Naam Abhiyaas !!!

After keertan today there was Gurmat Veechar and one of the younger kids asked if there is such thing as ghosts. We know from reading Gurbani that those type of things do exist and some people have even had experiences with spirits and ghosts ect. but Gursikhs do not concern themselves with such entities. Gurmat does accept their existence but does not bother about these type of things. They mostly do not bother Gursikhs either.

Then the question came of what to do if we ever have an encounter with such things. The answer is quite simple. Naam Abhiyaas !!

If we believe in the power of Naam then no matter what scary situation we are in we will naturally Jap Naam to try and save ourselves. Be it a school exam, a school yard bully, a ghost, or even death itself, Naam is the answer to all of our fears and problems.

Preetam Singh

Kulbir Singh's response to the above post:

First of all, a Gursikh who is seeking Vaheguru and stays focussed on Naam Abhyaas, is not likely to get harmed by evil spirits like Bhoot, Pret etc. nor is he likely to even encounter one. Just as someone in the protection of lion would not get scared of goats and sheeps, same way a Gursikhs in the Sharan of Guru Sahib would never be scared of ghosts or other evil spirits. If there is fear of ghosts in a Gursikh, that means that such Gursikh is devoid of faith in Guru Sahib. Higher the faith in Guru Sahib, lower the fear of evil spirits would be.

Here are some incidents related to ghosts experienced by Gursikhs:

1. Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh and the whole Jatha, in the post 1930 era, decided to go on foot from Punjab to Siri Hazoor Sahib, taking the same route as Siri Dasmesh jee. So they placed the Savaari of Siri Guru Granth Sahib on a cart, and started the journey to Hazoor Sahib on foot. On their way, they are said to have reached the city of Jaipur. There was no place to stay and when they asked the city residents for a place to spend the night, the mischevious residents deliberately suggested they stay in a haunted mansion. Singhs quickly cleaned a part of that mansion and went to sleep there. Bhai Sahib stayed absorbed in Naam Abhyaas till late in the night. Late in the night, he heard a loud knocking on the door. When Bhai Sahib opened the door, there was this huge tall and very scary ghost that was trembling. Naam Abhyaasi Bhai Sahib did not get scared even for a moment and thundered, "Who are you?". The ghost fearfully and respectfully replied that he was the owner of the home and requested Bhai Sahib to help him obtain salvation. Rest is a long story...

2. Early in his years, Bhai Jagtar Singh did not have any particular spiritual inclinations other than regular chanting of Mool Mantr and Gurmantr that Punjabi Sikh families teach their kids. Later on, when he came into the world of Gurmat, he developed mountain-faith in Gurbani and Naam but his first experience with the power of Gurbani and Naam was when as a child he felt burden on his chest. His father and others believed it was his mother who had died. They told him to do Mool Mantr or Gurmantr whenever he felt the burden on his chest. He did as told and the burden was lifted from his chest.

3. A Singh now residing in Vancouver once told of his experience with a ghost in his early years. At night one day, when he was not an Amritdhari Singh yet, he felt burden on his chest. When he opened his eyes, he saw this huge, very scary face, staring back at him. He could not even scream as his body was paralysed by the ghost. He mentally started doing Vaheguru Vaheguru. Slowly the grip on his loosened and he started saying Mool Mantr audibly. The spirit immediately left him.

From these incidents, we can conclude that Naam and Gurbani are the keys to protecting yourself from all kinds of problems including those related to evil spirits. We learn from Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh jee's example that a Gursikh should not be afraid of any evil spirit and using the power of Naam and Gurbani challenge the ghost. To be scared of a ghost amounts to less faith in Guru Sahib. So we should not be afraid of ghosts or other such entities and have full faith in Guru Sahib alone.

Kulbir Singh