POWER TO PERFECTION

Intuitive Heart Offering

October - November

Power to Perfection

People on the spiritual path often mistake Teerath – pilgrimage – for a physical journey, one that takes place at holy rivers or geographic locations. Kundalini Yoga teaches that the ultimate pilgrimage, Teerath, is, more significantly, an internal transformation of the heart of the self, through and beyond the physical world. Utilising external forces, life’s challenges and holy places, we can gain access to the internal spaces within the self that allow us to understand that everyone has the one Mat – the same wisdom or mindset.

 Mat is how we perceive the world, how we think. Manmat is following one’s own ego, self-will, and personal desires instead of spiritual guidance, Gurmat. When we shift our perception and stop seeing others through the lens of our own ego, we start seeing everyone and everything as part of the exact same Oneness. We move from the starting point to our destination, from Manmat to Gurmat. This is the real Teerath; this is the True Pilgrimage we should go on. This is the True Journey from power to perfection.

The true journey is going beyond the ego mind, beyond our desires, beyond our own will, to live in alignment with the Guru’s teachings, the Divine Will. When our mind adopts the Divine understanding, that the same Divine Light (Ik) flows through every human being, our entire life becomes a true journey of sacred perfection. We become Warriors of Grace, willing to give our heads to embody the teachings, like the Khalsa, the brotherhood of warrior saints, created by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh to protect innocence.

This October, the tenth month, carried within it a double dose of this Warrior, Fire Horse, Radiant Body, number 10-year energy. It was provoking you to go beyond the fears of Manmat, to excavate the last buried parts of the old ego fears around power and to hand them over to the Divine Will. If you managed to sift through even one shovel of dirt from your past attachments, you may have uncovered something unexpected: challenging power through grace reveals the real jewels of liberation, buried deep within you as part of your own radiance.

During Guru Nanak's time, many ascetics and yogis claimed they could prolong their lives through intense physical and mystical exercises to obtain these jewels. Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, countered this by stating that spiritual evolution is not a matter of physically extending your status or time on earth, or of surviving through vast cosmic cycles, the Yugas. True liberation comes by transforming your internal stature through humility and surrender to the Divine Will.

In Hindu cosmology, there are four distinct ages called Yugas, tracking a steady decline in human virtue, truth and spirituality. The Yugas are compared to terrestrial seasons, serving as a macro-level metaphor for understanding cyclical time and our human consciousness, or Dharam – Divine Law, the right way to live. Frequently the Yugas are interpreted as a figurative cosmic mirror reflecting how far we’ve drifted from Dharam. These Yugas are represented by a Dharmic Bull, with the universe balanced on its horns, symbolising both morality and righteousness. Each Yuga brings a change of consciousness, behaviour and understanding of lifestyle and how we interact. The planet isn’t affected by these Yugas, nor are the stars, sun, moon, earth; the only thing affected is us.

In the first age, Sat Yug, humanity is entirely pure, wise, and free from disease, poverty, or greed, and the Bull stands steady on all four legs. Perfection begins to slip in Treta Yug, as the Bull loses one of its legs, as ego, personal desire, and wants emerge. Another leg goes in Dvapara Yug, the third age, as humanity drifts even further away from Divine Law. The cycle ends in the current era, Kali Yug, an age of darkness where truth and Divine Law are completely absent, and the Bull is left standing on one leg.

Navigating Kali Yug doesn’t require a complex or overwhelming philosophy; a direct and practical solution exists to meet its challenges. Kali Yug is right now; we’re living in a state of darkness of the mind, Manmat. The ultimate sin is forgetting one's true identity, which separates us from the Divine Name, Naam. In Kali Yug, the mind prefers Maya – illusion. The mind enjoys the desires and emotions it creates, thrives on competition, praises achievements and craves the material illusions that come with fame and fortune. We can’t see it, but Maya is the wine of the Age. We are drunk on Maya, and we have lost our connection to our real consciousness, Dharam.

Guru Nanak says you are not a victim; you are participating in Maya. While we must inevitably play a part in the world of Kali Yug due to our inherent love of and attachment to Maya, we do not have to be consumed by it; there is a way out. Accessing the Radiant Body’s wellspring of courage and determination and taking responsibility for your power, you go beyond the mind’s attachment to Maya and live in Dharam. Utilising your power as a Warrior Saint, you become one who knows how to win gracefully in this game of life. 

