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Experiencing the Reality of Guru Granth Verses
Harbans Lal
We have a set tradition of reading the Guru Granth or what we term
as doing paath. Ours is a symbolic way but with deep meaning. It is
done with both the heart and the mind or as is said in modern science, with
the left and the right brains, both our logical and intuitive sides of the brain; in reality we explicitly utilize both logical and
intuitive faculties of our mind. First of all we seek and prepare a sacred space to do the reading
or paath. There we open the scripture and read the words of a passage
given
in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Then we learn its literal, symbolic
and
metaphorical meanings; we combine this with a search into the
history
and culture of the time when the passage was written and to which
our
Guru had spoken. All of this is done to give us a essential idea
and
logical insight fossilized centuries ago in the verses that we are
reading today.
Next, we stop our mind in quiescence and meditate with indfulness
of
the symbols, metaphors and meanings that we read into the passage
we are
thus processing. At the same time in our meditation, we pray from
the
depth of our heart for divine guidance.
In prayer we create a space to open within our consciousness for
the
real meaning to unfold. Often it does, if we are humble in prayer
and
have achieved stillness of mind.
When it does unfold, we experience a reality that we call the
"Paath
Deedar" or "Shabad Deedar." The depth of this experience is based
upon
the level of the evolution of our consciousness.
Modern idiom may describe it as a metaphysical interpretation but
we
feel its touch in our heart. Besides, it usually includes a
practical
lesson for us to use in our lives today and for the days to come.
As you see, our reading of the Guru Granth or Gurbani paath is
neither a
simple ritual nor a complex scholarly endeavor. The Guru Granth
paath is
a sacred rite for every Sikh, permitting a connection to the Guru
for
spiritual guidance in experiencing the reality of Guru Shabad or
Guru
Granth verses.
To pursue the reading process, intellectual deliberation is
required to
seek wisdom, while keeping faith in the process is required to
receive
the inner light. The seeker of the Shabad-Parmaan does well in
pursuing
a middle way; to place the seeker’s faith and trust in the divinity
of
the Guru and yet to continue to question one's own understanding of
the
Guru's teachings in order to take full benefit of the process.
Gurubani Paath or reading of the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth,
certainly
is not a ritual and no one else can ever do it on your behalf.
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