Path of Love

During even the darkest night, the absence of Divinity is just an illusion. During even the darkest night, the absence of Divinity is just an illusion. This mantra, taken from the last four lines of Guru Gobind Singh’s Jaap Sahib, removes fear, anxiety and phobias and brings the experience of victory.

“Chattr chakkr vartee is the mantra for the heart centre, it gives direct energy to it. When you are sinking, if you know this mantra and can sing it, you can totally recuperate yourself.” – Yogi Bhajan

Chattr Chakkr Vartee, Chattr Chakkr Bughatay
Suyambhav Subhang Sarab Daa Sarab Jugatay
Dukhaalang Pranaasee, Dayaalang Saroopay
Sadaa Ang Sangay, Abhangang Bibhootay

You are pervading in all the four directions, the Enjoyer in all the four directions.
You are self-illumined, profoundly beautiful, and united with all.
Destroyer of the torments of birth and death, Embodiment of mercy.
You are ever within us.
You are the everlasting giver of indestructible power.

Chakkr Chalunee Kriya (originally taught 10 May 1996, published in Self Experience)

Sitting in easy pose, eyes closed. Elbows bent, tucked in against the ribcage, forearms pointing up.

Hands held flat, palms facing the ceiling, fingertips pointing forwards, with a stretch in the wrist. (Same mudra as for Ra Ma Da Sa.) Make small inward circles with the forearms, moving from the elbow.

Chant Chattr Chakkr Varti mantra with the tip of the tongue. 11-18 mins.

To end: inhale and suspend the breath 10-15 sec, make rapid small circles – do this 3x.

A call to remember! This mantra fixes our identity to its True Reality.

Humee Hum, Brahm Hum

We are We, We are God

This shabd was written by Bhai Satta and Rae Balwand, percussionists in the Court of Guru Ram Das. This shabd expresses the realm of the heart – the fourth dimension, beyond the mind, where miracles can occur, and the impossible becomes possible.

Dhan dhan raam daas gur jin siri-aa tinai savaari-aa
Pooree hoee karaamaat aap sirajanhaarai dhaari-aa
Sikhee atai sangatee paarbrahm kar namasakaari-aa
Atal athaa-o atol too tayraa ant na paaraavaari-aa
Jinee too sayvi-aa bhaa-o kar say tudh paar utaari-aa
Lab lobh kaam krodh moh maar kadhay tudh saparvaari-aa
Dhan so tayraa thaan hai sach tayraa paisakaari-aa
Naanak too lehanaa toohai gur amar too veechaari-aa
Gur dithaa taa man saadhaari-aa

Blessed, blessed is Guru Ram Das; the One who created You has also exalted You.
Perfect is Your miracle; the Creator has installed You on a throne.
The Sikhs and all Conscious people bow to You because you manifest God.
You are unchanging, unfathomable, immeasurable; You have no end or limitation.
Those who serve You with love are carried across the sea of existence.
The five obstacles of pride, greed, lust, anger, and attachment cannot exist where you are.
The realm that You rule is the true place. True is Your magnificent glory.
You are Nanak, You are Angad, and You are Amar Daas;
When I recognised You, my soul was comforted.

This mantra calls on the energy of the sun, moon, earth, and the Infinite Spirit to bring deep healing. It can be chanted to heal the self or to send healing energy to others.

Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung

Ra – Sun
Ma – Moon
Daa – Earth
Saa – Impersonal Infinity
Saa Say – Totality of Infinity
So – Personal sense of merger and identity
Hung – The infinite, vibrating and real.

This shabd, written by the 5th Sikh Guru, Guru Arjun Dev, was sung daily as part of Shiv Charan Singh’s class at the European Yoga Festival 2016. The focus of the class was Compassion. Shiv asked me to come up with a musical arrangement for it about two weeks before the Festival. It was through playing and singing it with the sangat that I came to love this shabd.

Shiv Charan Singh said: “By reciting this Shabd you’re acknowledging that compassion has come to you and that you are blessed. And it’s never just for you. It may start with a personal cry but the blessing that comes is never just for you. It’s to share in the world. So anytime, you have many opportunities to remember: inhale Wahe, exhale and bring the healing light Guru. You are blessed to bless. Sat Nam.”

‘’To not understand compassion is to not understand God. God is an Impulse of Expansion and man has to compassionately understand expansion. The moment you do not expand, you contract. Then what is the use of life? When you are compassionate and vast like the ocean, everybody else is a little boat on it. Everybody is a part of you. If you do not understand that everybody is a part of you, you do not understand who you are.’’   – Yogi Bhajan, 10 Nov 2001

Gur poorai kirpaa karee kaatiaa dukh rog.
Man tan seetal sukhee bhaiaa prabh dhiaavan jog.

