Amrit Sanskar | Initiation Ceremony

Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Amardas Sahib, Guru Ramdas Sahib, Guru Arjan Sahib

This composition is set in a rag (musical mode) that evokes an endearing tone of devotion, inner peace, and an inner conversation that is meant to also be for the world. Separation is often invoked, and in this particular composition, the self is addressed lovingly as jindarie.

In the first stanza, Guru Ramdas seems to be answering the question of what we can do to receive amrit or the immortalizing nectar. The Guru says, O my inner-self, O my life, Nam, or  Identification with IkOankar, is like sweet and immortalizing nectar. This nectar of Nam is received through the teachings of the Wisdom. The Guru refers to Identification with IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One) as the thing that brings this sweetness and immortalizing effect. As humans, we all fear death, and the thing we seek is a kind of freedom from that fear, something beyond death. The Nam of IkOankar, the Remover of Suffering, the Dispeller of Fear, the 1-Light, is that immortalizing substance, and we get it from the teachings of the Wisdom. The Guru ends each line by invoking Ram, or the Beautiful One, IkOankar, so each line is a soft reminder of that beauty.  

The Guru says that ego and Maya, or attachment to the material and our relationships, are the poisons that afflict us. The Guru again speaks to the inner-self and says, O my life! This poison is removed only through the remembrance of the Nam — only through Identification with IkOankar, O Beautiful One! Ego is our internal affliction. It lives within us, causes us to act in certain ways that might be lacking in virtue, causes us to be greedy or lustful or angry, or to see otherness and duality in all things. Maya is the external problem, the thing which afflicts us from without — that causes us to hold onto the material world and transient objects as if they are permanent, that causes us to fear losing our possessions, that causes us to see our relationships as only our own and our own to lose. Both of these afflictions, both of these poisons, are removed from within and without through the Remembrance of IkOankar, through the Identification with IkOankar.

The Guru continues and says, O my life! The withered mind became lush-green, blooming, flourishing when the being remembered the Nam. The being who has remembered the Nam finds that their virtue-less mind has to blossom forth with virtues. Contemplation of the One, Identification with the 1-Light, Remembrance of the One, causes the things within us that seemed dry and dead and virtue-less and withered away to suddenly burst forth with life, growth, and virtue. 

The Guru ends by saying, O my life! The being who has received the Nam of the 1-Light through great fortune inscribed from the Origin is immersed in the Nam. The Guru reminds us that the fortunate ones are those who have received this Identification and Remembrance. How did they experience such great fortune? They experienced it through the potential available to all of us, inscribed from the very beginning. We can all finally feel that great fortune if we immerse ourselves in the Identification with the One, in Remembrance of the One, so that our minds are immersed in that Identification and in the One. 
 
The Guru answers how we can experience the immortalizing nectar, Amrit, by reminding us that the true nectar is of Nam or Identification with IkOankar. This Identification is cultivated within through the teaching and guidance of the Wisdom. It addresses our internal and external poisons, removes our ego, and relieves us of our attachments to the material world and our relationships. It causes our minds to bloom with virtues. We come alive in Identification and Remembrance. We flourish in Identification and Remembrance. This is our great fortune that we have the potential to be immersed in Nam. Will we make the effort to experience this great fortune? 


In the second stanza, Guru Ramdas says, O my life! The mind is pierced with the 1-Light’s Identification, just as a child’s mind is pierced with the love of milk. The Guru describes the way in which Nam, or Identification with IkOankar, has entered the mind. The mind is pierced with Identification and Remembrance. This is how the mind is in love with the One! There is a particular drive that is something beyond effort — the way a child’s mind is always on milk, the way a child is driven by this love. There is a presence in the consciousness beyond effort; instead, we are simply engrossed in the love of the One and moved to act in love of the One. This is what comes to sustain us.  

