Golden Temple- the Holiest Place in the Sikh Religion
“Do you know the story behind this temple?”
I shook my head, “No. I don’t really know much about it at all.”
“I like to tell people because they don’t do much to explain it here. And it really is a lovely story.”
Bathing In Holy Water
I nodded eagerly and the lady began, “A young girl Rajni was sitting around with her sisters admiring the gifts they had just received from their father. The sisters praised their father’s greatness for the gifts, and Rajni corrected them, saying the gifts were really sent to them from god through their father. Her father overheard this and grew very angry. To punish Rajni, he married her to a leper and she had to become a beggar.”
“Nice guy,” I joked.
“Where the water is now, there was originally a small pond.” I looked out over the expansive rectangular shaped pool as she spoke, “The local people would use that pond and there started to be reports of healings happening in the water. Rajni often came to that pond. Her husband heard about the miracles and so he himself went and bathed in the water there. When he came out he was cured. And when he went to see his wife, she did not recognize him. But then she did, and so she went to the Guru and convinced him to give the pond his blessing.”
Line for the Golden Temple
I nodded, and she continued, “They dug the pond and they made it bigger and wider. Later the sixth Guru of the Sikh religion sat under that tree…” I looked over at the tree, sitting there propped up by a metal and concrete, “and supervised the construction when they added the temple made with pure gold.”
I stared at the dozens of women kneeling by the waters edge, and brushing water onto themselves, and the men holding onto large metal chains as they climbed into the tank to bathe, and suddenly cherished this moment more than words could say. I believe that water is healing; I believe that it is holy, and that our intentions can create miracles. And sitting there by the water that day, it felt my whole life was just one miraculous event.
A large Sikh man came over to Kevin at this point, and politely but firmly asked him to stop filming because he hadn’t gotten official permission. Kevin agreed and put away the camera, and we decided to walk around the temple once more. The line to get into the Golden Temple itself would have taken hours to get through, and the thought of being jammed so tightly together for so long seemed the opposite of my meditative experience. So, after I thanked the lady for her story and her warm welcome to India, we once again joined the flow of people walking around the water tank.
walking around the pond
As I walked slowly, I stared at the water remembering the miracles, my mind slipping back into restfulness and peace. I believed it was the water itself that allowed this meditative experience inside a place full of so many people. The calm of a lake, the stillness of a bath… water quiets and rests the mind, opens us up to hear the soul. It’s no wonder so many religions and spiritual traditions consider it holy.
A young Sikh approached Kevin and I and introduced himself as ‘Lucky.’
After a discussion with Kevin about the brotherhood of all people, our joyful, lucky friend started to explain the words to the haunting calls echoing over the Temple’s loudspeakers. Although I don’t remember the literal words he said, I hope to do justice with this recollection of what I heard and felt,
“God is friendly to everyone. God is a friend to everyone. God does not have fear. God as creator is in all of us.”
Feather on Holy Water
3 Months In India 
The man named Vasu Bharadwaj
was a skeptic Indian science
writer diagnosed with bone
cancer called multiple myeloma
which had destroyed much of his
bones. On April 29th 2002, He
had completed three and half
years of painful life as a
terminally bed-ridden cancer
patient. He was slowly dying of
cancer. He also had suffered from
tumour on the right side of his
head. The bony structures of his
right ear had been eaten away by
bone cancer that lead him total
deafness in his right ear. He did
six chemotherapy sessions – one
every 28th day. He was advised by
someone to undertake a
pilgrimage to the holy Golden
Temple at Amritsar, India and
offer Akhand Path(continuous
recitation of sacred sikh text) and
Ardas(Sikh prayer) with complete
faith. He was permitted to
photograph and tape-record
entire Akhand Path as well as
Shabad Kirtans(recitation of
hymns or mantras from sacred
sikh text) which he wanted to
keep listening even after the
kirtan session was over. He did
not speak Punjabi but he knew
little bit of Urdu, that made him
understand some of the Sikh
hymns and kirtan. In the middle
of kirtan session, the moment the
ceremonial reader started reciting
the Akhand Path, he reported to
began feeling streams of energy
entering and flowing through his
body. The white light as he
reports rose majestically from the
pages of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
(sikh sacred text) like a serene
cool flame of light entering his
body through his fingers. He
reported that after that incident
the excruciating pain which he
had suffered while struggling to
reach the Golden Temple also
disappeared. He further reports
that after 48 hours, he got up on
his own feet and began to feel
and enjoy such vibrant health
that he almost ran with joy. His
appetite returned. On 8th May
2002 and on 25th May again bone
marrow analysis and
electrophoresis tests were done
his my body and no cancer was
detected. To obtain second
medical opinion, the samples
were sent to Mumbai and
Ahmedabad and medical doctors
there also confirmed that the
bone cancer is gone. His
oncologist at Ahemedabad Dr.
Pankaj Shah was preparing for
stem cells transplant on him. The
entire medical world was taken by
surprise. All doctors agreed that
this is, indeed, a miracle because
there is no medicine in Allopathy
that can cure deadly cancer
within 48 hours and effect a 180
degree change. The latest
electrophoresis: serum protein
test done is dated April 7th 2003
at Abha Clinical Laboratory. The
doctors have signed this medical
test report with comments: ” no
melanomas band.” He has
preserved all the medical reports
and x-rays done before and after
the Akhand Path and Ardas at
Golden Temple and they all tell
the true story of my miraculous
cure. Ever since this miracle, I am
not only experiencing Guru’s
vibrations within me but also feel
God’s spiritual energy within me
which inspires me and guides me
in thought and deed, and vibrate
in unison with him. I am joyfully
back to ” cheers and gears of
life.”, soulfully sharing my God-
Given spiritual energy with those
who love and faithfully listens to
Guru Granth Sahib and enrich
their mind, body and soul with
divinely vibrant health. Now, he
reports to be enjoying the life of
guru-inspired faith and taking Sri
Guru Granth Sahib and God as
his constant companion. The
divine magnetic spell of Sri Guru
Granth Sahib, which he realized
through Naam therapy(recitation
of the holy sikh text) that has not
only blessed him with healthy life
but considering his greatly
vibrant health, spiritual strength
and new youthful looks and
glamorous shining black hair, the
same oncologists tells him that he
is totally free of all kinds of
diseases.
Glad to hear you are joyful in your life! The Golden Temple does seem to be a place of great miracles! many blessings to you.