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4 NEWS The Sikh, July 2012 Fathers’ Day On 17th June, Sunday, we started the programme at 2pm with Sukhmani Sahib Path and Shabad Kirtan at Gurdwara Sahib Railways, Ipoh. We had lucky draw, games registration and guessing game. After the darbar sahib programme we had cake cutting and distribution of gifts to the senior fathers. We continued the event with arm wrestling and a quiz open to all. Prizes were given to all winners. A special book mark was given to fathers and winners with the message “When U Kneel Down In Front Of Guru Sahib, He Stands Up For You & When He Stands Up For You, No One Can Stand Against You – Happy Fathers Day!
The Sikh, July 2012 Nitnem: The Sikh Daily Liturgy Convenor: RAVINDER SINGH Every Friday for the past three years or so, a few of us get together for what has come to be known as Gurbani Vichaar. The sessions began in the local gurdwara and were focused on the nitnem banis - the Sikh daily liturgy - but over time, the locale has shifted away from the gurdwara to private homes. Interestingly enough, a pattern has also emerged - all without much conscious thought or effort. We now begin with a reading from the Guru Granth Sahib, usually 10 pages at each sitting. Everyone present reads aloud, in unison. This is followed by 10-15 minutes of doing jaap or simran, audibly sounding the word 'Waheguru' until it naturally recedes into mental repetition. Thereafter a discussion ensues, usually around a passage that was previously read. A question that pops up with predictable regularity centers on the prescription of the daily nitnem. The nitnem regimen requires a Sikh to awake at amrit vela - the ambrosial hour, pre-dawn, commonly believed to around 4 am - to take a bath (ishnaan), then settling down to do simran, followed by reciting a specified number of banis. The discipline also includes banis to be read later in the evening and at night as well. The question invariably circles around the need for an externally imposed requirement. What good is it to merely recite gurbani without understanding what is being read? Why rise so early, especially when we all have busy, hectic schedules? Besides, isn’t it all the Guru’s grace? Shouldn’t we focus on reflection, dialogue and understanding instead? The idea that nitnem is mechanical and repetitive and therefore without value is one that needs to be resisted. Repetition is a necessary element for the development of any skill or discipline - from learning to hit a tennis ball to acquiring language skills. It is much like learning the alphabet or the multiplication tables, and requires daily practice - although the spiritual formation that must follow takes time. Not unlike the ability to piece together the alphabet symbols into words, and words into meaningful sentences. Or the facility of being able to calculate figures in a moment in one's head, instead of having to do an elaborate mathematical calculation, or having to resort to a computerized device. I get the distinct sense that these questions (like all questions) are cultural. Given our bottom line orientation, time is money and this activity does not appear to offer a healthy 'return on investment' ("ROI") - if at all. We are also a culture of instant gratification and our spiritual quests have become a search for the silver bullet - the technique, the trick or the holy man (or woman) that will bring instant transformation. But spiritual growth is like physical growth - it does not happen overnight. Nitnem, in addition to being a mental and spiritual exercise, is a matter of consecrating our days - and nights. By interrupting the mundane rhythm of our daily lives, it teaches us to create a sanctuary, a sacred inner space by defying the tyranny of ordinary time. Most of us jump out of bed only to become slaves of the clock, racing through our routines, transformed into Type automatons, high on caffeine. Nitnem weaves the sacred into the fabric of daily life and serves as a reminder that we live on dual planes simultaneously - the sacred and the profane, the secular and the spiritual. These moments make the extraordinary possible. Nitnem offers the doorway to enable us to enter the sacred space of the timeless One - Akal - where the soul dwells and its cultivation takes place. But we cannot rush the process. The inner self responds on its own time, its own cycle. We have to learn to wait. Conversation about this article Basant Kaur (Chandigarh, Punjab): I have been going to the gym, as well as doing yoga exercises, for years. Never have I, or ever heard anyone else, ask the instructor to first explain how each position or aasan or exercise "really works", or how the inner workings of the body go into operation in order to create a result ... We simply do it! Fully knowing that if we do it continually, good results will invariably flow. We are also fully aware that initially there is a bit, or a lot, of drudgery, but then, gradually, slowly but surely, it 5
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