When chanting this poem, many people experience breaking through their limitations and replacing them with power, grace, and self respect. Japji connects you with your destiny, fortifying you with the wisdom, patience and confidence to meet it. It is a song of the soul that takes you on the journey to meet your dharma.
Reciting japji is the practice of connecting directly to the soul, and singing its praises. Ji translates to soul, and jap means to repeat or recite.
The word itself means something along the lines of ‘song of the soul’ (I’m sure Walt Whitman would love it). Japji is also known as japji sahib in the Sikh tradition. In this way, Japji is a ritual prayer that helps awaken practitioners to their dharma – your truth! It helps us connect to the divine so we can see beyond our habitual patterns, deepen our spiritual practice, and progress our journey towards our highest purpose. The words were strung together in 40 parts (known as pauris) by Guru Nanak, the first spiritual teacher of Sikhism, in a way that moves energy through all the seven chakras you may be familiar with, the eighth chakra, and beyond. Japji is a Sikh prayer believed to carry the frequency of enlightenment in its very words.
