Wednesday 12 August 2009

Ascension after Amrit

Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa Waheguru Jee Kee Fateh

Before the sublime mystery of existence, space and time, according to the will of God our beloved Jasmeet Kaur at the tender age of 14 years has departed from this world. In the final hours of her short life she was blessed with Amrit and the warm embrace of the Guru ji. Her soul is now free and united with Waheguru.

She was my Mama’s daughter, and with family’s permission I will be writing this article to explain why her passing is considered as both inspirational and deeply moving. I will write this article according to the experience and knowledge I have gained; from past times spent together, to the Amrit Sanchaar and up to the present.

Prior to her death

All the events and happenings prior to Jasmeet's passing were perfect, as if set in place beforehand. The reason for this is clear:

gur poorai sabh pooraa keeaa ||
The Perfect Guru makes everything perfect.

All particular events leading up to Jasmeet Kaur’s death were as if she was preparing for that immense day where she would become one with Waheguru and would be truly married to the ultimate being. At the tender age of 14 she started to practise how to tie the Guru’s crown, the Dastaar, on her head. She would practise frequently and ask other family members and friends if she had tied the Dastaar nicely. It was as if she was making sure that her crown was perfect for the day that she would be united with the true husband Lord.

She learnt Keertan to the highest standard, singing Shabads in 11 beat mantras. Which for a 14 year is a difficult skill to acquire. She made sure that her Nitnem was constant, and made sure that she was familiar with the Baneeaa that she would need to read regularly. All these provisions were as if she knew that Guru Sahib wanted her to be perfect for that day she would leave her physical body and merge with Waheguru.

Amrit Sanchaar day

Her determination to take Amrit was admirable and had utmost honesty. Daas has seen many times when people give fake promises to fulfil the responsibilities of being Amritdhari, however it was very rare to see Jasmeet Kaur so eager and thirsty to adopt Khalsa Rehit and become a brave princess of KhalgiDhar Patshah. I, myself requested that her older siblings take Amrit first and the younger ones take the oath of the double edged sword later on in life. Even before she was going to take Amrit, an elder and learnt Bibi asked her if she was able to fulfil the responsibilities as an AmritDhari, furthermore she was also questioned by the Panj Piyare, and asked if she would be able to fulfil responsibilities of being an AmritDhari at such a young age. Each time she was questioned she responded with a firm answer that all she wanted was the gift of Amrit and Naam Di Daat. No living entity was able to stand in her way to receive that ultimate boon.

Jasmeet Kaur passed away only one hour after receiving Guru Sahib’s ambrosial nectar. It was as if Guru Jee was waiting for the perfect opportunity to take her. She passed away in her sleep, instantly.

Following her death

As with most things in life which make no sense at first, this event was also completely perplexing to us. In the beginning, it was just a shock to everyone as to how and why this had happened. However, the more this news sunk in to our fickle minds, the more Guru Sahib blessed us with an understanding as to what spiritually happened.

Jasmeet Kaur didn’t die any normal death; she died an honourable death, a death which was most distinctive. This death is described in Gurbani many times:


salok ||
kab
eeraa marathaa marathaa jag muaa mar bh n jaanai koe ||
aisee maranee jo marai bahur n maranaa hoe ||1||

Salok:

Kabeer, the world is dying - dying to death, but no one knows how to truly die.
Whoever dies, let him die su
ch a death, that he does not have to die again. ||1||

The only way we realised the above was by checking the family’s hukamnama book. Every time someone would do a hukamnama from the Saroop of Guru Granth Sahib at home, it would be recorded in this particular book. However Jasmeet Kaur only ever got to do one Hukamnama, this was a month prior to her death. Her life, death, and reason for her death can be explained by her personal hukamnama:

raag bilaaval mehalaa 5 dhupadhae ghar 9
ik oa(n)kaar sath
igur prasaadh ||

aapehi mael leae ||
jab th
ae saran thumaaree aaeae thab thae dhokh geae ||1|| rehaao ||
thaj abh
im
aan ar chi(n)th biraanee saadhheh saran peae ||
jap jap n
aam thumhaaro preetham
than thae rog kheae ||1||
meh
aa mugadhh ajaan agiaanee raakhae dhhaar dheae ||
kah
u naa
nak gur pooraa bhaettiou aavan jaan rehae ||2||1||126||

