Jaap Sahib English Katha #1 - Importance and ikongkaarsatgurprasaad

Vaheguru ji ka Khalsa,
Vaheguru ji ki Fateh

Saadh sangat ji,
Jaap sahib.

Jap and Jaap, these words come
together lots of times in all Rehatnama.

Japji sahib and Jaap sahib.

Those days when Guru Gobind Singh issued
the Hukamnama, they said Jap and Jaap.

When Bhai Nand Lal talked with
Guru Gobind Singh ji

which was even before the Amrit Sanchaar
in the year 1696.

These two things are very important
to read (Jaap Sahib and Japji sahib)

These are the first two prayers a Sikh
is supposed to do in the morning.

And it was done before 1699,

It is not that the Jaap Sahib
was introduced with the Amrit Sanchaar

this was done by every Sikh before that
as well,

because Maharaj Hukamnama were
about Jap Jaap

and the first Panj Pyaare did have it
memorized as well,

because they made Amrit.

They had it memorized everyday.

It is not the case that they don't have to
memorize, they have to do it as well.

It is the second of the five Amrit Bani.

First we read Japji sahib, then Jaap sahib
to make Amrit,

The Panj Pyaare had to look at the water,
and not a gutka sahib,

so they must have memorized it.

so it's important to have it memorized
because 'kirpa drishti',

and also they did not have that
many gutka sahib in those days

as we have nowaday,
and we definitely have Iphones.

It was important to memorize
your Bani in those days.

because in case you were out and did
not have your gutka, you had it memorized,

and in the old days they used to say,

when you have your Bani memorized is like
having money in your pocket

because you can spend it any time.

If you have a debit card in your pocket
and the money is in the bank account,

but if you go to shop they might
say 'Cash only please.'

and you have to go to the bank
machine to take out the money.

It means when you can't
spend the money straight away,

you have to go somewhere and get it out.

But if you have it memorized, you do not
even have to wash your hands,

just start reading your prayers.

It is very important to start
memorizing our paath.

Where does Jaap sahib come from?

It is the first bani of
Dasam Granth sahib ji

and Japji Sahib is the first bani of
Guru Granth sahib ji.

It was composed by Guru Gobind Singh ji
in Paonta Sahib, when he was 16 years old.

Obviously, the focus of our Guru is always
with One Akaal Purakh,

When he was 16 to 33 years old, the
Sikhs would have been reading this.

Amrit was made when he was 33 years old.

There is a story of Baba Harnam Singh

It's a quite nice story.

Baba Harnam Singh is very well recognized
in our panth as a Gurmukh.

He was involved in the Dharam Yudh
Morcha before 1984,

He went to prison as well.

He was not just a saint who does not
get involved in politics,

He knew Bhai Jarnail Singh, and there
is photos of them together

and they were involved in politics

At the time that Baba Harnam Singh got
darshan of Guru Gobind Singh ji,

they were not reading Jaap sahib
every day,

they would do Japji sahib, Swaye,
Benti Chaupai, Anand sahib,

Sukhmani sahib, and Asa di var every day

they would do a lot of meditation, Simran,
daily doing the same Shabad again,

and basically lived his
whole life for Sikhi.

Guru Gobind Singh ji was happy with him

One day Baba Harman Singh was
doing meditation on his little farm.

A Shaheed Singh knocked on his door

and told him to get ready for
the visit from Guru Gobind Singh.

Baba Harnam Singh got very
excited and went outside,

Maharaj came on a horse
and came up to them.

They were looking each other and
then Maharaj rode off.

Baba Harnam Singh was happy that he saw
Guru Gobind Singh ji

but he was a bit sad too, the other
Singh asked him 'Why are you sad?

You should be happy, you just got
darshan of Guru Gobind Singh ji.'

Baba Harnam Singh said
'Maharaj said nothing to me.

We want to hear our Gurus words,
isn't it?'

So they were a bit sad.

And then the Singh said,
'Wait one second, I'll go and ask him'.

He went and aked 'Why did you not
say anything to the Sikh?'

