Food for Prosperity - In the footsteps of the Guru
The Mool Mantra and the Opening words of the Japji Sahib - the prayer written by Guru Nanak himself reads
Ik Onkar (Every God is one. He is the creator of everything. The creator and the creation are one)
The word ‘Ik’ in ‘Ik Onkar’ stands for ‘one’, while ‘on’ means ‘everything’ and ‘kar’ refers to the God who is the creator of everything. Put together, ‘Ik Onkar’ means there is only one creator who has created everything. The Sikh prayer, of which ‘Ik Onkar’ is a part of, is called the ‘Mool Mantra’.
The last Salok of the Japji Sahib - the prayer written by Guru Nanak himself reads
Pavan guru paani pitaa, maataa dharat mahat. (Air the guru; Water, the father; and Earth, the great mother.”
Divas raat doe daai daaiaa, khelai sagal jagat.(Day and night are like two nursemaids in whose lap all of creation plays)
Changiaaiaa buriaaiaa, vaachai dharam hadur. (Good and bad deeds are recorded and read by the Lord of Dharma)
Karmi aapo aapni, ke nerai ke dur. (according to your doing, you draw closer or further from Him)
Jini Naam dhiaaiaa, gae masakat ghaal.(Those that take his name and depart after working by the sweat of their brow are transmigrated)
Naanak te mukh ujle, keti chhuti naal. ((Nanak says that their face shine as they enter God's kingdom and they take their near and dear ones with them)
There is tremendous wisdom here. The idea that air is the teacher, the pathway from darkness to light, reminds us to reconnect with our breath which is our only link to the present moment. Our minds flutter between past and present or a reaction to the moment that has just passed us (which passes often, for the present). But thoughts are inherently reactions. By shifting our awareness to the breath, we linger in the present moment. Nanak reminds us, the breath is your teacher, in a way that is echoed hundreds of years later by modern-day thinkers like Eckhart Tolle’s in “The Power of Now”.
Nanak continues, “paani pitaa maataa dharat mahat“ -The water is our father and the earth is our mother. Respect them. Honour them. Learn from them. By respecting nature, we respect our creator and we respect ourselves. (After all, Japji begins with the line “Ek ong kar”, the creator and the creation are one.)
Snatam Kaur’s Earth Prayer repeats this beautiful line from the Salok “Pavan Guru Paani Pitaa Maataa Dharat Mahat”
Snatam Kaur continues (and this is important to me because it resonates so much) 'The salok ends with the words “Jini Naam dhiaaiaa, gae masakat ghaal./Naanak te mukh ujle, keti chhuti naal.” When you vibrate the naam, the sound current, then when you pass out of this life you will go with a brilliant face, full of radiance, and you will raise the vibration of the planet for having been here. For me they are marching orders that I choose to bring into my life: meditate, chant the words that make my heart sing, raise the vibration of the planet, respect myself and respect all Life. It’s nothing to do with dogma. It has everything to do with putting into action the gentle whispers my heart has told me all along.
Japji is the Song of the Soul. This is the wisdom of the ages; it has been sung to us in many languages for thousands of years.
One of the ways that this has been put into practice is Nanak Kheti. During the last couple of decades, experienced farmers who believe in Guru Nanak's tenet of Sarbat da bhala (well being of all) have started a movement to regenerate and rejuvenate the soil in several parts of Punjab. Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), a civil society action group headquartered in the Jaitu town of Faridkot district has been leading this natural farming
movement that works on the tenets of the mantra and salok above - Pavnu
Guru, Panni Pita Matta Dharat Mahat (air is guru, water
is the father and the earth is the mother). They call this spiritual farming, natural farming, non-violent agriculture or simply Nanak
Kheti.
These farmers feel that chemical-intensive farming and the burning of paddy straw has destroyed the soil ecology and health. The soil has lost
its nutrient pool. (Punjab is the cancer belt of India, mainly because of the chemicals in the water).
Instead, the KVM farmers use Jeevaamrita (cow urine-based microbial preparation) to revive microbial activity in the soil. With the application of Jeevaamrita and Ghan Jeevaamrita (a solid form of Jeevaamrita), the soil is gradually becoming rich in the humus, the yield has increased and other life forms are coming back in the fields.
They also use Mulching and farmers say that when the soil is covered with various forms of mulching, the results are unimaginable. Some villages use intercrops, plant residue, fallen leaves, bushes, weeds and sometimes even the wheat straw or the rice straw cuttings spread in the fields to cover the naked soil. Besides protecting the bacteria and retaining the moisture, this also keeps the temperature of the soil low and it never goes beyond the 40 degrees Celsius, which is the upper limit for the survival of microbes. According to KVM, although sunlight is essential for the photosynthesis, it is a threat to the soil bacteria. Mulching is the best answer to this."
KVM has
evolved a distinct philosophy which defines soil as the 'source of infinite
lives'. "Yes, it is true and we have experienced it," avers KVM
chairman and a farmer from Rai Ke Kalan village of Bathinda, Harjant Singh. If
the soil is rich in microorganisms, its texture is soft, full of natural
essence and ample quantities of moisture are kept intact. Then the soil gives
healthy crops, and there is a lesser need for irrigation.
Harjant Singh further elaborates on the scientific premises of
natural farming. All living organisms require nutrition and minerals for their
growth, and amongst them, plants, being stationary, get their nutrition at that
spot. They get carbon dioxide and water from nature and by the process of
photosynthesis, the required amount of sugars is produced. Similarly, nitrogen
is available in the air and the rhizobia bacteria in the soil can capture it
for the plants. These microorganisms perform different functions for the
plants. "By using the chemical inputs, especially the pesticides, we have
destroyed the delicate microbial equilibrium of soil and tilted the game in
favour of external chemical inputs thus making the situation even worst,"
says Singh.
KVM farmers have redefined, reestablished and regenerated their mother-son
relation with the soil. They feel a spiritual bond, a oneness with the soil.
That is why they are against all forms of agrochemicals and burning of fields
- to them, it is a form of violence against the earth.
reference:
- http://www.indiatogether.org/natural-agriculture
- http://khetivirasatmission.blogspot.com/2007/11/it-is-nanak-kheti-natural-farming-with.html
- http://thelangarhall.com/general/%E2%80%9Cnanak-kethi%E2%80%9D-guru-nanak-dev-ji-and-natural-farming-in-punjab/
- https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1118720918172747
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