Amritvela tips

[Gurjeet_Kaur]

most of you have probably already read this but its worth another read...

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Message: 1

Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 07:29:21 -0800

From: "Guru Khalsa"

Subject: naamnet Classic - The Best Musician on Earth

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa

Waheguru ji ki Fateh

pyareoo ,

some of you undoubtedly have read this jewel before,

others this may be your first time...

but somethings never wear out and are ever fresh...

for me this is one of those timeless classics

so i share it with you once more

-----------------------The Best Musician on Earth----------------------------

Taan Sain was the best musician in Emperor Akbar's court. Each evening he

would sing for the Emperor who was a lover of the arts, and who would

greatly appreciate the musician. He would shower many gifts and praises

onto the musician.

One evening, after a particularly beautiful performance by the musician, the

Emperor called Taan Sain to his palace and said, "Today you overwhelmed me.

While I was listening to you sing, a thought occurred to me and that

thought was that you are the best musician on this Earth. But as soon as

that thought had trespassed my mind, I thought about the great teacher who

must have taught you, must also be great. That's the reason I asked for

you. Pray tell me, who is your teacher and how can he or she come to this

court to perform for the Kingdom."

Taan Sain smiled and said, "Sire, my teacher is full of wonders. But I know

him enough to tell you that he will not come to this court."

The Emperor said, "Of course we will

do his seva quite handsomely..."

Taan Sain, "With due respect, Sire, no amount of seva will bring my teacher

to your court."

This greatly intrigued the Emperor, "Surely there is a way that I could

listen to your teacher sing. If he will not come here, perhaps we can go to

him."

Taan Sain again smiled, "Sire, my teacher is carefree and he might not like

us going to him."

Emperor, "But surely, my good man, there must be a way."

Taan Sain thought a while and said, "Well, there is one way. My teacher

usually sings in the early mornings by the Ganga River. If the Raja

insists, then we must be discreet and hide nearby and listen to him at that

time."

The Emperor was a spiritual man and he did wake up at early hours of the

morning anyway, so he arranged for them to be taken to a place where Taan

Sain's teacher bathed and sang.

Both the Emperor and Taan Sain reached the river bank at 1 am and hid in

nearby bushes. As was the daily routine of Taan Sain's teacher, he came to

the river at 1.30 am, bathed and sat on the riverbank and sang.

His song was so great that it completely mesmerized the Emperor. The

Emperor could not speak or move, and just sat like a stone idol for the

entire time the teacher sang. Even after the teacher had left, the Emperor

had to be nudged from his vismad smadhi by Taan Sain.

The Emperor half dreamily walked back to the carriage that had brought them

to the riverbank. The Emperor remained in vismad for the whole ride back and

indeed, the whole day.

After that evening's performance, the Emperor summoned Taan Sain to his

palace again and said, "Taan Sain, your teacher is wonder itself. I am

very, very curious at one thing. I love your singing but if you wouldn't

mind, I would request you answer one question."

Taan Sain, "Sire, please ask this servant any question."

The Emperor, "With much due respect, I thought that you were the best

on

this Earth, but your teacher far surpresses you. I do not wish to offend

you in any way, but please tell me how is this possible that your teacher's

talent is eons deeper than yours?"

Taan Sain laughed and said, "Rajan, I perform for you, he performs for God."

------------------------------------------

Taan Sain performed for worldly people. His teacher performed for Waheguru.

Taan Sain's song was like a rose. His teacher's song was like a bed of

freshly blossomed and fragrance-laden roses dancing in the wind.

At the hour that our overwhelmingly loving guru calls "Amrit Vela" we

perform for Waheguru. No one else.

There is no doubt that when we do seva and sing keertan at the gurudwara, we

do it sincerely and with faith. But there is always a hint of humai (ego)

hidden in our actions. When we do good keertan, we wait for someone to say,

"Wah, Wah." When we write a good speech, we expect someone to come and

praise it.

But at the time that our overwhelming-ras-filled guru calls "Amrit Vela",

there is no one there except guru. Then we please the guru and the guru

only. The guru then has the chance to splash us with the guru's overflowing

maddening prem, love, ras and jot.

The time that our very own father, mother and overwhelmingly

unconditionally-loving guru calls "Amrit Vela" is the beginning of sikhi. It

is the beginning of our path to the guru's warm and sukh-sagar bosom.

Bhai Randhir Singh jee on Amrit Vela:

"The gursikh that does naam simran at amrit vela,

is *assured* of satguru's kalaa (rang, love, intoxication, kripa etc)"

Baba Nand Singh jee:

(Upon finding out that someone will be writing his (Baba jee's) biography)

Laughing, "gursikho, imagine an almond. It has the outer shell, the brown

part we all see. Then it has a white inner part that is not seen. My life

is like that almond. The biographer will be writing about that b

rown outer

part - what I did, what I said - but gursikho, my *real* life, the inner

white, is from 1 am till 6 am. Nobody can possibly even imagine that life,

let alone write about it. Only I know that real life."

Baba Attar Singh jee

"A sikh should drop 10 other tasks to eat on time,

a sikh should drop 100 other tasks to do nitnem on time

and a sikh should drop 1,000 other tasks to do simran on time."

A Gursikh

"I wait desperately for amrit vela all day."

As you can see, amrit vela is *most* important aspect of sikhi. Indeed,

many an aware gursikh will tell you,

"Sikhi without amrit vela naam simran *is* not possible".

