I have a
pretty eclectic past and a pattern of immersing myself deeply into whatever my
current chosen path may be. In early 1998 I was living in New York, and started
practicing Kundalini Yoga. That summer I
took the Master’s Touch course in New Mexico with Yogi Bhajan (1929-2004). It
was a great experience and the lifestyle and practices were very appealing to
me at the time, so I chose roll with it and take a spiritual (Sikh) name from
Yogi Bhajan.
He replied
to me by mail and said, “You have been blessed to live as Guru Banda Singh,
which means ‘the lion who is the guru’s right hand man’. Meditate on that name
and your path in life will become clear to you”. People often think is it
bandha (like mulabandha), but it is actually taken from Banda Singh Bahadur who
was a military commander in Guru Gobindh Singh’s Khalsa army. A warrior you
might say ;)
That year in
December, before dawn on the winter solstice I took Amrit ceremony. Amrit is
like a Sikh baptism where one takes vows that provide a foundation of living a
certain lifestyle to further develop and enhance your spiritual practice. The
vows include not cutting your hair; refraining from meat, alcohol and other
stimulants; remaining celibate until married and maintaining a monogamous
relationship with your spouse; and committing to meditation and prayer each
day. After taking Amrit one becomes Khalsa, which mean pure.
I kept it up for one more year, then in 2000 I
shaved my beard and started practicing ashtanga yoga. That part of the story is
not quite so simple, but I will save that for another day.
So the BS in GBSK is not for Barry Silver, as
many people assume. GBSK is Guru Banda Singh Khalsa. Eddie and I used to joke
that we were going to start a hardcore band called GBSK, instead it became the
name of the t-shirt brand. Probably should have chosen a name that is easier to
remember. But the truth is, I never thought it would go anywhere. Just wanted a
platform to share my art and designs with some yoga students in Japan who asked
me. Then it just grew from there. And if people can remember CBGB, UB40 and
DMX….why not GBSK?
Guru Banda Singh Khalsa
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