My First Trip to India
Aug 19th, 2007 by Karta Purkh Singh
Getting to India always seemed to be at least a minor struggle for those that I knew who had gone and it was the same for me. We (my wife Sat Inder Kaur and I) decided late that there was enough money in our budget for both of us to go on the 1980 yatra. As a result, I was two weeks or so later than her in passport submission and ticketing. Our trip left from New York’s JFK International. My flight was set for the day after the main group. Worst of all, by the time we got to New York City I still had no visa.
After saying goodbye, along with Yogiji, to the rest of the yatra, I returned to NYC and the Indian consulate to see what the solution to my problem might be. Dealing with the Indian bureaucratic system was certainly a job for a saint, a position to which I had not yet risen. All I received from the various clerks and secretaries were blank stares and upraised shoulders.
I stood nearly helpless at the consulate’s “visa” desk. The idea that I might not get to India was another strain that my aspiring sainthood could not bear. So, like any other red blooded New Yorker, even though I was in a turban and bana, I donned my true colors, those of the “ugly American,” and simply barged around the back of the desk and into the office without asking and began going through the piles (literally piles) of files stored there in no discernible order.
And, as if validating all my poor behavior, I found it! My approved passport, right there almost at the bottom of one pile! Now, able to become a little more polite and apologetic I backed out of the consulate assured of getting to India.
ABOVE: OUR 1980 YATRA GROUP IN BABA NIHAL SINGH’S VILLAGE.
While the rest of the journey was not a blur:
- My first physical sighting of the Golden Temple from the window of a taxicab found my heart beating almost outside my ribcage (Like some love-struck cartoon character, I thought I might faint dead away.);
- I was immediately stricken ill after visiting the Harimandir Sahib with a disease that was later diagnosed as amoebic dysentery…quite vile in its earliest stages and almost as vile in its allopathic cure;
- A visit to the location where Guru Teg Bahadur meditated for 30 plus years where I was engulfed in the meditative power of the place;
- The walk up to Hemkunt Sahib and the dip in the ice encrusted pool where the water felt warm, spa-like and enriching; and finally,
- My team’s loss in their first World Series appearance. (Sorry about the sports interjection!);
PHOTOS ABOVE AND BELOW - BY MANJIT SINGH, L.A.
ABOVE: KESHGAR SAHIB (ANANDPUR SAHIB)
BELOW: YATRA GROUP IN AMRITSAR, ATOP NANAK NIVAS.
I was, however, most struck by our time in Anandpur Sahib. (I should mention that my favorite English language song was “Flowers in the Rain.” The verse that always got to me was “many did they run away and many did they hide…” I knew, I just knew I was one of those poor cowardly Sikhs who had hidden from Guru Gobind Singh’s call. I was not able to give my head and a feeling of shame overcame me each time I sang it.) So my visit to Keshgarsahib was to be a place I might make up for that shame in some small way with a prayer, an apology, an offering, I knew not what exactly but I knew it would be there.
As I shuffled slowly up to bow before the Guru Granth Sahib, in the company of my fellow pilgrims and Baba Nihal Singh and his troop of Nihung Singhs, I began to formulate my prayer. Or at least I tried. But nothing came, my mind was a complete and total and utter blank. At all the other places we had visited and prayed, and at which we had bowed and sung, I was able to stumble out, in my mind and heart, at least a small prayer for healing or upliftment, or a wish for a return, or thanks, or something to acknowledge the grace and strength of the moment. But here, in my home, where the Siri Singh Sahib said I would be reborn, there was nothing, nothing I could say to apologize to my Guru. I felt almost panicky. What prayer could I offer? What could I say, or promise or resolve? …there was nothing.
My turn came and my mind was still a blank, an ecstatic blank, but still blank. How could I waste this marvelous chance to bow my head in the holy place and not speak to my Guru, not utter a prayer of some kind!!! As my offering fluttered down to the pile of rupee notes and I closed my eyes and kissed the floor there, I was, it seems, suspended within the coolness of the marble and the voices of the sadh sangat. And then the words came. They were not of course mine. They came from outside of me, to pierce my heart and soul. They were in English but I recognized the voice of my Guru: “You shall never desert me.” That was all. Just five words that would complete the yatra for me. I have never forgotten them.
Great story! Thanks for posting it. It’s so inspiring.
…..G
You know I don’t mean to pick on you, but after reading several entries on this website, I am thinking a lot of you guys are pretty neurotic. Maybe its just my interpretation of organized religion, but I have never found myself creating imaginary wrongs or feeling that one particular place in the world has God more than any other. I have practiced and taught Kundalini Yoga since 1971, but have always lived in Iowa, far from an organized 3HO enclave. It seems like you are always worried about doing the "correct" thing and following the rules. It just doesn’t sit well with me, and I am not sure I will continue to call what I teach Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, but just yoga.
