# Prayer / Simran Space



## Ishna (Jun 1, 2012)

Gurfatehji

Do you have a special place set up in your home for prayer or simran?  Why / why not?

If you have one, what does it look like?  What do you have there?  Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share with the crowd.

If you don't, do you at least perform these actions in the same place in your home?  Like, sit in the same place on the floor?


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## Luckysingh (Jun 1, 2012)

[qu_ote=Ishna;165779]Gurfatehji_

_Do you have a special place set up in your home for prayer or simran? Why / why not? _

I think most people like to have an association with a certain room or part of your house to do that. Similar to where most people will get up at amrit vela to do nitnem and do that in a regular place.

_If you have one, what does it look like? What do you have there? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share with the crowd. [/quote]_

_If you don't, do you at least perform these actions in the same place in your home? Like, sit in the same place on the floor?[/quote]_

I think naturally one becomes accustomed to doing this in a repetitive manner, especially if you have at one time experienced more peace and anand.
It's just natural behaviour like I say, similar to when a student is studying.
They will sit and revise in the same area where they feel more comfortable and especially if they have had some positive success with that same manner and approach.


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## findingmyway (Jun 3, 2012)

Remembrance should be 24/7 so how can there be a fixed place? peacesignkaur


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## Ishna (Jun 3, 2012)

For focused meditation and nitnem.


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## Scarlet Pimpernel (Jun 4, 2012)

> Do you have a special place set up in your home for prayer or simran?


 
Isi The special place in your home, is which ever room your heart is in.Although we do have a formal room for prayer where my wife and mum pray but their heart is in the kitchen


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## TruthSatnaam (Jun 9, 2012)

Ishna said:


> For focused meditation and nitnem.



Satnaam Ji

Reading Nitnem is great as long as you take the Guru's(Gurbani) words and apply them throughout your life- including natural daily life.

There is no point in reading the same teachings over and over and not applying them... _Once_ is enough if you Truly respect and have surrendered 100% to the Guru. 

You read the gyan and apply it there and then- make it apart of your very being.. We must understand that the Truth reality is the only reality- no matter what others try and bullsh*t us into believing (and as we become real Truth practitioners, they will try and sell us their sh*t every chance they get), we hold onto the Truth until our last breath as the Brahmgyanis before taught us.

 Application does indeed need to be 24/7, if we lose sight of Truth for a minute, the maya kicks in again..

God bless you


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## Ishna (Jun 9, 2012)

Thank you all for your comments.

Yes, being a Sikh and living in truth is a 24/7 duty/blessing.  There is no question about that.

However, per the Sikh Rehat Maryada, Sikhs are encouraged to pursue some daily exercises, if I'm not mistaken.

I was curious as to what kind of devotional spaces other Sikhs have arranged since ritualism is a touchy subject.

On the other hand it's a pretty silly question to ask out loud and most people would keep it private anyway, so that's the end of that!

gingerteakaur


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## TruthSatnaam (Jun 9, 2012)

Ishna said:


> Thank you all for your comments.
> 
> Yes, being a Sikh and living in truth is a 24/7 duty/blessing.  There is no question about that.
> 
> ...




Satnaam

As said before, it's fine to read Gurbani, as long as the teachings are accepted and applied 100%. If we cannot accept the teachings and apply them as soon as we get them/register their meanings, then we have not surrendered(given our heads 100%) to them ie. to our Guru(bani is Guru, Guru is bani).

There are sants who have asked people to read gurbani as discipline, there's nothing wrong with this- as the serious Truth practitioner should be able to handle anything- discipline is required for this. 
But the reader should fully be able to understand and apply the words being read(the gyan) or it really is just a ritual reading- there is no point in doing this as in ritual- maya takes over. 

The fact is and remains that if the Gurus gyan of Truth is accepted and applied when read/ attuned to(Naam is the frequency of a balanced gyan that applies across a universal spectrum that lives to discover whilst being detached from the nasha of the discovery(highs and lows))- this is the Highest discipline.

 All Gurus from Guru Nanak Ji to Guru Gobind Singh ji say that Naam(Truth) is the highest seva- above all else. 

Quiet time to sit and go into samadhi (to learn)through simran/attunement to Naam(Truth) is great- as long as we do our best to apply Truth throughout the day aswell- or it really is part time love/devotion.. 

We can sit in a bedroom, lounge room, outside- wherever the Truth seeker feels comfortable- and if a space like this is not available- anywhere will do- simran is to silence the mind (and the 5 thieves that come with it) and go within the heart.. 

