WaheguruJiKaKhalsa WaheguruJiKiFateh
Daas used to be the type of person who would only come to the Gurdwara on weekend; Saturdays for Punjabi school and Sundays for the Divaan. I remember I had finished Panjabi school back in June 2011 and started college from September. I used to eat meat, cut my kesh and be engrossed in Maya all the time with little attention towards Sikhi. However, from my upbringing I knew about the history of our Gurus and Shaheed Singhs but I forgot them overtime and their value was underestimated. I was interested in seva so there was duality but yet the path was not clear as the five thieves were in control of the mind.
I remember going downstairs after waking up to watch Sikh Channel this was 26th December 2011. Giani Pinderpal Singh was doing katha on the Shaheedi of the Chotte Sahibzadey and daas sat there and listened to the full katha, with tears in my eyes whilst regretting previous mistakes and telling the mind “they didn’t give up their dharam but you have”. From this point on I pledged to keep my kesh, give up meat and all other bad actions which drove me away from the true path of Sikhi. Another inspirational moment was also listening to some Katha being done by Sant Baba Baljit Singh Daddu vale on Sangat TV, this fuelled the ambition even more.
After this, daas started to do seva as much as possible and gain inspiration about Sikhi from where possible. I went back to college after the holidays and continued to study. In February (2012), daas had the opportunity to start learning keertan and gurbani santhiya which was great! I remember Giani Sadhu Singh who taught daas santhiya (how to read Gurbani) and with Guru’s kirpa daas went from 5 pauria of Japji Sahib to 7 Bania and Sukhmani Sahib. Giani Ji had darshan of Sant Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji which inspired me and he used to tell us all about how to respect Gurbani as much as possible. I was still growing my Kesh at this time and remember coming to the Gurdwara on a Wednesday for the santhiya with a Dastaar tied for the first time. I saw Giani Ji coming down the steps and he was so happy I’ve never seen him like that before. I used to practice tying a dastaar in my spare time but did not wear it fully until April/May as my kesh were very little.
The challenges were tough especially controlling the mind and directing it towards to Jap Naam, the Amritvela was on and off it wasn’t permanent. Even though I knew how to recite the Bani, the mind used to be lazy and it became an obstacle. But I was happy knowing that I had a made a step towards the Guru and Guru Ji would do their kirpa. Guru Ji did a lot for daas, I cannot even express how many times my Ardaas was heard whether it was to get into university, pass the driving test or to get good grades in college it all happened with Guru Ji’s kirpa. Time passed and coming towards December 2012, I remember my good Sikh friend urging me on Facebook to be blessed Amrit at the Barsi program, I knew that I was on/off and not ready (I didn’t know the importance of Amrit as such) so I said it will happen with the Guru’s grace.
From January, quite a few Keertan programs were organised which inspired me a lot and daas carried on doing santhiya when I could. At a Keertan program in March daas had so much anand I decided the goal was to take Amrit this Vaisakhi. I thought over it a few times and looked at the Rehat Maryada of a Gursikh compared with myself. I then approached my family and asked them for permission at the time they said they will think about it (I thought it was very important to ask). I think it was a day or two later they refused and had some doubts such as university work, having time to do essays, how will you wake up at Amritvela and so on. I felt sad but I remembered the power of Ardaas and went to see Guru Sahib and asked for the Gift of Amrit in every Ardaas. Later on that day I brought up the topic about Amrit again and the importance of it with the family, they agreed and all doubts were cleared! I was so happy with Maharaaj and I found out the next Amrit Sanchar was at Singh Sabha Gurdwara Bradford on Saturday 13th April. There were 2 other Singhs who were going to become my brothers from Huddersfield as well. This was near the end of March.
I was excited, I started doing Amritvela and Nitnem and started to look at kakkaars while listening to the Katha by Giani Thakur Singh relating to the Rehat Maryada pustak by Giani Gurbachan Singh. I counted down the days, asking for the gift of the Nectar and inspiring myself with Gurbani. The Kakkaars came 2 days before but I did not wear them as I thought I need to be practising the full rehat properly and have fear of the Guru. I couldn’t sleep the night before and had about 2 hours of sleep, I woke at 2am without no alarms (shockingly) and had Kesi Ishnaan fully. I did Nitnem and felt excited. The Amrit Sanchaar was at 10am. I took the other 2 Singhs with me and my mum (she wanted to go as well). I have never experienced such anand and sweetness in my entire life that I had by giving the True Guru my Mind, Body and Wealth. Such is the rass of Amrit it cannot be described. All the previous sins, mistakes were ended, thus I was reborn as Sanmukh.