The Guru continues, O my life! Without the 1-Light’s Identification, peace cannot be found, just like a pied-cuckoo cries without water. The pied cuckoo is a bird that is known to wait for a particular kind of raindrop that falls within a particular constellation in the sky. It cries in longing and waits patiently for the raindrop to quench its thirst. Just as the pied cuckoo cries and cannot find peace without this raindrop, the seekers cannot find peace without Nam. The Guru gives us the example of the pied cuckoo as the one who is in a state of longing but is patient in their longing. This is the condition of the mind without Nam — there is pain and no peace — but we can learn to cultivate our own patience in longing for Identification and Remembrance.  

The Guru says, O my life! Go, fall into the refuge of the eternal Wisdom! The eternal Wisdom will instill the virtues of the 1-Light, IkOankar! The Guru urges us, the ones in the state of longing and pain like the pied cuckoo, to seek the refuge of the eternal Wisdom, which will tell us all about the virtues of the One. We want to enter this refuge so that we may understand the qualities of the One, so that the Wisdom may tell us what kind of Divine we are Remembering and Identifying with. We get this when we enter the sanctuary — until then, it is all a kind of abstraction waiting to be experienced and known through experience.  

The Guru ends by saying, O my life! The one who the eternal Wisdom has caused to meet with the 1-Light experiences an incredible celebration within. Melodies resound within their heart-homes, they are in a state of Identification with IkOankar, and they have inculcated the virtues of IkOankar. They experience infinite bliss in the heart and blossom with the virtues. 

In the first stanza, the Guru took us through understanding that we need the Identification with IkOankar to experience the immortalizing nectar or Amrit. We were shown how that nectar of Nam pierces us and rids us of our poisons. We are able to figure out our vices and resolve our issues because the Nam and the recitation and remembrance of Nam have entered us. In this stanza, we begin to discover through the Wisdom what the various qualities and virtues of the One are. This second stanza is about how the mind is in love with the One and driven by the One, and how the fruit of all this patience and childlike love of the One is that we become like the One. Will we make the effort to pierce our minds with Identification? Will we cultivate patience in our longing? Will we take refuge in the eternal Wisdom so that we may experience the qualities and virtues of the One? 


In the third stanza, Guru Ramdas says, O my life! Self-centered beings are in separation due to ego. The poison of Maya, or attachment to the material and relationships, has entangled them in the ego trap. Our attachment to the world around us and our sense of ownership has fed our egos, further entangling us in this trap. The internal poison of ego and the external poison of Maya have caught us all. 

The Guru says, O my life! Just as birds and pigeons cause themselves to be bound, in the same way, all self-centered beings remain caught up in fear of death. Birds cause themselves to be bound in the net due to the lure of feed. We cause ourselves to be caught up in the net of fear of death due to the lure of transient objects and relationships. We are constantly tying ourselves up. We might still think we can move within this net; perhaps we have the illusion of freedom some of the time. But ultimately, we are entangled.  

The Guru says, O my life! Those who attach their minds to the love of Maya are self-centered, foolish, and out of rhythm. When we bind our minds to the attachment of the material and to relationships, when we are in love with Maya, we act foolishly and cannot seem to find the way or the rhythm of living. We are out of step. There are ways we may be attached to Maya in our behaviors but not in our consciousness — this is part of the human condition, and we are constantly trying to disentangle ourselves from acting out of attachment to Maya. But when we are attached to Maya in our consciousness, we are consumed by this attachment. It drives our thoughts, our words, and our actions. It causes us to step out of beat, to wander around without direction, ghostly.  

The Guru says, O my life! The beings who enter the refuge and cry out, protect me! Preserve me! The 1-Light, the Beautiful One, becomes their protector. The devotees who seek sanctuary in the Wisdom and plead for protection are freed from their ego, attachment, and fear of death through grace. The Guru is reminding us that even if we are utterly entangled like a bird in a net, even if we are consumed by ego and Maya, even if we are stepping out of rhythm and unable to find our way, our calls are heard. It is through asking for help that we have already begun to understand how to come out of the net of entanglement. The assurance is big here, but it requires us to get through the struggle of having these conversations with our inner selves. Will we have those conversations and reflections? Will we come to the sanctuary and ask for help so that we may experience freedom? 