Dear Steven,
Although you haven’t been specific, it would probably be easy for a lot of people to come to some of the same conclusions as those you bring up. I agree there are people who are hung up on doing the “correct” thing and strictly following perceived rules. I think such a limited view on things just makes life more painful (even though the reason for being this way probably has its source in trying to avoid painful issues in the first place). You will find a sort of fanaticism like this just about everywhere, in religion, politics, social issues, and so on. This isn’t to qualify it, but to put in perspective that you will find all types of people, with all types of issues, strengths and weaknesses, everywhere, and 3HO/Sikh Dharma has certainly not been immune.
Without doubt I have been down the fanatic road, especially in the earlier years, and my stories probably reflect that. We are all learning and growing.
I struggle, even today, with the structure-created dogmas-leadership of Sikh Dharma as it has evolved over the last 530+ years. I don’t think any founding spiritual guide, including Buddha, Mohammed, Abraham, Christ, and Guru Nanak, came with the intent of creating a "religion ." They brought teachings of love, compassion, and oneness. Nanak emerged from three days in the river, proclaiming “There is no Muslim! There is no Hindu! We are all One! God is One!” The Siri Guru Granth Sahib contains writings of saints and sages from all walks of life… Hindus, Sufis, Bhagats, and Sikh Gurus alike… who, regardless of religion or caste, experienced the Oneness of all, and produced bani to exalt this Oneness in a stream of divine consciousness. That alone should be enough for us to get a clue, to unite in love and service, to recognize and fully realize the truth of Guru Nanak’s words. All the rest has been created by those who followed, who came to leadership roles and over time created protocols, rules, and administrative bodies. As world history has shown us, while such structures are necessary, they certainly do not always function in an enlightened, positive, or productive way. Even so, management of properties and temples, leadership, organizational administration, community outreach… are necessary, and overall much good is accomplished.
I don’t recall anyone claiming anywhere on the True Tales blog that God is more in one place than another. What an odd concept. Certainly there are places with a higher level of energy/vibration than others. For an example illustrating such contrast: a torture chamber; a place of pain, fear, agony and sadism… versus the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine; a meditative peaceful place where countless have come for contemplation and prayer.
I think whatever you decide to do is fine. Teach whatever you want. My unofficial opinion is that if you are teaching yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, I would strongly encourage you to represent it as so. If you have your own mix and knowledge and are teaching that, then I would strongly encourage you to not represent it as Yogi Bhajan’s teachings.
Wishing you well,
Siri Ved Kaur
Dear Steven:
Every time and every place is different for everyone. The last thing I feel about Sikh Dharma is that in any way shape or form it is an “organized” religion. You obviously haven’t been to many gurdwaras or “worship” services conducted by Sikhs, either American or Indian!
Yeah, we are probably a pretty neurotic group but for the most part we are, as a group, working on our neurosis.
I suppose you were commenting on my attachment to places like the Golden Temple and Hemkunt Sahib. I am sure many folks would go to those places and feel little if anything in the way of spiritual uplift. That is of course a case of “different strokes …” I practice and teach Kundalini Yoga (as taught by Yogi Bhajan) simply because it enables me (and my students) to feel better. It helps us to see better, eat better, sleep better, and all in all, be better. That’s all, just a natural human desire.
I live in an ashram not an enclave. We’re open to all experiences and people (within our own self determined preferential limits … our life, our choices).
By the way, I live in Missouri, just south of Iowa, a nice place, like yours, full of all kinds of different people, like you and me.
Dear Steven Z and Karta Purkh Singh,
First KPS; thank you for the photos of Hemkunt Sahib, they brought back a wealth of memories, and for your gracious response to Steven’s comments. I love that we can have intelligent and gentle dialog.
Next to Steven; thank you for your courage and honesty in offering your opinion. Having been quite neurotic myself I appreciate the viewpoint. Just wanted to add that Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma were always two separate disciplines traditionally from two separate “religions of India.” Sikh and Hindu. In those early days we took flack from the Indian Sikhs for practicing yoga, and from the yogi’s for being Sikhs. Basically, we were renegades from just about every one’s viewpoint, but then we were the renegade generation. From my understanding and experience it was YogiJi’s unique background as the son of a Hindu mother and a Sikh father that he had an inherent understanding of and devotion to both and shared that with us.
When YogiJi came to this country he taught Kundalini Yoga, and that experience is what drew us to him, expanded his classes and transformed our lives. As time evolved and we who practiced it wanted more of a container for the consciousness we experienced in his powerful classes to extend into our daily lives, he introduced the basic tenents of Sikh Dharma. Our unique culture evolved in a grass roots way from there, and once in the hands of our unique generation went where it went. Sikh Dharma itself is pretty universal and according to its founder Guru Nanak, it is not a religion at all but a way of life held by these simple tenents: rise before the rise of the sun and praise the One God, earn your living righteously and share with others; see the God in others and honor how God has revealed Himself to them (ie their religion). There is no prostelizing or missionary work in Sikh Dharma, although when people ask, we share. There were ten Sikh gurus and each made their contribution. It was the 10th, Guru Gobind Singh who gave the form of turban et al, and he lost multitudes when he did. But it was also he who said that there would be no gurus after him, just the word of God, as revealed. Wisely, historically and prophetically he recognized how man’s polarizing mind can mess with the loftiest concepts and experiences.
