Sat Nam Dear Family,

You want to talk about courage? Do you know how much courage it takes to give up, surrender, your way of thinking? I mean give up to the point where your mind becomes mindless as your thinking floats by in a continuous stream of nothingness. Surrendering to nothingness takes courage - a lot of it. Or, stupidity. That’ll work too. The difference is what the ‘nothingness’ is attached too. Please, let me explain.

For a good student, obedience leads to change; change leads to sacrifice; sacrifice leads to surrender; and surrender leads to nothingness. Nothingness is defined as the transition, the journey, the path, unto Infinity. This path leads to merger with God. You can see how important it is to have the right path so that when we reach nothingness, we can enjoy rather than fear it. No fear, no judgement, no anger, no frustration, no hate, no fear, no fear, no fear. We just enjoy the journey.

Being prepared makes the journey joyful. For most, this is where courage is needed to the max. For some lucky ones, courage has been a past part of their path, so they’re well prepared for nothingness. This is our path, this is a great blessing on your head, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov! Sorry, got carried away with Fiddler on the Roof again.

Wearing bana, waking early, disciplining your life, listening and acting on your teachers word, etc. takes great courage. Those on this path, this Dharma, Sikh Dharma, commands and demands courage. We’re Pioneers, trend setters, homesteaders, transcending into and joyfully riding on nothingness, straight into the Aquarian Age. This is our training and our preparation.

I know there are other Dharmas, actually six dharma types, six paths to God. I know that not everyone is suited for only one, that’s why there are half a dozen. I also know that the truth in our courage. Courage is continually needed until it becomes a habit and no longer needed as its already found. What I mean by that is that courage is now one of the virtues that you have now become! It’s not something you're doing anymore, it’s who you are. Courage becomes easy because you know that God has your back. This is the way of our Dharma.

This Dharma, Sikh Dharma, is perfect. At least it is for me. It’s ‘one stop’ spiritual shopping, everything included, except batteries - the energy to practice must come from the student. That’s all that’s required. Keep-up, keep-doing. Practice the courage it takes to never give-up. Keeping-up. This is what separates the wannabes from these that are! Keeping-up (or not) is the difference maker, or deal breaker. That’s totally the student’s choice.

I can’t imagine the amount of drawn-up courage it must take for someone with little training to traverse into nothingness. It must be terrifying. Everything, every security blanket you possess is stripped away. You stand naked and only prayerful before Infinity. Your only chance is through God’s Mercy. You need God’s blessing of courage - now! Sometimes miracles do happen, but I know the odds. We, who practice this Dharma, should be so grateful that this path allows us to walk without any security blanket. This path flows with Guru ji under God’s protection. This path has been assigned to Yogi ji, the Siri Singh Sahib, to demonstrate how true courage is begotten, bestowed, and delivered. He did. He delivered Guru Ram Das’ will to create a place in the West for this Dharma to be enjoyed by all.

Practice the courage to be courageous when courage is needed with the protection of the Teachings, our Teacher, our Guru, and God, Himself. Place yourself on their responsibility list. Practice the courage it takes to have the gall to place yourself on God’s list. Nevertheless, we’ve paid the price. We sincerely practiced doing more and more of what they want, they all want the same thing. This is the price for God’s true protection for you to have the right and the courage to put yourself on God’s ‘Good Guy’ list. You’ll never get it if you don’t first believe it. So thinking of yourself as one of God’s ‘Good Guys’ is a very good thing.

I know that what I sometimes say may seem sacrilegious to some, but I’m really not here for those. Those customs, those traditions, those rituals are by and large passé these days. The truth lays in the true protocol; the Teachings, the Teacher, the Guru, and God.

Our beloved teacher used to say, ‘Don’t worship me, worship my Teachings.’ As a great Teacher, he had the right to be worshipped. His history, his custom, his tradition, his ritual demanded it. But, he was too humble to fall for that trap. He knew that he wasn’t the Creator. I’m not talking about how he acted. I’m talking about how he projected. For him, God, Guru, the Teachings are to be worshipped, he was just the blessed messenger of what They wanted. Don’t kill or worship the messenger. He had so many way’s of expressing what he was that it’s hard to think of just one now.

But here is one to end with today. He was a forklift, duty bound to get into the dirt and lift you out. That’s his job from his perspective. In other words, he’ll do what ever’s necessary to serve the need of a student. Here’s another. He’s a chisel and we are a block of stone. His job is to chisel us into something worthwhile. He chiseled all of us with more courage. Another beauty is that pressure creates the diamond out of the piece of coal. He never stopped applying the pressure to bring out the gem in each one of us! Thank God. Stay tuned,

In the Humility of Service and Gratitude,

MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa

Chief of Protocol

Sangat Representative