Sat Naam Ji - Dandauth Bandhna ji
HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO GET UP AT 12:30 AM? MY KIDS DONT STOP SCREAMING UNTIL 10:30 PM!! SO HAVE ONLY BEEN MANAGING TO GET UP AT ABOUT 4AM SO FAR -- WHICH IS GREAT AND I THANK GURU JI FOR THAT GIFT AND MAY IT CONTINUE AND GET BETTER.
We do have children but they are grown ups, they are doing thir medicine degrees now. But we do have a full time job, you are right when you say waking up at 12:30 am ? Infact you are doing good getting up at 4:00 am, but getting up earlier will be more beneficial, and don't worry about less sleep, now when you do simran you will get so much spiritual energy that you will not feel tired at all, no matter what time you wakeup, whatever time you get to sleep, your sleep will be complete, you will feel as if you have slept long hours.also your kids will start to become more and more sober and they will start to go to sleep earlier. All your sleep defficiency will be compensated by simran. We used to do the same thing, and never felt lethargic during the day, no yawning at all during the day, feel absolutely fresh all the time, this is what cosmic energy - spiritual energy does - and as you said you felt power in your head you will feel that power all over slowly and slowly - infect this power you guys are feeling is the naam amrit going inside you, this feeling will continue to increase, and then slowly and slowly your body and soul gets more and more cleaner from inside, more energy you will get inside, so when you go to sleep at night just do ardas inside your hirda that please wake me up at 12:30 or whatever time - and he will wake you up. Now since you folks have been blessed with gurparsadi naam you have also been put under the protection of at least one sant - and this sant will be always with you in his suksham dehi (astral body). When you do simran for 2 hours you are sitting on earth, in the third hour your simran will go in dargah and in 4, 5, and so on hours your simran will be in dargah, so try to go beyond 2 hours in the morning, at least 2 and half hours if you can, for fast progress. We used to sit in for 4-6 hours. Now our bhagti is complete and also our rom rom (every hair and cell) have become sat naam - physically every bit of body is reciting sat naam - and we feel this spiritual energy all the time in each and every cell of our body, so we don't sit in long smadhi anymore - actually at this level you are 24 hours in smadhi with open eyes, walking, talking, sleeping, and whatever you are doing will always be in smadhi.
STRUGGLING DURING SIMRAN
We remember when we started early morning simran. First day it was 30 minutes next day 45 minutes and so on took couple weeks to go to longer hours, so you are doing good keep it up. God has brought you to this level he will definately help true servants to come up to him.
Seva you are doing is great keep it up, but do dandaut bandhna (prostrate lying on belly) when you go to Gurudwara and also dust the shoes and put the dust on your forehead. If there is langar do the cleaning of dishes. And while doing seva keep on reciting "sat naam waheguru" inside you at all the times.
We will ask Baba ji (and we will pray too) to help you in your efforts, it might be too much in the beginning for you to sit for early and long hours, so you can start later and then slowly when you start getting the energy and more anand you will go to longer hours, ardaas helps a lot, so keep on praying – apni seva aap le (Dear God, You Yourself please come and do this seva) – humre kiye kichu naa hoi kare karawe aphi aap (if I do it then it doesn't work out, You Yourself are the Doer Lord), and the ardaas we wrote yesterday. Just keep on reciting satnaam inside you all the time. One thing more you don't need to sit cross legged, you can sit in sukh-assan (any comfortable position) on a chair or sofa so that your body feels comfortable, and sometimes you might feel like you have gone to sleep, but actually you don't go to sleep, you will go in deep meditation, and even if you go to sleep it doesn't matter, after a nap again pray ardaas and start again, as we have said these kinds of problems can be very easily over come by ardaas.
Also you can email us , don't feel hesitant to do so, we fill you up with spirituality when you email us, tell us your difficulties and we will remove them.
WAKING UP
Akal purakh is very kind on you, he is waking you up and you have done a great start so keep it up, don't look back just keep on capturing the current moment – sat karam – seva simran and parupkaar, and you will make it. Just stay away from distractions
STAYING AWAKE AT AMRITVELA
Probably late dinner is the reason for your difficulty to keep awake, a lighter and simpler diet will definitely help you, but there are no restrictions. Also eating earlier in the evening will definetely help you. We take our dinner around 6:00 pm. But you can eat as early as you are done with your evening simran. If you are eating late for some reason then have a light diet.
Also wash your hair if you can every morning and leave them wet under your dastaar, they will dry by the time your simran concludes. Everytime we wakeup in the morning we do wash our hair and leave them like that, but we don't have too much hair. Also we take shower every evening as well so that will also help if you are not taking evening shower. Pani – pita will make your dehi pavitter. Pani is amrit too, so we need to respect pani pita, and pawan as guru – dharti as maa – pawan guru pani pita mata dhart mahat.
