Sikh Yoga
Sikh Yoga
Sikh Yoga is one of the original empowering practices of the Sikhs. It is readily depicted in the Vars of Bhai Gurdas, considered the key to understanding Gurbani.
The Gursikh Yogis remain detached and wakeful amidst the world of attachments. (Var 29, Verse 15)
Today, confusion exists because of the considerable Gurbani which condemns the self-torturing, aloof and ignorant practices of many of the yogis of Guru Nanak’s time. In all, about forty percent of Gurbani relating to yoga is in this vein.
Gurbani in support of body-affirming, socially engaged and enlightened yogic practice may be said to take three forms.
The first describes God as the Supreme Yogi. For example:
God is himself the Yogi, staff-bearer, God himself is the pervading lover of forest, field and land. It is God who subjects himself To spiritual ordeals and fixes his mind in prolonged meditation. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 165)
The second form depicts the True Guru as Yogi. Typically:
Through the disease of pride, man finds humiliation. Through the disease of lust, even the elephant finds his limit. Through the disease of seeing, the moth is consumed. Through the disease of hearing, the deer meets its end. All I see, are overtaken by disease. Free from disease is only my True Guru, the Yogi. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 1140)
The third type of Gurbani conveys the personal experience of samadhi, ultimate yogic realization. An example of the many verses in this mode would be:
The body of six chakras is the abode of the detached yogi mind. My inner essence is awakened to the sound of the word, My mind absorbed in the resonance of the celestial sound. By the Guru’s Teachings, my consciousness is filled with the True Name. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 903)
Sikhs who want to retain their distinctive identity, may consider yoga to be a Hindu practice. Confuting such popular prejudice, Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji (Yogi Bhajan) propagated essential Sikh teachings and Gurbani through the methodology of Sikh Yoga.
Now, what is Yoga, after all?
In brief, the authoritative Yoga Sutras of Patanjali describe yoga as having eight limbs and three essential pillars. The eight limbs consist of: ethical (1) dos and (2) don’ts, (3) posture, (4) breathing exercise, (5) dispassion, (6) focussed awareness, (7) held awareness and (8) enlightenment.
(1&2) Guru Nanak’s discipline also includes does and don’t, many of them stated or implied in Gurbani. (3) Anyone who attends a Gurdwara will immediately see the postures practiced therein: erect with hands folded when presenting oneself before Siri Guru, forehead to the floor in prostration, then cross-legged on the floor in contemplation. The ceremony of Khalsa initiation adds to this short list, the posture of veeraasan – sitting on one heel, with the opposite knee in front. (4) Pavan (breath) shares the distinction with Shabad (Divine Word) of being ordained as Guru by Guru Nanak himself, who in Sidh Gosht taught the reclusive yogis how to breathe. (5-7) Dispassion and various levels of awareness and enlightenment are richly and evocatively portrayed in Gurbani.
The Gurmukh lives free in the pristine cave of being. There, using the power of the Shabd, she does away with the five thieves. Her mind no longer wanders to others’ houses, But is absorbed in the natural coziness within… With her mind easily absorbed in the samadhi of the neutral mind, Abandoning selfishness and greed, she recognizes only the one. When the disciple’s heart honours the Guru, O Nanak, then duality is finished and the Guru and disciple are one. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 904)
The three pillars consist of tapas, self-study and dedication of one’s efforts to the Supreme. Tapas consists of accepting hardship as purification. The classical Sikh tapas is to rise when it is difficult, in the dark hours of the morning, for meditation. Sikh tradition is replete with stories of great souls who have experienced the grace of God through the hardship of prolonged meditation. In their memory, there are still a number of historic tapasthaans (places of tapas) kept in memory of their ordeals. Self-study, consisting of meditation, simran, and dedication of one’s efforts in service, seva, round out the three pillars.
The Gurmukh who loves God’s Name, recites the Name, Endures spiritual ordeals and practices self-restraint. The Gurmukh always meditates on the One Name of the Creator. O Nanak, meditate on the One Name which is the support of all beings! (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 29)
Raj Yoga, the practice of living detached, yet fully engaged in the world, is the epitome of Sikh teachings. Gurbani offers no higher praise of Guru Nanak that to say he mastered Raj Yoga.
Kal says sometime sing the sublime praises of Guru Nanak
Who enjoyed the mastery of raj yoga. (Siri Guru Granth Sahib, 1389)
Aside from Yogi Bhajan Ji, the best known Sikh Yogis or tapeeshars (lords of tapas) in the 20th century have been Baba Nand Singh Ji of Kaleran, Baba Attar Singh Ji of Mustiana, and Bhai Randhir Singh, all of Punjab.
In summary, Sikh Yoga is life-affirming, socially engaged, and dedicated to the good of all. All Sikhs knowingly or unknowingly, practice it to some degree. Absolutely anyone may practice it.