We relax, listen to the symbolic reflection of the Silence/Nothingess/Truth which is Anhad naad-(Primal sound), let go and let the samadh take over.

It is then that we are able to begin to understand the reality of the creation around us.


God bless you


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## SaintSoldier1699 (Jun 9, 2012)

I would love to dedicate a room which prime purpose is a place of quiet which you can use to study/recite Gurbani and also, pursue other studies.  For example a library has a function to be a place where you progress your knowledge, this can be the same for spiritual progression.

In the mean time, everyone has their own preferred place in the house and it just works! :grinningsingh:


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## Harry Haller (Jun 9, 2012)

Ishna said:


> Thank you all for your comments.
> 
> Yes, being a Sikh and living in truth is a 24/7 duty/blessing.  There is no question about that.
> 
> ...



Sis, 

I have no set space, and the only reason ritualism is such a touchy subject is because these days most Sikh worship is ritualistic. 

If God could hear me, and listen to me, what would he want to hear most I wonder, my praise of him? if at all God is a 'he', rather than an 'it', my requests? Do I have to find a special quiet place where it is easier to 'talk' to God, I personally think that such places are self defeating, they give the illusion that God only exists in that special place, and outside of that area, conversations, debates with God do not take place/are harder/the noise intrudes etc. 

I walk to work twice a week, its a three mile walk, and I walk with God, talk to God, debate, always the same topic, how can I be a better Sikh, when can I embrace who I am, when can I meet myself, the true me, there are no periods of silence, all around me cars drive, shops open up, I pass the same middle aged couple who are always holding hands, by the time I arrive at my shop, I am not 'rested' or 'at peace', on the contrary, I am pretty fired up with ideas, ideas about where I am going wrong, what I should be doing better, how can I be a better son, husband, stepfather, brother, not only to my family, but to every person I meet. Its hard, but its worthwhile as a code of life, every spare moment is spent furthering knowledge, finding more nuggets of wisdom, reading Bani, thinking about Bani, living life as per Bani, following Hukam, embracing all aspects of Creation, from the humble spider I carried out of the bath in the morning, to noting the difference a smile makes to a car that lets you cross, the magic we possess in making Creation more colourful around us is amazing, the effects we can have on this world, it saddens my heart hugely when I read of the rejection of this world and the chance to learn, impart, react with Creation, in favour of sitting in dark quiet rooms chanting and mumbling, actually, I find it quite selfish behaviour personally.............


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## Kanwaljit.Singh (Jun 9, 2012)

Best to have a Prakash of Guru Granth Sahib at home in a room. Same place you can keep Waaja (Harmonium) and Jori (Tabla) and also use for Paath/Meditation!


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## Luckysingh (Jun 9, 2012)

harry haller said:


> Sis,
> 
> I have no set space, and the only reason ritualism is such a touchy subject is because these days most Sikh worship is ritualistic.
> 
> ...


 
Harry ji, your post is fine, but the conclusion and reasons seem more personal rather than general. I will explain in terms of how the majority of us think, act and live day to day.-
 We are all comfortable doing tasks in personal spaces where one feels comfortable. Simple things done daily, like watching TV, eating evening meal..etc..-we all have our favourite place in the house or usual seat on the sofa or dining table..-This is because we feel comfortable and automatically become accustomed to it...Nothing Ritualistic. 

You have said yourself that you feel connected and in conversation with God on your walk to work every day. Again, you have become comfortable and accustomed to it. It would be the same if you did this daily in a specific room or while you are in the bath, jacuzzi..etc.... Nothing Ritualistic is it ? You have become comfortable with this idea. If on some day for some reason you couldn't get this walk then you will feel that a part of your daily life has been dented, you will look for another place in the day to fill this void.(Natural human behaviour)

So, I don't think there is anything ritualistic about having a room where one feels comfortable and relaxed to do simran, paath or just simply think!!
Nowadays most people have rooms in their homes for different purposes. Most houses here in Vancouver have separate playrooms for kids, study to work, games room for pool table/video games, dining room for meals, theatre room for watching movies in theatre/cinema environment....etc...etc...
So there is nothing odd  or selfish or ritualistic if you have a seperate room to do paath, simran,meditate,contemplate God or simply time out to think!!!

There is Nothing Selfish about someone going into a separate room to chant 'waheguru' than your kid going into their playroom or someone going into their basement to watch movie in 7.1 surround sound.
This is how the majority of us live, it is simply part of everyday life.
Having your coffee in your favourite cup/mug every morning is NOT ritualistic, it is simply a natural habit that one has become accustomed to and finds comfortable.