"If you desire to play this game of love with me, then step onto my path with your head in hand, and do not heed public opinion.” – Guru Nanak

This poetic call to courage requires a fearless, warrior-like readiness to stand for truth, to continually bow our heads to our hearts and remember Naam. Reciting Naam through Kirtan is the ultimate remedy; it acts as an anchor for the mind keeping us from becoming a helpless victim of the times. The boundary between being trapped in Kali Yug and living in Divine peace rests entirely on our connection to the Shabd – the Divine sound current – and the Guru. The very moment we lose that alignment and fail to meet the Guru, the one who takes us from darkness to light, we instantly fall back into the grip of Kali Yug and separation. However, whenever we are truly with the Guru, Kali Yug completely disappears, transforming our reality into a sanctuary of Divine presence.

The Eastern philosophy holds that Sat Yug was the best time, when gods roamed the earth, and all was perfect. The West prefers to think the future will be a brighter, better time. Guru Nanak challenged these conventional ways of thinking, observing that neither culture is content with the present; nobody says today is perfect just as it is. Maya is created when we escape the spiritual challenge and avoid accepting the universe as it is. Guru Nanak taught that the right time is right now, that Kali Yug is the best time to be alive, as it contains the most potent power to go beyond the mind’s illusions and accept the present, exactly as it is. Bringing awareness to the Divine presence, we’re reminded it is all Hukum – it’s all Divine Order – and it’s all perfect.

This wisdom cannot be achieved through our own efforts alone. True elevation requires receiving the ultimate glance of Grace, Nadar, by the One so that we can see and live in Oneness with nature. If I don’t receive the glance of grace from the Beloved, I will be left amongst the lowest of the low. Basically, if it’s in Your grace for me to hear it and see it all as Hukum, then this too is Your doing, this too is Hukum.

As we enter November, the eleventh month, the opportunity to deepen your Teerath towards Dharam continues through the energy of the Eleventh Body, the cosmic mirror. In Kundalini tradition, the line of living human Gurus ended with Guru Gobind Singh. The eleventh Guru is Sri Guru Granth Sahib, a book that contains a body of sacred mantras and scriptures known as the Shabd Guru – the sacred sound of the teacher. Number 11 represents the frequency of Infinity, Equilibrium in motion and Mastery. To master the 11, we can use the power of the Shabd to "zero out" the ego, clear dualities to align directly with the Creator, and walk parallel on the path together.

Then the Eleventh Body, the cosmic mirror, reflects the idea that You and God are One. 1+1=11, beyond the duality of the two. Reciting the Shabd Guru with devotion, the finite one (You) surrenders to the infinite one (Universe). You go beyond Manmat to Gurmat, to live in alignment with the energy of 11. You stop fighting against life and begin conducting reality through presence, shining through the jewels within. You recognise that everything happening in and around you are part of the grand cosmic design, Hukum, and you move beyond the cycle of personal Karma and into an unchangeable spiritual destiny, Dharma.

A supportive mantra for this month is: Ek Ong Kar Sat Gur Prasad Sat Gur Prasad Ek Ong Kar - "By the Grace and sweet gift of the Beloved, the True Guru, I am reminded that God and Me are One." It is considered one of the few Kundalini mantras that comes with a caution as it accelerates manifestation. Yogi Bhajan warned that anything you say or think immediately after chanting it is heavily amplified. You are advised to treat it with deep reverence and avoid negative speech or complaining right after reciting it. The Eleventh Body functions like a sound current that amplifies your thoughts and words with intense creative force. Chanting Ek Ong Kar Sat Gur Prasad acts as a key that tunes you into this unified field, elevating the self beyond duality, clearing the subconscious and anchoring pure spiritual warrior authority.

Kali Yug happens only when we forget the Guru’s wisdom and the wisdom within us. When we live in Manmat, intoxicated with Maya, we are not living in Gurmat, the Guru’s teachings. The Guru has one message: there is only One, and I am part of that One. When I listen to the teachings of the masters – the one truth that is Guru – when I sing songs of praise, and remember the Naam, I discover the real jewels I seek, buried deep inside me. This is my Teerath, my true pilgrimage.

If you believe these ages exist, Guru Nanak’s teachings are the solution. You don’t need to outlast the ages; simply let the boat of Naam and the song of praise carry you across the ocean of Kali Yug. This wisdom is within each of us. Within our own being, the real jewels reside. Look within; the wisdom is already there. Align yourself with the right people to bring it out. Sangat means the people who are united with this one message, who are one with it. If you’re in their company, then you are in true Sangat. The Divine exists within the Sangat.

God and Me, Me and We are One. Perfectly Imperfect is the new true power.

love, learn, live

devpreet