May 2007 is a momentous month for me and a few like-minded friends because we have set up 'Simran House', a dream of mine, in Minto,(Campbelltown council), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. More of that later...

29th. April : Daylesford Multifaith Convention. I forgot to elaborate last month on this very interesting event into which I was roped in to do a workshop on Sikh Sound Meditation and a 'Kirtan/Spiritual Music Jam' for the delegates in the evening, with guests musicians and Afghan tabla player - Rameen.

In the idyllic setting of picturesque Daylesford, 100km. west of Melbourne - a former goldmining town and place of mineral springs, beautiful lakes and greenery, is the 'Sanctuary of the Heart' in about 30 acres. The 'chapel' - cum - seminar room is hexagonal in shape (would like to have a Sikh prayer hall looking like this!). About 200 delegates and audience turned up with a surprising number of Sikhs from Melbourne.

The day started with a panel of state spiritual leaders and a UNESCO specialist on teaching 'values' in schools. Title - 'Healing Love in Action'. The most exciting bit of this panel was firstly the way the UNESCO delegate was tiptoeing through the minefield of cultural and religious sensitivities every 'religion' carries yet trying to talk of 'secular spirituality' and 'values' teaching in schools. Also of interest were unwary comments by the representatives of the triad of middle-eastern religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) which sometimes make me comment that the true reason for all the bitter wars in the world are the exclusivities preached by all three faiths. The Jewish representative at some stage said ..."but we were first!" and Jews are often heard saying that they are the 'chosen ones'. The Christian representative kept harping on the fact that only Jesus is 'perfect' being the son of God - which means anyone who does not accept Jesus as his/her saviour shall surely be condemned to the fires of hell. He also commented that not everyone can walk on water, like Jesus. The Islamic representative was stumped when reminded that Islam advocates that Mohammed was the 'last' prophet which then implies anyone following any other prophet after Mohammed must go to hell! NEVERTHELESS, SUCH DIALOGUE DOES BRING REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS FAITHS TOGETHER AND THEIR EFFORTS TO ENGENDER WORLD PEACE AND HARMONY ARE COMMENDABLE.

I drifted off after that because I had been watching Australia play Sri Lanka in the cricket world cup 'finals' played in the West Indies' the previous night and I was doing a workshop on sound meditation in the evening! (YES, AUSTRALIA WON!)

I came back in time to see a workshop facilitator ask a question off anyone who cared to answer 'Who are you, What are you?' After some feeble attempts by various contributors an old Sikh gentleman answered 'I AM GOD'. There was stunned silence for some time and then thunderous applaus. The facilitator decided that that closed the issue!!!

The sound meditation workshop went well. Anyone interested, the notes are available in our new website. In fact please peruse. This website is inhouse, run by my daughter and can be updated almost imediately. www.dyasingh.com Check it out! Send in your comments.

SIMRAN HOUSE, 11, Lincoln Street, Minto, Nsw. (see www.simranhouse.com)

Baba Nanak, after all his udasis, in his mid-fifties I think, decided to adopt Kartarpur as his final 'stop' where he advocated 'naam simran' from early in the morning, then seva and kirt (honest work), communal meals - langgar and evening prayers. He showed by personal example, how to lead the life of a common householder. No other prophet of his stature was able to do that in his final days.

With the aid of a few friends - all generally now in their 50's, we decided that time had come to establish a sort of 'dharamsala' along the lines of Baba Nanak's Kartarpur where naam simran (meditation), seva, langgar, kirtan, ardaas and 'path' are the mainstays. In other words less of the rituals that are creeping into our present gurdwaras and more of 'naam' - hence 'Simran House'. This is one step towards a dream 'Sikh Retreat' where devotees and those interested can come and stay for short periods and learn how to do 'naam simran' besides other spiritual exercises and body and spirit detoxification.. Even yoga is contemplated.

For further details please go to www.simranhouse.com and feel free to send in comments etc.

Two concerts in Brisbane - 8/9 May

We were invited to Brisbane to do two concerts. One was a world music concert to a Science Symposium in which about 50 scientists had come from India and joined by about 30 from Australia. A very interesting concert and some very interested listeners from India. Free cd's of 'Sikh naam simran' were given out as gifts.

The next day was a 'Ghazal meets World Music' concert at the Brisbane Multricultural Arts centre - BEMAC. Good audience of about 150 joined a very intimate concert. Comment from one of our kirtan enthusiasts must be added. "I was not sure about coming as I do not like anything else but gurbani kirtan. But, I am glad I came. Your ghazal renditions are also full of spirituality especially some of your Sufi qawalis and bhajans. Almost all your renditions are about God anyway!"

Recording of 'Path -dha-Bhog' (9 saloks, Raag Mala, full Anand Sahib)

The brunt of this recording has been recorded. Now we are going through the process of adding the appropriate sounds. I think this is going to be a great rendition of the '9Mahalay dhe salok'. Parvyn has been polishing up her 'path' to give it the true 'western born' Sikh youth sound. There are a smattering of English renditions too.

