Excerpt: "Singing the praises of God by means of kirtan is also another form of semran. Kirtan plays a very important part in the Sikh religion. No Sikh religious function is complete without kirtan which in fact occupies a major part of the time devoted to any religious function. Kirtan is singing the praises of God via sabads from Gurbani. Besides Gurbani sabads, verses from the works of Bha-ee Gurdas and Bha-ee Nand Lall are permitted to be sung, though this is somewhat rare. The whole of Gurbani is poetry of a high order and is written in 31 raagas and can be put to music in the relevant raagas. But to sing Gurbani as per the prescribed raagas is something which professionals only can do.

 

But kirtan means singing the praises of God and in the absence of professional singers called raagis it does not mean that we cannot resort to simple music or sing together, i.e. chorus singing, with or without musical instruments. The aim of kirtan is to enable the mind to focus attention on the Lord and His attributes and thus link up with God. In this way kirtan creates the right atmosphere for the attainment of the Lord.

 

For a Sikh it is the right atmosphere and interest in Gurbani which is of the utmost importance and it does not matter how kirtan is sung – via raagas or otherwise. The singing must, however, be melodious and sweet to the ears such that it appeals to the mind without losing sight of the meaning of the sabads that are being sung. A raag or any tune – naad – is acceptable provided the listener’s attention – dhean – does not wander and the mind is focussed on the Lord. "

 

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Excerpt : " This Infinite Cosmic Kirtan or the Transcendental Vibratory Sound — Cosmic Vibration, Cosmic Music, Cosmic Sound, Cosmic Orchestra, etc. — is the movement of the entire creation, preservation and dissolution. It is God's Endless Impulse or Unstruck Sound-current (Anhata Shabad, Panch-Shabad or Dhuni) which is taking place within each of us; and within every atom of the universe, "here" and "now". Hence we are all singing with this Divine Orchestra at this very moment and the Divine is within us; but we do not know about it.

 

    * Keetaa pasaao eko kavaao: You created the vast expanse of the Universe with One Word — Sound, Bang, Resonance, Oder, etc. (sggs 3).

 

Due to the intervention of our false ego-sense, however, we have lost our connection with this Cosmic Vibratory Sound, from which the entire Creation is born. The external Kirtan is the extension of God's Endless Cosmic Vibration.

 

The purpose of the external Kirtan is to eliminate the mind's ego consciousness (delusion or the ceaseless flow of thought currents) by quieting it, so that we can link back to the Endless Divine Pulse within — Pure Awareness; our Essential Nature.