Road to Achievement
When I think of vision, the first thing that comes to my mind is my grandmother, who had sadly spent the latter years of her life without her sight. This would often lead me to think about how what we see around us evokes such emotion within us. Whether that be the happiness experienced from seeing our loved ones, joy when observing the beauty of nature or conversely, sadness at the sight of pain and suffering.
When robbed of your sight, the power of touch, voice, love and faith become everything. I recall being a constant by my grandmother’s side, guiding her through what must have felt like mazes vividly describing new environments to her, helping her imagination form the image in front of me…the one I took for granted.
From an early age, my connection to Sikhi was shaped by my grandmother. I would share her morning routine with her and on many occasions, she would put me in her lap and excitedly share the Guru’s legendary stories with me, stories that changed Sikh history. This served as a bold reminder of the importance of faith, honesty, courage and identity. The Saakhi of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the creation of the Khalsa Panth is a poignant example of how Guru Ji fulfilled his vision and in doing so created the identity we have today.
Despite her circumstances, the one thing that resonated with me was her faith; the absolute trust she had in Waheguru that she was living her life the way it was written to be…the way Waheguru had intended for it to be. How could she have this unwavering faith and be at such peace? I came to realise that her faith meant that she was never alone, for Waheguru is within, a sacred beacon of light shining bright.
I reflect on society now and wonder how things got so complicated. Perhaps we have become distracted by the growing addiction to social media. What we are seeing online nowadays are filtered, edited snapshots of people’s lives. We are living in a world where nothing is as it seems…broken relationships on social media hidden behind perfect smiles, cyber abuse being shared from faceless social media accounts. Things are often so far from reality and we know it, yet we are letting these things chip away at our happiness and are striving to create that aesthetically pleasing front that society demands. I think there is something to be said for following in the footsteps of our grandparents and opting for simple living.
In recent years, I have understood more about the practice of Simran. The beautiful thing about it is that it is so unbiased and so universal. It just requires you and your complete focus. All you have to do is close your eyes and repeat Waheguru…I hear the journey it will take you on is unlike anything you will ever have the privilege of seeing.
Image by oggarts. Goodbye World. Digital Art.