Under Pressure? Get Relief with the Shabad Guru

We are all experiencing the pressure of living in this world. The demands are high, technology is speeding up and the planets are aligned to give us even greater changes in innovation and technology in the next 7 years. Some of us feel we could work 24 hours per day and still not get everything done. Personally, I don’t know how people can function without the technology of Kundalini Yoga. We are so blessed to have this practice to help us deal with the pressure. Still sometimes, even with this practice we can feel overwhelmed. It is amazing how much better we feel after a class. Some of us may find ourselves dealing with the constant monkey mind, memories, and reactions from the subconscious mind. The events in our environment or feelings we are having seem uncontrollable.

Some people cope by checking out, drinking alcohol and/or taking prescription drugs. This is not effective in the long term and leads to more problems. That was my old pattern before finding Kundalini Yoga. Now, in difficult or challenging times, I find the best way to cope and get back into the flow of life is using the technology of the Shabad Guru.

We chant the Shabad Guru daily in our Kundalini Yoga classes and meditations. Lately we have been chanting the Mool Mantra during our healing meditations followed by Ra Ma Da Sa.

What is the Shabad Guru?

See below for a wonderful article I found during my studies. Article written by Dev Suroop Kaur in 2003

The Technology of the Shabad Guru

The technology of the Shabad Guru is available to serve us all. Quite simply, the Shabad Guru is ready and able to take us out of the abyss of our own misery. The words of the Shabad Guru are universal and were written for all humankind. Anyone of any faith or any background can use this technology. There is no prerequisite, no need to sign up for anything. You don’t need to be anything to use and benefit deeply from this technology.

In the Sikh tradition, the written words in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib are known as the Shabad Guru. The Shabad Guru is seen not simply as a compilation of uplifting and inspiring words written by enlightened saints and sages and placed on the pages of this volume, but as the living Guru of the Sikhs.

Those who wrote the words of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib transcended individual identity and ego, and their words came from an exalted state of things unlimited. When we take the opportunity to read, sing, chant, and listen to these words, we deeply connect with our excellence. There is no external personality to confront in the process. There is only our relationship with our own Infinity.

The Shabad Guru is a powerful technology universally available to anyone in any walk of life to uplift and transform oneself and others. Through the Shabad Guru, we can directly use and gain infinite benefit from the sound that “clarifies the doubt of the mind and gives unity and essence to the (hu)man.”

How Does it Work?

So how does it work? First of all, select a verse from the Shabad Guru—any one will do—and give it a try. You might select one that seems particularly applicable to your life. For example, perhaps you’re feeling limited and trapped. Correctly chanting the sixth Pauri (verse) of the Sikh prayer Japji Sahib dispels limitation. Whatever you choose, recite it 11 times a day for 40 days and see what happens in your life. Don’t miss a day! If you do, gently and lovingly, start over again. Allow yourself to experience, firsthand, the miracle of transformation through the sound current.

You’ll find the words of the Mool Mantra, or root mantra, at the end of this article. Guru Nanak, a saint and minstrel and the founder of the Sikh lifestyle, composed this simple, powerful, and universal mantra. While traveling throughout Asia in the 1400s, Guru Nanak sang these and other words and taught that all people are inherently divine and created equal by One Creator.

The very first words of the 1,430 pages in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib are the Mool Mantra. They encapsulate “a complete philosophy and psychology of human potential in one compact phrase.” Many things are written about the power of reciting this mantra. The Mool Mantra gives an experience of the depth and consciousness of your soul. It is often called the fate killer. (Fate is what you start with in this life. It can be changed through exerting the effort of will.) Reciting this mantra can change your destiny to complete prosperity. (Destiny is your highest potential in this lifetime.) The Mool Mantra can help you find your spiritual identity and the ways and means to live it.

In its simplest form, Shabad means “sound” and Guru means “teacher” or “knowledge that transforms you.” Put together, Shabad Guru is a special sound that is a teacher. Yogi Bhajan often says that there are two teachers—time and space—or a spiritual teacher—and that we can learn our lessons from either. While both paths lead to the same destination, time and space, or fate, is often a cruel and painful teacher. This is the commonly traveled path, with all of the associated pain of making mistakes and then arduously having to regroup and learn from that pain.

In seeking fulfillment in life, you might try to find your soul mate, gain status and achievement through your career, or strive to purchase the home you always wanted. However, the fulfillment from such endeavors is transitory. Through discipline and surrender, using the technology of the Shabad Guru, and with the intervention of a spiritual teacher who helps you transcend limitation, you can rise above fate and be transported to your destiny. The course that fate might have taken you on can be elevated to the fulfillment of your soul’s original promise when it incarnated as a human being. While the path to living your destiny is not necessarily an easy ride, there is no fulfillment on any other level that can be as deep and gratifying.

Give yourself a chance. Rather than being buffeted by the harsh winds of time, use the Mool Mantra to begin to change your fate which could be disappointing or painful, to your destiny which promises to be ultimately fulfilling and satisfying. Give yourself the opportunity to transform a life of fate into one of destiny and fulfillment.

The Mool Mantra—Guru Nanak

The language of the Shabad Guru is Gurmukhi, a language similar to Sanskrit in its power to transform. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib was written in Gurmukhi script and has been translated into English. Here we provide both the transliteration and the translation of the Mul Mantra.

Ek Ong Kaar – The One, Universal Creator

Sat Naam – Truth is His Name

Kartaa Purakh – The Primal Creative Being

Nirbhau Nirvair – Beyond Fear, Beyond Vengeance

Akaal Moorat – The Image of the Undying

Ajoonee Saibhang – Beyond Birth, Self-Existent

Gur Prasaad – By Guru’s Grace

Jap! – Repeat!

Aad Sach – True in the primal beginning

Jugaad Sach – True throughout the ages

Hai Bhee Sach – True here and now

Nanak Hosee Bhee Sach – O Nanak, forever and ever True

How-tos

A Shabad should be recited 11 times a day for a minimum of 40 days to experience its power. Recite in English or in Gurmukhi transliteration, both are beneficial. However, reciting in Gurmukhi allows you to better access the power of the mantra, and as the words are recited in proper Naad or sound current, the tongue hits the meridian points on the upper palate, effecting a change in consciousness.

When chanting the Mool Mantra, leave a slight space, but not a breath, between the words Ajoonee and Saibhang. Do not run the words together. Emphasize the “ch” sound at the end of the word sach in the last four lines—this adds power. Work carefully to pronounce the words properly.