In the fourth stanza, Guru Ramdas says, O my life! The devotees of the 1-Light have been saved through the loving connection of the 1-Light. They have found the 1-Light through great fortunes written from the Origin. These devotees have received the Nam (Identification) of IkOankar (One Universal Integrative Force, 1Force, the One), and it is through connecting to the Nam that they are freed from vices. The Guru shows us the deeper connection — that the devotees of the 1-Light, the ones who serve the 1-Light, have been saved and freed through loving connection. This is how the grace enters. This is what makes them of great fortune. 

The Guru continues, O my life! The Identification of the 1-Light is the boat in this world-ocean. The Wisdom is the boatman, causing the devotees to swim across. Identification is the boat; the steersman is the Wisdom, and the teachings of the Wisdom take devotees across the world-ocean. The Wisdom helps us make our lives fruitful. We do not have to do any of this alone. 

The Guru says, O my life! The all-pervading IkOankar is compassionate. The eternal Wisdom has caused the Nam (Identification with IkOankar) to seem sweet. The compassionate nature of the Divine is invoked here because the sweetness is in the devotion and the connection to that One. This is the intrinsic behavior of the all-pervasive compassionate One, and Nam begins to seem sweet because the eternal Wisdom makes this sweetness develop within us. This is how grace enters. This is how love enters. And when we are graced, when we are in love, the Nam begins to taste sweet. This does not happen overnight; this cannot be explained or listened to, or written about. This is what we can ask for, and when that ask is accepted, that is how we feel the grace. The Guru closes by reminding us that this happens when our requests of “prayers” have been heard, and grace is bestowed. It is through the grace that we contemplate on the Nam of IkOankar, that we practice Remembrance and Identification. 

In the Sikh tradition, amrit, or the immortal nectar, is described as Nam, or Identification with IkOankar, and it is received through the Wisdom. History tells us that from the time of Guru Nanak to the time of Guru Gobind Singh, amrit was given by the Guru personality. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh institutionalized the initiation ceremony, Khande-ki-Pahul (literally impactful-water of double-edged sword). Taking Khande-ki-Pahul is to be initiated into a particular lifestyle where new learnings begin. Those who want immortality must identify with the Immortal — Nam. Lovers and warriors were and are synthesized into the Order of the Khalsa by the initiation ceremony of the Double-edged sword. Initiation is not an experience. Initiation is not the end goal; it is the first step. It is not just a physical ceremony. Guru Ramdas elaborates on this kind of initiation through Nam that predates the amrit or Khande-ki-Pahul initiation ceremony. Through initiation, we are hoping to get rid of the poisons which afflict us. This requires focus and efforts toward getting rid of those poisons through conversations with the inner self and behavior changes. The first stanza was about ridding ourselves of ego and attachment through the immortalizing nectar of Identification. The second stanza gave us examples of the relationship of a child to milk and the love of the pied cuckoo towards the raindrop as guidance on how to be in connection and end our separation. The third stanza was about those of us who are self-centered and separated, caught in the net of attachment to the material and relationships. It showed us how to seek the protection of the One in helping to make sure that our consciousnesses are not attached to Maya. This fourth stanza is about the devotees of the all-pervasive One, the 1-Light, and shows us how the loving connection with the One frees us. The One is compassionate, and we can experience that compassion when, through the training of the Wisdom, we find this relationship with the One to be sweet. When we learn from the Wisdom, we receive the Identification and receive the grace. We cannot receive this through stubbornness or only effort. This is about effort and deep love coming together, about the emotion of experience and longing and the connection with the One. It is about being pierced. It is about being drenched. Are we ready to be initiated? Will we engage in that loving connection? Will we experience the compassionate One?