by SS Sat Kartar Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles CA
Fall 2011
In the last 10 years I have taught in various Level 1 Teacher Training courses. I marvel at how far KRI has come with the development of [Kundalini Yoga teacher] curriculum. There is a huge body of information to impart to teacher trainees.
I have found that, while the Sound and Mantra modules are comprehensively well organized, there is little time to cover the technology of Shabd Guru, with respect to how many other subjects need to be covered. Working with student teachers, I’ve seen how many techniques they need to practice, for just leading the most basic yoga class.
I have immense appreciation for how, in such a short time, the Siri Singh Sahib delivered to us the relationship between Kundalini Yoga and the Shabd Guru. I have come to realize that in the Age of Aquarius, we, as Ministers and teachers, have the task to be a teaching “doorway” to yogically render an earthly understanding of the heavenly mysteries of the Shabd Guru.
Yoga for the Seventh Chakra
When I lived in Espanola in the 1980s I heard the Siri Singh Sahib say, in Gurdwara: “Gurbani Kirtan is when you have sex with God. ” At a visceral level, this statement helped me to comprehend the depth of sacred ecstacy in Guru’s Bani.
The Siri Singh Sahib also spoke about what happens when experienced Ragis play kirtan with skill, practice, and the appropriate consciousness. He said that in hearing and singing these sounds, the petals of the seventh chakra rotate and the nectar sound showers down through the being.
There are many shabds in the Guru Granth Sahib which detail this experience of the lover (student or devotee) and the Beloved (the Guru) in myriad poetic ways. Our Aquarian sadhana is the perfect preparation– through Japji; yoga to strengthen the nervous system; chanting to clear and elevate thought patterns; Gurdwara to listen and sing the sacred verses of our Living Guru.
Songs of Our Nation
SS Guru Singh Khalsa sharing our spiritual songs.
The first way I learned about the joy of the Shabd Guru in the 1970s was through English translations of shabds from Peace Lagoon. Songs like “Oh my mother I’m in Ecstacy” by Singh Kaur, gave me my first understanding of the Anand Sahib.
There is a reason that Yogi Bhajan said “our songs are our nation.” These English songs were major AHAs! for me in correlating the connection between Kundalini Yoga and the Shabd Guru.
I learned volumes from Guru Singh’s Golden Temple song:
Your body’s a temple entering into the Golden Age;
The story is quite simple, it’s been told by every sage;
Take ahold of your Golden Temple.
Every single one of us is a walking Golden Temple, lit by the Light of the Shabd Guru. My prayer is that we keep singing those songs and share what they are about with all those who are coming to this path.
Sat Kartar Kaur Music Sampler (SikhNet.com)
About the Author
SS Sat Kartar Kaur Khalsa is an ordained Sikh Dharma Minister and musician. Her musical offerings of music, including Gurbani Kirtan and mantras, synthesize Eastern and Western influences, but are centered in her life study and practice of Sikh Kirtan and Kundalini and Naad Yoga (the yoga to access the inner Sound). Her unique vocal style ranges from the ethereal mystic space created in her Indian classical raga recordings, to groove-driven, gutsy interpretations of chants, hymns, songs, and stories.
