Taking Amrit

Taking Amrit

Monday 18 December 2006

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh

Daas was requested by a Gursikh to upload an article. Daas was going to write an article next week about Amrit but that would of been too late as their is going to be an Amrit Sinchaar this weekend on Saturday at Coventry Smagam. So Daas decided it would be best to either write an article straight away or accept this one. Daas has read the article and feels it is very well composed and answers alot of questions Abhilakhis (candidates of Amrit) have. So here is the article written by an anonymous Gursikh.

Waheguroo ji ka khalsa, waheguroo ji ki fathe!

To all the Abhilakees (ones preparing for Amrit), Amrit sanchar is coming close and the ones preparing to take Amrit are getting more excited which you guys should be. There are a few things that daas would like to share with you, just so that you guys can get a further understanding of what Amrit is and what we need to sacrifice. Please put this in mind that you are going to ask for Amrit it does not mean that we are 100% that you will be taking Amrit that night. It’s a blessing, it’s only when Guru Gobind Singh wants to give it to you not when you want it. Daas will only say some points briefly if one wants to know more then please ask other gursikhs. If daas does any mistakes and if anyone gets offended by this article then please do ardaas for this kookar.

Amritwela

gur siqgur kw jo isKu AKwey su Blky auiT hir nwmu iDAwvY ]
One who calls himself a Sikh of the Guru, the True Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Lord's Name.

The Gurbani thuk above by Guru Ram Das ji explains itself, Mahraj ji is saying that a person who wakes up at Amritwela is the only Sikh. An Abhlaikee Sikh should wake up Amritwela before the amritsanchar for at least a few months or even a year etc, so that one does not find much difficulty in waking up after being blessed with amrit. If one has not woken up amritwela before taking amrit one will find it very hard, not sayings it’s not possible. Amritwela normally starts around 2am waking up earlier is your own kushi (happiness). To help waking up one should;

• Eat less before going to sleep and eat before 7ish

• Sleep early

• You could also drink a lot of water before sleeping, so when the alarm goes off you will have to go to the toilet

• Put your alarm further away from your bed so that you will have to get out of your bed and walk to switch it off.

Ishnaan

audmu kry Blky prBwqI iesnwnu kry AMimRq sir nwvY ]
Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe, and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar.

Having an ishnaan at amritwela is a MUST; this should be in cold water so that it wakes you up, the feeling after a cold ishnaan can not be described, it can only be experienced. It takes courage to have a cold ishnaan and this is what mahraj is looking for, how much do we sacrifice to our guru. It is VERY IMPORTANT to jaap naam while having an ishnaan other wise there is no use. Naam is the only thing that makes our day to day chores parvaan (accepted).

iqn kw KwDw pYDw mwieAw sBu pivqu hY jo nwim hir rwqy ]
The food and clothes, and all the worldly possessions of those who are attuned to the Lord's Name are sacred.

When taking an ishnaan it is very important to have all the panj kakars on the body. Also having a keshi ishnaan is a MUST everyday, this can be done by having a pindhe ishnaan and the keski on top of your head, also wrapping the kirpan around the head. When changing the kashera one needs to take the right leg out put it in the clean kashera and then the left leg out and do the same.

IMPORTANT – the kashera must not leave the body doing this is a kurehit (sin) it can be fixed by doing ardaas, by asking for forgiveness. This also goes for the kanga, if the kanga accidentally falls on to the ground, wash it and do ardaas. Doing paths such as jap ji sahibs, chopai sahibs or others should also be recited before asking for forgiveness.

When one has a keshi ishnaan, one should wrap there keski around there waist, putting the kanga inside the keski, or any other way but making sure that the kakars don’t leave your body.

Keski

Believing keski as a kakkar or not, it is very important that both genders wear a keski at all times. The disease of ignorance has crept into the singhs, where singhs have started to wear a patka rather then a beautiful dastar. Imagine a Singh walking into the amrit sanchar with his hair as a knot on the back of the head or even a plat. If this is not acceptable for a Singh then why is it acceptable for a Singhanee of Guru Gobind Singh. The key point to remember here is that one cannot protect their kesh without a keski/dastar.

Again daas apologises if daas has said anything wrong. Believing keski as a kakar or not, it is very important that one keeps keski rehit.

Jaaping Naam

eyko nwmu hukmu hY nwnk siqguir dIAw buJwie jIau ]5]
The One Name is the Lord's Command; O Nanak, the True Guru has given me this understanding. ||5||

It is very important to jaap a lot of naam, as Guru Granth Sahib Ji tells us to jaap naam, jaap naam and jaap naam, this is the hukam of our Guru. At amritwela one should jaap naam for at least 2 hours sitting, as 2 hours will lead to12 hours of naam abhiyaas throughout the day. It is also important to do some sitting of naam abhiyaas in the afternoon, maybe an hour or so. Doing naam abhiyaas before going to sleep is a must as it will carry on unconsciously throughout the night, which will make it easier for one to wake up again. One can go into a lot of depth on the subject of naam, it’s the key thing in sikhi. Without naam one will find sikhi very hard and one may even begin to question the concept of naam.

