Amrit - The Ambrosial Nectar
Updated: Mar 24
This discourse on Amrit and the Ambrosial Nectar was offered in May 2023 and can be listened to on Youtube:
Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa! Waheguru Ji ki Fateh!
Dear Sadh Sangat Ji,
With gratitude to the All Mighty, to the Guru, and the power of the word, I’ve been inspired to research the term “Amrit”, which then lead me to also include the term “Ambrosial Nectar.”
The term Amrit is often associated with the Khalsa Amrit, the “khanda-de-Pahul”, when one is called to become an Amritdhari Sikh.
However, being always curious and wanting to go deeper into understanding certain terms and words, I decided to see what the Siri Guru Granth Sahib had to say about “Amrit.”
The most profound aspect about Amrit, is to realize that the Divine Word is the Amrit. Just as the Naam, the Guru, and Waheguru are the Amrit that we experience in the Sadh Sangat through listening, meditating, and chanting the Guru’s Shabad. The Shabad Guru is the Divine Word.
Let me first offer some dictionary definitions of Nectar:
In Greek & Roman Mythology it is the “Drink of the Gods.”
And also the nectar which is found in flowers. The bees create honey from that nectar.
Nectar offers the world and even to us humans something of value. So, of course the question would be: What does it offer us? I’ll get to that later.
Here’s the definition of the word Ambrosial:
Exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant.
And also again, a reference to the Gods: it says, worthy of the gods; divine.
A few synonyms for the word ambrosial are: fragrant, sweet, pure, and heavenly.
Guru Nanak talks about tastes and flavors as ambrosial nectar:
ਸਭਿ ਰਸ ਮਿਠੇ ਮੰਨਿਐ ਸੁਣਿਐ ਸਾਲੋਣੇ ॥ Believing, all tastes are sweet. Hearing, the salty flavors are tasted;
ਖਟ ਤੁਰਸੀ ਮੁਖਿ ਬੋਲਣਾ ਮਾਰਣ ਨਾਦ ਕੀਏ ॥ chanting with one's mouth, the spicy flavors are savored. All these spices have been made from the Sound-current of the Naad.
ਛਤੀਹ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਭਾਉ ਏਕੁ ਜਾ ਕਉ ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰੇਇ ॥੧॥ The thirty-six flavors of ambrosial nectar are in the Love of the One Lord; they are tasted only by one who is blessed by His Glance of Grace. ||1||
With our tongue we enjoy the subtle juice in our mouth as we chant the Ambrosial Name. We taste and savor the Lord’s sublime essence through speaking and chanting the Guru’s words.
Through the Guru's Teachings, the Lord is always found, and the tongue is permeated with the Sublime Essence of the Lord.
We drink the Ambrosial Nectar in, we are imbued with it. And we are saturated with its frequency and vibration:
“With each and every breath, we dwell upon the Lord. The more the Lord and Master dwells within the mind, the more the Gurmukh drinks in the Ambrosial Nectar.”
It is in the Ambrosial Hours, the “Amrit Vela”, in the early morning hours that we can learn and experience the merging with God and the Guru’s Shabad.
However, we can experience that merging and union at any time of the day, and ideally, we would vibrate the Divine Cosmic frequency at all times.
The more we speak the Guru’s words and meditate with the words given to us through the divine connection that the Gurus and saints experienced, the more we can experience that merging and union.
As we keep reciting, speaking, or chanting the Shabad Guru, our experiences evolve through time as it subtly works on our psyche.
It is also through the healing arts that we can learn to connect to the Divine Wisdom. Through our soul, God allows us to connect to the Infinite Creation’s Wisdom.
After all, the Guru says,
“All pleasures and supreme ecstasy, … come to those who sew the Jewel of the Lord into their minds. They do not forget, even for an instant, the Support of the breath of life. They live by constantly meditating on Him, O Nanak. || 3 ||”
“The Lord, the Slayer of demons, is my breath of life. His Ambrosial Amrit is so sweet to my mind and body. O Lord, (. . .) lead me to meet the Guru, the immaculate Primal Being. || 3 ||”
Earlier I spoke about the bees creating honey from the nectar of flowers. What does the nectar of the Shabad Guru offer? How do we reap the profits of the Naam?
The Guru says,
“The Shabad is Amrit; the Lord’s Bani is Amrit. Serving the True Guru, it permeates the heart. O Nanak, the Ambrosial Naam is forever the Giver of peace; drinking in this Amrit, all hunger is satisfied. || 8 || 15 || 16 ||”
From the Divine Infinite Spring, we drink in the Bani of the Word, which flows without reservation, ever giving us a taste of the Divine Creation.
We are told to cultivate our farm, and plant the Seed of the True Name, so that the seedlings can sprout luxuriantly, and thus, with intuitive ease, our mind is satisfied.
