Seek and you shall find

Whatever you devote your time and attention to, that's what you will become expert at. I was chatting with a singer / composer. He commented that whenever he has composed a great shabad is when he has been playing with his instrument for a couple of hours and then suddenly or should I say accidentally a tune will come in mind. I can relate to this. This has happened to me as well, in music as well as in understanding Gurbani (Sikh scriptures). So life is not about speculating if you will get this or that. Its about deciding what you want and devoting time to it.

Since I was in primary school, I have been listening to old Hindi Bollywood movie songs - classical Raaga based - songs, bhajans and qawalis. I use to spend hours listening to these songs repeatedly. My interest changed and from last couple of years I read Guru Granth Sahib shabads with great interest as I realised that the meanings of those shabads are not as simple as I though or sometimes too literal rather than philosophical, as mistakenly explained and translated in the sources. Great understanding comes when I suddenly stumble upon a line and understand the true intention of the writer in that shabad. Then I feel so sorry that even people like ragas and granthis don't understand the very scriptures they are suppose to be expert at.

The real understanding can only come if you immerse yourself in meditation. Once you start to have some experiences in meditation and generate the 24 /7 urgency to know more about and meet God than simply fulfil your duty of reading daily prayer etc, you have upgraded your mentality from just passing exams to actually knowing the truth. If you are seeking truth about God / the creator, you will be sincere in your meditation as well as in reading the gurbani. Some shabads in gurbani are related to meditation experiences and those shabads can't be understood until you have started your own meditation and started having experiences. So if you are a true seeker, do meditate and then read any scriptures.

Strangely enough, I forced myself to listen to some of the famous old hindi songs that I use to immerse myself in, they are great tunes, great words and I loved them again but listening first time after years didn't automatically gave me the same pleasure that I use to get when I heard them everyday. The feeling that use to be inside and the energy vibration as each instrument vibrated within a composition, that rhythmic pleasure can only come, if you truly immerse yourself into something, not like when I was listening to them superficially, to give some good songs to a particular person to listen. How true is it for spirituality as well.

One must ask themselves, why I go to a religious place?
To seek the the real truth for myself,
To promote my religion as the best / better than other religions
To show others that I am devoted (assuming that religious people are better than less devoted ones) , or
To do Sunday socialising activity?

Do you immerse yourself in deeper listening to seek the truth and have real understanding? . Give it a thought and please leave your comments