Serving the Saints - No Kidding
S.S. Shakta Kaur Khalsa
Herndon, VA
It has been one of my greatest blessings to prepare and serve langar every Thursday night. I mean that very literally, because every one of my negativities and all my ‘issues’ have come up since that time - i.e... "I don’t have enough food," "It doesn’t taste right," "No one’s offering to help," "I’m overwhelmed," "the house is getting wrecked," "unappreciated," "overworked," etc. The usual subconscious trash has blessedly come up to the surface only to be met by the strong will of the Dharma - right action. "Just keep up, keep doing it, you know in your heart and soul why you are doing this seva. It’s called serving the Sadh Sangat with love and gratitude," the firm voice whispers to me.
Gratitude has been the initial motivating force in serving langar. I just felt grateful to the Guru for all the blessings received and I wanted to share the wealth with my Khalsa family. This simple thought had no idea what lessons were in store for me. Committing to serve langar every week has been one of the greatest teachers for me. On the one hand, I’ve had the opportunity to face and go through my various issues. On the other hand I’ve had the blessing to begin to understand and experience the power of the Sadh Sangat. At one point the phrase ‘serving the saints’ kept coming to me as I prepared the langar. My logical mind would say, "No, they are just my friends and family - humans with weaknesses and strengths, to be sure, but saints? Nah!"
But the concept and feeling persisted. I began to know that we are the company of the holy. And there’s no higher path than being with and serving that company. So, although on the surface of my consciousness, these bumpy waves were grumbling that things were not altogether right or fair, or whatever, underneath those baby waves was this deep blue calm, silently joyful ocean of commitment to the company of saints. In sadhana with a room full of people, I can feel how powerful our prayer is. On the Siri Singh Sahib’s birthday the sadhana room was packed. We were all chanting to Guru Ram Das and the thought hit me like a bulldozer, "If we did this every day it would not be long until there was peace on the earth. The whole earth!" That is how powerful the concentrated energy of that many committed people is. "One and one doesn’t make two, it makes eleven," the Siri Singh Sahib once said. And fifty people with all their individual deficiencies sitting together praying in sincerity makes saints come to life.
The Guru wants me to get this concept. I’m singing in Gurdwara. The Shabd says, Ik utam panth sunio gur sangat. I elaborate the translation, "I have heard that the one highest path is that of the Guru’s congregation."
The next day the Shabd says, Kundalini surjhee sadh sangat, the Kundalini rises in the Sadh Sangat.
Ok, Guru, I’m getting it. And now I’m sharing it with you, the Sadh Sangat.