AN INTERESTING DIALOGUE (about rituals)

My daughter Jamel took her two kids to a 'thath' (gurdwara run by a 'sant' - a Sikh godman) and witnessed for the first time an 'Aarti' ceremony in a gurdwara. My grandson thought perhaps Guru Ji was getting married and being showered by flowers just like a newly wed couple! (As a Malaysian Sikh, I too had not seen an 'Aarti' ceremony till I went overseas.) These days these 'Hindu' practices/rituals are becoming quite common in Malaysia too.) For those interested - an 'Aarti' ceremony is carried out by Hindu Brahmin priests on auspicious occasions since times immemorial. Guru Nanak wrote some verses talking about the futility of such rituals and amazingly enough, Sikhs have started reading this bani and have created almost the same ritual for Sikhs to follow!!!

She was talking to an elderly Indian Sikh gentleman later and the conversation went something like this ...

J. Uncle, I have never seen this ceremony like this before. The last time I witnessed something like this was in Serangoon Road, Singapore in a Hindu temple and my dad and I joined in to throw flowers at the dieties like everyone else. I thought such rituals are taboo amongst Sikhs.

Uncle: O no, beta. Aarti is definitely a Sikh ceremony too. Guru Nanak has written about it.

J. But dad says that Baba Nanak had written those verses because he felt that we should not indulge in such futile rituals and in fact wrote about an 'Aarta' - which sounds tongue-in-cheek. My grandfather was a priest and never carried out such a ritual.

Uncle. O no, beta. Your dad is badly mistaken. It might be a Hindu ritual but we do carry out such a practice. It is practised at all major Sikh shrines in India and all 'Sant' deras carry it out as an offering to Guru Granth Sahib our Guru. We celebrate our Guru with flowers because there is also a line in gurbani that we shower our Guru with flowers.

J. But Uncle - that is just like the Hindu ritual. This is all unnecessary ritualism like lighting jyots (Hindu oit lamps) etc.

Uncle. But beta, who says we do not light jyots too ... When we do the Aarti we should light a jyot too. In fact all major Sikh shrines in India ...

J. Don't tell me Uncle. They do have jyots too and Sikhs 'metha-tek' to the jyots too!!!

Uncle: Well some do... I guess all do BUT, we do not worship idols.

J. No uncle we don't. We Sikhs worship the Guru Granth Sahib. We build a special room where Guru Ji reposes. We put Him in a bed. We cover Him with a blanket if it is cold and even put a heater for Him. And if it is too hot we aircondition the room or put a fan.

Uncle: O yes we certainly do! We treat Sri Guru Granth Sahib like a living Guru.

J. But Uncle is that not idol worship too?

Uncle. O No! Of course it is not! Who says we worship the Sri Guru granth Sahib!

At this point my daughter decided that she did not want to pursue this pointless dialogue any further...

.......... Sometimes we forget where idol worship stops and 'respect' (aadher setkaar) begins.


End of May: Simran House is going well. We have even started Yoga classes on Saturday mornings. So, effectively, we have a 'Mind, Body, Spirit Gym' and hopefully devotees will come not to worship but immerse themselves in 'naam' and learning about the yoga of keeping a healthy body and mind exercises conducive to 'naam simran'.

The Opening Ceremony which shall be in the form of a 'Multifaith Blessing Ceremony' is scheduled for Saturday 16th. June ... if you are in the vicinity of Sydney, Australia.

We are looking for 'sponsors' as the lease on the building is quite high. Those interested, please get in touch. I will be more than happy to give a detailed account of our activities, how we are affecting Sikh youth and also the far-reaching effects on nearby gurdwaras due to our efforts.

Last Saturday we carried out a half day 'Akhand Jaap' where groups or families could take the stage and recite just Mool Mantr and Gur Mantr for sangat to follow. It was a highly charged atmosphere by the time we started Rehras at 6pm. We were also pleasantly surprised with the number of sangat that turned up.

We decided that only a few participate in Akhand Path and it has become too much a ritual with very few people really listening to the 'path'. Akhand Jaap is more participative and anyone can lead and join in as enthusiastically as they like

More of all that next month end by when we start our northern America tour.

Please check our new website www.dyasingh.com and register for all information and regular updates and also www.simranhouse.com for updates on Simran House.

WE HAVE A 'MULTIFAITH BLESSING' CEREMONY ON SATURDAY 16TH. JUNE STARTING WITH A THREE DAY 'AKHAND JAAP' FROM THURSDAY 14TH. FROM NOON.

THE FINAL CEREMONY BEGINS AT 3PM. WITH AN ABORIGINAL FIRE LIGHTING CEREMONY WHICH SIGNIFIES THAT THE ORIGINAL OWNERS OF THE LAND GIVE US PERMISSION TO USE THEIR LAND FOR OUR SACRED PURPOSES. SEE YOU THERE?