Bandhan kaatay aap prabh hoaa kirpaal.
Deen daiaal prabh paarbraham taa kee nadar nihaal.

Gur poorai kirpaa karee kaatiaa dukh rog.
Man tan seetal sukhee bhaiaa prabh dhiaavan jog.

Aukadh har kaa naam hai jit rog na viaapai.
Saadhsang man tan hitai fir dukh na jaapai.

Har Har Har Har jaapiai antar liv laaee.
Kilvikh utrahi sudh hoi saadhoo sarnaaee.

Sunat japat har naam jas taa ki door balaaee
Maha mantr Nanak kathai har ke gun gaaee.

The Perfect Guru has shown mercy to me, and eradicated my pains and illnesses.
My mind and body have been cooled and soothed, meditating on God, most worthy of meditation.
My bonds have been snapped; God has become compassionate.
The Supreme Being is Merciful to the meek; and by a Glance of Grace, I am in ecstasy. The Perfect Guru has shown mercy to me, and eradicated my pains and illnesses. My mind and body have been cooled and soothed, meditating on God, most worthy of meditation.
The Name of God is the medicine to cure all disease; with it, no disease afflicts me.
In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, mind and body are tinged with Love, and I do not suffer pain any longer.
I chant the Name of God, Har, Har, Har, Har, and I lovingly centre my inner being on this.
Mistakes are erased and I am sanctified, in the Sanctuary of the Holy company.
Misfortune is kept far away from those who hear and chant the Praises of God’s Name.
Nanak chants the Mahaa Mantra, and sings the Praise of Har. 

This shabd opens one to the flow of prosperity by attuning the mind to the power of the Creative Infinity, the joy of merger with Infinity.

Jap Man Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sadaa Sat Naam
Ichhaa poorak sarab sukh-daataa har jaa kai vas hai kaamdhaynaa.
So aisaa har dhi-aa-ee-ai mayray jee-aray taa sarab sukh paavehi mayray manaa.
Jap Man Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sadaa Sat Naam
Halat palat mukh oojal hoee hai nit dhi-aa-ee-ai har purakh niranjanaa.
Jeh har simran bha-i-aa teh upaadh gat keenee vadbhaagee har japnaa.
Jan Naanak ka-o gur eh mat deenee jap har bhavjal taranaa.

Chant, Oh my mind, the True Name, Sat Nam, the True Name.
God is the Fulfiller of desires, the Giver of total peace; the Kaamdhaynaa, the mythical cow which fulfills all wishes, is in God’s power.
So meditate on such a One, Oh my soul. Then, you shall obtain total peace, Oh my mind.
Chant, Oh my mind, the True Name, Sat Nam, the True Name.
In this world, and in the world beyond, your face shall be radiant, by meditating continually on the immaculate God.
Wherever anyone remembers God in meditation, disaster runs away from that place. By great good fortune, we meditate on God.
The Guru has blessed servant Nanak with this understanding: that by meditating on God, we cross over the terrifying world-ocean.

The name translates directly as ‘root mantra’; these are the words given by Guru Nanak, the first words of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred writings of the Sikh Gurus and other saints and sages – some say the rest of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib is an explanation of these words. Yogi Bhajan said on chanting the Mul mantra: “The Mul Mantra is a fate killer. It removes the fate and changes the destiny to complete prosperity.”

Ik Ongkar, Satnaam, Karta Purkh, Nirbho, Nirvair, Akaal Moort, Ajoonee, Saibhung,
Gurprasaad, Jap.
Aad such, Jugaad such, Haibhee such, Nanak hosee bhee such.

God and we are One. This is our True Identity. The Doer of everything. Beyond fear. Beyond revenge. Beyond death. Image of the Infinite. Unborn. Self-illumined. By the Guru’s Grace. Meditate.
Primal Truth. True for all time. True at this instant. O Nanak, forever True.

I love to walk. Last autumn, I walked across France, on one of the long distance routes to Santiago de Compostela.

Often, when I walk, I inwardly chant Waheguru or Satnaam in time to the rhythm of my footsteps. But this walk was through a region that reveres Mary, and its basis was a Christian pilgrimage. I found that my inner mantra started Waheguru, but then changed to Love.

With every step: Love.

My rhythm and the tune it took on is more or less what you hear on this track. And I’ve added a mantra from an exercise we did on a Karam Kriya weekend with Shiv Charan Singh in Lyon (the same region of France) in 2012: All is Love is.