August 9, 2010: Guru Granth Sahib Ji tells us, “I am the slave of His slaves; becoming the dust of the feet of his slaves, I serve His humble servants.” (Ang 529) After listening to this, every Sikh is filled with desire and hope to become that slave. Many of us feel that we are not lucky enough to meet great saints, we regularly pray to Waheguru Ji to grant us the opportunity. But where do we find His servants, how do we serve his servants and what do they offer us in return?
Having grown up as a Sikh, I was fortunate to go to the Gurudwara Sahib Ji regularly and do sangat with great Sikhs. As a child I had this notion in my head that if I performed a service for one of these Great Sikhs who sing Kirtan, they would bless me and I would live happily ever after. I never got the chance to do my great service and receive my blessings. As I grew up, I learned that doing kirtan or dressing like a holy person doesn’t make you a great Sikh; it’s your actions. After talking to some friends, I decided I wanted to move to Harmandir Sahib Ji and serve Sikhs that come there. Everyone comes to Harmandir Sahib Ji so I was bound to run into some great Sikhs. I was so busy looking, planning that I never looked at those who were closest to me. Waheguru Ji had sent a great Sikh for me to serve since the first time I even thought about it, I had just never noticed.
For twelve long years I ignored this great Gursikh and wondered why Waheguru Ji does not bless me with the chance to be a slave of His slave. This Gursikh lived in house next door and later when we moved, so did the Gursikh. This Gursikh was my aunt’s mom; someone I wished was my own grandmother because I thought she was a perfect grandma to her grandkids. I never saw her for the great Gursikh she was and even resented her when I realized she could never be my grandma (as a child I thought she was always visiting her grandkids too much and not spending enough time with me). Foolish as I was I never realized what a great Gursikh I already had the chance to serve.
Here was this lady that was always doing Naam Simran, almost never missed nitnem, lived in rehat and had all the qualities of Gursikh that Guru Gobind Singh Ji had told us. The only time she missed Nitnem was when she was unconscious in hospital and even then cried for days and presented herself to Panj Pyare for missing her nitnem and retook amrit. At the time whatever little service I did for her was done to try to make her my grandma, I had my real grandmas but they weren’t as close as she was, so I had to have her. She never did become my grandma but that was because I had asked Waheguru Ji for a Great Gursikh to serve, not Grandma.
It took me twelve long years, but with help of Gurbani and blessings of Waheguru Ji, I finally got to serve this servant of His. I was at a dinner party and having quickly grown weary of the conversations I snuck away to an empty bedroom and started doing some research on Sikhi. To my great annoyance at the moment, this lady showed up in the room shortly after me and started going on about how she was unable to sit because her back hurt. I asked her to lay down on the bed and rest and tried to continue to study Sikhi. She wouldn’t stop, so I debated whether to ignore her or leave the room. Then suddenly Waheguru Ji blessed me and I thought of a third thing to do. It just came to me in an instant. I told her to lie down and I would massage her back. She protested but I was firm and soon instead of complaining about being in pain, she started talking about Sikhi with me. She told me how she came into Sikhism; how Sikhi grew to be her life and most importantly she blessed me. She told me how she has always blessed me since the day we meet because she knew one day I would be a good Sikh. I sat there massaging her back in shock that I was blessed all along but I never listened. All the time I was serving her for my own selfish reasons and here she was blessing me.
She fell asleep talking while I massaged her back but I didn’t stop massaging her because I knew I had finally found His servant. The moment we stop thinking about ourselves and personal gains, Waheguru Ji lets us see His servants and allows us to be worthy of truly serving them with a clean heart. It is because she was there blessing me all along that I found her and I found Sikhi. Yes, it is others that inspired me to become a true Sikh, because with her blessings she had planted the seed that others who would later come into my life would water and help to grow.
Waheguru Ji thank you for opening my eyes to the Gursikhs around me and being very patient with me. Please allow me to keep serving your servants, so that one day soon, I can be blessed with your Amrit.