Raag Bilaaval, Fifth Mehla, Du-Paday, Ninth House:
One Universal Creator God. By The Grac
e Of The True Guru:
He Himself merges us with Himself.
When I came to Your Sanctuary, my sins vanished. ||1||Pause||
Renounci
ng egotistical pride and other anxieties, I have sought the Sanctuary of the Holy Saints.
Chanting,
meditating on Your Name, O my Beloved, disease is eradicated from my body. ||1||
Even utte
rly foolish, ignorant and thoughtless persons have been saved by the Kind Lord.
Says Nanak, I have met the Perfect Guru; my comings and goings have ended. ||
2||1||126||

The hukamnama clearly states she merged with Waheguru, she also went into Guru’s Sharan (sanctuary) by taking Amrit, and had all her sins removed. In the space of one hour preceding her death she never even had the chance to have a bad thought let alone commit a sin. The last line states her transmigrations ended.

One important thing to mention is that for most of us we have to go into Guru’s Sanctuary twice. The reason for this is because when we enter the guru’s sanctuary for the first time, (when we receive Amrit), we don’t receive the ultimate blessing of seeing Waheguru’s Darshan and we don’t promise Guru Jee that from this day you can either kill me or keep me in your Sharan.

jab ham saran prabhoo kee aaee raakh prabhoo bhaavai maar ||1|| rehaao ||
Now that I have come seeking Your Sanctuary, God, please, either save me, or kill me. ||1||Pause||

However, Jasmeet Kaur was extremely lucky due to the fact that she only had to go into Guru’s sanctuary once, and that was it. She has proven that the Guru’s ultimate blessing can fall upon anyone as long as they are pleasing to Waheguru:

eaehu piram piaalaa khasam kaa jai bhaavai thai dhaee ||13||
This cup of loving devotion belongs to our Lord and Master; He gives it to whomever He likes. ||13||

Bhai Swaaran Singh (UK) who is a Puratan Gursikh and has had Darshan of many Gurmukhs told us something amazing about Jasmeet Kaur. He told us that a few days prior to Jasmeet’s death, a Shaheed Singhni, who ties a excessively large Durmala (turban), visited their home in Birmingham. The Shaheedi Singhni told Bhai Sahib that she was going to pick up a great Gurmukh’s departing soul in the next couple of days. Without fail, a few days later Jasmeet Kaur passed away and the Shaheed Singhni disappeared from Bhai Sahib’s home. Bhai Sahib told us the Shaheed Singhni took Jasmeet Kaur’s pure soul to SachKhand.


Last week, Akhand Kirtani Jatha (UK) Jathedhar Bhai Raghbir Singh and ex-Jathedhar Bhai Jarnail Singh visited the family. Even they were shocked to hear the news of a Gursikh passing away straight after receiving Amrit Dee Daat. They said in the last 30 – 40 years of Gursikhs doing Seva in Amrit Sanchaars, not once have they ever heard of someone passing away immediately after taking Amrit. They said she was a Mahaan (great) soul. I looked into Jathedhar’s eyes and he had tears of joy when I told him that we were told that her soul was taken to Sach Khand by a Shaheed Singhni. He was also extremely happy to hear that a Mona was going to keep his hair after he heard about Jasmeet Kaur’s death; he gave the Mona his blessings.


One important thing I wanted to mention to the Sangat is not to be scared of Amrit. It is important that we realise that Jasmeet Kaur was only here to take Amrit as others will be in the near future. It is amazing how events that occurred in the Puratan times are still happening now. With the Guru’s Kirpa more Gurmukhs will be born, but we should not start to think that if our son or daughter, little sister or brother or others take Amrit they will die straight away. If they do, then as you can see above, the death they will receive is the highest death to die as their comings and goings in the cycle of reincarnation has ended.

Daas was requested by the family to let everyone on the internet forums and e-mail groups to know about the Keertan one day prior to the funeral and the funeral itself. Below I have attached the poster for the two day event. We humbly request your blessed Darshan at the Keertan and funeral.

Bolan Jog

Amrik Singh

Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa Waheguru Jee Kee Fateh