Talking less

bhuqw bolxu JKxu hoie ]
To speak too much and babble is useless.

One needs to stop wasting time and speak less, eat less and sleep less. Doing these three things will increase one jeevans and also our naam abhiyaas. A lot of us talk about things that we don’t need to talk about which will take us away from naam, a second with out naam is like years of separation. We spend hours talking about useless things, how much kirpa would it be to jaap naam for those hours in the sangat. Gurrrrrrrrooooo

Sangat

ijin hir iDAwieAw iqs no srb kilAwx hoey inq sMq jnw kI sMgiq jwie bhIAY muhu joVIAY ]
One who meditates on the Lord obtains all pleasures and comforts; let us go each and every day, to sit in the Saints' Society.

It is very important to stay in the sangat and visit the sangat every single day, to obtain true peace of mind. Doing amritwela with the sangat has a lot of benefits, one will find that they can do more naam abhiyaas, find it easier to wake up amritwela, doing more sangat will have an increased effect on ones naam abhiyaas, for example if there are 5 gursikhs doing naam abhiyaas for an hour then that would equal to one gursikh doing naam abhiyaas for 5 hours. Some get into hankar (ego) and think that they can be ok with out the support of the sangat, daas can say that the people who have commited such a foolish mistake have always fallen. So stay in the true sangat, where there is naam and bani there is true sangat.

Sarbloh / Bebik

bwbw horu Kwxw KusI KuAwru ]
O Baba, the pleasures of other foods are false.

ijqu KwDY qnu pIVIAY mn mih clih ivkwr ]1] rhwau ]
Eating them, the body is ruined, and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. ||1||Pause||

Ideally there is no such thing as being a bebiki, sarbloh is the only bebik. This is the time of kuljug so many will find it hard, but whatever the rehit may be it is a must for every gursikh. If sarbloh is what we take amrit from, why is it that we are allowed to eat from glass or other metals after the amrit sanchar? This means that we did not sacrifice our body, mind and wealth to the Guru. Some question sarbloh but all one needs to say is, from what metal they took amrit from. If they say something other than sarbloh then walk away that person has not took amrit and is not a gursikh of the guru. Don’t get in to these petty arguments and just concentrate on your own jeevan, getting into arguments is a threat to your jeevan and naam abhiyaas. Just walk away!

One can work up to being a sarblohi, one could start from eating only from gursikhs. Not eating things like chocolate, crisps or pizza etc. Eating from a manmukh is a kurehit and one will need to do ardaas for forgiveness. One should eat less and only in the sangat of gursikhs.

Jaap naam while eating is a must talking over Langar can lead to the increase of the 5 vices (kaam, krodh, lob, moh and hankar).

Watching TV

One who wants to know the evil of TV should read Baba Harnaam Singhs book, Sai Kinayhi-aa, it has a chapter where it shows the reader the effect that television can have on one’s jeevan. It will only lead to the 5 vices attacking us from inside. It will take us away from naam and it will be much harder to concentrate on naam abhiyaas. watching television till late will prevent one from waking up at amritwela. By staying away from television, ones jeevan will greatly increase and the love for our Guru, so why do we challenge elder gursikhs about this issue. If watching television helps you to jaap naam then carry on watching it, BUT it won’t, so don’t bother!! Whatever you do, if anything stops you from jaaping naam then stay away from it. It’s simple! Goes for chatting on the net, msn etc.

Amrit Sanchar

Amrit Sanchar is the example of how you need to live your life. You are going to sacrifice your mind, body and wealth:
Worldly bonds fall into categories.

Body - sleeping, eating and talking; Guru jee has advised us to reduce these.

Possessions and relatives - house, wealth, wife, sons, daughters etc

Mind - five vices, jealousy, hatred, deception etc

It is the beginning of your new life that the Guru has given you. At the Amrit Sanchar you will be there through out the Amritwela meaning from now on you have to wake up at Amritwela, you will be wearing the 5 kakkars and banna which one will need to keep; you will take amrit from a Sarbloh Bata the Hukam that the Panj Piyareh will give you. All these things are the start of your new life we need to sacrifice them. Make the most of your amrit sanchar and go in there with full nimrta, the more nimrta (humility) the more you will get from your guru! Take care and all the best, hope mahraj blesses the abhliakis with amrit di dat, pakha amritwela and naam rasiya wala jeevan.

Please forgive daas for any mistakes and if daas has offended any one. Daas just wants to help other gursikhs so that we get more jeevan wale gursikhs in the panth who can help others and bring back the Khalsa panth that Guru Gobind Singh ji gave us. There must be a lot of things that daas has forgotten to write, deepest apologies for any wrong doings.

Waheguroo ji ka khalsa, waheguroo ji ki fathe!