by SS Deva Kaur Khalsa, Coral Springs FL
Winter 2013
Bowing to another person often does not work well, due to human shortcomings, but bowing to an infinite, undying teacher—the Siri Guru Granth Sahib—can prevent the malady of spiritual ego. But even the Siri Singh Sahib, with all his caliber and consciousness, found it challenging to discover a way to deliver his students to the feet of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.
Because he loved the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, and his students loved him, the door was opened, and then he taught the powerful technology of Shabad Guru contained in these sacred scriptures.
The Siri Guru Granth Sahib is the embodied vibration of timeless, unconditional, yet practical wisdom. This is the exalting technology that the Siri Singh Sahib used in his daily practice, and encouraged his students to use to create the integrity, intelligence and intuition to deal with life’s continual challenges.
Planting the Infinite Seed
Kundalini Yoga plows the field, and Shabad Guru plants the infinite seed. Many students are immersed in mantra, and even shabds, but the full relationship to Siri Guru Granth Sahib is rarer, especially in many of these 50 countries, where Kundalini Yoga is spreading so quickly.
Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training is now being taught in 52 countries in 30 languages! According to prophecies, there will be 960 million souls practicing Kundalini Yoga and many aspects of this Khalsa lifestyle, quite possibly by 2038, which is just 25 years from now.
The path of Kundalini Yoga is well designed as instructed by the Siri Singh Sahib Yogi Bhajan, with Levels 1 and 2 Teacher Training uplifting people worldwide. Level 3 is well on the way, thanks to an international group effort of KRI’s Teacher Training Executive Council.
We know how empowering Kundalini Yoga can be—its daily practice can create invincible humans! When 960 million people practice and teach Kundalini Yoga in the future, they might find that without a place to bow their head and intellect, the ego may puff up into what the Siri Singh Sahib called “spiritual ego.”
The Technology of Shabad Guru
Sikh Dharma was delivered by the Siri Singh Sahib not as a religion, but as “an all-inclusive path that is a technology of enlightenment.” The cornerstone of this spiritual path is Japa (repetition of mantra/shabad) to create Tapa, the spiritual heat that can forge any individual into a healthy, happy, radiant and sacred being.
According to these teachings, the Mul Mantra is explained in greater depth by Japji; and Japji, in turn, is explained in greater depth by the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The recitation of the Mul Mantra and Japji are already practiced by students during Aquarian group sadhana, so it seems that Japji could be the perfect bridge between Kundalini Yoga and the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.
The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings can help identify the exact words and concepts the Siri Singh Sahib used to inspire his students to recite Japji initially, and eventually relate to Siri Guru Granth Sahib as the living Guru.
The exalting yogic understanding he gave for each pauri of Japji is a valuable foundation for creating each step on this bridge. For instance, compiling all the teachings on the first pauri of Japji can evolve into an amazing course on conquering depression.
The Sunnieh pauris can evolve into a beautiful intuition training. Many other pauris can be used as the basis to create courses on Prosperity, and replacing self-destructive addiction with Positive Addiction. Once all the “steps” or courses based on pauris are built, they can be combined into a comprehensive Japji Training that builds a bridge or a ladder to a deeper understanding and practice of Shabd Guru.
The Siri Singh Sahib said, “The power of the shabad is not a small power. It is a manifested power. It is a direct dialing code between the finite and the infinite God, and the Shabd is the correct number.” The teachings on Japji can be organized and delivered to serve anyone who understands their effectiveness. These compiled and organized teachings can transform individuals, and inspire the even deeper daily practice of Shabad Guru to heal, develop stamina, and increase intuition.
The Siri Singh Sahib said, “5,000 years from now people will curse you (his students), because they cannot find the teachings.” As students following in his footsteps, we still have much work to do to preserve, organize and share these teachings in the coming years, especially funding and completing a searchable database to aid in the creation of future manuals and courses.
The Siri Singh Sahib left a true legacy of legacies, and we are blessed to have the opportunity to build a stronger bridge from Kundalini Yoga to Siri Guru Granth Sahib, which can deliver a more complete path to the coming 960 million.
In this way, future generations can elevate and heal themselves with this vibration of the creative pulse of Infinite consciousness. This is a simple way for humanity to live on this earth together as fearless, open, neutral and awakened beings.
About the Author
SS Deva Kaur Khalsa is an ordained Sikh Dharma Minister and studied with the Siri Singh Sahib for over 39 years. She trains Kundalini Yoga Teachers and teaches Kundalini Yoga in South Florida. She is co-owner of Yoga Source in Coral Springs, Florida.