“The Word of the Guru’s Shabad is Ambrosial Nectar; drinking it in, thirst is quenched. This true mind is attuned to Truth, and it remains permeated with the True One.|| 2 ||”
Through the Guru’s Teachings, we obtained courage, faith and the Lord. The Guru keeps our mind focused continually on the Lord, and the Name of the Lord.
“The Words of the True Guru’s Teachings are Ambrosial Nectar; this Amrit trickles into the mouth of the one who chants them. || 2 ||”
Guru Nanak starts by saying Ek Ongkaar, Sat Naam, which means that there’s one Creator, One Creation, and the True Divine Frequency is found there. The Guru wants you to experience that Divine Frequency, that divine gift.
The Lord offers so many blessings, so many gifts that can manifest within us and through us. Receiving the Ambrosial Nectar of the True Word of His Bani, we are offered the ability to experience His Gifts and His Love, so that we may experience divine ecstasy and reap the profits that have sprouted within our being.
Through true devotion, the mind is dyed in the deep crimson color of the Lord’s Love. The mind is fascinated by the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, which cannot be described.
“The tongue imbued with the True Word of the Shabad drinks in the Amrit with delight, (. . .) The Gurmukh obtains this love, when the Lord, in His Will, grants His Grace. || 2 ||”
May we all bathe in the Pool of Ambrosial Nectar, so that the filth of many incarnations be washed away.
It is through the Divine Amrit, that we release what no longer serves us, so that we may bring in, or rather bring forth the gifts that lie dormant within us.
“The Lord Himself, is the Sublime Essence. The Lord Himself is the Essence. In His Kindness, He blesses the Gurmukh with it; the Ambrosial Nectar of this Amrit trickles down. Then, the body and mind totally blossom forth and flourish; (. . .) || 4 || 5 || 69 ||”
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਬਾਣੀ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਤੇਰੀ ॥ amrit banee har har tayree. The Word of Your Bani, Lord, is Ambrosial Nectar.
ਸੁਣਿ ਸੁਣਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਪਰਮ ਗਤਿ ਮੇਰੀ ॥ sun sun hovai param gat mayree. Hearing it again and again, I am elevated to the supreme heights.
ਜਲਨਿ ਬੁਝੀ ਸੀਤਲੁ ਹੋਇ ਮਨੂਆ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਦਰਸਨੁ ਪਾਏ ਜੀਉ ॥੧॥ jalan bujhee seetal ho-ay manoo-aa satgur kaa darsan paa-ay jee-o. ||1|| The burning within me has been extinguished, and my mind has been cooled and soothed, by the Blessed Vision of the True Guru. ||1||
We continually listen to the Divine Shabad Guru, and receive the Essence of Ambrosial Nectar that comes through the Ambrosial Words of the Perfect Guru.
As we continually meditate, speak, and contemplate the words of the Guru, we slowly understand and experience the Guru’s teachings in deeper ways.
And as the Guru says,
“Those who continually chant the Ambrosial Words of Nectar, see and behold this Amrit everywhere with their eyes. They continually chant the Ambrosial Sermon, day and night; chanting it, they cause others to hear it. || 2 ||”
Not only do we perceive God in all things, but hopefully through our experience, we can offer the opportunity for others to experience the Amrit that is found in our world.
There is a divine essence and frequency that is in all things. As humans we have our own frequency that’s been given to us to equally vibrate to the Divine Frequency. When we focus our awareness on the Shabad, when we are attuned to God, the Guru says that Happiness wells up and peace is found.
By tasting the Amrit, the Ambrosial Nectar, and abiding in the Lord’s Name, we can recognize our own selves and remain lovingly attuned to the Lord. Thus, are we victorious on the battlefield of life, as we follow the Guru’s Teachings. And then pain runs away.
“Of all efforts, the supreme effort is the attainment of the Lord’s Name. Peace and tranquility come to dwell within the mind; meditating within the heart, there comes a lasting peace. The Ambrosial Amrit is his food, and the Ambrosial Amrit is his clothes; O Nanak, through the Naam, the Name of the Lord, greatness is obtained. || 1 ||
Let’s just pause for a moment and contemplate on what we are told.
We get to taste the divine juice of Amrit. It is our food. We are nourished by it. We bathe in the Amrit of the Naam, and we are clothed in it. We get to blossom forth and flourish, and through all of it, our mind is soothed, and we experience peace. What a blessing!
I’d like to talk now about Guru Gobind Singh’s Amrit, the “khanda-de-pahul”; the Amrit that was given to the Five Beloved Ones, the Panj Piare, on the day that Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa, the baptized Sikhs.
