Prabhupatee (God Himself.) That means he has mastery over God and God serves him in every moment. It looks like an egocentric statement, but it is a statement of the sages throughout the ages: Sadhana, Aradhana, Prabhupatee. Guru said the same thing.
© 1979 YB Teachings, LLC
Copyright: Yogi Bhajan Teachings