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Summary of Question:	Speed Of Doing Paat
Category:	Gurbani
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 3/10/2004 2:23 PM MST

What is the proper way of doing paat, real fast or slow? Someone told me that to be most effective you should do paat real fast but on some of the replys I have read on this site they say to inhale and say SAT then exhale and say NAM. That is very slow and seems more of a breathing technique. If you pray fast over and over then you get more praying done. Which way is more "effective?" fast or slow? thank you for answering these questions.

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REPLY
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Sat Sri Akal!

Thank you for such a wonderful question. Like everything else in life, the GuruJi has already given us the answer to this. The answer is: meditating in a slow manner is best. Of course, doing meditation/kirtan/naam simran/paath FAST is much better than NOT doing it at all - BUT, to get the full effects and the true deep understanding, one must paath/naam simran at a slow and relaxed pace. Why?

1) Every so often in Gurbani, the word "Rehaao" is written. This word means "Pause". Why would the Guru put the word PAUSE after every few lines? It is put there to remind the reader that he or she needs to slow down and think about what was just read. Reading something fast could result in a mis-pronunciation of the word, accidentally skipping a word, and generally not taking in the full meaning of the line or passage. This is why naam simran and doing paath should be done slowly.

2) The Guruji writes on page 962 (and appears in Rehras Sahib):
"jin ko lagee piaas a(n)mrith saee khaahi ||"
Those who are thirsty for You, shall eat the Ambrosial Nectar.

Now let's look at this line. "Those who are thirsty for You" - in this line the Guruji is associating the want of Waheguru as thirst. "shall EAT the Ambrosial Nectar (amrit)" - here the Guruji is telling us to eat Amrit, the Ambrosial Nectar. NOW, look at what was just said, if one is THIRSTY, then one should EAT! How can it be that THIRST is associated with EATING?

When one is thirsty, one asks for a drink of water or some other beverage. One does not eat a meal. Conversely, if one is hungry, and someone offers him a drink of water, he will say, "No, I am hungry, I want some food, not water." Clearly, thirst is associated with drinking, and hunger is associated with eating. These are two different and distinct things.

So how come the Guruji in this line equates eating to satiating thirst? Well, let me tell you a little story first. When I was younger, I always used to eat my food really fast and get done with dinner in just a few minutes. My father always used to tell me, "Drink your solids and eat your liquids." Now what does this mean? It means that you should chew your food so much that you can basically drink it down. This is advantageous in a couple of ways: 1) in this way you can really taste what you are eating and get the full benefit of a satisfy meal 2) it is much easier for your stomach to digest the food since you have broken it down whilst chewing. So that's what "drink your solids means". "Eat your liquids" means that even when you are drinking something, don't just guzzle it down like an animal. Drink slowly and enjoy what you are drinking. You will get the full benefit of your drink, plus there is less of a chance of choking too.

So, this somewhat popular saying "Drink your solids and eat your liquids" is very beneficial when looked at from an objective point of view (of course, when I was younger I had no idea what it meant!).

Similarly, the Guruji in the above line is saying "When you are thirsty, eat the Amrit". This means that when you take in Amrit (Amrit means naam simran, doing paath, meditation), when you eat Amrit, you should actually be drinking it to satisfy your thirst. When you eat, drink it. This means to do the eating of Amrit slowly so that you can get the full benefit of the paath and naam simran that you are doing.

Thus, meditation/naam simran/kirtan/paath should be done at a slow and relaxing pace so that it can be fully absorbed by you.

I hope this helps.

Gur Fateh,
HSD