Arriving in Lima, Peru from Mexico City on a 6 hour flight we were delighted to reunite with Guru Tera Singh and Guru Simran Kaur who received us at the airport. To our surprise the skies were more clear than usual and we could see beyond the clouds. Usually Lima is overcast yet receives very little rain or precipitation so it was a different perspective for us. Lima is beautiful city which lies on the Pacific coast and is currently in rapid growth. As we drove the coast we could see many trucks moving earth to reclaim land on the beach. There were many new buildings and new roads being constructed, we could literally see the city growing in size. The Sangat in Lima is the same way, it is growing day by day and everyone is maturing and blossoming. We started out on our first day with a beautiful lunch at the 'museum style' decorated house of Guru Tera Singh and Guru Tera Kaur. The majority of the food we ate on the entire tour was probably eaten in Peru, it was that good. The culinary skills of the people in Lima are truly an art and just writing about it makes me want to go back and eat.
After a late lunch we prepared for our first class which was with the Bomberos (firemen and firewomen) of San Isidro in Lima. We arrived there and set the class up which was held in their large hall where they usually store their large fire trucks. To our surprise the class was filled with about 20 firemen/women and they were all volunteers. That means that they do not get paid but rather the entire fire station just serves out their willingness to rescue without any monetary return. We found it to be inspiring actually because that is the kind of service that is so pure. S.S. Gurubachan Singh led the class of meditation and breathing exercises while speaking to them of service and how using meditation can sharpen the mind in order to serve excellently in a time of need. The breath can be used as a tool to bring calm steady actions because of the relationship between the mind and the breath. "If the breath long and deep then your life is long and deep, if the breath is short and shallow then your life is short and shallow.", S.S. Gurubachan Singh would say. And this is the message we deliver to all the countries and people we visit. It is a fundamental rule that must be taught and learned in order for people to experience themselves.
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| Guru Tera Singh (left) and S.S. Gurubachan Singh (right) sit down for a lunch after our arrival in Lima. |
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| Volunteer firefighters sitting in meditation at the class held at the San Isidro Fire Station. |
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| Sangat members and S.S. Gurubachan Singh all pose for a picture in front of a fire truck after the class for the firefighters. |
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| An elderly woman sets herself in the posture for a meditation led by S.S. Gurubachan Singh at the refuge for women that we visited. |
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| These women are doing a pranayam (breathing technique) which releases stress. It was a powerful class, all the women did it perfect. |
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh leading the Lord of Miracles Tour Lecture as the class meditates. |
After the class everyone left uplifted and with a change in each person's face, there was something new there for each of them, it was a new experience of life. After a late dinner we went home and prepared for our next day. The day began with a class at a shelter for elderly women which was started by a couple of Christian Sisters from Australia in one of the poorer parts of Lima. The women who come to this shelter can get medical attention, food and find a place of refuge from being physically abused by their husbands. It was such a blessing of Guru Ram Das that we could visit this shelter again and share with these women because they all love the class and they loved the way S.S. Gurubachan Singh delivered the class. About 100 ladies and a few men joined the class and just mediated on the breath while listening to Mantras and Shabads from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It was an experience for them all, everyone was touched by the music and wanted to know how get the music so they could meditate on their own.
That evening we headed across the city for the Lord of Miracles Lecture event. The event was held in the hall of a Christian High School and though the topic did not have much relation to this we were interested to see the hall filled with many people from different professions and walks of life who may have been out to seek many different things. One thing we know they did get was an experience which is all that was needed, there were even a few Nuns that participated. The lecture lasted about an hour which followed with an hour of meditation. After the class a long line of people asked for S.S. Gurubachan's blessing and asked questions about how to continue their practice of meditation.
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| 3 Nuns sit in meditation as 'Poota Mata Ki Asis' is played. |
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh (center) stands with the women's prison Director (2nd from right) and four of our beautiful Kundalini Yoga teachers who teach at the prison every week. |
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh leading a meditation class to a handful of women at the prison. |
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| 2 Indigenous Peruvian women demonstrate how they weave scarves from colorful alpaca wool in a local store in Lima. |
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| At the house of Miguel and Guru Simran Kaur (bottom center) the Sangat all pose together for a picture. This was after a beautiful farewell dinner in honor of the Tour, we will miss Peru till the next time. |
The next morning we awoke to a great breakfast at the house of Guru Tera's and then headed out to teach at the women's prison of Lima. The Lima Sangat has been teaching consistently at this prison for past 2 years. Now every year we visit they invite S.S. Gurubachan Singh to be a guest teacher. This year the prison director welcomed us and participated in the class. A handful of women inmates sat in a room where S.S. Gurubachan gave them some great breathing exercises and they all meditated on mantras from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. It was a transformational experience for these women and most had tears in their eyes by the end of the class. To know that the ladies from our Sangat in Lima continue with this Seva of teaching these women is an inspiration and is very fortunate for the inmates. It was a great honor for us to visit the prison for all the great work that is being done there.
In the evening we were invited to the house of Guru Simran Kaur and Miguel for a dinner with the Sangat. The food, again, was beyond words and the company of everyone was something to be missed once we left. At the dinner we all sat and talked and met with one another about projects and programs that the Sangat has been working on together as a group. Many people's lives in this community in Lima have been transformed by the Grace Guru Ram Das and the diligent practice of each person. I truly find their story as group very inspirational and something that can teach our generations moving forward how serve and in turn be served by the Grace of Guru Ram Das. Our prayer is to see this light continue to be passed for all the generations to come so that all may have the opportunity to experience it. That is how we begin to realize how important this work of spreading the teachings is.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for our next country to be covered on 9th Lord of Miracles Tour in Honor of Guru Ram Das, Bolivia.