In the first Harry Potter book, Harry and his friends find a forbidden room which contains the philosopher's stone. Using it, the evil sorcerer Lord Voldemort will be able to resurrect himself from his mysterious death.

Did you know that the philosopher’s stone is mentioned in Siri Guru Granth Sahib Jee?

“The Divine Guru is the Philosopher's Stone - touching it, one is transformed.” SGGS 262

So what is the philosopher’s stone and what has it got to do with Vaisakhi?

In the time before Guru Nanak Dev Ji, around the years 1100 to 1500, people believed there was a philosopher's stone, that looked like an ordinary stone, but was actually magical. A base metal like lead pressed against it would be turned into gold.

It also had another incredible quality: it could make humans immortal. It could be used to make liquid drinkable gold which would keep you alive forever. That was called the “Elixir of Life”. The person who had the skills to find and use the Philosopher's Stone amongst the ordinary stones was known as the Alchemist.

No Alchemist ever found the philosopher’s stone. It was mythical.

Infact, imagine you did get all the gold in the world and could live forever, wouldn’t that be a curse? To be so rich and never die? There would be a point in your life where you would have done everything under the sun and then you’d be bored. In addition all your friends and family would be dead, and maybe your body would just be getting older and weaker. Would you still want to live forever with all the gold in the world? I wouldn’t. Infact, people would want to die to escape the prison of the body.

Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji teaches us is that you can live forever and you can have the pleasure of all the gold in the world. How? By going to the Divine Guru. He will transform your body into gold and he will give you the real drinkable gold, the elixir of life...AMRIT. The Divine Guru is the Philosopher’s Stone and is REAL not mythical.

When you meditate the Divine Guru will permeate your body, mind and soul. You will shine like gold with the Divine light beaming from you in all directions and internally your whole body will be drenched with the sweet internal divine amrit. When your soul is that pure it become Immortal, your are happy than the person who has all the gold in the world. You have the divine bliss and a place with God FOREVER.

The first step on this path is to be an Alchemist, to find the real philosopher’s stone. To recognise the True Guru and to give your head. Make a commitment to being transformed. That is what Vaisakhi 1699 was about. To drink the Khanda-batta-da-Pahul. To drink the amrit-nectar to get you started on the most amazing journey of transformation. To change from a jackal into a lion, to change from a sparrow into a hawk, to change from lead into gold and to live forever!

So now you know the link between Harry Potter and Vaisakhi!

Happy Vaisakhi

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Kee Fateh!