by SS Mata Mandir Singh Khalsa, MT
2023 (Second Quarter)
This is a time when there are some 80 million refugees in the world, uprooted from their homes, families, villages, temples, culture, and way of life. The causes are many, including oppression, lack of resources, racism, religious persecution, and climate change. In the end they were forced to leave behind all that had brought them solace and comfort.
At the same time, I would posit that there is another type of refugee. They haven’t been forced out of their town, city, or country, but feel as if their support systems have left them. Things once taken for granted are changing so rapidly that one can no longer recognize environments, traditions, and mindsets in which we used to find comfort.
Please understand that I am not equating the two. The devastation and hopelessness that must necessarily come from being forced out of one’s homeland is unimaginable to a white person living in the Western world. However, in the last few decades we have been experiencing technological changes in our world that bombard us with a constant stream of information, news, entertainment, and opinions masquerading as facts, accompanied by a diminishing of contemplation and quiet reflection.
This revolution of technology allows for the possibility of individuals or groups to disseminate lies, fear and even mass psychosis on a broad scale. It also introduces the means for authorities to execute the tyranny of “big brother” type surveillance. Then—add on top of these stress producers the anxiety created by human-created phenomena such as climate change and the devastation of the natural world—and we have produced for ourselves a kind of stay-at-home refugee status.
The changes in our Dharma have been no less devastating. Things we believed and relied upon for decades have been challenged in a way most of us wouldn’t have thought possible a few short years ago. Whether you think it is a well-organized attack on Dharma or you think it is a revelation, is not the issue here.
The question is: Where can one find shelter in the storm? How can one find a space of safety, calmness, and receptivity in the midst of seeming chaos?
Feel at Home Anywhere with Simran
Personally, I can only fall back on what has always worked for me. Before I became a Sikh, I was a musician, and by Guru’s grace I became a minstrel in the Guru’s court. I took to heart Guru Nanak’s teaching in Japji:
“Gaveeai, suneeai man rakheeai bhao
Dukh pahar sukh ghar lai jaee.”
Sing, listen and keep love in the mind. Pain will fly away, and peace will come to one’s home (body).
Whenever I feel out of balance, anxious, in doubt or weak, I automatically pick up any of my instruments and begin to play and sing. It has been this way since my early days in Ahimsa Ashram in Washington DC in the ‘70s, and remains my solace and safe harbor to this day. When I sing the frequencies of the Guru, it may take a minute, or a few, and my mind spontaneously goes to a state of Simran, where the Naam effortlessly enters the mind. From this comes an inner peace and contentment that is very neutral in nature and not based on any achievement of mine nor anything this world has to offer.
Guru Arjan said it best in the shabd Jhim Jhim Varasai:
Slowly and gently, drop by drop,
The stream of nectar drizzles down, within.
The mind drinks it in, hearing and reflecting on the Word, the Shabd.
It enjoys bliss and ecstasy, day and night. And plays in the play of the Lord, forever and aye.
The Word, or Shabd, allows one to feel at home anywhere, no longer feeling like a refugee. The whole universe is God’s play and we are simply the players. It is our birthright as a “human being” [1], to feel this presence of Infinity within us, every moment.
Everyone has a voice that is powered by our very essence, the life-giving prana, given by the Giver of all. To use this prana to vibrate the frequencies of the Shabd Guru can be performed by anyone. Then add the ingredient of patience. That is the formula.
The blessed ones on this earth wait for the blessing of the Shabd like the chatrik bird [2] waits for a drop of water, while uttering a plaintive call to the unknown. When that water begins to form drops and falls, the desperate thirst of the bird is satisfied.
It is the same as the Sikh, calling out in loving kirtan while waiting for the Naam, which is the essence of the Guru’s kindness, the real Gurprasad. Even the most undeserving human can have this blessing. This is my experience—God’s mercy is beyond all comprehension.
Satinam,
Mata Mandir Singh
Notes:
[1] Hue-light; man- mind; being-now.
[2] Chatrik bird – a species of bird mentioned many times in the scripture, whose only method of drinking involves water droplets falling from foliage or the sky itself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SS Mata Mandir Singh Khalsa is an international teacher of Kundalini Yoga and Gatka and has dedicated his life to the practice and teaching of Naad Yoga, the yoga of sound. A heartfelt singer/songwriter and accomplished musician (guitar, rabab, harmonium, mandolin, and cittern), he is a pioneer of the chant and mantra genre, having recorded around 30 CD and cassette titles since the 1970s. Mata Mandir Singh is a featured artist on the Invincible Records label. He is the author of the e-book, Naad Yoga: The Yoga of Sound (available as an e-book on Amazon). Mata Mandir Singh is now the Director of Kirtan studies in the Guru Ram Das Kirtan Academy in Boizenburg, Germany and teaches a variety of instruments, vocal training and Naad yoga worldwide via Zoom or in person.
