Excerpts from July 6, 1987 lecture by the Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji

The word is akal and what we are celebrating today is in memory of the Akal Takhat. Takhat means tirath. Tirath means that which has the base and which ultimately means sovereign. Takhat means throne. Throne was a place which was thrown away from God. So word is Akal Takhat. Timelessness. Throne of timelessness.

So what I’m explaining here today is that in Sikh Dharma we have a place we call Akal Takhat. It is the nerve center of the planet’s psyche. It is the fundamental focal point of the planet’s psyche and its sovereignty. It is a throne of timelessness.

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So that is why Guru Hargobind made the Akal Takhat. A throne of timelessness in which beauty in its own duty becomes the infinity through consciousness and through experience. Where man should hesitate and will hesitate to deceive his tomorrow. I don’t think you do anything wrong or rotten. I think you are the emeralds, the rattans. You’re most beautiful. What you do is very funny. You betray your tomorrow, and you are angry at your today, and you abuse your yesterday. And then you want to be respected? Now how can that be?

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At that moment, Guru Hargobind found this focal point of energy, the nerve center of the psyche of this planet. In the longitude and latitude he found a spot – that spot which was the hub of temporal and spiritual foundation of psyche – and he built a throne there. And he said, “It is thrown from the timelessness. So it is called Akal Takhat.” Taa-khat. Taa means the base, the fundamental. Khat means the line. So it means the fundamental baseline of that Infinity, of that timelessness. That’s why it is called Akal Takhat. That is spirituality.

Guru Nanak is not here in his physical body, as you and I can see. But we can feel him, we can experience him, we can understand him, we can listen to him, we can know him, we can walk by his sayings, we can produce ourselves to be like him. That is the timelessness. That is the Akal. And the seal of this Akal Takhat says, Akal Sahai. Let the timelessness support you.

Out of the circle of 8.4 million lifecycles, there’s one spot which does not subject itself to timelessness. And it does not subject itself to zigzags. It subjects itself to elevation. And that soul which commands that elevation is subjected to enjoy the sovereignty of that timelessness of the Akal Takhat. And that is the pure one, that is the Khalsa. Therefore the Akal Takaht dominates a domain of simple purity in Infinity. It doesn’t belong to Sikhs. They have the privilege to serve it. It does not belong to the Khalsa. They have the privilege to guard it.

Humanity doesn’t own it. It is owned by the owner of its own Self, which is timelessness. And that is Para-Parbrahm Parmatma. Symbolically they destroyed a building and they declared their victory in doing so. But they caused their own defeat here and hereafter forever. And the entire Indian community which is the land of the Gurus, sages and saints, avtars, blessed ones, complete ones, graceful ones, will now die slowly.

Because when there’s a purity to the extent of Infinity and in its own sovereignty, and that is destroyed, when the aorta is cut, man cannot live. When the psyche is destroyed, humanity cannot exist. And what will happen, time will record. It will be a part of history. We in America who are in love with the Guru’s house, who are trying to understand the reality of our purpose of our human life, who understand timelessness, may not experience it, may not practice it, or may be intending to walk on that path.

We have the privilege today to sit here in the Guru’s Court to celebrate the memory, to commemorate the memory. Not in sadness and not in anger, but in meditation and prayer. And to remember that Akal Takhat is in our hearts. We have come here today to bow our heads to that grace, that light, that Infinity, that purity, that truthfulness which is in our heart. And we have come to bow our physical head.

People say if the Akal Takhat is the throne of timelessness, why did it get destroyed? No, it didn’t get destroyed. It sacrificed itself. It sacrificed itself as Guru Arjan did.

The personified God, Guru Arjan, sacrificed himself. Guru Teg Bahadur sacrificed himself. The sons of Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed themselves. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed himself. You have to sacrifice something to get something, to be something.

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I pay my homage to this place of Infinite Divinity in the name of the entire humanity with peace and tranquility, and ask you all to do the same. Irrespective of what your faith is, what your color is, what your caste is, what your creed is, what your religion is, what your belief is, what your dimension is, what your size is, what your nationality is or what your reality is. But if you have a sense of the aorta, to understand what timelessness and sovereignty mean, then you can start right now paying your homage and respectfully attaching yourself to the very lotus feet of the One who gave us the Akal Takhat.

Hargobind… “the Infinite God which sustains us all.” That is the literal meaning of “Hargobind”… Guru Hargobind, who took us from the bondage of insanity, commotionalism, neurosis and egotistical attitude and gave us something which is most beautiful in the entire world, for all to remember to be, to visit, to play, to have thought of, to have a memory of, or to look forward to seeing.

It is my privilege today to pay my individual personal homage and respects, and on behalf of all of you, on behalf of the entire nation of Americans, on behalf of every individual American who is aware and unaware, on behalf of all the people in the world who are conscious and unconscious, pay homage to the coming awakening. Because the Age of Aquarius is on its way and the resurrection of the focal point in the lotus feet of God Itself has to be completed

Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!

THE Siri Singh Sahib

The Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji served as the Chief Religious Authority for Sikh Dharma for the Western Hemisphere. He helped to spread the teachings of Sikh Dharma throughout the world. Embodying a rare combination of spiritual and down-to-earth practical wisdom, Yogi Bhajan was equally at home in the pulpit, the podium, the board room, the living room, or sitting on the grass in a park, teaching and educating people in all walks of life.

His expertise and influence extended into the realms of communication, the healing arts, business, religion, and government. An outstanding pioneer in many fields with a deep and compassionate insight into the human condition, the Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji established permanent institutions, created spectacular events, and produced a prolific body of teachings.