July 20, 2016:
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Where the Land lies green on fertile ground, At the bend of the river, Goindwal is found, In the humble village lived three Gurus; Amar Das and Ram Das, and Arjan, too But up in the village of Goindwal, In a sacred house with a peg in the wall, Lived Guru Amar Das, the third Guru, In the place where Arjan was born and grew. I walked those streets to find that place Where Guru sat in his sacred space, Each step brought me closer to understand That this path was carved by Guru’s hand. For against that wall Guru would sit And fate and destiny he would knit Together in his meditations deep, with his hair tied so that he wouldn’t sleep. Around that peg his hair was tied, To wake him up whenever he tried To sleep, instead of meditate; It pulled him up to stay awake. And I understood, when I saw the wall, That this path is the same for us all, That only when we sit and meditate Can we find the substance that makes us great. It is the same for me, the same for you As it was the same for the Guru; That day by day we must sit and grind ourselves slowly, slowly but exceedingly fine. That wooden peg is smooth and worn In the house where Arjan was born, For the Guru was a man like you or me Who followed this path to Victory. Four hundred years later, here in the West, Each new day we rise and face the test To identify ourselves and stand our ground, In this land where demons are found. The course hasn’t changed since Guru’s time, We all must bow low to be divine, Japa and Tapa we must combine, To give the light to shunya’s shine. Guru has walked this way before, As I walk it now to find his door And it gives me hope when I recall that humble peg in Goindwal. |
Gurutej Singh Khalsa is a yogi, warrior, businessman, poet, healer, and teacher. For 35 years he studied Kundalini Yoga and the teachings of the Sikhs from his teacher Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, aka Yogi Bhajan (1929 – 2004). As a trained law enforcement officer, Gurutej was a personal bodyguard and aide to Yogi Bhajan and traveled the world with him. He is the Founder of Akal Security, Inc., which he grew from a small start-up business in his living room to the largest privately held security services contractor in the United States and largest provider of protective services to the U.S. Government. Gurutej is a respected and recognized teacher, speaker, healer, and counselor in his own right and has taught Kundalini Yoga, the science of meditation, and the teachings of the Sikhs all over the world. In 2001 he published a book of poetry, Children of the Cusp, about his experiences as a student on the spiritual path under the guidance of a great teacher. In 2014 he published his moving and inspiring novel RAJNI, which was awarded the Gold Seal of Literary Excellence. Drawn from myth, legend, and historical events and the first of a trilogy, RAJNI is a deeply moving epic about the powers of love, sacrifice, and the elevation of the soul. Gurutej Singh lives in Singapore with his wife and son.