This months issue is all about Amrit. We hope you can find some reasons here for making this important commitment for every Sikh. If you do decide there are many opportunities at Gurdwaras up and down the country where Amrit Sanchar ceremonies have been arranged. Best Wishes to all of you who decide to take this step.

We have prepared a list of Vaisakhi events please send a Stamped Addressed Envelope to our address and we shall send it to you.

AMRIT...the word itself sent shivers through my spine once. Why then was I such a fool to have partaken Amrit? Frankly, I would not have had an answer about a year ago. But, today, this no longer holds true.

Life has been filled with challenges. Like everyone else, I trod the path, making difficult choices along the way. Believing what I did was right, yet to learn later how wrong it was, was frustrating.

There came a point in life, where only darkness and loneliness enveloped me. I realized I had no guide and I belonged to nobody. My inside craved for love but there was no one to give it to. A world so familiar suddenly became so strange. Deep down, day by day, I was dying with pain, crying in fear the tears of blood with no one to turn to. My confidence, self esteem, love and even self respect, dropped to nil. The only thing I saw before me was insanity...and believe me, I was walking towards it.

Finally, to Him I went and broke down. I questioned where He was when I needed Him most. No answer came. But from that moment onwards, my life took a turn. His love and guidance took me out of the grave I was digging for myself. He released me from the chains I created for myself. He showed me a route, a route of love. I knew then where I wanted to belong. I chose Guru Ji over all else.

"Take one step towards me and I’ll take a thousand steps towards you"...Nothing could be more truthful than this.

The moment I surrendered my life to Him, all my problems were solved, my grief was snatched from me and replaced with peace and joy within. I am who I am today because of Guru Ji’s love for me.

He fulfilled all my heart’s desires. I love Him so dearly and keep Him closest to my heart for I know for sure, He will never leave me.

hamri karo hath de racha
puran hovey chit ki icha
tav charan meh rehey hemara
apna jaan karo pritpara

These four lines affirmed my decision. The only right thing I ever did in my life was to partake of Amrit.

by Jasrinder Kaur

The Soul, originating from God is on a journey on this earth back towards its source, God Almighty. The Soul merging with the Lord Almighty, light merging in sunlight, a drop falling into the ocean. Guru Ji explains that the light of his Soul has merged with the supreme Light and there is nothing but purity. All he sees or hears is God and all he utters is God.

This whole world around us is God, created and sustained by God, there is nothing but God, but our soul still yearns for God. We are trapped in the world of duality. There is God and God's creation, but we forget to thank the Creator and become attached to the Creation. Guru Ji tells us that God creates and enjoys creating, for God is the Cause of causes. It is only that person who loves and praises God and God alone that realises this mystery who finds the path to liberation. Towards merging with Waheguru, like light with sunlight or a drop falling into the ocean.

Vaisakhi - a Sikh Christmas? An analogy between Christmas and Vaisakhi isn't as daft as it seems. Both are about the birth of spiritual leaders but have become commercialised to confusion. Sikh beliefs combine universal spirituality and spiritual revolution. This is the saint-soldier ideal. The universal spiritual beliefs are that WaheGuru is One, dwells within each person, and that everyone is loved and saved by Grace eventually. The spiritual revolution is that if WaheGuru dwells within you, then all are equal, whatever their religion, race, sex, or caste, and we should stand up for their rights.

Living with the Spirit is more important than acting out traditions and superstitions. Amrit or Nectar links all these ideas. The idea of Nectar is universal, from the mead of immortality of the Norse religion adopted by the Vikings, to the soma of the Hindu god Indra. It has also been called the Elixir of Immortality.

The universal spiritual meaning of Amrit is that WaheGuru is the Amrit of Amrits and that the Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains Amrit. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains more than twelve languages and hymns from different faith communities, including Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim. It is a Universal Spirit, Amrit bani. Amrit is also given when one receives khande-ki-pahul. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh was being watched by spies of the ruling authorities of the time. The Guru was at war with those authorities because of their atrocities against the poor people, Hindu and Muslim, of their empire. Hence, we have an independent record which agrees with our traditional account. The Guru called the Sikhs at the spring festival of Vaisakhi and 80,000 showed up. He asked for volunteers to offer their lives. Once five had come forward he reappeared with them now dressed in the uniform of the Order of the Khalsa, the five Kakaars - uncut hair (kesh), comb (kanga), breeches (kachera), sword of mercy (kirpan), and circle of life on wrist (kara). Many of these elements can be found in the saints and mystics of all the world's religions beforehand, but not worn by the masses. He gave them khande-ki-pahul and then asked for it himself.

On Vaisakhi 1699 he revealed the Order of the Khalsa. Those who entered would find the Guru as their father, Mata Sahib Kaur as their mother, and the Khalsa of all time and place as their family. They would be reborn as daughters and sons of the Guru with a new vision of life for humankind. By becoming the first to receive Amrit from its first five representatives, the panj piyaras, Guru Gobind Singh was the first to recognise the Order of the Khalsa as the Guru Khalsa Panth.

The Guru Khalsa Panth was revealed in 1699 while the Guru Granth Sahib Ji was revealed in 1708. The body was revealed before the Spirit. A body without a Spirit is corpse, but a Spirit without a body is only a ghost. Hence, the need for both Guru Khalsa Panth, the body, the spiritual revolutionary, and the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Spirit, the universal spirituality. Spirituality is found in all religions, but it was hidden by the tribalism and the priests. Hence, there are teachings about Amrit, or nectar, but they are hidden in such esoteric teachings as Elixir of Life. The Gurus taught that spirituality is the only real religion. It is non-tribal and living. So, the teachings about Amrit are open. The Gurus were sent 300 years ago to reveal truth for the new age, the information age. A scripture available in different languages, different music, containing the writing of 36 non-Gurus, with the original copy signed by Guru Arjun still available today. A saintly order taught to recognise the light of WaheGuru in every heart and given spiritual exercises (Reht) to help them do this. Climbing the mountain of God is possible without any aid. But an authentic map (scripture) makes it easier, the 5 Ks are equipment, the Reht is a handbook, and sangat is a climbing team. Why not sign up for the climb of your human spiritual life? The Amrit that was hidden, was revealed to the world by the Guru - that is why Sikhism happened, by the will of the Most High.

I have taken the vow of life to live for Him,
I have taken the vow of death for Him,
But all my vows are the rambling notes
of the songs of His pleasure,
that know not their own aims,
nor their fulfillment.

I do what He does when He comes into me
to posses me when His call comes,

I wash my hands,
snapping all ties with the sudden stroke
of the stroke of the Sword of Death.

I have taken the vow of Love
and I wait for the roadside for Him,
with tears in my eyes

I break all my vows when He comes to me,
for the joy of meeting Him takes me
out of myself!