First let me share what Kabir ji says about “Khalsa” in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib:
“Says Kabeer, those humble people become pure - they become Khalsa - who know the Lord's loving devotional worship. ||4||3||”
Bhai Gurdas Ji says that Guru Nanak “In His Tenth Form (which is Guru Gobind Singh), the Guru entreated the Shakti, the Integrity, by bequeathing the nectar through the double-edged sword.
Bhai Gurdas Ji tells you to drink the Amrit nectar of the double-edged Khanda sword and accomplish the worth of your birth.
We may say that the worth of our birth is to live as pure human beings, with the highest values possible as we bathe in the Divine Amrit, in Union with the Lord; so that we may vibrate that Amrit with the people around us and spread God’s Divine Light and holy word in everyday life.
Bhai Nand Lal ji says about the Khalsa:
Khalsa is the one who annuls the five vices.
Khalsa is the one who burns the (effect of) the (previous) actions.
Khalsa is the one who relinquishes the ego.
Khalsa is the one who does not imitate the others' viewpoint.
Khalsa is the one who is infused with the divine name.
Khalsa is the one who puts his heart into Gurbani.
Khalsa is the one who looks after the poor.
Khalsa is the one who destroys the evildoers.
Khalsa is the one who destroys the bondage.
Khalsa is the one who is ever ready for righteous war.
As I have contemplated the meaning of Amrit and Ambrosial Nectar, I recall the day that I took the Khalsa Amrit.
During the Amrit Sanchar, the Sikh baptism ceremony, as the khanda mixes the sugar in the water whilst the Panj Piare recite the 5 banis that were given to us as a daily prayer, I now realize and understand even more deeply the profound experience that I had.
When taking Guru Gobind Singh’s Amrit, I felt the power of the khanda grinding the Shabad Guru’s Bani within my body.
Every cell, atom, bone, body, mind, and soul were being infused by the nectar of the Shabad Guru, by the Bani’s Amrit. It permeated every aspect of my being.
So, whether we choose to take Guru Gobind Singh’s Amrit or not, we are blessed with the Shabad Guru. And that Shabad Guru will be infused into our being the more we connect with the Guru’s Word and the more we connect with its Divine energy and frequency.
So, may we, all of us, continue to be blessed to speak and chant the Shabad Guru, and go ever deeper into understanding it and bathing in it.
May we be blessed to receive God and Guru’s Divine Amrit!
Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa! Waheguru Ji ki Fateh!
This second article by Rishipal Singh follows the above one which can also be seen in the video.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Thank you so much for a beautiful, beautiful discourse there, talking about the focus of a Guru and what becomes a Gurmukh.
I'd just like to pick up from where my sister SimranKaur left off.
At all times, in our spiritual journey and our spiritual connection, the center, our origin used to be the focus of our devotion. For us, it's our Guru - The Guru Granth Sahib. Read every scripture that we'll find, tells us that one thing: live in the presence of the divine, live in the presence of the divine, live in the presence of the divine.
When we're meditating, when we're serving… When we’re meditating imagine that we’re sitting right in the presence of the divine, the divine is sitting there, in front of us, the Guru, whoever our Isht, whoever our focus is. Imagine they’re sitting right there, right in front of us and we’re meditating to them.
As Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj tells us,
ਐਸੀ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਕਰਹੁ ਮਨ ਮੇਰੇ ॥ ਆਠ ਪਹਰ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਜਾਨਹੁ ਨੇਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
(aaisee preet karahu man mere ||, aath pahar prabh jaanahu nere ||1|| rahaau ||, page 807)
Show such love, that you see your Divine, you see your Murshid, you see your Guru, you see your Pir, you see your Saint right in front of you at each and every moment.
What happens sangat ji, as we go deeper into our meditation and deeper into our spiritual practice, that focus, that center of our life, our mind starts meandering around that.
We start seeing them in each and every interaction when they're walking into our house, we're seeing that they're walking in with us, we're inviting them to come in with us. When we're eating our food, we are inviting them to eat with us, when we're sitting, when we're playing, when we're working. Whatever we're doing, the divine is central in our life. That Isht is right there right now with us. And this is the focus that the Gurmukh has. This is how the Gurmukh is always facing the Guru because in each and every moment, each and every interaction, they're seeing the Guru right there, right now.
Once upon a time, there was a young lad who was desperate to go to the Gurdwara, desperate. Before what ever happened on that journey, loads of obstacles were coming in his way. Maya was stopping him from getting to the Gurdwara, to be in sangat, to be in the presence of the divine to see the kirtan in there. And completely perplexed, completely in anguish… this young lad was in complete bits. But then suddenly the realization came to him…
ਗੁਰੁ ਮੇਰੈ ਸੰਗਿ ਸਦਾ ਹੈ ਨਾਲੇ ॥
(Gur merai sang sadaa hai naale, My Guru is always with me, near at hand page 394),
The guru is right here, right now. The Guru lives within their Bani, within their simran, within their meditation; wherever the name of the Divine is being recited, whatever name, that's where the Divine is living, right there, right now. Because they live within their Bani, they live within their scriptures, they live withing their Shabad, they live within their word. And at that point that young lad started reciting the Bani, he started reciting the simran. When he continues in that simran and that mind then became centered right in the Guru, right there, right now.