Your reasons may be true and strong to your personal self but on the majority as a whole they don't seem valid.


Waheguru
Lucky Singh


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## Archived_member15 (Jun 15, 2012)

My dear sister Ishna kaurhug

My opinion is situated somewhere between brothers Harry and Lucky ji. 

I do not think that there is anything wrong with _having _a place where one retires, when they feel the need, to find some quiet time to pray. However if a person _thinks _that they will get more of God and become closer to him in a quiet room or in a House of Worship rather than in the marketplace, the butcher's shop or the office, then they are not apprehending God in all things but rather hope to or believe they will find God _more _in that singular little place. In this respect the vice of _Moh _(attachment) rears its ugly head, and it is not healthy for one's soul to become attached to any specific _place _in that way since God is equally and wholly in _every place _and God Himself or Itself is above, transcending _every place _and contains in Himself _no place or time since he is free from all things being Himself No-thing_. God is totally present everywhere and so in the same way he desires us to give a complete gift of self to Him in _everything. _He does not want only a part of us, ie a few set hours of prayer in that "special" place but he wants us to be aware of his presence _everywhere and at every time _so that we live in a state of perpetual remebrance of Him - that is in a state of _Naam _as my brother and sister Sikhs would call it. 

In truth there is nothing that separates us from God more than attachment to specific _times and places _since God is infinite and exists not in a time or place but in the _Eternal Now _devoid of all space, time, place _and _within all things in his creation. 

Those simple little attachments to specific _times and places _while harmless in themselves and often useful for our well-being, can become barriers to our continual communing with God. 

So it all depends upon one's _state of mind_. 

Obviously, from the human perspective, we cannot view all places absolutely equally. We would rather be in a quiet spot to pray than in a nightclub, we would rather be in Church or Gurdwara to worship than in a theme park, we would rather be among worshippers dedicated to God in a place of prayer (temple) than among drunken party-goers. This is natural. 

True possession of God depends upon our mental state, an inner turning and striving to Him at all times not in the sense of always thinking about Him, since that would be impossible and in fact conflict with our daily tasks through which we also pray to God in a different but no less significant way. Rather we carry God with us everywhere we go and discern Him everywhere. All things become for us divine, sanctified, holy acts, activities, places and people where we come into the presence of the Creator. Eckhart described it as being akin to a man who is terribly athirst for drink; he can do other things apart from drinking and can even turn his mind to other thoughts and yet wherever he is and whoever he is with, whatever he thinks, intends, desires or does, the thought of drinking never leaves him as long as the thirst lasts. 

This kind of inner recollection and turning to God at all times and in every place, that Eckhart describes, cannot be experienced by fleeing away from our daily tasks and woes into a quiet place, as if into a desert by ourselves, if by this activity we hope to get more of God than in the marketplace. 

If we do this then God is not ever-present. 

So in essence: I am not against one having a private place for prayer, so long as that person does not find God uniquely in that place and become attached to that place in the way I have described above. 

Truly a better idea would be to create our own inner _simran room _and learn to acquire this inner _simran room _wherever and whomever we are with. 

However one should not become even too attached to this inner place since any concept of _place _creates a certain distinction between ourselves and God. If it is the case that a man is free of attachment to all things and even to the concept of God that can be imagined and his own self, and yet if it is still a truism to say that he has a _place _inside him where God can work then that man is still _attached _since God Himself is the place where we retire into within ourselves. For God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. 

This doesn't mean that we are not entitled to enjoy and fully partake of those special places, or activities or routines that aid us in our spiritual walk with God. I, for example, find myself to be very spiritually nourished by sitting on a boat in a little private lake owned by my brother's fishing club which is out in quiet fields surrounded by wood and farmland, and where I can just sink into myself in quiet contemplation and bask in the love of my Creator. I have that, Harry ji has his daily walk and some of us have our special room to do _simran_. This is actually good for our health and general well-being. 

There is nothing wrong with that so long as the bliss and feelings of peace we experience during these occassions are not confined there but are carried with us everywhere and provided that we do not become _uniquely attached _to these places/activities/routines to the extent that we love and are fond more of the place/activity/routine than of God, who is absolutely present everywhere. 

So I think it all depends upon our state of mind which should be in a perpetual state of _Naam _and able to perceive God in every place, activity, experience etc. with a kind of equal inner reflection and detachment, that is through the _Single Eye of Equality_. 

Just my own thoughts kaurhug


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