by SS Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, Kansas City MO
Spring 2011

The Siri Singh Sahib once said, “You cannot live by feelings and emotions; you have to live by your intuition and consciousness.”

It seems pretty clear (actually, VERY clear!) which path we should be walking. By what method or methods can we master our feelings and control our emotions while at the same time expanding and sharpening our intuition and raising our consciousness?

Well, let’s see. I could practice the “Kriya for Changing Emotion to Devotion” or maybe “Ghost Kriya: Clearing the Ghosts and Opening Intuition.” Then of course there is the “Meditation: Self Hypnosis to Develop Intuition.” And, of course the “Kriya for Thoughtfulness” and the “Meditation: Make your Mind Sensitive!” I could practice “Strengthen Intuitive Projection” or I could chant the mantra “I my mind, we thou thee.”

So I can be, as he says, ready to “reach the point of the end of achievement, fulfillment and creatively, you have left a legacy.”  And if I do the meditation “To Know Through Intuition” I can save myself and those I serve a lot of time. But then there’s So Darshan Chakra Kriya (a personal favorite) which I do “just for fun!” and which also just  happens to give the “necessary vitality and intuition to combat the negative effects of the unchanneled subconscious mind.”

I suppose I could go on for pages and pages of kriyas and the concomitant volumes full of meditations that the Siri Singh Sahib has given us over the years but that would  be just gilding the lily so to speak!

All we really need to do is to protect our sadhana;
The one he spoke about very early on then constantly afterwards during his time as our spiritual teacher here in the West;
The one he said would overcome all of our problems and situations;
The DAILY sadhana;
The one that happens every single, freaking day;
Whether we like it or not;
Whether WE show up for it or not;
Whether we stay awake for it or not;
Whether we ask Guru Ram Dass to awaken us for or not;
Whether we plan for it the night before or not;
Whether we project it from this day to our last, or not;
Whether we inspire others to attend or not;
Whether we believe in it or not;
Whether we think it will benefit us TODAY or not;
Whether we know in our hearts that whatever our problems, this can solve them, or not;
Whether we teach this to our children and our students, or not;
Whether we leave it as OUR legacy to those that follow us, or not;
The one that he attends, whether we do or not.

As he said, far better than I ever could: “Sadhana. That is where you sit, dwell in the thoughts of the soul, and peel away all your non-reality with the vastness of your spirit. If you train your mind this way, then you will discover something for yourself. If you live in absolute fearlessness, God will live in you because fear and truth cannot go together.”

So what tools am I using to to support my work as a minister? Sadhana, from the early morning alarm, cold shower, Jap-ji, yoga, meditation to the reading of the hukumnama in our humble but beautiful gurdwara. These are the ONLY tools I have and the only tools I need. With them, all the misfortune and misinformation I feed my mind; the bad habits I have cultivated; the memories that make me bitter, or crazy or unhappy; they all fall away like raindrops off a speeding car–always in the past, ineffective and of no consequence.

About the Author

SS Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa is an ordained Sikh Dharma Minister. Director of the 3HO Kundalini Yoga Center of Missouri, Inc. since 1980, Karta Purkh was trained in Kundalini Yoga and Meditation by Yogi Bhajan and has taught Kundalini Yoga since 1976. Karta Purkh Singh is a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher and a member of the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association and the Interfaith Council of Kansas City. He is a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer for Levels I and II, an Adjunct Professor at UMKC, a published writer, and award-winning photographer.