SatNaam Ji,
Dandauth Bandhna Ji.
Are the Gurdwaras just making a joke out of this beautiful Sukhmani Bani? Let me tell you of a recent experience.
A few weeks back our family arranged Sukhmani reading and langar seva at the Gurdwara.
The Sukhmani reading cost £400 I was told.
The preacher started reading Sukhmani at around 9.10am, he started a bit late so had to rush.
The Gurdwara was pretty empty at that time, so he fired off Sukhmani like a machine gun.
I'm not joking, it was the fastest reading I have ever heard. It was in tune, each word was pronounced correctly,
it was technically perfect, but empty, totally empty of any emotion.
Our father told us afterwards, the preacher used to get told off by the committee for reading too slowly
and making the remaining Gurdwara programme overrun. So now he's gone to the other extreme.
What is the obsession with ritual readings in Sikhism? And not just with one reading, but multiple readings a day.
Some people are doing two Sukhmani sahibs a day for 40 days? I know that's what I did many years ago after being told to do so
for my spiritual progression. To tell the truth, at the end of those 40 days i was completely shattered, because
I am not a fast reader so it was taking a total of 2*1.5hrs each day - an extra 3hrs ontop of working and doing my normal nitnem
and going couple hours of simran. Before that experience I used to read an Astpadi a day and really enjoyed reading and
understanding. It felt like Guru Arjun Dev ji was talking to me personally. Or even better now I enjoy singing it and feeling the love.
however, after being told that I needed to read twice a day , it made it into a ritual and I absolutely hated it by the end. I even
renamed it "Dukh-mani Sahib" after that experience. Which wasn't a good thing to say. But since then I have learnt
that it is much more important to enjoy the Gurbani. To sing it, to cherish it, to love it and most importantly to bring it into my daily life.
To bring even one beautiful gem of divine wisdom into my life everyday is more important that counting how many tims I read it and how quickly
I can read it. For example, the line "eeha ka neech dargah ka ooch" means become lowest in this world and hence you are regarded as highest in God's world.
Its easy to read, but hard to do. Hard to be humble. Hard to bow liek a stick (dandauth bandhna) at your children's feet, at your wife's feet, at your parents feet, at a Sant's feet,
at the feet of the whole of creation - its hard because ego doesnt let us do it. So rather than reading like crazy, slow down and earn that one line.
I was interested in where this culture of multiple readings and speed-readings has come from and on top of that how come there is
now a price on it if a preacher at Gurdwara or at your home reads it? It isn't written in Gurbani as to how often to read it.
So who is giving the instructions to the Sikhs to do this? I have just listened to kirtan and katha of Sukhmani by Sant Ram Singh of Nanaksar.
Here is the incorrect logic and unverified stories they use for reading Sukhmani and spreading the curse of multiple ritual readings of this beautiful bani, which should be treasured and earned.
"There was a sickness in the town that no doctor could heal, so people
in desperation came to Guru Arjun Dev ji. He prayed to God and for next 8 days
the Sukhmani Bani came from God and all sickness went.
Whoever reads this SUKHmani bani will have their DUKH removed.
Baba Nand Singh ji told whoever came to him to do Sukhmani daily as it
is the treasure of Sukh. Hence, if you want Sukh from the Guru read Sukhmani daily.
When we were suffering upside in the womb, we were praying to God to give us Sukh -
to get us out of this hell. We promised and prayed that we would not forget God
and would remember Him with every breath for the rest of our life.
So Baba Nand Singh said Sukhmani is the Bani that can make that promise
we made to God in the womb come true. As reading this Sukhmani
even once in a day means all breaths in the day are accepted as having remembered God.
Because the problem is that we dont remember God with every breath.
Sikhs came to Guru Arjun Dev ji and said that you have instructed
us to remember God with every breath and when we come in your sangat, we do remember God.
But when we go back into our daly lives, we forget. Our spirtual state is not so
high. Our mind is not into God all the time. It goes into our work.
In this way, most of our life is being wasted, only a small part is on God.
So how will we be saved?
After reciting this Sukhmani Bani, Guru Arjun Dev ji also said that
whosoever reads it with love and devotion even once will have all breaths approved.
24 Astpadis cover the 24 hours in a day. Doing Sukhmani is same as doing
saas-saas (breath-breath) Simran. "
As you can see, its not what is actually written in Sukhmani that is emphasised.
They create an illusion around Sukhmani.
If you want SUKH read Sukhmani.
If you want your Dukh to go read Sukhmani.
They incorrectly redefine the meaning of Sukhmani, eg Guru Arjun Dev ji says
do saas-saas simran, but that is impractical, so they make a story telling us
that by reading Sukhmani, the 24 Astpadis is equal to 24 hours of saas-saas simran.
That is not what is written in the Gurbani. That is man-made story.
It is very difficult in the Sikh world to get away from the illusions that are wrapped
around the rituals and readings that Sikhs are performing on a daily basis. But the
best way to get out of the illusions is to actually discard what people, even relgious
people have told you, and to actually just read what the Guru Himself has said.
Really read and earn the words you read. It will transform your life.
Only the one who has become Sukhmani , who has earned every single divine jewel
in their heart can tell us the true divine meanings.
Dassan Dass ji has explained that Saas-Saas/Saas-giraas simran in not a breathing technique
as promoted by some Sikhs. That Saas-saas simran is not achieved by reading
Sukhmani every day either. Saas-saas simran is the state when your simran has gone so
deep that every bit of your mind, body and soul is saturated in the Naam, that your Simran it now in auto-pilot mode.
Here is a final comment by Dassan Dass Ji on the twisted culture of ritual readings promoted
and charged for by modern day preachers:
"There are many of preachers out there who preach to read Sukhmani for accomplishing worldly things, but we have yet to see a preacher who tells the Sangat to become Sukhmani by doing what Sukhmani is telling us to do. We have not yet seen any preacher who delivers the complete Divine Truth to the Sangat. We have not yet seen any such preacher who delivers Puran Tat Gyan to the masses. The real Divinity is in becoming Sukhmani by doing what Sukhmani is telling us to do and not just in reading Sukhmani every day and even multiple times every day. Such souls who do what Sukhmani is saying become Sukhmani for sure."
So we need you and others to tell the truth to these preachers and to your Gurdwaras and families and to stop making a mockery out of Sukhmani
with speed readings and multiple readings ontop of which you have to pay for it.
Dassan Dass Ji has delivered the Puran Sat - the complete Truth of what Sukhmani is in the book available here www.sukhmani.info . It is freely available to read online or print off, on www.satnaam.info in english and punjabi as well.
Dust of your feet
Harjit