Because Guru Gobind Singh ji was still
around - they had not gone anywhere.

They are Amar Shaheed.
They are always around.

The shaheed Singh said: 'Guru Gobind
Singh said nothing to you

because you do not read Jaap sahib

Because you know when you took Amrit then
you are supposed to read Jaap sahib,

but you do not read it.'

Baba Harnam Singh said,
"I find it very hard to say and memorize"

and it is different from Sri Guru Granth
Sahib Ji bani as it is very unique.

But the Sikh said "It is hukam"

So hukam of Guru ji is more
important than what we think.

We might like one thing,
that is irrelevant

hukum is what we should follow.

Baba Harnam Singh said 'I am sorry'

he started reading Jaap sahib every day
and had it memorized very soon

and then they had darshan of Guru
Gobind Singh many times after that,

and Maharaj always spoke to him.

It's very important to read Jaap sahib
and it is a good test on memorizing Bani.

Only if you read this Bani every day, you
can have their ability to memorize it

and also Maharaj ji kirpa (blessing).

because to have memorized it he
must have blessed you at some point.

You have to do Ardaas because
it is very hard to memorize.

Some people in our panth get scared
of disrespecting our Guru.

One example is some people do
not want to read Jaap sahib

because it is so hard to say
it is different.

They think if I say it wrong,
Guru Gobind Singh will be upset with me.

We should try and say it properly.

If it is hard for you, do half in the
morning and half in the evening.

When you get it memorized,
you can do it in about 10-15 min.

If you can't do it, in the beginning it
take you half an hour,

then do some in the morning,
some in the evening and some at night.

You will never start to do it
until you start.

We should try, listen to it on tape,
follow along on the gutka sahib,

then start reading it yourself.

another way people get a bit scared is
of direspecting Guru Granth Sahib ji,

they say 'I don't want to disrespect my
Guru, Guru Granth Sahib ji'

If I respect Jaap sahib, then I am
disrespecting Guru Granth Sahib Ji.'

Some of the crazy stuff
goes through our heads.

people think by respecting Jaap sahib as
Gurbani, as Guru Gobind Singh ji's Bani,

The Sikh Rehat Maryada is very clear
that this is Gurus Bani, Amrit Bani,

it makes Amrit and it can give us
liberation as well.

Obviously, it includes Dasam Bani and Guru
Granth Sahib ji's Bani in one Gutka sahib.

Even in Takht Hazoor Sahib and
Takht Patna Sahib,

there also Guru Granth Sahib ji

has a bigger and differently adorned
palki sahib than Dasam Granth Sahib.

It's like the head is
Guru Granth Sahib ji

and the two shoulders are Sri Dasam Granth
Sahib ji and Sri Sarbloh Granth Sahib ji

Guru Gobind Singh ji did give the guruship
to the Guru Granth sahib ji themselves.

Guru Gobind Singh wrote the Bani
themselves and made Amrit in 1699,

and in 1708 they passes Gurgaddi
to Guru Granth sahib ji themselves.

So the status of Guru Granth sahib ji
comes from Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

It is not disrespecting
Guru Granth sahib ji

if you respect Guru Gobind Singh ji
and their Bani,

because they were the
Guru before and passed it on.

There is no need to stress, respect
Dasam Bani as much as you can.

Guru Granth sahib ji is not going to
get upset with you. I promise you that.

All of Guru Gobind Singh Ji´s Bani
has to be respected by us

because that is our Guru´s Bani,
their own form.

They say Japji sahib gives you
Braham gyaan on how to achieve Oneness.

We talked about the several stages,
and the 5 Khands.

Jaap sahib is like how to do next?

It tells you that Japji sahib is about
listening, accepting and doing it.

What do we have to do? To praise,
as Jaap sahib is all about praising God.

Namastan - I bow to.

It is like the next step from Japji sahib,

Praise God and all of their qualities.

Jaap sahib is basically a follow on from
Japji sahib, it is all of their greatness.

How to praise Vaheguru?

It can be a Beer Rass bani.

