Sat Sri Akaal Ji. 
I will try to be as simple and concise as possible.
snavneet: Ajapaa Jaap is the sound of Om that resonates throughout existence, within us and without also. Guruji says, "Ek Omkar Satnam". Simply put, it means, "Om is One, it resonates forever, it is the true Name of God". This is where Japji Sahib begins. Once we are fit to hear it, the "Ajapaa Jaap" or "Ek Omkar" requires no effort from the meditator. Once we are ready, we hear it. But the Guru decides whether we are ready or not. A Satguru is someone who lives completely by God's Will (Hukam), so it doesn't matter whether we say that 'it is a gift from the Guru' or 'a gift from God', since the Guru will bestow the blessing of the 'Anhad Dhun of Ek Omkar' only if God wills it. God's will and the Satguru's will are one and the same. Now, let's get closer to your question. Indeed, every bit of progress we make is a gift from God, but we have to make some effort, however tiny, so that we can make progress. This is made clear by Bhai Gurdaas Ji when He tells us the following: "Charan Saran Gur EK PAINDA Jae Chal, Satgur KOT PAINDA aagey hoe laet hai". And this is such a simple and profound statement! You make effort towards your Guru which may be equal to taking 'one step' and He will take '10 million steps' towards you. So, some effort is definitely required from our side, even if it is as small as taking 'one step'. Real progress is made when the Guru takes '10 million steps' towards us. So, our effort may be miniscule, but real progress is made when the Guru comes closer to us. Our role is only to that effect, the role of 'Udham'. At every stage, we make progress only because the Guru finds our tiny bit of effort to be worthwhile. That's the reason why getting salvation without a Satguru may take us ages to realize and very rarely is someone born who is ready to take up this toughest of missions. Imagine how much time it would take for us to reach the door of salvation, if the Guru didn't bring it so close to us with each step. Hence, the importance of a Guru. Anyway, there comes a point in one's spiritual evolution where one reaches 'the door', beyond which one can find salvation. But at that point, we cannot force the door to open for us, how much ever effort we may put in. In fact we have to be infinitely patient at that time. The opening of the door is entirely in the hands of the Guru. Hence, our entry through the door is entirely left to the Guru's judgment. If the Satguru finds us ready for entry, He bestows the blessing upon us so that we may enter. It is entirely left to His discretion. So, in all the previous stages, some of our tiny effort, 'to walk towards the door', may have been involved, but at the final stage, we cannot make any more effort from our side. Guru's Will (Hukam) is entirely responsible for the opening of the door. This door is the Dasvaan Dwaar (Tenth Door) that Gurbani speaks of. Hence, i mentioned that the third stage comes as a gift from the Guru. Balbir ji, i hope i have been able to make it clear for you this time.
snavneet: I think i have already answered this above, but i will add something to what i said before. Guruji says, "Ek Omkar Satnam", which means that, "Om is One, it resonates forever, it is the true Name of God". The word "Satnam" means the "True Name". The word "Ek" before Omkar tells us that there is only "One" true name. The "kar" after "Om" indicates that it resonates forever. And what is that "one true name that resonates forever"? It is "Om". Guruji has already answered your first question in the first 3 words of His Baani. If you don't believe me yet then i request you to meditate on it until the meaning dawns upon you because there is no way to justify this with words. Let it come out of your own experience and then nobody will have to convince you about it. Now, to the other question. The place of the Guru during the Ajapaa Jaap is in God! To be more precise, the Guru is already One with God, He is always in God. How could His place ever change? Once you reach that finality, you will be one with God and Guru too. I think this answers your second question.
snavneet: Everything is within God's Hukam all the time. Salvation is realizing this Hukam in its entirety. What can we add to God's Creation? Whatever we add is simply derived from His raw material. Nothing that we make is made by us. We just manipulate what is already given to us. Consider the principle of conservation of energy. It says that we cannot create or destroy energy. If we can't even do that, what can we do! Since whatever we do is within God's laws, within His system, everything is essentially within His Hukam. But, there is a big 'But' in between! And that 'But' is our mind, our ego, which makes us feel that we can do something apart from what God has already done. This is the root cause of our separation from God, this feeling that we can do something that is beyond God's Hukam. And the Hukam applies to meditation too. When we meditate, we practice it within His Creation using the resources that He has given us. What extra have we added to it? Nothing at all. We try to 'focus our minds', 'sing His praises', 'do Sumiran', 'do Keertan', 'do Paatth', etc. because that is possible within His Hukam. In fact, even the ones who have denied God and salvation entirely, cannot override His Hukam, even though they do not accept its existence. The tiny bit of free will that their drop of a soul can exhibit is spent in denying the Hukam, but their denial does not change the Truth. If i close my eyes and proclaim that the Sun doesn't exist then that won't have any effect on the truth of the Sun's existence. Now, such people just listen to their egos, that's why they are called Manmukhs. And those who are ready to follow what the Guru says are Gurmukhs. Basically, however corrupt one may become, one still cannot override the Hukam. We will always remain within the boundaries of the Hukam. Hence, one is always redeemable. God never loses His patience on us. We may wander for countless lives via our egoistic escapades, but some day our patience will run out and we will turn back and we will find that the Sun was always shining behind our backs.
