Global Sādhanā dedicated to Jap Jī ~ Invitation by Snatam Kaur Khalsa

My name is Snatam Kaur Khalsa. I am writing to invite you to take part in a global sādhanā dedicated to Jap Jī. Please allow me first to tell you a little bit about my story.

I was born into the Sikh lifestyle in 1972 when my parents embraced it after being inspired by Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, who was also known as the Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma. It was through his inspiration that I got to experience the lifestyle of a Sikh. Growing up in Sacramento California, my parents would often take me to the Yuba City Gurdwārā. The sound of the Gurbanī Kīrtan wafting through the hall still reverberates within me, a warmth and sense of home being awakened within my young heart.

As a child I was always embraced as family by the Sangat, and to this day I am enriched by these childhood memories.

As the years went on, the love of Gurū further wove itself into my heart. My mother taped the Gurmukhī alphabet to the back seat of the car, so that I could practice the letters on the way to school every morning.

When I was only 6, we had the opportunity to go to the Golden Temple, the Harimandir Sahib. I loved to get as many servings of Gurprashaad that the kind hearted Sevadaars would give out. It was not only the sweetness of the Gurprashaad that I was gathering though, it was the sweetness of singing Gurū's Bāṉī that would awaken me to the light of the Gurū. The sounds of the Raagīs chanting with their voices lifting over the blue waters would show my soul its way to total joy and infinite blessings in this lifetime. When I was a teenager, my family moved to the San Francisco California area, and we would often attend Ransabhai Kīrtans there. I loved the feeling of complete freedom as we chanted late into the hours of the night. I learned to sing Gurbāṉī with the Sangat's voices as we together proclaimed our love and devotion to God and Gurū.

I am so grateful to Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji for his many teachings about the Gurū. In particular he often taught about the Gurū through sharing teachings about Jap Jī. As a teenager, I can still hear his voice reciting portions of Jap Jī, to teach the many incredible facets and ways that Jap Jī could be applied to our modern day lives.

Through stressful exams in college, I utilized many of these lessons and insights from Jap Jī to remain calm and focused. In my first job and the work to follow, these teachings helped me to rise above challenges and always seek excellence. As a young mother I experienced the power of Jap Jī as my sister recited these sacred words of Gurū Nānak right after my daughter was born. I felt so grateful that the blessing of Gurū Nānak could be with my daughter upon her entry into this world.

My work in this world is to share the Gurū's Bāṉī through music. I have been blessed to travel the world, sharing these teachings with many audiences. I have always believed that anyone could connect and be healed by the vibration of the Gurū. These feelings were solidified at the International Peace Prayer Day services that Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji organized. We gathered with emmissaries from many different traditions and shared our sacred words and songs and prayed for peace once a year. Many people came to these gatherings who were not Sikhs. As we shared the sacred words from the Sikh tradition, I saw how powerful this vibration is to awaken healing within for people of all walks of life. Out of these experiences a musical career awakened and I would journey to places I could never have imagined including concert halls around the globe. I had the opportunity to record many albums with world class musicians, along with a public recognition that would open many doors and opportunities.

Long before my music career blossomed, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi ji shared his teachings of Kundalini Yoga throughout the world. These teachings have an incredibly large outreach to people of many walks of life, and varying economic and social backgrounds. Along with Kundalini Yoga, he also shared the blessing of Bāṉī and instructed people to recite Jap Jī every morning.

I am completely astounded by how much people love Jap Jī. People are reciting this sacred Bāṉī with total love and joy in many places throughout the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. The sacred vibration of Gurū Nānak is taking seed and people are having an opportunity to come in contact with the power of Bāṉī.

In traveling the world for my work, I came to realize that many people were very hungry to learn more about the Gurū's Bāṉī. I learned that there are incredible efforts taking place in many countries to do just that. But, there are also many people who wanted to learn but do not have the community resource to learn.

The way I learned Jap Jī, or any of the Gurū's Bāṉī, was through listening to others in community. For this reason, I am partnering with many organizations including Sikhnet, Spirit Voyage, Sikh Dharma, 3HO, and the Kundalini Research Institute to create an online community for people to learn about Jap Jī. We begin a 40 day Global Sādhanā on January 1st, and people will join us from around the globe to recite Jap Jī every day.

We will have a team of Sikh Dharma teachers teaching about the 40 sections of Jap Jī.

On each day we will focus on one of these sections, including the Mūl Mantra, all 38 Paurīs, followed by the Salok, for a total of 40 days. To serve as many people as possible, we will have the translation of Jap Jī, and all of the teachings and transliterations available in five languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Chinese. This is incredibly exciting to see the words of Gurū Nānak translated into all of these languages!

I would like to invite our entire Sikh community to take part in this sādhanā. I hope that as you recite Jap Jī every day during this time that you can send prayers of love and support for all of those experiencing this beautiful Bāṉī perhaps for the first time. We also welcome you to participate in the online discussion forums with your insight, wisdom and experience. Please join us to grow together in the vibration of Jap Jī, and celebrate and enjoy the truth of the teachings given to us by Gurū Nānak.