No Borders For God - A Sikh Woman finds Freedom at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram

Last Saturday I went to the ashram for the usual 7pm arti and I had the opportunity to speak with a lovely Sikh woman who frequently visits. We have known each other for some years on a friendly basis. She is one of the few women I have know to be very devoted to God and conscious of her actions. In between chatting with her here and there. I noticed a young gentleman from Isreal who was kind of wondering around and didn’t know where to go as it was his first time here. I asked if I could help him and with a big shy smile he said sure. There was some business going on in Baba’s kitchen. A young Indian family from Albuquerque was preparing evening prasad for devotees. Since it was a bit cold outside I thought I’d take him to the kitchen to see the joy taking place. There were about 5 people preparing, cutting or rolling something. They were making daal soup with chapatti pieces in it. One of the women said it is Indian comfort food, which was perfect for the wet weather that came in the later part of the evening. I might add it was a really delicious dish and yes comforting too.Somehow in trying to show the young Israeli man around the ashram I kept bumping into the Sikh women and we would engage in a conversation. I got to learn about part of her story. She has been a Sikh for 22 years and lived in the Espanola sanghat (Sikh community or fellowship) for 13 years. Over the past few years she didn’t feel she could relate to her sanghat. She often felt judged and uncomfortable that led her to avoid idle conversations. Her sadhana (a daily spiritual practice to eliminate the ego) practice wasn’t going to well either. The only place she found some refuge in her community was with the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (the sacred book considered to be the last living guru of all Sikhs). I totally understood where she was coming from because I had lived in that sanghat on various occasions also. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib is amazing and having the chance to read it every week for the Akhand Path (continuous recitation, without break, of the Guru Granth Sahib) is god’s grace and a lifetime blessing. She told me that she felt free with the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.I asked her what she likes about visiting the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram every week. You know she has to drive about 45 minutes to get here. She told me that even though she sees that devotees here are using drugs and not living such a straight lifestyle she feels free here. It’s her spirit that feels free to express her devotion. She can go into the temple room, sit with others and chant the Hanuman Chalisa , Hare Krishna and even Wahe Guru without feeling judged. She said, “It is all God, and that chanting God’s Name in any religion is the sadhana for Kali Yug.” This is what Maharaji teaches us that all is god and love- “all is one.”I am really happy that she has found some refuge here, I remember chatting with her two years ago when she was struggling about her spiritual situation. In fact she even mentioned that last year she got deathly sick with asthma and felt it was related to feeling angry and unable to express her devotion. Now she has a sanghat she feels comfortable with and can be a part of on her spiritual journey. Even more good news is that her sadhana has become stronger since Guru Purnima and she’s chanting the maha mantra for 11 minutes as part of her sadhana. I’m so thankful that she has been given so many blessings and is able to visit the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, it makes the drive seem so irrelevant. Wahe Guru, wahe guru, wahe guru.