Sat Nam Dear Family,

It turns out that the biggest hindrance to advancement on a spiritual path is “I”. Like always, “I” gets in the way. The “I” referred to is the ego, and when it’s used for any purpose other than defense, the I, ego, halts advancement like a car slamming to a stop avoiding an accident. Please, let me explain how this works.

A spiritual path is about faith. Pick any religion, if faith is not included, it won’t be included on any respectable religion list. Religion is faith, faith in the unknown. The unknown is scary because it’s unknown.

The unknown creates an experience of fear. The fear that the unknown will be beyond the capacity of the student to handle will haunt the student.

Comfort = memory, habit, history. Discomfort = the unknown. If given a choice, how many of us would overcome our default nature of comfort and surrender to the discomfort of the unknown? Not many. Our lives are focused on eliminating unknowns - how can I find the right partner, how can I secure my prosperity, how can I find happiness? 

Nevertheless, a true spiritual voyager is required to surrender into the unknown. And, here’s the kicker, this surrender happens over and over again. The pain of surrendering to the discomfort of the unknown never subsides, until it does. God is the only decider of how long this takes.

Therefore, if faith is the answer to your religion, and I pray it is, surrendering to the unknown is mandatory, mandatory for advancement.

I’ve found a way to mitigate this pain. I know that discomfort is a test, so my focus has been on how to make this journey less discomforting, and, then, less hazardous. The more you can help yourself out, the better off you are. It’s already hard enough.

Again, Guru Ram Das to the rescue. When a student surrenders to the Will of the Guru, focuses on His Will and chants His Name, then there is an absolute reduction of the pain in ones’s life. Not only is pain relieved, but elevation takes root. In order to change a habit, a replacement, a substitute, must supplant the original. In this case, pain is replaced by devotion.

How long this takes is anyone’s and everyone’s karma, with one exception. The more you sincerely and truly surrender to the will of Guru ji, the more your destiny shifts towards Him. Again, Guru Ram Das to the rescue. There are so few way to change your destiny in this universe, when you’ve found one, when you have faith in it, when you can’t wait for the discomfort to come, Guru ji reciprocates your faith and true spirituality begins.

And, this is just the beginning. We haven’t even talked about love yet. Next time. Stay tuned,

In the Humility of Service and Gratitude,

MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa

Chief of Protocol

Sangat Representative