by SS Chioneso Kulwant Kaur Khalsa, Birmingham UK
Spring 2016
The interplay of the Subtle Body in our lives is deep and all encompassing. When functioning well, it enables us to be aware at a level that so many aspire to but find difficulty achieving.To live and project from the Subtle Body is to be able to experience calmness, wisdom and the sensitivity that allows access to the intelligence that informs correct action, speech and response, no matter the environment or situation. These qualities are so very important in this life, in which we have the privilege of serving humanity and our own sangats as Ministers of Sikh Dharma.
Guru Teg Bahadur, the exemplar of the Subtle Body, lived the qualities of serenity in adversity, great sensitivity and wisdom, and the gentle majesty of a Divine Master. When the Subtle Body is functioning well, sensitivity, heightened awareness, intelligence and wisdom prevail. When that Body is out of alignment, there is the tendency to be gullible, confused and crude in our interactions with others. To correct the imbalance, it is wise to commit to a long term meditation and to re-visit a reliable account of the life of Guru Teg Bahadur for inspiration.
Communication Through the Subtle Body
Recently, I had an experience of the working of the Subtle Body in its ability to inform and enable wise action. Many Sikh children attend Sikh Gurmat Camp for a few weeks in the summer, where they study the Guru’s inspired teachings and our storied history. While there, I was confronted by a young man steeped in fanaticism, who started a diatribe about what he would do to those who defamed our Dharma in any way, or physically hurt Sikhs. He used the most violent language and hateful gestures, giving spurious misinterpretations and supposed quotations from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib to support his stance. The effect on the children assembled was dramatic and immediate. They were visibly shocked; some cowered in fear. I found myself interjecting with words that I had not planned. Indeed, it felt as though something was speaking through me.
I began with a question: “Do you believe that Guru Nanak would approve of what you just said?” By the time I had finished speaking, he sat, collapsed in on himself, head bowed, quite silent. After the class, he came up to me and said that something had happened to him after I had spoken and he would have to think anew about his beliefs and feelings. I stood, deep in gratitude for God and Guru’s intervention through the Subtle Body that enabled a fraught situation to be resolved in a graceful way. I remember feeling very humbled and so thankful to be able to serve. Wahe Guru!
The Age of Subtlety
In an Age when we are beset by so much that is mechanical, technological, and fast paced, the qualities of the Subtle Body are more important than ever. Let us remember that, according to the Siri Singh Sahib, at the time of death the Soul leaves in the Subtle Body. Let us seek to develop it and give it the respect and importance it deserves in our daily lives, so that our life and the lives of those whom we encounter can be loving and rewarding in every healing, serviceful way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SS Chioneso Kulwant Kaur Khalsa is a Sikh Dharma Minister. She is a certified Kundalini Yoga Instructor and Therapist with over 28 years of experience. Since 1973, she has been a student of the Siri Singh Sahib (Yogi Bhajan), Master of Kundalini Yoga, and has taught and conducted workshops in North America, the Caribbean and Great Britain.
She is a musician, vocalist and poet, and often includes aspects of these arts in her therapy. She deems it a privilege to serve the community by sharing the ancient and efficacious philosophy and techniques of Kundalini Yoga, so that all who learn and practice may explore their truly limitless potential and triumph through life’s challenges.