Chicago Tour By His Holiness Satguru Baba Ji

On His world salvation tour of North America, Nirankari Baba visited the Chicagoland area on July 22 and 23, 2015. Devotees from across United States, Canada, England, and India attended Wednesday' s cultural program. The program on the 22nd of July started with a welcome of His Holiness and His wife that was initiated by Drs. Iqbaljit Rai and Jyoti Kalra in the City of Warrenville and Sewadal (volunteers of Sant Nirankari Mission (SNM)). The female devotees dressed in traditional Maharastran attire, saris, welcomed His Holiness with an aarti, which is a concept derived from Vedic tradition and is known to be offered to a being who removes Ratri, darkness. It was offered to His Holiness because throughout His messages, He is helping us to remove darkness from our lives and emphasizes the importance of always facing the sun, referring to giving utmost important to God, who is the source of all light. The welcome program consisted of a Fabric Dance and a Bhangra which attempted to display His Holiness' s message of Oneness.

After the inauguration, masses headed inside the community center to attend the welcome program, which consisted of a dance medley (incorporating Sufi, Gujrati, Garhwali, Marathi, Rajasthani, and Punjabi), video presentation, fusion dance, skit, and a song in the form of a Qwali. Through the program, all age groups exhibited their love and devotion giving the message that spirituality is not limited by age, color, gender, culture, or nationalities; all the forms attempted to display the message of Unity in Diversity. During the congregation, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Consulate General of India, Chicago, expressed his gratitude to SNM for the message of love and humanity that is being delivered. The congregation concluded with keynote address by Nirankari Baba in which He stressed the importance of developing qualities of love, respect, and tolerance so that the teachings of SNM are reflected in our everyday lives.

July 23, 2015 congregation started with devotional music, and throughout the event, devotees of all ages conveyed their thoughts. In His discourse, Nirankari Baba emphasized the importance of beautifying our souls and our connection with Nirankari, The Formless because that is the foundation of our lives. Throughout the discourse, His Holiness referred back to removing negativity from our thoughts and gave several examples to portray that. One example was that of holding the brake of a car firmly and at the same pressing down on the accelerator. Just like that in our lives, we attend congregation (satsang), serve (sewa), and meditate on God (simran), but at the same time we have negative aspects that are equally important such as hatred, jealousy, greed, envy, gossip, etc. When both are equally weighted in our lives, then that ?spiritual car? cannot move forward. Just like water has to be pushed back with the oar for a boat to move forward, negativity has to be pushed back in our lives for us to progress on this path of spirituality. Regardless of the mode of presentation, message of love and devotion was constant. The path of spirituality is a tough one where there is a constant need to practice and perform; only then will we achieve our ultimate goal.

By : Dr Nimarta Singh