by SS GuruJivan Kaur Khalsa, Melbourne, Australia
Summer 2019
So many times over the years I have tried to organize a trip to India to bow at the Golden Temple. It has been on my bucket list for close to 50 years now.
Finally, it happened for me this year. By the grace and blessings of God and Guru, I was invited by a student of mine and her husband to join them on a trip to India. Wahe Guru! Of course I said “Yes.” I was allowed to do nothing but show up. This was a gift to my soul from a very beautiful man and woman. God bless them.
After a while, I heard back that it was all arranged. We were heading off to India in early April of 2019. My first thought was, “Oh, is going to be so hot and crowded with Baisakhi just around the corner.” Never mind! I was going to India.
Upon arrival at the Golden Temple, I felt such a peace and calm come over me as I experienced the beauty of the place and serenity of the space. I was home. We went several times over the seven days we were in Amritsar and each was a great blessing.
I did not take a full dip as it was so crowded in the women’s section. But did manage to put my feet into the pool several times. The first time I dipped, the experience was so profound that all I could do was keep reciting Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru.
From the first moment when I bowed and washed my brow in the water facing the Golden Temple, I saw Guru Ram Das on one side also bowing and felt Yogi Bhajan smiling at me on the other side. I was awestruck and felt so very blessed.
My travel companions, Sevapreet Kaur and her husband Mark, asked me if I was all right. I was speechless and in such overwhelm that I asked to go back to our rooms. I could literally do nothing else but sit within and meditate on the experience.
Another day, we stood in line on the bridge to enter the Golden Temple. The line was long. As I stood along with all the other souls awaiting their turn to bow before the Guru, I chanted Dhan Dhan Ram Das Gur Jin Siriaa Tinai Savaaria for the entire hour as I waited to bow. It was a beautiful experience and it felt as if I was the only one there.
Finally, I was bowing before the Siri Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple, and there was no one else around. Just the Guru and me sitting together. I stayed so long there, praying for so many other souls in my life who could not be there at this moment and feeling profound prayer seeping from my being out to the Guru in deep gratitude.
I am so grateful for the experience of bowing at the Golden Temple and I will one day return. Hopefully, I will go next year with a group of students to teach a course and—most importantly—to bow at the Harimandir Sahib.
About the Author
SS GuruJivan Kaur Khalsa has resided in Melbourne Australia since 1982, after teaching in Asia in the early 1970s. She is a KRI Lead Teacher Trainer and has been sharing the technology of Kundalini Yoga and building community when and where possible. It is important to her to be the lighthouse and show the way to live well in the Aquarian Age.
