An interesting conversation between a Gursikh and a social activist Sikh:
Gursikh: What's the worse time to be silent?
Social Activist Sikh: at the time of injustice.
Gursikh: What's the greatest injustice?
Social Activist Sikh: well it depends on the situation. I guess it depends on the plight of the victim.
Gursikh: Who's the greatest victim?
Social Activist Sikh: Again this depends on the situation and circumstances. It's hard to pinpoint the greatest victim in history. Who do you think is the greatest victim in history.
Gursikh: If you really think of it, the Jeev is the greatest victim in history.
Social Activist Sikh: Oh! what's the greatest injustice then?
Gursikh: The jeev has been bonded and imprisoned by Maya for millions of lives. In this enchanted world, it's Maya's Raj. When the Jeev commits a sin, he gets punished and when the Jeev tries to escape by doing good deeds, then too the Jeev stays within the realm of Maya because the rewards of good deeds too are exhausted in the realm of Maya only. The Jeev has been taking birth, suffering good and bad rewards of Karma, earning new Karma and then dying; just to start the cycle of birth, death and rebirth all over again. The debt of Karma keeps on rising making it impossible for the Jeev to get out of it. Millions of times he has come in the womb where he has suffered immensely. Millions of times he has died and suffered in the hands of the cruel and heartless messengers of death. Millions of times, the Jeev has taken birth as inferior life-forms. So now tell me is there a bigger sufferer than the Jeev? Has anyone endured greater sorrow than the Jeev?
Social Activist Sikh: But how is it injustice? The Jeev no doubt has suffered a lot but at the same time he just reaped what he sowed.
Gursikh: The greatest injustice or robbery occurs in the life form of a Sikh if the Sikh gets lazy in following Sikhi. The Jeev gets the life form of a Sikh with great difficulty. This is the only chance of liberating from the everlasting cycle of life and death. When a Sikh chants Naam and devours Gurbani in form of Paath, writing or singing, he collects Laaha (spiritual wealth) within but when he indulges in sins under the influence of the 5 agents of Maya (Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh and Hankaar), the earned Laaha gets looted and for this reason this is the greatest robbery of all times. The only way to stop this robbery is to indulge in Naam all the time and especially at Amritvela time.
Social Activist Sikh: I see. So then what's your answer to the original question - when is the worse time to keep quiet?
Gursikh: The worse time to keep quiet is at the time when one should be chanting Naam. Although, Naam should be chanted all the time but at Amritvela it MUST be chanted. If a person gets up at Amritvela, does his Nitnem and then while chanting Naam dozes off or keeps quiet, then that person is committing the biggest mistake and this is the worse time to be quiet.
Social Activist Sikh: The worse time to stay quiet is at Amritvela?
Gursikh: Stakes are too high, in the Sikh life-form. This is the Jeev's chance to escape the cruel cycle of reincarnating again and again. It would be great injustice, if the Jeev let's Maya rob him of this chance of liberation. If the Jeev does not chant Naam at Amritvela, then he can't fight Maya and it's agents which in turn would mean that he will lose this rare opportunity to escape from the clutches of Maya and be liberated. For this reason, the worse time to be quiet is Amritvela. By the same token, the best time to not be quiet is also Amritvela. Chant Naam loudly at Amritvela. The chanting of Naam at Amritvela provides protection from Maya all day long. The Amritvela Naam Abhyaas serves as a pendulum that keeps the Naam going all day long.
The moral of the story is that we should not stay quiet at Amritvela. We should not doze off or sleep at Amritvela. We should not fail to get up and do Ishnaan at Amritvela. We should have mercy on ourselves and save ourselves from suffering anymore at the hands of Maya. We have suffered enough. Let's cut the suffering now.
Kulbir Singh
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