In the Gurdwara, every day there is one Shabad, there is one hymn recited.
ਜਿਥੈ ਜਾਇ ਬਹੈ ਮੇਰਾ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਸੋ ਥਾਨੁ ਸੁਹਾਵਾ ਰਾਮ ਰਾਜੇ ॥
(Jithai jā▫e bahai merā saṯgurū so thān suhāvā rām rāje. Wherever my True Guru goes and sits, that place is beautiful, O Lord King. Page 450)
Where my Guru, where my true Guru sits, “Jithai jā▫e bahai” wherever they go and wherever they sit, “so thān suhāvā rām rāje” that place is beautiful. Sangat ji, it's not just a physical place where the Guru goes or where the Guru sits. Because there’s no more beautiful place than that place of the purified mind where that mind has been purified by the Shabad. And when the Guru is sitting within your mind within the Shabad within yourselves, there is no more beautiful, beautiful place in this world, Sangat ji.
And for the Gurmukh they are always living in the presence of the Divine. There's no more beautiful place than the mind of that true Gurmukh who’s totally sitting in the presence of the divine.
The first thing for the Sikh, for the Gursikh, for the Gurmukhs that just sit in that presence, always be in that presence, not for wanting anything else, all they want is to be is in the lotus feet, the feet of the divine, the feet of the Guru.
And as they focus on their Isht, they focus on their devotion. Slowly, slowly, slowly that Isht starts to disappear, that image, that vision the saints have taught us, starts to disappear. Because then what happens? Then what happens is that like Gurmukh starts to become a carbon copy of the Guru, cup starts becoming a carbon copy of the divine. Just like sugar dissolving in water, there's nothing left of that person or individual anymore.
That's when they realize,
ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਸਭ ਮਾਹਿ ਸਮਾਣੀ ॥
ਆਪਿ ਸੁਣੀ ਤੈ ਆਪਿ ਵਖਾਣੀ ॥
ਜਿਨਿ ਜਿਨਿ ਜਪੀ ਤੇਈ ਸਭਿ ਨਿਸਤ੍ਰੇ ਤਿਨ ਪਾਇਆ ਨਿਹਚਲ ਥਾਨਾਂ ਹੇ ॥੮॥
(gur kee banee sabh maahi samaanee. aap sunee tai aap vakhaanee. jin jin japee tay-ee sabh nistaray tin paa-i-aa nihchal thaanaaN hay. ||8|| The Word of the Guru's Bani is contained in all. He Himself hears it, and He Himself repeats it. Those who meditate on it, are all emancipated; they attain the eternal and unchanging home. ||8|| Page 1075)
That Bani, that Shabad, that word of the Divine is flowing through in us. And that Gurmukh there realizes that it's the Divine. You're the One who's singing these praises, not me. You're the One who's listening. You're the One who's causing all this to happen. And when we absorb ourselves in this meditation, then we become to that place of salvation and we get to that place of sahaj where that Gurmukh finally is, that stillness, that place where there's no thought, where there's calmness, there's peace, total peace, where we're not at mercy of our emotions anymore, where we're not at mercy of this Maya mind. And this is the place that Simran ji was talking about. When we start focusing on this divine name, we start tearing ourselves away from this Maya, this illusionary world.
When this all starts, when we start realizing that the divine is present with us and we sit in their presence when we're reciting,
ਦੂਰਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਮੇਰੋ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਪਿਆਰਾ ॥
(dhoor naahee mero prabh piaaraa, My Beloved Lord God is not far away. page 1197),
that divine is not far away, they're sitting right here, right now. So, when we're meditating, we are to imagine that we are sitting in their presence. Imagine that focus, the one that you're trying to unite with is sitting right here with you. And then slowly, slowly, “saijai, saijai”, as the Gurbani says, we start to dissolve ourselves into that focus, into that Isht. So much so that you disappear, that Isht disappears, all that ends there is the oneness, that experience of one.
And with these words, Sangat ji, thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Simran Kaur ji. Thank you for coming in a Sangat as we are today. There's no coincidence that we come into a Sangat. This is divine blessings in action. Without blessings, without that “kirpaa”, without that mercy, that grace of the Divine, we do not come into the Sangat. This is all a Divine moment. We're all experiencing this Divine blessing here and now. Let's take these messages in our life. Let's implement these in our life. Let's share these with others, so we can share the beauty of the Divine with others as well.
With these words, I beg your forgiveness.
Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa! Waheguru Ji ki Fateh!
Comments