Thanks Giving Day celebrated by Seattle Sangat

On November 27th 2009, all the saints in Seattle gathered at local saint's house in order to celebrate the gift of life as the noblest expression of the human spirit.

Saints present sang devotional songs, gave speeches and thanked this almighty Nirankar for blessing all of us with precious human life.

Presiding from the stage, Rev. Amit Ji stressed the importance of Thanks giving day and emphasized to thank this almighty Nirankar in all circumstances. He prayed that May nirankar bless all of us so that along with our lives, we may also bring spring in others' life.

May Babaji keep blessing the Seattle Sangat with more of such opportunities.

- Sheetal Sharma

Annual Samagam Sangat at Moses Lake

Seattle saints who missed the opportunity of attending the Annual Sant Samagam at Delhi (India), gathered at Moses Lake, WA on November 15th, 2009 to celebrate the event in their own small way.

There were more than 50 attendees including people from local community and the Sangat was presided by Rev. Amar Preet Ji.

The program opened with Mission's message followed by several devotional songs, speeches and poems. The kids also participated with stories and praise this Nirankar. The local community was excited to attend such congregation and they also contributed towards langar seva.

Rev. Ranjit Ji, local Seattle saint, emphasized on the importance of Annual Samagam by saying this is the event where all the followers of the Nirankari Mission gather together to celebrate the joy of being blessed with God Knowledge. He also mentioned that such events are important as we get to learn more about saintly teachings and can improve our lives by imbibing them.

Rev. Preet ji also stressed on the importance of Samagam and explained that Sant Nirankari Mission is an effort to unite Mankind for the good of Humanity. She also emphasized on the importance of positive outlook.

The satsang concluded with telecast of Babaji’s message inspiring that saints words are mirror which helps us make ourselves beautiful once again. These words are so significant that in order to hear such words again and again, saints attend such congregation.

-Sheetal Sharma

Holi Celebration in Moses Lake, WA

The Sant Nirankari Mission, Seattle celebrated holi on March 15th, 2009 at Moses Lake, WA. The sangat was attended by nearly 50+ saints including people from local community and was presided by Rev. Dev Raj Vij Ji from Tracy, California.

The saints prayed for being colored with color of devotion to this Lord Master and shared their thoughts on the importance of Satguru and Sangat in their lives. The kids too recited various poems in praise of the formless Nirankar. The local community showed good participation with sharing of their thoughts and experiences on importance of such spiritual congregation and importance of spreading love in family and around.

Rev. Dev Raj Ji stressed that the human life is small and precious and we should not waste it. We should identify ourselves, establish a union with our creator, find love within ourselves and spread it around. He explained the journey of soul and called human body its temporary residence. He elaborated that though made up of same raw material, we need bridges and not walls as bridges connect people while walls divide them. He said that the contribution made by this mission is that it has made people humane at heart who can feel the pain of fellows. Saints organized holi celebration with colors after the sangat. All present played with colors and marked the removal of all barriers of caste, color, race, age, etc. in coming together as one family and following one religion of humanity.

The entire celebration was covered by a local newspaper 'Columbia Basin Herald'. Report can be found here.

- Ridhima Oberoi

Guru Pooja Diwas Samagam

Sant Nirankari Mission, Seattle delightedly celebrated the Guru Pooja Divas on Feb 23 ’09 which marks the 55th birthday of Baba Hardev Singh ji Maharaj, head of the Sant Nirankari Mission. Rev. Prem Chaudhri ji from California presided over the sangat.

The program opened with Guru Pooja Diwas geet followed by several devotional group songs and speeches. With entire sangat in a festive mood to sing and dance, saints praised the importance of Satguru in our lives and emphasized that the only gift we can give to Baba ji is to follow his teachings. Bal sangat presented a skit depicting the message of love and brotherhood that this mission has taught us. Kavi darbar added another color to the evening with poems ranging from the life of Baba ji to spiritual journey illuminated by him.

