Day 4

“Of all the ragas, sri raga is best, if it inspires love for Truth.”

As suspected, this practice is infiltrating many corners of the life. Morning meditation, work at the office, time with the family are all under the influence now.

Today’s first shabd is from Guru Nanak and is a 7-beat tala. “Lest I forget You…” What if I see the vision of wealth, of exquisite artistry, of mansions, of power, of dedicated devotees and forget you and your name doesn’t come? Can I see the One in all? When everything is going well, when there is prosperity and abundance, do I see with gratitude and remembrance? What if it’s not going well? Do I see what is unchanging, unaffected by the sensations of this moment, this situation, this beauty and wonderfulness or this pain and misery? The unchanging is the same regardless.

The second shabd for today is from Guru Amar Das and is in dhamar tala, 14 beats, singing in sri raga about sri raga. “By meditating on the Guru’s shabd, the tongue becomes true, the mind and body become true, and the work becomes true.”

www.sikhnet.com/audio/har-bin-jeeu-jal-bal-jaau-sri-raag-roopak

Day 5

Awaking from a dream this morning there is a sense of connection of life, the elements, the earth, the cosmos, pulsating through me, through you. Is this the flavor of sri raga? I remember the movie Avatar, an image of a world where life is known in relationship to all of nature, it is something like that that this morning.

Continuing to circle back to the songs previously sung, revisiting and revising, practice moves forward as well.  Today’s shabd is a familiar shabd in raga kalyan that has been placed in a 12-beat sri raga composition. This is Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s bani, gun nad dhun anand bed, the virtues of nada, the music, the bliss, the knowledge that appears, the speaking, the listening, meeting with the company of the saints.

I am overwhelmed with the wealth of beautiful songs, one after another, each offering its own unique involvement with the raga and with the poetry. Some of these ancient  melodies came along with the bani (words) from the gurus themselves, some melodies came from musicians who were present with the gurus and added additional melodies for singing the gurubani, and other melodies were added centuries later as new generations of musicians contributed the songs that flowed from their own experience with the words and music. The musical and spiritual vision of these composers is evident in the masterpieces that have been remembered.

Day 1

In the book, Gurbani Sangeet, the ragas are arranged in the order in which they appear in Siri Guru Granth Sahib. There must be a reason Guru Arjan Dev Ji chose to begin with Sri Rag (after the initial prayers). Sri Rag is a raga of the yogis, the renunciates. The ascending scale is pentatonic and the mood is introspective. Bhai Avtar Singh and Bhai Gurcharan Singh chose to begin their book with this song in chartal from Guru Nanak, “Make good deeds the soil, and shabd the seed. Irrigate it continually with the water of Truth.” This first song offers guidance for preparing the mind and heart to sing, to “become such a farmer that faith will sprout.”

I have heard this shabd and recordings are available, so beginning to sing is not difficult. If you would like to hear Bhai Avtar Singh Ji sing this shabd, here is a link.

www.sikhnet.com/audio/mat-jaan-mehe-galee

Day 2

The universe seems to be supporting this New Year’s resolution to sing these songs. I’m grateful for the support and encouragement of family and friends. And it’s great to have a teacher that can offer musical instruction as well as technical support for starting a blog. Many thanks!

The second Sri Rag shabd is from Bhagat Kabir Ji and the raga, in teental, moves a little differently. I found a partial recording from a demonstration by Bhai Baldeep, the rest is learning from the notation. After a few repetitions the song is coming and it is a beautiful melody. “The unstruck melody plays on the strings, by his glance of grace, lovingly absorbed in naad”. Kabir compares the yogi’s union with the process of distilling the essence of a pure nectar. I wouldn’t have understood this metaphor before, but now that I’ve watched Gurumeet’s process of distilling essential oils, it is an imagery I can grasp: capturing the steam in the golden dome, trickling onto the tongue, drinking the intoxicating essence.

Day 3

“You are me and I am you–what is the difference between us? We are like gold and the bracelet or water and the waves.”

There are two compositions given for this shabd, one in jhaptal and one in teental. I have sung and listened to the jhaptal melody before, and there are recordings available. This could easily become a favorite. The teental melody is unfamiliar, so I work it out with the notation. After singing it several times, the rhythm and placement of the words in the antaras still need some work, so I’ll sing it again tomorrow.

I’ve decided to try to sing the songs at the raga’s own specific time. Sri Rag is an evening raga, to be sung between 6:00 and 9:00. The habit of evening practice is a new one to cultivate.