WHEN YOU DID SIMRAN FOR LONG HOURS, WERE YOU LYING ON A BED OR SITTING PHYSICALLY IN THE LOTUS POSITION? CAN YOU GIVE US ANY TIPS IN TERMS OF STAYING AWAKE FOR LONG HOURS?
We could not sit on the floor in lotus position at all due to lower back stiffness problems, so we chose to sit in a comfortable sofa chair in Sukh Assan, just completely relaxed position, no body stress or strains at all. Staying awake for long hours is only a Gur Parsaad and you can pray for it; and if you do so you will get it. But once the Naam Goes on auto mode then it doesn't matter; and also when Naam goes in to Rom Rom then it becomes very easy, you can hear Naam whenever you want going on in surat, hirda and all parts of the body. When you wake up in early hours take a complete shower, wet your hair and keep them wet don't dry them; that will help you.
KEEP FIGHTING SLEEP AND LAZINESS
Just be persistent and insistent in your efforts and you will be blessed with the Gur Kirpa. Keep your belief level higher and higher, it is only the trust that makes a difference, trust is like the Almighty Himself, there is no dimension of the trust, trust is the Bandgi, higher and higher trust goes, higher the higher Bandgi goes, it is only the trust that will bring you closer and closer to the Almighty, and the trust should be on the Satguru, on the Braham Gyan, on the bandgi, on the Naam, on the Almighty, and so on, only trust can win you over the Panj Doots, and only trust will bring you the paar Braham Darshan. The only truth is the Paar Braham Parmesar, the only Amrit is Paar Braham Parmesar, and the only way to realize it is the Trust.
SIMRAN EVERYDAY
Keep one thing in mind you have to do simran everyday, don't miss a day - morning and evening - evening can be less time but will help you a great deal, and doing simran doesn't take any physical effort while driving, walking, sitting, standing, doing something not requiring any brain work, so try to do it on a 24 hrs basis. This will prevent any bad thoughts entering your mind, and you will remain truthful in the day time.
DAILY NITNEM ROUTINE AND SANGAT
When you start your simran please start with namaskaar (palms together greeting) and dandaot bandhna (lying flat greeting) in your mind to – Akal purakh, Baba ji, Das patshahian, Guru Granth sahib ji, all braham gyanis, sants, bhagats and the sangat – and then start your ardaas as follows:
Hum maha paapi hain pakhandi hain kami hain krodhi hain lobhi hain mohi hain ahankaari hain, kirpa kar ke sadhe guneh baksh de – hum paapi wad guneh gaar tu bakshan haar – kirpa ka mere ghar aa ( mind) – hum bhikhan bhikhari tere tunijhpat hai data – kirpa kar sadhe te – sadhe panj doot vas karde – ek man ek chit karde – garibi ves hirda bana de – man te hirda pavitter karde – esi bhagti te seva le ke es dehi da guldasta ban jaye – sadha sees sada sada tere te guru de charna te rahe, kot brahmand de charna di dhool bana de, bishta de kire da bhi dass bana de, dassan dass bana de, sat naam di seva karye yugan yugan tak, neechan de neech bana de, nimane bana de – smadhi di daat baksh de – visar naahin dataar apna naam deo
Or in English :
I am a great sinner and hypocrite.
I am so full of lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride.
I am the lowest of the low.
I am a great offender and traitor.
I fully accept all of my misdeeds.
You are the Merciful Forgiver.
Be Kind and forgive all of my faults and sins.
I make mistakes with each and every blink and at each and every moment,
Please show your grace and bless me with good thoughts and Guru's wisdom.
Bless me with Naam, Service and loving devotion.
You Yourself please colour me with Your Love.
Nothing happens because of me,
You Yourself are the Doer of everything.
And then start your simran.
Prabh ka simran sabh te uncha – so continue simran in the morning hours until you need to get ready for going to work and so on. You have done enough of nitnem already, so concentrate on simran, that is the highest service to the akal purakh at this stage of yours – you can play the nitnem on cd in the evening hours, and continue simran as well as listening the gurbani, but devote all of the morning time on simran. Reading and listening to the gurbani is rewarding, listening to kirtan is also rewarding, but the highest rewards will be from simran. Please read first ashtpadi of sukhmani and you will know what are the rewards of simran – prabh ke simran anhad zhunkaar – the vibrations you feel in your body is anhad zhunkaar – prabh ke simran trishna bujhe – prabh ke simran sabh kuch sujhe – prabh ke simran hoe so bhala - prabh ke simran sufal phala – prabh simrat kichu boghan naa laage – prabh ke simran andin jaage – prabh ke simran udhre mucha and so on – the rewards are just incredible !