WaheguruJiKaKhalsa WaheguruJiKiFateh
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| Bhai Sahib Giani Pinderpal Singh jee doing Kathaa |
After this, daas started to do seva as much as possible and gain inspiration about Sikhi from where possible. I went back to college after the holidays and continued to study. In February (2012), daas had the opportunity to start learning keertan and gurbani santhiya which was great! I remember Giani Sadhu Singh who taught daas santhiya (how to read Gurbani) and with Guru’s kirpa daas went from 5 pauria of Japji Sahib to 7 Bania and Sukhmani Sahib. Giani Ji had darshan of Sant Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji which inspired me and he used to tell us all about how to respect Gurbani as much as possible. I was still growing my Kesh at this time and remember coming to the Gurdwara on a Wednesday for the santhiya with a Dastaar tied for the first time. I saw Giani Ji coming down the steps and he was so happy I’ve never seen him like that before. I used to practice tying a dastaar in my spare time but did not wear it fully until April/May as my kesh were very little.
The challenges were tough especially controlling the mind and directing it towards to Jap Naam, the Amritvela was on and off it wasn’t permanent. Even though I knew how to recite the Bani, the mind used to be lazy and it became an obstacle. But I was happy knowing that I had a made a step towards the Guru and Guru Ji would do their kirpa. Guru Ji did a lot for daas, I cannot even express how many times my Ardaas was heard whether it was to get into university, pass the driving test or to get good grades in college it all happened with Guru Ji’s kirpa. Time passed and coming towards December 2012, I remember my good Sikh friend urging me on Facebook to be blessed Amrit at the Barsi program, I knew that I was on/off and not ready (I didn’t know the importance of Amrit as such) so I said it will happen with the Guru’s grace.
From January, quite a few Keertan programs were organised which inspired me a lot and daas carried on doing santhiya when I could. At a Keertan program in March daas had so much anand I decided the goal was to take Amrit this Vaisakhi. I thought over it a few times and looked at the Rehat Maryada of a Gursikh compared with myself. I then approached my family and asked them for permission at the time they said they will think about it (I thought it was very important to ask). I think it was a day or two later they refused and had some doubts such as university work, having time to do essays, how will you wake up at Amritvela and so on. I felt sad but I remembered the power of Ardaas and went to see Guru Sahib and asked for the Gift of Amrit in every Ardaas. Later on that day I brought up the topic about Amrit again and the importance of it with the family, they agreed and all doubts were cleared! I was so happy with Maharaaj and I found out the next Amrit Sanchar was at Singh Sabha Gurdwara Bradford on Saturday 13th April. There were 2 other Singhs who were going to become my brothers from Huddersfield as well. This was near the end of March.
I was excited, I started doing Amritvela and Nitnem and started to look at kakkaars while listening to the Katha by Giani Thakur Singh relating to the Rehat Maryada pustak by Giani Gurbachan Singh. I counted down the days, asking for the gift of the Nectar and inspiring myself with Gurbani. The Kakkaars came 2 days before but I did not wear them as I thought I need to be practising the full rehat properly and have fear of the Guru. I couldn’t sleep the night before and had about 2 hours of sleep, I woke at 2am without no alarms (shockingly) and had Kesi Ishnaan fully. I did Nitnem and felt excited. The Amrit Sanchaar was at 10am. I took the other 2 Singhs with me and my mum (she wanted to go as well). I have never experienced such anand and sweetness in my entire life that I had by giving the True Guru my Mind, Body and Wealth. Such is the rass of Amrit it cannot be described. All the previous sins, mistakes were ended, thus I was reborn as Sanmukh.
WaheguruJiKaKhalsa WaheguruJiKiFateh
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Note: Thank you to Veer jee for sharing his story.
Dhan Hai Guru! Dhan Hai Teree Sikhee!
