True Tales

It’s been six weeks since the inauguration of the True Tales blog, sharing stories of our way along the spiritual path. Siri Ved Kaur and I are more than thrilled with the response of those who have visited the site and grateful to Guru Mustuk Singh at MrSikhnet who was generous enough to share True Tales with his readers. We knew when we decided to “go public” with these stories that it would be a forum for many to stir their own past and perhaps be inspired to get down on paper the stories of their lives. If you are one of those people we encourage you to do so, and further to share it with your family, your friends, and if you’re willing, send us a copy to post on True Tales. We also realized that the tales told here were a part of a larger one, the voyage of our souls from individual to group to universal consciousness. Not all was perfect and glorious on this journey, we are the first to admit it. We are human, as were all those who took up this way of life. This is not a forum to judge what has been or the choices made. For the writers and readers of True Tales we only desire that you come with an open mind and heart. “If You Can’t See God in All You Can’t See God at All!” This is what it’s all about.

Siri Ved Kaur wrote the following to explain our definition of a “true tale.” It’s a permanent Page on the sidebar but we thought it would be a good idea to put it in a post so more of you could read it.

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We’ve experimented with different approaches to writing our stories. We’ve found that writing a story in the present tense is an effective way to go back to the feelings and perceptions that we had at the time, how ever long ago. It’s easier to remember dialog, sights, smells, sounds, the environment, and other details that bring a story to life. Sometimes the writing is done from the perspective that we had at that time. For instance, Siri Atma’s story about KWTC Drill Team in 1978, when she was 12 years old, and my story about serving Yogiji at the Phyllis house in 1971 when I was barely 19, were both written in this way. We have tried to give a real picture of what it was like for us at that time. We could have written the same stories filled with our current opinions and wisdom. Instead, we want to present it as we experienced it, and let you come to your own opinion and feelings about what occurred.

Whether we’re telling it from the present tense or from the perspective of looking back in time, we also must deal with and contemplate: what is truth for the purpose of the story? We want to write an engaging story, and of course not all of the dialog and details are exactly remembered. Sometimes memories of different events that occurred around the same period of time start blending together. Maybe someone else who was there will disagree with the chronology, or remember the event differently. All the more reason for more people to write their stories… so we can have a more well-rounded view!

We have had an incredible journey all these years. We’ve all had our ups and downs, individually and collectively. We want to give the full picture and show the highs and the lows, and the thread of Guru’s Grace that has brought us through everything along the way. Some stories are incredibly powerful and personal and we’ve shared these in our group. But sometimes the subject matter is so personal that the writer may not really wish to publish it here. While we’ve learned from these difficult experiences (and this includes things like divorce, relationships, challenges with other people, and other traumas) and the lessons are clear in the stories, we’re not necessarily inclined to hang out our dirty laundry in a public blog (even if we’ve cleaned up our act now). We want to avoid sugar coating anything, and at the same time do this without venting or being mean spirited.

This is all to say that we hope that the stories here will be engaging, fun, inspiring, thought provoking, and not be embarrassing to anyone.