“The Ninth Paurī gives expansion.”– from the Teachings of the Siri Singh Sahib Yogi Bhajan (1)

Reflections from SS Prabhu Nam Kaur Khalsa:

This Paurī is the 2nd of the 4 Suṉi-ai Paurīs. Suṉi-ai means: through listening.  Deep listening that involves not only hearing with your ears, but hearing with all the senses, every cell of you vibrating in awareness, consciousness, and inner knowing.

This Paurī guides the listener to merge into the essence of the Divine as Īsar, the energy of Transformation; then as Brahma, essence of pure Creator; then as Indra, Lord of the sky, the heavens, the clouds, and the rains, who represents the sometimes explosive, and sometimes peaceful and beautiful, and anywhere in between fusion of human and divine qualities.

Listen deeply to master the art of praising the Divine as it flows naturally from the heart, whether coming from a sacred text that is known by heart, or devotion coming directly from the wellspring of the heart. Listen and absorb in the depth of your being the way of yoga (union with consciousness), and the secrets of the body (the infinitely complex and wonderful ways of the body). Imagine and listen to the wisdom in the Hindu texts of law and sacred wisdom, the Shastras, Simritis, and the Vedas. Oh Nānak, the devotee ever expands/blossoms in bliss. In this way of listening, trouble and sin dissolve.

The words of this Paurī include references to Hindu and yogic concepts and practices.  Gurū Nānak guides the listener to fully experience the presence of Spirit in them. He encouraged the followers of these practices to recognize the Spirit infused in them and to expand their consciousness beyond any limited, political, or ritualistic experience of them.

The Siri Singh Sahib was fond of the following quote:

“We are not human beings having  a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin) Never forget that your True Identity is Spirit.

Gurū Nānak’s message to all, whatever their practice, culture, heritage, religion, or other persuasion, was to encourage the expansion of Spirit and consciousness. He reminds us of the One Spirit pervading all – and that the highest Path is where spirit flourishes and is infused into practice to experience True Essence.  His words, themselves, are compositions of incomparable beauty, which have left in their wake the multitude of Sikhs who have lived and died by them.  Yet, there ever remains an openness in the Sikh way of life to acknowledge Truth where it exists in all the Paths.  It is important in these times that people of faith remember the One light we all share.  Sat Nām.

(1)  Yogi Bhajan, The Aquarian Teacher, 80.

Prabhu Nam Kaur has been singing sacred mantra and shabad from the Kundalini Yoga and Sikh traditions for more than 40 years. She aspires to sing these songs of God with devotion, so that their wisdom and beauty can shine forth, and so that listeners can find their own ability to sing and experience them as well. Her most recent CD  titled Ardas was released in 2014.  She has also recorded Sopurkh,  Seasons of the Soul, and with her daughter Snatam Kaur, Divine Birth and Mother’s Blessing.