October 27, 2019: Chanan Tera Kaur from Toronto, Canada, shares her personal story with Japji Sahib.
It might sound odd, or even bombastic, but along with childbirth, chanting Japji Sahib for the first time was one of the most transformative experiences of my life.
My road to Kundalini Yoga and Japji was a long one. I had practiced different types of yoga in the past, even completing a teachers’ training course, but because of my own personal chaos, including my failing marriage and three young children, I found myself unable to establish a regular practice even though I desperately wanted to. One day on a whim, I walked into a YMCA and saw that they offered Kundalini classes. I had remembered hearing about Kundalini as a teenager, but had no preconceived notions about it. As a lifelong seeker, I was always interested in new experiences and I felt giddy and excited to finally try this type of Yoga. From the moment I stepped into my first Kundalini class, I knew this was what I had been searching for my whole life.
I was completely haunted by all of it – the mantras, the music, the movements, even the teacher sharing his spiritual name, Sadhana Singh, with the group – everything about it was absolutely new and strange, yet at the same time felt entirely familiar. Everything about it resonated with me in the deepest level. Every cell of my body and psyche was awakened, as if a thick layer of dust had been cleared all of a sudden and light was able to enter and dispel the shadow. I had found my spiritual home.
My home life continued to deteriorate, ultimately resulting in an explosive divorce, which temporarily lead to a break in my Kundalini practice. Once I came up for air, I finally returned to Kundalini and my spiritual center of gravity. I was seeking to deepen my practice when my teacher, Gurushabd Khalsa, told me about an upcoming Aquarian Sadhana. I was thrilled to try it. From the first moment, my jaw literally dropped. At the magical hour of the Amrit Vela, when the world is quiet and awareness is heightened, the sounds of Japji were like nothing I had ever experienced before. Starting with the Mul mantra, it was magical and hypnotic; immediate and yet unattainable. It was like hearing again a long-forgotten language that was buried inside me; after being separated from it for a painfully long time, I was finally reuniting with it. I was astonished, in a state of a blissful shock. I could actually feel my mind restructuring itself. Within the first few moments, I knew that this was the beginning of a lifelong transformative relationship – this was day one.
After a lifetime of constant seeking, I could immediately appreciate what I had found at long last. Finally, Japji was there, showing me how to relate to my own spirit. It speaks to me in a way that no other spiritual text or practice has ever been able to reach me. Meditating on Japji every morning, ever since that first day, has created for me the foundation that was missing; Japji has become my constant companion. A bottomless well of wisdom and inspiration – connecting with it has been incredibly insightful, but also so very humbling. The more I know it, the more I realize how much there is to understand.
Over time, I’ve found that I connect to different Paurees in completely different ways. Sometimes something that I’ve read many many times will suddenly blow my mind, and I’d feel like I’m hearing it for the first time. How did I not see this before? And then a wave of gratitude for the new eye-opening insight would wash my whole being and leave me filled with love and awe. I’d feel called to chant and listen to a certain Pauree, for days, weeks and sometimes months, let the vibrations of the sound penetrate into the depths of my being and show me the ways of Divine truth. Then another Pauree will suddenly come to my mind and carry me to a completely different journey, deeper into my heart and the deepest love. Japji for me is the code to the deepest secrets of creation – it brilliantly and lovingly guides me towards the realization that creation and the Creator are one.
It is the one blessed tool that takes me high to the Ethers, yet at the same time keeps me most tethered to this earth.
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Chanan Tera Kaur’s love story with yoga started decades ago in Israel and turned into a serious, committed relationship as soon as she took her first Kundalini class in Toronto, Canada. Ever since then she has been devoted to the teachings and practice of Kundalini Yoga. This spiritual practice showered her life with immense gifts which she now passionately shares with her students. She is committed to spreading the teachings and is especially honored to be regularly leading Aquarian Sadhana in Toronto, where she can share the blessing of the practice with other seekers of truth and light.