It can give you a lot of strength as well
because the Khalsa needed to be strong.

The Khalsa needed to be somebody
who could take on this warrior spirit.

Jaap sahib starts with,

Both Japji and Jaap sahib start
off with 'Ik Oankaar'.

Before anything else happens Maharaj
makes clear what we believe, 'Ik Oankaar'.

We associate Ik Oankaar with
Guru Nanak Dev ji's hand,

but Guru Gobind Singh ji's Bani starts
off with Ik Oankaar as well.

Both Guru Granth sahib and
Dasam Granth start with 'Ik oankaar'.

Before we go into the details of Jaap
sahib we should reclarify what this makes

because Guru Gobind Singh ji is
telling us to look at it again,

'Ik' is a number as it is not
something to twist around.

Human beings are very clever,

if you give them something straight
forward they will still twist it.

So Maharaj made it completely
uncontroversial.

They put a number,
and not the word "ik".

So it is always true
in every language: One.

Then they say 'Oankaar'.

Today I was doing katha in Bedford
Gurdwara about 'Ik Oankaar Satgur Prasaad'

I`d say that about 60-70% of
the people who live abroad

if you say to them what does
ik Oankar means?

They will say "There is one God".

But it is not saying that.

It's not saying 'There is One God.'

It says "Ik" and then the
next bit is "Oankaar".

People get a bit confused.

"Oankaar" is a description of
how the world was made.

It can be translated in
three different ways.

1. The sound "Oan" made the world,
which means we were all made by One.

The world was made by this sound
'Oan'.

Imagine, what they are saying
is 'We all are made by One.'

It is to say that we are made by the One.
'Ik Oankar'.

What does it says in Bani is,

in Science they say to exist the sound,
they need an atmosphere.

But some people say space is a vacuum,

they can be no sound in a
vacuum and therefore space,

and it is true, space is a vacuum now,
but not back then.

The Big Bang happened
14.3 billion years ago.

It all basically came from One,
singularity they call it.

Singularity, from the 'Ik'
they expanded out.

When the expansion happened, the first
thing that was created was hydrogen gas.

At that moment of hydrogen,
you have got atmosphere.

Everything is so close together that you
didn't have the atmosphere at that point.

There was a sound that could be heard
and that sound was "Oan".

Imagine Maharaj told us how the world was
made and we keep saying "There is one God"

It is telling you how the world was made.

There was a sound and Bani tells you,

The One made the air.

In that air was a sound "Oan" and then
came water and after water comes life.

What do scientists do when they
look for the science of life?

When they travel to look for
science of life,

they look for water.
Water makes everything real.

And how is water made of air?
H2O.

Hydrogen and oxygen. So air makes
water and water makes life.

Maharj ji is saying that as well!

Imagine that science is written
straight in "Ik Oankaar"

and our Sikhs who read this every day
do not understand how amazing this is.

This "Ik Oankaar" is the
beej mantar (seed mantar).

That's what you see it everywhere.

This beej mantar means "the seed".

This mantar can be repeated
again and again.

We can say "Ik Oankaar".

That is called the cyclical
explanation of creation.

The world expanded from
the Big Bang,

from the singularity, big bang,
and then causes the big crunch.

What does Bani say about this?

Guru Arjan Dev ji says in Sukhmani sahib.

They said the world was made many times,
but the One always remains the creator.

They creates the 'Ik Oankar'.

What it is telling you is that the world
was made many times again.

In Science they tell us the
cyclical theory,

but we know the world was
made many times.

I do not know what level we are on now,

maybe it is the 30th time
the world was made.

We expanded and it all crunched
back together.

Maybe it is the 10th million time.

We will never know when the world was
made, or about the world prior to that.

All we know is where we are.

14.3 billion years ago the Big Bang
happened and we all came from that.

But how long have our souls been around?

One meaning is the scientific,
'Ik Oankar'.

The other meaning is from the "Ik"
we came out as well.

We all came out from the sound of
"Ik Oankaar".

The word "dareeaao" can also
mean the life cycle of living.

All of us were created by "Ik"
and we got put into life cycles.

