“The nineteenth Paurī brings universal knowledge, inspiration and revelation.”
~from the teachings of the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan (1)
“If you can understand these three Paurīs, you can understand all about life, God and self. First the Gurū gave the positive state of mind, then the negative and then the solution. The positive state of mind is the seventeenth Paurī. The negative state of mind is in the eighteenth Paurī. The solution is in the nineteenth Paurī.” – Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan (2)
Reflections on the 19th Pauri from S.S. Snatam Kaur Khalsa:
This Paurī is about Divinity and all of creation manifesting from sound.
Gurū Nānak tells us that God’s Name is the vibration that creates all things. We exist because of sound! We are a manifestation of sound and a living and breathing example of sound waves moving. When we realize this relationship, we can shift our lives. Just as a cook decides to add a little salt into a pot of soup to change its taste, we can add little phrases here and there to change the frequency of our lives. Or we can completely change our lives by shifting how we speak. The choice is ours, because we have the power of the word.
Through our spoken word we create our lives and environments, word by word. We color the experience. With each word spoken the soul listens, and is bound to follow through in one form or another by the command of that spoken word. When our words are full of fear, slander, and empty promises, we create these energies for our soul to one day experience. It is the promise of the spoken word.
The idea with reciting Jap Jī and other sacred Baṉī (songs of the Gurū), is to bring ourselves into the vibration of Gurū through the Gurū’s words. Once in this vibration of Gurū, the Gurū has given a promise to uplift the human being. We enter into a contract with the Gurū, and the Gurū delivers. The results may not be immediate, but they are totally in the right time. It is a shift in consciousness that has to do with karma (past actions that we have to work through in this life), our own efforts, and Gurū’s Grace.
How do we come into this Universe of sound with applied consciousness? How can we be victorious? When we see the Creative Energy of the Universe, the kudarat as the Doer. A flow that is unique, beautiful and cannot be described. Yet we surrender and we describe it. That very act of trying to describe is from the will of the Divine. Who else would set us out on such an Infinite task?
Once surrendered to Infinity we can drop our fears and worries and live in the state of love that has always been ours to have. Now we are confirmed. We call out the experiences that the soul longs for, and we call into this flow of the Universe to deliver itself in full beauty and grace as is the will of the Divine. And finally we bow, we surrender, and recognize the One as the Doer, and we call that sensation that we feel from that Doer salāmat or peace. From this calling, from this naming, from this sound, peace is ours forever.
Bibliography
(1) Yogi Bhajan, The Aquarian Teacher, 80.
(2) The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, July 11, 1982.
*This article was originally shared in a 40-Day Japji Sadhana hosted by Sikh Dharma International in partnership with other legacy organizations.
Snatam Kaur
Snatam Kaur is an American Kīrtan singer and peace activist raised in the Sikh and Kundalini Yoga tradition as taught by the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan. She is known internationally for her ability to transform traditional chants into a contemporary sound that appeals to the modern ear and awaken an ancient yearning in the soul. While traveling across the globe on tour, she also teaches the art and science of Shabad Guru the experience of transformation through sound from the Sikh tradition. For more information, please visit snatamkaur.com.
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