Soul Compass

9-10am Saturday, 26th September **

Offering an invitation to learn and practice together.

Gentle yoga, meditation & chanting.

This is offered free of charge to share about the healing technology of the Shabd Guru, a form of chanting.

POOTA MAATA KI ASEES

“Poota Maata Ki Asees” is a healing prayer that can be practiced by mothers to support their children. Composed by Bibi Bani, mother of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru and son of Guru Ram Das.

When I studied an MA in Ethnomusicology, the study of world music or anthropology of music, I was following a thread that has interested called me the power of the word, of sung poetry and intention. When I started out with a focus on Irish “sean nós” or old-style singing ( in the Irish language) , I was curious and interested to explore links with singing traditions of both the arabic world and India. The longing that I experienced in these traditions spoke to an emotional field of sincerity, beyond performance.

Shabds are a musical form found in the Sikh tradition. The first Sikh Guru was a spiritual teacher, mystic and poet called Naanak (1469-1539), who travelled the world singing the praises of God and composing beautiful sung poetry. Today the light of Guru lives in the form of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the sacred book of the Sikhs.

An Irish scholar, Max Arthur Mc Auliffe, was responsible for first translating the Siri Guru Granth Sahib into English dedicating many years of his life to the task. His celebrated work, “The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors”, was published in 1909 in six volumes by Clarendon Press. Interested in Sikhism for noted egalitarianism in regards to women and caste, martialness and modernism, and a lack of a clergy class.

The Sikh religion includes examples of inter-faith experience, such as the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur the ninth Guru who gave his life for the right of Hindus to practice under the Mugal Empire who were ruling the region at that time.

Written in the language of Gurmukhi , which means ‘from the mouth of the Guru’, here is a technology for elevating consciousness, the Shabd Guru. Available to people of all faiths and beliefs – the consciousness embedded in this shabd creates a field of energy, a potential for miracles and transformation, when sung with faith.

There are many beautiful versions of this shabd that you can choose to listen to.

Snatam Kaur :

A MOTHER’S PRAYER