by SS Siri Sevak Kaur Khalsa, Millis MA
Winter 2010
Sahej has been translated as “intuitive ease,” the opposite of which would be doubt, fear, anxiety, and stress. We all know that our culture is specializing in stress as we make the transition into the Aquarian Age. It becomes our gift and responsibility as those who have been given more tools to bring out the sahej in our own lives and help others to do it too.
Bringing out sahej has been at the forefront of my life. My mother had a good bit of anxiety and insecurity in her personality. She actually preferred to have something tangible to worry about; it gave some focus to the general state of anxiety she felt in her psyche.
I was imprinted early with this anxiety and insecurity and have had to work with it throughout my life. At the same time as I have had life-long easy access to stress, anxiety, doubt, and fear, I have had life-long easy access to devotional states.
Practicing yoga, doing kirtan, reciting bani all come very naturally to me and ease my mind and psyche. All these practices work, but they require a depth of implementation for them to be sufficient.
Doing sadhana every day helped me a lot in the early years of my participation in this lifestyle, but over the years I had to go deeper. I was using sadhana as a way of being “good” in my own and others’ eyes, and I had to get beyond this judgment of myself and others.
One thing that helps is taking time to listen to my anxiety, stress, doubt, and fear rather than just holding them at bay with devotional activity. Sitting in meditation, listening to what they have to say until they shift, is an effective practice.
I also have to be very vigilant when claim, blame, comparison, and competition creep in; once more I sit and listen to what they have to say until they shift.
I know now that they are a source of stress. Sahej is a very elevated state, and I don’t claim to own it; however, I spend a lot less time holding tightly to my misery than I did in the past, which leaves more space for intuitive ease. I give thanks to the teachers and teachings that have brought healing to me and my generations in both directions.
About the Author
SS Siri Sevak Kaur Khalsa lives at Guru Ram Das Ashram in Millis, Massachusetts. She and fellow Minister SS Harbhajan Kaur sing together regularly in the Millis Gurdwara and teach kirtan classes at Solstices. She teaches Gurmukhi and Japji courses and has studied classical Gurbani Kirtan with Indian Ragis. She also teaches about Sikh Dharma in order to share her love for the Gurus.
