Saints and sages throughout time, throughout all of the world’s religions, and throughout the world today, have risen in the early morning hours to contemplate the Divine between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., before the coming of the light of day.
The term “Amrit Vela” appears frequently in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, and Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, urged his disciples to get up at this auspicious time and recite God’s name and meditate on the Divine. The 10 Sikh Gurus, starting with Guru Nanak and culminating in Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s Rehit (code of conduct for a Sikh) stressed the need to rise in the Amrit Vela and perform Nitnem (recitation of the Sikh daily prayers or banis). Sikhs are instructed to rise early in the morning and bathe with a cold shower (ishnaan) and then start reciting the panj (five) prescribed banis continually until the full Nitnem (collection of the Sikh banis contained within a Gutka) is completed.
“The pineal gland was described as the ‘Seat of the Soul’ by the French philosopher and scientist Renee Descartes. It is located in the center of the brain. The main function of the pineal gland is to receive information about the state of the light-dark cycle from the environment, and convey this information by the production and secretion of the hormone melatonin” (Arendt & Aulinas). The pineal gland is stimulated when the tip of the tongue strikes the central meridian on the roof of the mouth, and this occurs with recitation of certain mantras, including “Wahe Guru,” which is contained in the Aquarian Sadhana, practiced in the Amrit Vela by many on the Sikh Dharma path.
Blessings of Reciting God’s Name in the Ambrosial Hour
When the sun hits the sixty-degree angle at 4 o’clock in the morning, before the coming of the light, this time of the day is called the “Amrit Vela.” This is when the channels in the cosmos are the clearest and most receptive. Prior to this time the energy channels are most congested. There is also a soothing, mystical time in the twilight of the day from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m that is most favorable for evening worship. As the sun sets, its energy is withdrawn from the earth, and the channels open. The morning Banis (prayers) are designed to prepare Sikhs for the day ahead, and the evening Banis (prayers) to lift the spirit as the sun’s energy withdraws from the planet in the evening.
In Sikh Dharma, we believe that we are at our best to gather all greatness during the Amrit Vela. Rising and meditating in the Amrit Vela, we empty our subconscious mind of the garbage stored there from past traumas and dramas. Then the unconscious mind is freed to bring to the conscious mind all the virtues and all the opportunities. We can change our attitude and altitude, and elevate our inner vitality.
For Sikhs, this self-purification of emptying and cleansing the mind is a daily necessity. The subconscious mind will empty itself anyway, whether we rise and meditate or chose to remain in our bed and dream during this time. But dreaming is an extremely slow and usually unconscious way to process unresolved issues of the subconscious mind. In addition, it has been scientifically documented that dreaming can be physically draining. If we dream we are running from something, we will wake up utterly exhausted, even if we do not remember the dream!
Meditating consciously during the Amrit Vela is a process by which we daily, consciously open and clean the subconscious mind. This process does not drain the physical and emotional bodies, but invigorates and revitalizes the entire being. Sikhs believe that meditating during the Amrit Vela is simply the most effective way to accelerate our evolution.
Studies have found that waking up at 4 a.m. offers many psychological and physical benefits, including enhanced sleep quality; increased personal time and creativity; boosted metabolism; radiant skin; improved mental health and reduced stress levels (The Sleep Company, India).
Amrit Vela Sach Nao—”In the ambrosial hours, praise the Infinite Lord, and you will be covered.” The gate of salvation will be within your reach. In the Ambrosial Hours, there is not one devotee or “Gursikh” who is not awake. Sikhs meditate in the early morning and do their Banis. There is then a huge combining of the forces in the heavens that shower the blessings on the people of earth who awake at this time to receive these blessings. That is the ecstasy.
~Resources: Living Reality (1994) by Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, Arendt & Aulinas, “Physiology of the Pineal Gland and Melatonin” (National Library of Medicine), “Wahe Guru – A Trikuti Mantra” (Sikh Dharma International), “Amritvela” (SikhiWiki) and “The Life-Changing Benefits of Waking Up at 4 AM” (The Sleep Company, India).
