The first word of most of the lines of the 8th through the 11th Paurees of JapJi is "SUNIAI" - which is translated as "listening" in some places.
From the rest of the content of those same lines, it is clear that suniai is far more than an English speaking person would call "listening" - or even "good listening."
In my Nitnem book, published in Amritsar India 24th Edition 2004, suniai is translated as "hearing the name of God."
In The Aquarian Times Magazine MSS Guruka Singh Khalsa writes:
"Suni-ai- Listening. Listening is a state of being. It is a state in which we are fully awake and tuned into the myriad of sensory input so that we spontaneously act in harmony with the very flow of life in each moment."
That is a beautiful exposition of the sort of listening that might lead to what is described in JapJi. Perhaps nothing more needs to be said about it. But I am curious, does this exposition emerge from the meaning of suniai to a native Punjabi speaker or would a scholar of the language of the Guru's times give that description of the word sunia?
It is amazing to me that one word could exist that has such a deeply profound meaning. It is often said that Guru Nanak made every effort to write in language which the common people could understand. Does this suggest that people of India in the times of Guru Nanak commonly "listened" with all their being in the way described above by Guruka Singh?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/jap-ji-sahib/5256-japji-sahib-suniai-listening-but-much.html
I would love to hear what a native Punjabi speaking person or one who has studied the older version of the language as used in the time of Guru Nanak might be able to tell me about all this.
Thanks!
Nam Hari Kaur, Eugene Oregon