Reprinted from a communication by Hari Jiwan Singh “Life with Yogi Bhajan”
Sat Nam Dear Family,
“When your flow
of thoughts becomes complementary, not contradictory, life comes to a state of real relaxation,” the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan, answered me driving back from a dinner function at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. It was one of those balmy L.A. nights when, even the smell of the ocean traveled all the way to Beverly Hills. For a guy like me from St. Louis, this smell was always romantic and intoxicating. It produced a feeling of well-being in my consciousness.
It was spring of 1988 and we were beginning to spread our wings spiritually, socially, and business-wise. An added perk for me was that Beverly Hills was our jumping off point! On this occasion, we had just come from a big party for the U.S. Marshals Service. This is the United States law enforcing arm working in many areas for the U.S. Government.
The Siri Singh Sahib Ji often relaxed in the afternoons by visiting Artin’s Jewelry Shop in the heart of Beverly Hills. A colorful varied cast of people visited this shop: tourists, Hollywood stars, executives, Hollywood want-to-be’s, businessmen, etc. frequented this lively shop. It was like the social salons of the olden days! Notably, this is where we forged many new relationships. Fortuitously, one gentleman we met happened to be closely tied in with the U.S. Marshal’s Service. He promoted events like this dinner which raised money for the Marshal Officers who needed more help than the Government provided. It was a noble cause and a genuine seva, selfless service.
I attended this gala event with Yogi Bhajan along with two of his secretaries. Our security team remained in the lobby as dinner seats were at a premium. The audience was also filled with many movie stars and movers & shakers – big wigs from every professing vying for their place in the social status of Beverly Hill. Our host’s wife owned the Hollywood Reported, the newspaper bible of the Hollywood entertainment industry. Beverly Hills is a relatively new city, so money and celebrity status can do there what it can’t do in many other places and the money and prestige of the industry people was present everywhere. This was a very very successful event. Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, and Donald O’Conner entertained – old Hollywood at its best! Our host and promoter of this event was the gentleman we had met at Artin’s.
As we entered the large ballroom, fashionably late, we were escorted to the front table with our host. I could feel all eyes on us as our presence spoke before we did. Our beloved teacher had done it again. We were dressed beautifully in bana (our spiritual clothing). The best Beverly Hills could provide accented our appearance – jewelry, purses, shoes, manners, grace were all provided for us through our teacher’s grace. We were not only comfortable in this environment; we were respected and even celebrities among the celebrities! Because of our bana, everyone noticed us. And, do you know who was the most pleased, our host, that’s who. Our relationship was bonded.
The following week, we met our host again at Artin’s. He, again, was greatly appreciative of our appearance at the gala and then mentioned something very auspicious to our teacher. He told him that the bidding process for the security industry for some venues of the Marshal’s Service was coming up and we should submit bids. Just one of these contracts can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Our host offered to do whatever he could to help us in this process, and he did. We had a small security company in New Mexico at the time. Just the process of getting ourselves into position to bid was a miracle, but that’s another story.
This giant step was the beginning of the ascension of Akal Security, our business which, today, is one of the largest security companies in the world. All this was because of our teacher. He delivered. I was just lucky to tag along. This is just a part of his grand legacy. It’s up to us to continue to grow it.
Anyway, back to his answer to me in the car on the way home from this grand gala affair. I half wondered and half asked him, “Sir, you have more guts than anyone I’ve ever seen. Where does this confidence come from? Were you always this way?” He chuckled, smiled and said, “When your flow of thoughts becomes complementary, not contradictory, life comes to a state of real relaxation.
It took me a while to figure out what he was saying. I understand it now. His answer had several meanings as usual. First, it meant that confidence and relaxation go together. If you’re not relaxed about who you are the confidence you have will not be experienced by others. And, it’s confidence which attracts others, including big wig movers and shakers. Confidence trumps all other attractiveness. Our teacher’s confidence was displayed and experienced by those present at this event.
Next, the key to his confidence was his complimentary flows of thought. What he meant by this is that insecurity no longer haunted this process. Fear, hate, jealousy, anger and frustration were no longer interferences. There is always more to learn, more awareness to behold, but as we learn more, we do so without insecurity getting in the way; we don’t have to overcome our previous thinking anymore. Thoughts then become building blocks for growth, not issues to overcome and discard.
Finally, his intuition took him up the golden chain of spirituality, the Golden Chain of Raj Yog, of Guru Ram Das. His flow of thought was consistent with Guru Ram Das. He was connected straight to his Guru. He had the confidence of his Guru. He was protected, guided, and blessed by the Guru. Thus total confidence and relaxation was the result. Wherever he went, he was Guru’s representative. He was set. He was a king.
However, the most I learned about his statement was that we lived off of his blessings. He was the reason for our growth, individually and collectively. This story is just one example of how I saw his life create who we are. We can’t deny this because we saw how he opened up for us all such a life of spirituality, health, service and fun!! And he took us where our “guts” weren’t prepared to go, at least at this time. And he not only led this way, he was this way. His Guru made him so. So, once again, on this evening he delivered what his Guru wanted: another brick in building this dharma. Stay tuned,
In the Humility of Service and Gratitude,
MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa
Chief of Protocol
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Life With Yogi Bhajan | hjiwan@ninetreasjures.com | Nine Treasures | 718 McCurdy Rd. | Espanola, NM 87532 |
