Amritsar, the Golden Temple : an experience

There are some discoveries which lift the veil of indifference covering the world.

There are some moments which open your heart and let this organ of love freely express itself.
There are some experiences which allow you to let go, fully and truly, so vulnerable but so strong from the trust gifted to the unknown.

The Golden Temple of Amritsar is one of them ! This visit opened my eyes and allowed me to take a brand new look on humanity.

In Amritsar, the notion of time doesn’t exist.

Women, men, children are constantly walking around the place, like a perpetual ritual of bowing down on the white marble, of meditations facing the sacred lake, of prayers, of sun rise followed by sun set, undisturbed neither by the day passing or the eternal renewal of pilgrims.

The Golden Temple is always alive.

The temple hosts every human being without limit of time or condition. People meet here and there, they are sleeping under the arcade of the courtyard, and eating in an extraordinary canteen which can serve up to 60 000 meals each day with an amazing organisation. Here and there we can see them pray under their turbans, exchange knowledge and smiles, be in communion together with sacred food and drinkable water offered in every corner of this place with allures of fairy tale.

Golden Temple, the beauty of the place is an invitation to inside contemplation

No matter whether you are a Sikh or not, no matter whether you have faith or not, no matter whether you came here for the architecture or spirituality I dare every visitor to resist the will to take 2 minutes to sit on the floor and truly appreciate the beauty of the present moment. Beauty of people surrounding you, beauty of uninterrupted prayers since the last 500 years spread with speakers all around, beauty of this golden temple, beauty of the white and sculpted marble, beauty of the love felt here. The love here deeply invades your heart, just for the time being, a precious instant shared with this community.

Amritsar reveals such a powerful human reality

That it’s hard to not feel connected. In this highly respected Sikh temple, it’s possible to live for free. Everything is based on donations, this notion of spontaneous solidarity which is often forgotten in our societies running after profits.

We can sleep here for free, on simple but comfortable beds for foreigners, on carpet covering the floor for locals. Nobody is going to ask you anything, you come, you sleep and you can leave if you want or stay as long as you wish.

We can eat here for free, some “dal”, shapati, sweet rice,… All this is offered to thousands of people who came to enjoy, by necessity or wish to experience, the real meaning of a shared meal.

Young and old are working together, full tanks of hundreds of litres to cook, dozens of dishes ranked ready to be washed 8 times for each plate, hundreds of kilos of garlic peeled in chain by women in Sari, kids serving portions of food with iron ladles in iron plates and water containers with wheels and a bicycle handlebar where the break are now used to spread to water in your bowl on the floor. After few minutes of sharing the meal, the room is emptied, the full stomachs are now standing up and the swiping brush dance is starting to clean the place before the next wave of “companions” (sharing the bread) sit on the floor to share their own meal.

The same hypnotical rhythm is repeated over and over again, all day long, but the notion of “day” doesn’t exist here because the day never ends. The shared meal is here, ready for anybody at any time, offered with love to other beloved human beings who came here to contemplate this sacred place.

Sikh Capital, a serein oasis in the heart of a vibrant town

Just outside the Gate of the Golden Temple, the effervescent atmosphere hit your mind still numbed by the softness of the Sikh Temple. The crowd, the dust, all the rickshaws, the handover begging hands invade your vital space. But in the middle of this agitation, the smiles offered by children, the slagging laugh of the old ones and the amused winkles of Indian light a incandescent flame in yourself.

And there, we understand there is no truth, the life is the whole, the love is everywhere, we are the life, and we are the love.

If you want to share this vibrant experience, you can join the Journey of Initiation with Shaman Lhamo Tsewang and visit this amazing Golden Temple in Amritsar.