Rev. Prem Chaudhri ji stressed the importance of giving and caring to bring about peace in the world. He emphasized that the first step towards world peace begins from our own family and also that we all should follow Baba ji’s message of love and sharing in true spirits. The satsang concluded with telecast of Babaji’s message inspiring that Gurus and prophets have always preached truth, love, compassion, tolerance and goodwill and a true devotee follows their teachings.

- Ishita Doultani and Ridhi Oberoi

Food Drive on occasion of Guru Pooja Diwas

On the auspicious occasion of Guru Pooja Diwas, the Seattle Nirankari Mission members donated food for the needy. The Mission is headquartered in India and its followers are spread worldwide.

The mission members practice what their Guru Baba Hardev Singh Maharaj preaches- Sharing what we have and showing the care for all living beings.

The members donated whole heartedly about 530 pounds of non perishable food items to Hopelink, a Redmond based Community Action Agency.

SNM Seattle is a spiritual and non-profitable organization. It is committed and will continue to donate to the needy.

SNM strongly believes that it can transform the thinking of the society by the deeds of the members of the mission.

The thinking that will bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

For further information visit www.nirankari.org

--Mahesh Thakur

Valentine's Day Celebrated by Seattle Sangat

On 14th February 2009, all the saints in Seattle gathered at one of the local saint's house and spread the message of love by celebrating Valentine's Day.

Sohan Singh Ji gave blessings to all the couples and encouraged everyone to follow Baba ji's message of Love and Peace.

May Nirankar bless Seattle Sangat with more of such opportunities.

-Amit Oberoi

Rev. Baldev Arora Ji and Rev. Paul Ji's visit to Seattle

On Sunday, the 15th Feb '09, the Seattle satsang group had the opportunity to receive blessings from Rev Baldev Arora ji and Rev Paul ji from Vancouver, BC at one of local saint’s residence.

The satsang started with recitation of verses from Avtar bani and namashkar. Saints present sang devotional songs in praise of our beloved satguru and also shared their spiritual experiences.

Rev Paul ji in spoke about remembering God while performing duties. When we forget God we face terrible evils such as pride and ego. God consciousness is achieved through congregation of saints. He further stressed that ego is the root cause of problems and misunderstandings in relationships with our dear and near ones. We should shed our ego and surrender at the lotus feet of our Holy Master and accept His will. He quoted a saying by Jesus Christ “may god give you the strength to accept His will”. It is our faith in Nirankar and in our Guru that imbibes in us the spirit of acceptance of God’s will in good and bad times realizing that whatever Nirankar may do, is for our benefit . Initially we might get disturbed because we are ordinary mortals and hence we are unable to appreciate and foresee why it is happening. But we do come to realize at a later stage and are astonished to see the blessings that came in disguise.

Presiding from the stage, Rev Aroraji spoke on how to achieve Peace. We say 'I want Peace', remove 'I' i.e. 'ego' and remove 'want' i.e. 'desire', what remains is peace. The solution looks simple to say but is very difficult to implement. To achieve peace Harmony in word, thought and deed and Humility are the two major values to be imbibed in our character. Rev. Aroraji exhorted that the devotees should render service so that message of truth reaches everywhere for the benefit of society and the world. It is in this spirit that we should serve the mission with our body, mind and wealth without expecting any position or status in return. A devotee should not take pride in his service, instead be grateful to God for granting him an opportunity. He also stressed that it is our moral duty to follow the teachings of the Satguru.

The satsang concluded with mangla charan and dhuni, followed by langar. After the langar Rev Aroraji and Rev Paulji answered queries, which we asked them. Visiting Saints also obliged devotees by visiting their houses and blessed them to prosper spiritually. They left for Vancouver in the evening.

Around 25 saints attended the congregation. May Baba Ji keep blessing the saadh sangat of seattle with visits and enlightening darshan of more and more inspiring saints.

- Ishita Doultani