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru.........

[Amrit]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

When is amritvela?? and how do you know that you have got up at the right time and its not too late??

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[Guest rsingh]

hmmmm, Intresting question. Well sant Singh Maskeen Ji did katha in UK a few months back. He said there are 2 amrit velas in one day. it is the period in the day when day turns to night (evening), and Night turns to day (morning). Maskeen ji said that it is a 3 hour duration, where the night will turn to day and the sun will rise.

Some people on the other hand will say amrit vela can begin from 1am for some people who have the will power to get up so early.

Therefore my personal conclusion (prob wrong) so far is its personal preference, its the period before sunrise, ideally 3am, (if only i cud).

i would be intrested to hear views of the sangat on Amrit's question.

[Dhan Teri Sikhi]

Fateh

I once heard Professor Darshan Singh do katha on when Amrit Vela is.

Their view is that Amrit Vela is at any time when we drink Amrit i.e. the nectar of Naam. This could be at any point during the day and does not necessarily need to be in the early hours of the morning.

They go on to say that we are more likely to drink the nectar of Naam in the early hours of the morning as we are unlikely to have other things on our mind and are more likely to be able to concentrate on nitnem, simran etc.

However, amrit vela could be during the day if we are able to concentrate on Waheguru Jee and get a break from our daily entanglements.

Guru Jee's updesh is that we remember Waheguru Saas Giraas.

May Guru Jee do his kirpa on us all so that we remember Waheguru Jee.

Bhul Chuk Maaf

[Gurjeet_Kaur]

iBMnI rYnVIAY cwmkin qwry ]

bhi(n)nee rainarreeai chaamakan thaarae ||

The night is wet with dew, and the stars twinkle in the heavens.

jwgih sMq jnw myry rwm ipAwry ]

jaagehi sa(n)th janaa maerae raam piaarae ||

The Saints remain wakeful; they are the Beloveds of my Lord.

[Amrit]

iBMnI rYnVIAY cwmkin qwry ]

bhi(n)nee rainarreeai chaamakan thaarae ||

The night is wet with dew, and the stars twinkle in the heavens.

jwgih sMq jnw myry rwm ipAwry ]

jaagehi sa(n)th janaa maerae raam piaarae ||

The Saints remain wakeful; they are the Beloveds of my Lord.

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

so basically we can tell it is Amritvela when the stars are in the sky..........is dat right ??

bhull chuk muaff

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[sukhnidhaan]

"....Sri Amritsar Sahib Ji de Darshan Ishnaan hovea..."

I love getting up to see beautiful Sacchkhand Sri Harimandir Sahib at amrit vela. I remember being so excited when we got Alpha Panjabi for this purpose! Now, having just been lucky enough to go to Amritsar for the 400th anniversary, my piaas was quenched a little and I can pleasantly get reminded of that wonderful feeling of ikaant that dawned upon me as soon as I stepped foot into the parkarma...

Leave the Asa Di Vaar on, even if in the background. I find that just hearing it makes you not want to go back to sleep. Also be encouraged by the darshani Singhs there :e: :nihungsmile: Daas was greeted with much piaar by Puran Ji and crew, who come to Darbar Sahib after their Naam Baani workout session! The recitation of Savaiyae is also very uplifting, followed by the Hukamnaama.

Doing some yoga stretches, such as the Tree, are also beneficial in aiding saavdhaanta and preventing

muscle stiffness during or after sitting.

Enjoy!

'Dham dham sudhaa sumaalda dhum Na birthaa jaae.'

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

This Shabad is by Bhatt Mathuraa in Svaiyay Mehl 5 on Pannaa 1404

jw kau muin D´wnu DrY iPrq sgl jug kbhu k koaU pwvY Awqm pRgws kau ]

jaa ko mun dhhyaan dhharai firath sagal jug kabahu k kooo paavai aatham pragaas ko ||

For His Sake, the silent sages meditated and focused their consciousness, wandering all the ages through; rarely, if ever, their souls were enlightened.

byd bwxI sihq ibrMic jsu gwvY jw ko isv muin gih n qjwq kiblws kMau ]

baedh baanee sehith bira(n)ch jas gaavai jaa ko siv mun gehi n thajaath kabilaas ka(n)o ||

In the Hymns of the Vedas, Brahma sang His Praises; for His Sake, Shiva the silent sage held his place on the Kailaash Mountain.

jw kO jogI jqI isD swiDk Anyk qp jtw jUt ByK kIey iPrq audws kau ]

jaa ka jogee jathee sidhh saadhhik anaek thap jattaa joott bhaekh keeeae firath oudhaas ko

||

For His Sake, the Yogis, celibates, Siddhas and seekers, the countless sects of fanatics with matted hair wear religious robes, wandering as detached renunciates.

su iqin siqguir suK Bwie ik®pw DwrI jIA nwm kI bfweI deI gur rwmdws kau ]5]

s thin sathigur sukh bhaae kirapaa dhhaaree jeea naam kee baddaaee dhee gur raamadhaas ko ||5||

That True Guru, by the Pleasure of His Will, showered His Mercy upon all beings, and blessed Guru Raam Daas with the Glorious Greatness of the Naam. ||5||

BTW Bhai Randhir Singh Ji did Asa-di-Waar today (Thursday 27th January 2005). He's :awesome

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!