So Steven, thank you for teaching the purity and power of Kundalini Yoga for so long. I think it is imperative that this magnificent discipline exist somewhere on its own and be available to people who aren’t interested in joining what appears to be an organized religion. I have it on good authority that there are now many Kundalini Yoga teachers around the world that just teach Kundalini Yoga without the icing. So have at it and carry on. God bless & be well. Ganga
How fascinating to come upon this dialogue (it took me a while to get here!) and I too am most grateful for it. Thank you, Karta Purkh Singh, for a beautiful, real, and honest expression of devotion in your India story. Thank you, Steven, for the same honesty in expressing what you needed to say. What a journey we all take, each in our own way along the road to waking up to the Truth of who we are and what each one of is really doing here. I too, like Steven, had my own private battles with organized religion and fanaticism…so my response was to distance myself from it and everyone involved in it. I didn’t want to be a Sikh anymore, I wanted to do it my way, without any rules, without any notion of right or wrong, just peace, love, and happiness, baby. I found that without a container and structure to hold and support me, without a lineage to relate to and inspire me, and without a discipline to sustain me, that I was in freefall, and I ended up nowhere. After much pain and self-inflicted separation, I again experienced the joy of connecting with my own soul and spirit through the vehicle of Kundalini Yoga and lo and behold, that delivered me right back into the lap of the Guru and Sikh Dharma. I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but then, upon reflection, where else could I have gone? For me, Kundalini yoga is the courtship dance with the Soul, the falling in love, and Sikh Dharma is the marriage, the consumation; the Lover and the Beloved united for all eternity. The love and the gratitude that I feel each and every time I bow my head before Siri Guru Granth Sahib is enrapturing. The ecstasy that I feel when I hear a hukum that speaks to me about the longing of my soul’s merger with the One Soul and I feel the reverberations of that within my being, knowing that God and I are truly One and that means that all my brothers and sisters here are also One, then I know that I am finally Home, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. So I choose places, Gurdwara, the Golden Temple, a kundalini yoga class, a beautiful spot in nature, where I get reminded of that. That helps me to remember the same Truth when I am in places that might not naturally remind me of that. And I choose the company of people for whom that is also true, to get the juice that I need when I am in the company of people who are not consciously aware of it, even though it’s true anyway, whether they know it or not. For me, it is not now about organized religion, or right and wrong, it’s just about love. And if Sikh Dharma delivered me into an experience of undying love, pure and unconditional, and if Kundalini Yoga planted in me this desire, then I say Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma are One, just as everything else in the Universe is. God bless you guys, and thanks for giving us all this wonderful opportunity to express!
All love in Divine,
Gurprasad Kaur
khalsa ji , its very heartening to see pictures and to read the post . its so inspiring to know u felt like that on first visit to harimandir sahib ji (from a distance) , and i wonder why dont i feel that way when we go there everytime . and i just pray to waheguruji give me (and all) that joy of speechless feeling EVERYTIME i go . waheguruuuuuuuuu ji , aisi kirpa mohe karo …….thanks for the post khalsa ji
The fact that it took me many months to reach this write is only a reflection of the fact that what Karta Purkh Singh has said is much more than a mere a write up. It is in fact a treatise . THANKS a lot to Karta Puurkh Singh. May God bless you and all those associated with you. It is indeed remarkable that the feelings you have expressed are manifestation of the high level of faith.and devotion . I have visited the Golden temple and Keshgarh Sahib on some occasions but is only occasionally I have felt that level of connection with the Tenth MASTER And the Guru sahib . BEFORE going further Ganga, S iri Ved kaur,Gurprasad kaur and all those who have contributed in these write ups please accept heart felt gratitude for such a clear perception about Sikhism as expressed above and elsewhere from time to time .It very clearly enunciates the Sikh ethos and elucidates the basic principles of the teachings of Gur Nanak Dev ji. Sikhism is a very simple way of life . For Mr Steven I can only endeavour to give my own experience . In school I was taught by Irish Patrician Brothers . We did catholic prayers every day without any prejudices because Sikhism includes the teachings of all Great Saints that could be possibly accessed at the time of the compilation . It does not encourage malice towards anyone and if any Sikh does so it is more a reflection on the upbringing of the individual rather than Sikhism. My parents exposed me in my school days to the Bible and Mahabharat of the Hindus . Even today my only child goes to listen Brother George at the local church and also to Siri Hazur SAHIB AT Nanded where GURU Gobind Singh bestowed the Guru gaddi on THE HOLY GURU GRANTH SAHIB . Today is EASTER SUNDAY . Myfriend a christian came home and gave us easter sweets . We respect that . I think in the 21 century humans have actually progressed if they have risen above the parochial. Since there are no missionary type of activities there is an apparent lack of understanding about Sikh way of life . In fact Pearl s Buck read the GURU GRANTH SAHIB he stated that THE GURUBANI is most relevant in the modern life . Similarly Bertrand Russel have stated thatSikhs have not done enough to spread the relevance of aSikhism . Thanks.