(Editor’s note: This has been written in the first person by Mukhia Sardarni Sahib Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa.) This is an excerpt from “Victory and Virtue” published by Sikh Dharma International

It is the Shabad Guru which unites us to the Infinite, through the meditation on the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Kundalini Yoga prepares us to hear that Shabad.

Kundalini Yoga is the householders yoga. It is the Yoga of Awareness, of Chardi Kala. Guru Nanak admonished the yogis of his time that they were on the wrong path, teaching them that leaving their families, leaving this world and practicing austerities would not merge them with God. This is true. He did not teach that yoga itself is bad and in any way incongruent with the life of a Sikh. In fact, the internal process of merging with the Infinite that is described in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib is identical to universal principles of union with God which were taught by the ancient yogis.
A Sikh does not do yoga to “earn” his or her liberation. A Sikh uses the techniques of Kundalini Yoga in the same way that s/he would take a bath in the morning, or be conscious of how s/he maintains the body purely, eating a vegetarian diet, not partaking of tobacco or alcohol. In other words, a Sikh prepares this sacred body temple as purely as possible to bring the Holy Naam, the Holy Gurbani into it, to do justice to that Sacred Word. However, Kundalini Yoga prepares not only the physical body, but all of the Ten Bodies of which this magnificent human system is composed.

I see no contradiction to a life as a worshipper of the Siri Guru Granth and my Kundalini Yoga practice. There is nothing in the path of Kundalini Yoga which in any way contradicts what is taught in the Siri Guru Granth. It has been my personal experience that Gurbani Kirtan and developing a relationship with the Siri Guru Granth Sahib has given me the bliss and grace of life. However, it was and continues to be my Kundalini Yoga practice and teaching which keeps me in Chardi Kala and continues to remind me to seek the Guru’s Feet as my refuge.

I truly believe that it is the Miracle of Guru Ram Das that the ancient teachings of Kundalini Yoga were offered to the Sikhs to keep them in Chardi Kala. How else can we explain the miracle of so many Westerners coming to the feet of Siri Guru Granth Sahib through the practice of Kundalini Yoga?

Dhan dhan ram das gur; Jin siria tinai savaria

Pooree hoee karama; Aap sirjinaharay dharriaa!

This is an excerpt from “Victory and Virtue” published by Sikh Dharma International

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