Understanding sukhmani is more important than mechanical reading and for that you will have to listen to it – but in the end – sukhmani sukh amrit prabh naam – the real sukhmani is the naam amrit and you have that already going inside you. But we will definetely suggest you to listen to sukhmani, you don't need to follow your nitnem schedule very strictly – just listen to whatever bani you feel from inside you should be listening today – we listen bani for gyan ke moti – and that is the thing you should be looking from listening to gurbani.
BELIEVE IN NAAM
Naam will answer all your questions, just believe in naam and stay away from all distractions, we have already spoken about distractions, these distractions come when negative mind works, and doots come in to play - now when you have start bhagti these doots are getting upset on you so they will try to distract you more and more, but you have to be persistant in your efforts to win over these doots, and naam simran will do that, infact some people see these doots in the form of giant demons when they leave the body - kaam doot resides in lower portion of your body, krodh in stomach, lobh and moh in heart chest area and ahankaar in the head, so they have to leave your body and stay below your feet to serve you and naam will do that. So concentrate all your efforts on naam simran.
We will always tell you the truth, our job is to serve the truth only, but whatever your inner is self telling you just keep on doing it. Infact when we started we were doing – "sat naam shree waheguru ji", then it changed by itself to "sat naam", and then later on it changed to "ek oankaar sat naam", then again it changed to "sat naam" and now there is nothing – complete silence only – the naam remains upto sach khand – but in the inner dargah – also called braham khand – where the akal takhat is – there is no naam at all there is only nirgun saroop of akal purakh – param jyot and puran parkash only - and that is what has been explained in dassam patshah ji's bani – jaap sahib.
While doing simran, just follow whatever words come in your mind – sometimes it will be a tuk from gurbani – or like sat kartaar or ek oankaar or akal murat or so, so just follow that hukam from your inside and keep on doing that. Never try to put your control on these shabads.
Just keep on doing whatever you are doing, there is nothing wrong in doing so. You will automatically switch to sat naam as time goes along, probably at this stage you are right you maight not be able to handle the power of sat naam siman so continue doing whatever is your inner voice is telling you to do.
FOCUS
WHEN YOU DID SIMRAN, DID U FOCUS ON YOUR FOREHEAD ALWAYS, HIRDA OR CONTINOUSLY FOCUSED ALL OVER LIKE A MALA?
Started with focus on the forehead – Trikuti Area; and then the Naam moved to Hirda, Nabhi and all over the spine by itself; didn't pay any attention at all to it. It was all Baba Ji's Gur Kirpa that made it all happen. For you concentration on Hirda will be very good at this point. It will become a mala by itself. You can only pray; we pray: Humrey Keeye Kichu Naa Hoye Karey Karawey Aap Hi Aap; Jivey Jiv Hukam Tivey Tiv Kaar; Jo Tudh Bhawey Sahi Bhali Kaar; Jivey Jiv Tera Hukam Tivey Tiv Howna; Hum Bhikhat Bhikhaaree Tere Tu Nijpat Hai Data.
WHAT'S YOUR TARGET
All we care to know is that Param Padvi is Jivan Mukti and such a spiritual stage is the Sach Khand, we don't even care about that anymore, just simran seva and parupkaar is the thrust, don't worry or think of such things anymore. Whatever is in store for you will happen by itself, if you are destined for Sach Khand no matter what happens you will reach there, if you are destined for Swarg or Narak no matter what you do that will happen for sure, so do your bandgi, get to the Braham Gyan Stage, Jivan Mukti and Param Padvi and then you will know all about such things about the world and yourself, so the key is your bandgi, stop wasting your time in such fruitless efforts and thinging pattern, control over Panj Doots, desires and Maya and you will do fine, you are not going to compete with others, there is no competetion in spirituality, it is all Gur Kirpa that matters, and that is what will take you to the place where you are destined for.
SIMRAN TOGETHER
One thing more it will be beneficial for all of you if you can meet couple times in a week and sit down for an hour and do simran together and share your experiences with each other. This will be of tremendous help – at least twice a week – in the evening hours. And if both the families can't meet then at least all the members of one family should do the evening simran together and if possible in morning also do it together. This way you will create your own sangat and will enjoy the benefit of the sangat in the house.
One thing in mind when you folks get together – avoid discussing household matters, concentrate on sat naam and sift salah (praises) only. It will be good if you folks can share your experiences with us also, need not be very ellobrative but just a feel of what you folks are experiencing. One thing very important and is the next step to follow after you stablize on your simran at amritvela, is to relieve yourself from the effect of the past life and previous lives so for that please read the article on spiritual cleaning pocess and follow that practice.
http://www.satnaam.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=2&id=12&Itemid=19