Before that we were part
of the "Ik" as well.

We were not seperate from the "Ik",
we were part of the "Ik".

We have come from there and
we have to go back there.

It is describing the human
journey as well.

We have come up from the "Ik"
and we have to go back to the "Ik".

Bani tells us,

We are already seperated.

We have to go back.

He wants to join those people who
are seperated because

"Ik oangkaar" can mean the One
made everything with the sound,

or the One made us with the sound
as we have to back to the One.

In Kirtan sohila we say,

That's the beauty of it.

Maharaj says that there is one more
meaning of 'Ik Oankaar'.

This is something we didn't discussed in
the beginning of Japji Sahib series

but i will bring it up now.

The Hindus have the word "Om".

But if you ask a Hindu how to write it,
the ones that do not know will say "O-M".

The ones that know, the Vedas and Granths,
will say there are three letters: A,U,M.

This refers to Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh
because they were the trilogy at the top.

They call A- Aakara, U- Ukaara,
M- Makaara.

Maharj puts in front of this "Ik"

Do not think the A-U-M made the world.

They believe the AUM made the world.

Brahma made akaara,
Vishnu sustains us (ukkara),

and Makkara (Shiva)
will destroy the world.

Maharaj says: 'Ik Oankaar.'
The One controls all these three.

We believe in these three, it is not
that we dismiss them,

but we do not see them as
the most important.

When we get to dharam khand,
Maharaj says,

Those three are mentioned there.

When we get to Gyaan khand
we start to understand

there is so many Brahmas,
Vishnus and Mahesh.

They do not matter.

What matters is the One
that made all of them.

The whole Hindu mythology is addressed here
and told it was all made by the One.

Imagine now the Hindu trilogy, the three
virtues, is all addressed by the One.

And what do we Sikhs do nowadays?

We tell our kids 'Ik Oankaar'
means there is one God.

To disrespect Bani is to not even
explain it to someone.

If we are Sikhs, and this is our Guru,
let us understand our Guru.

It is so beautiful and so deep,

but we just shorten it to something
which is almost incomprehensible.

There is only one God refers to the One
doesn't talk about the rest of it.

Let us go into the next word,
Maharaj says 'satgur prasaad'.

This is the truth that we
just talked about.

Let us seperate the sat from the naam,
this the truth, not the true name

And who will teach us this truth?
Our Guru.

Guru teaches us this truth,
that is why it is 'gur prasaad.'

And what does our Guru give us?

What does Guru give us?
Naam.

That is why you can seperate Sat
from Naam, and add Gur Prasaad.

Guru sahib gives naam.

That's why you can swope Gurprasaad and
Naam and keep the same at the front.

Guru sahibs job is to give naam
and teaches that in Gurbani.

All of Bani is naam as well.

When we take Amrit it is made from
Bani as well as it is made from Naam.

Guru's prasaad is naam.

Satguru teaches us about naam.

The one who knows the truth,
can take us back to the truth.

We need to rethink about how we translate
this.

because we are not teaching our kids
how to learn it.

Actually, we are robbing them because
this is the treasure of our Guru.

We are robbing them if you don't tell
them what the treasure means.

Next week we are gonna go
through the rest of Jaap sahib,

Sat means the hukam as well
because the sat made everything.

The hukam is the manifestation of the
truth.

The one manifested into the world
but the one remains in control.

Therefore, this sat is also hukam.

And what is the hukam?
Naam and Gur Prasaad.

We need our Guru to give us naam.

He was sent by the One to
give us this truth.

We cannot escape the One,
we are made by him.

We are made to get naam.

And how are we gonna get that?
By Gurus grace.

Maharaj has the power to give us naam,

Maharaj has been sent by the One
to teach us about the One,

To join us with the One and
he has the power.

God is sitting in Guru.

Satguru is One with God and
has the power to enlighten us.

That is why we worship him and
bow down to him.

Who do we ask for naam?
Our Guru.

He is the one who is with One,
with Vaheguru.

Please forgive me for the mistakes.

Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh!