TIME PROBLEM!
Most people’s excuse (justification) for not reading and interpreting Gurbani, is time. Is this a mere excuse or a genuine justification?
No doubt today’s life is faster and much more stressful than, say, 30-40 years ago.
But can this justification really explain why one cannot find 30 minutes each day, say, 15 in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. Just take a Pauri from Japji Sahib or a Shabd, read it, understand and contemplate on it. View its relevance in every day life. This discipline over time will not only solve the time issue but also improve one’s focus in life.
Time can be found quite easily, providing there is a will. Analyse your day, your week and you will notice how much time is spent in negative pursuits and activities, such as, TV, telephone, internet, idle gossip and participating in superfluous wedding parties and socialising activities at the weekend.
People have trouble sitting for an hour at the Gurdwara during the wedding ceremony, yet spend hours at the noisy reception in the evening. The next day too goes to waste. The ear drums have soaked in a lot of punishment, the head throbs and the tummy doesn’t feel all that great either. They start cursing the wedding food and the overpowering DJs who ensure that no sensible dialogue takes place. Some sensible folks eat the starter and depart; others may just nip out to catch up with friends they haven’t seen for a long time. But the majority, the diehards just carry on regardless. During the course of the reception they have eaten three meals worth of starters already and anxiously await the main meal. At intervals they grace the dance floor to shake down the food. Dancing talent varies from standing and shaking various parts of the anatomy to swinging arms and legs with little coordination or grace.
The author makes a point of skipping receptions and grateful that most Gurdwaras do run langar (communal kitchen) for the general sangat (congregation). However, one is captive audience in close family weddings. Skipping would mean offending family and souring relationships. Frequent exits from the reception hall become a necessity for the well being of the mind, body and spirit. What a waste of time our weddings are. The core part of the Anand Karaj (Sikh Wedding Ceremony) takes no more than an hour and yet we spend days in superfluous and outdated ceremonies and modern day shenanigans.
And yet we have the audacity of saying there is no time. More time can be made by changing our eating habits, for example, eating early and going to bed on a lighter stomach, improving the quality of sleep. At least half an half an hour can be gained this way. Make this into a habit and the recital of Gurbani will in due course permeate into the conscious and subconscious mind. Interpretation and contemplation will come naturally. This in turn will help recalling and applying the knowledge in our day-to-day activities.
Incorporation of Guru’s message becomes effortless and second nature. Try it. The proof of the pudding is in its eating.
‘arshi’ 10 August 2016