“Come on girlfriends, let’s make virtues our charms”: This bāni from Guru Rām Dās comes in gauri mājh, a rāga with all twelve notes. The teentāl rhythm sets a joyful pace.

The mystical poetry in Siri Guru Granth Sahib often uses the metaphor of the spiritual seeker as a bride, the congregation of seekers as girlfriends and the Formless One as the beloved spouse. What if the girlfriends got together to join the saints, be peaceful and loving, cultivate virtue, and fill their minds with thoughts of the Infinite? It would be so different from the girlfriends who bicker and fight about one thing or another, holding each other down, instead of helping each other up. Women who support each other are a powerful force. What would happen if the congregation of seekers (both male and female) behaved more like supportive girlfriends and sisters, bringing out the best in each other?

This weekend I received in the mail a book I had ordered several months ago. It is a history of Amritsar and the Golden Temple, a collection of historic primary source writings and images from foreigners who had visited there in previous centuries. Many of the visitors remarked on the kirtan, something they felt, a mood that prevailed, a mystic presence.

It is something I have felt too, visiting these shabds, hearing the masters sing, trying to sing along. This kirtan heritage is such a rich treasury but yet the girlfriends and sisters sometimes seem so busy disagreeing, judging each other, caught up in proving themselves right, that the family jewels are at risk of being left unattended, slipping away unnoticed.

I’m reminded of something I wrote a few years ago in response to some faction reaction that was happening at the time:
Sing Together
3/29/02 Tucson
Come let’s sing together
The praises of our beloved Lord.
We’ve been brought from different families and homes
To live in harmony under the same roof.
The songs of praise will heal our wounds and troubled minds
With the ointment of His love.
Our Husband Lord is the Only Doer.
He made each one of us and intimately knows each heart.
It is He who invited us to come,
And set our feet on the path we now walk.
He leads us on the journey to His door
And Himself is the Only Judge.
The brides in waiting don’t need to spend their time
Gossiping and squabbling
About the merits and demerits of each other.
Let’s remember to be the brides and servants
That will draw our Master near to us
Not drive Him far away.
We have a great home to care for,
Many household tasks to perform,
And our own weddings to prepare for.
We can serve together the One we love,
Tell each other what we know of Him,
Sing together His Beautiful Song.

Day 21
The shabds in rāga gauri are big, monumental songs with dramatic intervals, a stately pace, and profound presence. Bhagats like Kabeer, Nām Dev and Ravidās sang in rāga gauri as did Guru Nānak, Guru Amar Dās, Guru Rām Dās, Guru Arjan Dev, and Guru Teg Bahādur. Variations of rāga gauri include gauri guāreree, gauri cheti, gauri bairāgan, gauri poorbi deepki, gauri purbi, gauri sorath, gauri mājh, and gauri mālā,

Singing through this collection is challenging and rewarding and it will be nice someday to return to these songs, spend more time there, learn them well, remember them. Working out the melody from the notation is like approaching a puzzle and solving it can be so satisfying.  However, the joy of singing a song that has been taught is a totally different experience. The meditation goes deep when bāni is sung from memory, without struggling with melody, rhythm, or placement of words.

In the midst of the grand gauri shabds is a somewhat smaller song in gauri bairāgan purvi ang. It is the third composition given for this bani. The first two are in chartāl and jai tāl, this one is in choti teentāl. This is one of those previously learned shabds that goes deep, circling like a drill to penetrate the mind and the heart. “By what virtues will I meet the Lord of Life oh my mother? I have no beauty, wisdom or strength, I am a foreigner, without wealth, without youth, without a master. Have mercy! Searching and searching, becoming bairāgan, for your sight I travel and thirst. Merciful to the meek, kind Lord, Nanak’s water is the sādh sangat, my thirst is quenched.”

In gauri mālā this jewel was found: “Kirtan is my treasure. You are nectar, you are praise, you are beauty, you are love. You are so very near.”

http://www.sikhnet.com/audio/gun-keerat-nidh-moree-gauri-mala-chaar-taal

Day 16
My husband likes pineapple on his pizza. Along with the typical bread, tomato sauce and cheese, he likes to add pineapple, green chile and onions. It is a surprising combination that actually works, a fusion of flavor where none of the ingredients loses its own identity. Biting into a slice, the taste is definitely familiar savory pizza, but then there is the sudden juicy, sweet reminder that pineapple is also present, holding its own, merging in the total experience.

This is what comes to mind in trying to explain the experience of discovering a shabd in rāga gauri sorath. Really? Gauri and sorath together? And yet this is the original heading recorded in Siri Guru Granth Sahib for this bāni from Bhagat Kabir Ji. After singing several shabds in rāga gauri in the purvi ang, this one appears. The melody follows the familiar pattern, and suddenly, there it is, that juicy, sweet reminder that sorath is also present, holding its own, and merging in the total experience.

There are other blended rāgas that are more like eating a really good ālu gobi where the spicy sauce brings all the flavors together, while a bite of potato is enjoyed for the taste and texture of potato and a bite of cauliflower still has the taste and texture of cauliflower. It is an obvious and time-honored match. Rāga gauri sorath is less expected, less predictable, less known, and immensely satisfying.