On September 24, the 7th Lord of Miracles Tour in Honor of Guru Ram Das commenced with the arrival of S.S. Gurubachan Singh Khalsa, S.S. Ram Das Singh Khalsa and Sat Guru Kaur of Albuquerque, New Mexico in Quito, Ecuador. This year’s monumental tour will cover 14 cities in 9 countries throughout Central America and South America over a period of 45 days. For the first time ever, the Lord of Miracles Tour will visit El Salvador in Central America.
This tour was the inspiration of Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji in 2002 when he told S.S. Gurubachan Singh Khalsa to go and teach throughout all of the Americas. From the northern Rio Grande border of Mexico to the tip of Chile the teachings of Shabad Guru and Kundalini Yoga takes on a special energy with the tour dedicated to Guru Ram Das, the Lord of Miracles. Guru Ram Das, the 4th Guru of the Sikhs was known for his service, humility and healing powers. It is in his memory that we dedicate this tour every year and travel all over the world invoking his love and service to those who are in need. “Dhan Dhan Ram Das Guru Jini Siria tinay savaria. Poori hoe karamat apa sirjan hare dharia.”
As in previous years, the program in each city includes the Lord of Miracles Lecture, seva projects, Kundalini yoga, demonstrations and classes in gatka, bhangra, Gurbani Kirtan and Shabd Guru. It is a nonstop tour of meeting heads of states, government officials, business leaders and reaching the hearts of millions through lectures, TV, radio and just walking the streets sightseeing. It is a non commercial tour to simply serve and uplift people through our technology, smiles and presence. It is a way to introduce the power and grace of Guru Ram Das to all and share with them the teachings that Yogi Bhajan so generously shared with us through Siri Guru Granth Sahib and Kundalini Yoga. Now there are millions of people throughout Latin America who maintain their religious belief system but also practice Jap Ji, chanting, meditating, yoga, Kirtan and teach stories of the Gurus to their children. It is a beautiful blend of Eastern and Western culture and life styles.
The beauty of arriving to Ecuador from the USA is that it is a daytime flight. Ecuador is situated in the northern part of the continent. It is the Arc Line of South America that includes beautiful Volcanic mountains, Amazon jungle, and the pristine Pacific Ocean areas. The famous Galapagos Islands of Darwin fame belong to Ecuador. Throughout this entire country of smiling faces and bright eyes, the Ecuadorians are a wonderful mix of Spanish and Indigenous peoples whose food and music is a delight to savor and enjoy. The people are sweet, kind, loving and relaxed.
It is wonderful to see how the teachings of Yogi Bhajan have been so well received. From the capital of Quito to the colonial city of Cuenca, these teachings are spreading all over the country. Our first stop was Quito. When we arrived we were greeted by our local sangat of Har Hari Singh, Guru Prakash Singh and Sat Prakash Kaur and we were honored with a typical folkloric dance of Ecuador. Their grace and charm was enduring as we watched them acting out a traditional “boy meets girl” dance. It really reminded us of the similarities of Punjabi culture.
From there we boarded our continuing flight to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador and the seat of Colonial History. Our host, Jap Hari Kaur received us and we went to our first event at the convention center. The topic for the evening was “Managing stress during times of Crises”. It was attended by the major business leaders and local citizens, who for the next 3 hours learned meditations to reduce stress, activate their intuition and handle the crises in their life. From the teachings of Shabd Guru and Kundalini Yoga to meditating with Kirtan and on Guru Ram Das, the participants left feeling energized, focused and grateful. It is very interesting to note that so many people were moved by their experience to the point of tears and for most of them it was their first time learning these teachings.
The following day we had the privilege to work with many of the students and teachers in Cuenca and discussed how the teachings of Shabd Guru can help them expand in times of recession. While walking and sightseeing we stopped for ice cream and were immediately asked so many questions of who we are and what do we do. From that we meet a group of young American college students who happened to be in Ecuador on a spiritual quest. By the time we were finished we decided to meet together and have an impromptu class on Kundalini Yoga where they chanted Kirtan and learned techniques to experience their own souls. And after a wonderful lunch on traditional Ecuadorian food of Jumping gauchos [Ecuador’s tikkis] and soup, we boarded our plane for our 1 hour flight back to Quito.
When we arrived in Quito we had our Lord of Miracles lecture whose theme for the entire tour is “Expanding during times of Crises”. With a full house of a mix of Quito’s citizenry we explored through meditations and pranayamas on how to really expand instead of contracting. With the evening ending in chanting “Mul Mantra” and “Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru”, we shared a delicious Langar. The local sangat inaugurated their first Langar Quito with a delicious mix of Ecuadorian and Indian food. Now they will be going out to different areas of the city on a regular basis offering Langar to those in need.
Our final day in Ecuador included visiting two beautiful yoga centers where one contains a health food store and vegetarian restaurant. We were also serenaded with a beautiful demonstration of classical guitar played by Matthew and David, 15 year old twin sons of Hari Jot Kaur who will be attending Miri Piri Academy in the next school year. From there we were treated to a wonderful pizza lunch. As many of you have followed our articles on the Lord of Miracles Tour these past seven years you all know that pizza is a definite part of this tradition!
Over the next six weeks we will be sharing with you the joy and blessing of being part of the 7th Lord of Miracles Tour in Honor of Guru Ram Das.
Reporting to you from 35,000 feet somewhere over the Peruvian border en route to our 2nd city, Lima, Peru.
S.S. Gurubachan Singh Khalsa,
Sat Guru Kaur,
Ram Das Singh Khalsa
