40-Day Global Sadhana: Japji (Day 1)
The current 40-Day Global Sadhana began yesterday. I, however, began it today.
The Japji is the first Bani of the Sikh sacred book the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It's also A Big Deal in Kundalini Yoga circles, even for those practitioners who are not Sikhs.
It basically lays out the concept of the genderless Divine as indwelling, not separate from the Cosmos, a constant presence in ourselves and other humans and all life (including all the people and things we dislike, fear, disagree with, etc.), and that essentially the only thing standing between us and the Divine is the system of beliefs we've developed about the world and which cohere in us as our concept of self.
Weirdly, reciting a centuries-old, 40-verse Punjabi hymn/explanation of the Divine in its original language didn't overwhelm me, once I'd stop putting it off.
The pronunciation is an issue, and I am attempting to get it right. However, I found that simply setting aside worries, desire to get it Perfect, and fear of Doin It Rong let me settle into a groove. It took 35 minutes because I sacrificed a desire for fluidity to a sense that it was more important to just enunciate each word.
I understand that Japji is considered to have a healing effect on the bodymind - not only because of the concepts contained within it, but also because of the physical vibration of sound and the specific pressures of tongue and teeth in the mouth.
This combination of concept, vibration, and acupressure/manipulation of the mouth is how mantras are believed to work. It feels like a True idea to me because of my experience in raising and directing energy with a coven, finding words, phrases, sounds and melodies that seemed to hit a really specific spot and take on lives of their own.
I have no idea whether I will experience changes through recitation of Japji or not. At the very least, I'll have learned something new, considered some core ideas in the Sikh faith, and had the satisfaction of another challenge completed; at the most, who knows?
The Japji is the first Bani of the Sikh sacred book the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It's also A Big Deal in Kundalini Yoga circles, even for those practitioners who are not Sikhs.
It basically lays out the concept of the genderless Divine as indwelling, not separate from the Cosmos, a constant presence in ourselves and other humans and all life (including all the people and things we dislike, fear, disagree with, etc.), and that essentially the only thing standing between us and the Divine is the system of beliefs we've developed about the world and which cohere in us as our concept of self.
Weirdly, reciting a centuries-old, 40-verse Punjabi hymn/explanation of the Divine in its original language didn't overwhelm me, once I'd stop putting it off.
The pronunciation is an issue, and I am attempting to get it right. However, I found that simply setting aside worries, desire to get it Perfect, and fear of Doin It Rong let me settle into a groove. It took 35 minutes because I sacrificed a desire for fluidity to a sense that it was more important to just enunciate each word.
I understand that Japji is considered to have a healing effect on the bodymind - not only because of the concepts contained within it, but also because of the physical vibration of sound and the specific pressures of tongue and teeth in the mouth.
This combination of concept, vibration, and acupressure/manipulation of the mouth is how mantras are believed to work. It feels like a True idea to me because of my experience in raising and directing energy with a coven, finding words, phrases, sounds and melodies that seemed to hit a really specific spot and take on lives of their own.
I have no idea whether I will experience changes through recitation of Japji or not. At the very least, I'll have learned something new, considered some core ideas in the Sikh faith, and had the satisfaction of another challenge completed; at the most, who knows?