snavneet: You will have to try to understand something very basic over here. "Ekaagrata" refers to concentration. It refers to focus and one-pointedness. I am sure you agree to that. Your previous reply clearly indicates that you believe that one reaches this state of "Ekaagar Cheet" or "One-pointedness of the mind" through Sumiran and not before that, isn't it? Okay, tell me, in order to achieve anything worthwhile in life, doesn't one have to focus on some thought and then act accordingly? If you are not focused then how will you be able to achieve anything more than what your instinct makes you do? "Ekaagrata" has had a great role to play in whatever you have achieved as a person. The more focused you become on a task, the more is the probability of you becoming successful in achieving the desired result. Imagine where you would be now if you had not focused on your studies or so many other things for that matter. In fact, even instinct can just tell you what to do, in the end some bit of focus is needed from you in order to initiate and then complete the act. Instinct can inform you that your stomach is empty and that you need to eat food. But you may still choose not to eat. Even that needs focus! Because your instinct will keep pressing you for your body's need of food, but to suppress it you will have to focus on the act of suppression! In fact, eating food when one is hungry requires less focus than trying not to eat at that time! My point is that nothing can be achieved in life, without being focused, without being almost one-pointed. And, in this thread we are talking of 'realization of the truth', which is most profound. And you think that truth can be achieved without one-pointedness? Why will the Guru grant you salvation if your mind was thinking of money, family, fame, etc. while your lips were doing Sumiran? Do you think the Guru is counting your utterances of Waheguru to see when you cross some required threshold? Is He interested in numbers or in your devotion? What does it mean to be devoted to one's Guru? Doesn't it mean that one should remain focused on what the Guru says and act according to it? If you cannot be focused ("Ekaagrit") on your Guru's instructions, how will you follow your Guru? How then can you expect the Guru to grant you salvation? Should the Guru grant us salvation even if our minds are wandering the whole world while our lips are uttering "Waheguru" like a machine? In fact, if "Ekaagrata" is something that is achieved as a result of the simple act of Sumiran without one-pointedness then i think machines are better capable than us in doing Sumiran. In fact, computers can do Sumiran without getting distracted. But you know that machines can't realize God simply because they are not conscious, they are not aware! Machines are slaves. They have no choice. They work according to fixed laws. But you have a mind. You can choose between this and that. You can choose to do Keertan while thinking of your bank balance or you can choose to be focused only on the act of Keertan. Which one do you think is better? Isn't being focused on the act of Keertan better? Wouldn't that be more pleasing to the Guru? Wouldn't that make us more worthy of His blessings? This is what Guruji is trying to tell us in such simple language, but still we try to find ways to misunderstand. Guruji simply says, "My dears, when you are doing Sumiran, just make it a point to be focused on it, be devoted to that act, be one-pointed!". Guruji warns us by saying BEWARE (Saavdhaan), if you are not focused then you shall not receive the gift that Guruji mentions in the following couplet, out of which you mentioned only one line to draw your conclusions".
The next two lines from Guruji are as follows:
"Sukhmanee Sahaj Gobind Gunn Naam.
Jis Mann Basai So Hoat Nidhan."
It means,
"The singing of the praises of the Lord (Gobind Gunn) and His Naam are responsible for the Sahaj Avastha, which is the jewel of joy (Sukhmanee).
When the Naam abides in the mind, one becomes a treasure."
Over here, Guruji is pointing to the Sahaj Avastha. And in the following lines of the Ashtpadi (which are not mentioned here), Guruji elaborates on the treasures that such a person receives. What needs to be understood here, is the Sahaj Avastha. It is that state of existence in which the fragmented mind naturally ceases to exist. Our every act is guided by God's Will alone. One reaches a very peaceful state where effort is no longer required. It is a state of complete relaxation, but in complete awareness. No worries remain. All doubts vanish. This is a state beyond one-pointedness. One needed to be one-pointed when the mind was wandering. But now the mind is totally pacified. It only serves as an instrument as long as the realized soul inhabits the body. This is also called the state of no-mind. One ascends into permanent union with God, with His Creation. One realizes true freedom that can never be taken away. I can go on and on talking about this state, there is no end to it. But i hope i have succeeded in conveying the point. Simply put, "Ekaagrata" is needed when there is a mind that is split into many fragments, but when one reaches the Sahaj Avastha no effort is needed any longer. One reaches the simplest yet most profound state of existence. There is no mind left to be integrated. So, there is no need of one-pointedness once Sumiran has done its job. All that remains is Oneness, not one-pointedness. When you see the same ONE, within and without, whom will you point to?! You are that!
snavneet: In short, one-pointedness is not a technique to discipline the mind. Sumiran will do the job of disciplining the mind, of pacifying it and Guruji will bless us with its mastery. But one-pointedness is the least bit of devotion that a Guru expects from His Shishya. If you can't even try to remain focused and one-pointed in your devotion to the Guru then don't expect the Guru to bless you with salvation. And yes, the idea of one-pointed devotion appears many times in Gurbani, the only reason you feel otherwise is that you have understood the idea in the reverse order. Actually, i can provide many examples from Sikh history where one-pointed devotion has marked many great events. But, i will mention those only if the idea still hasn't gotten across to you.
snavneet: Not exactly. "Ekaagar Cheet" in not the final result of True Sumiran. It is supposed to go along with Sumiran. Your focus helps in Sumiran and Sumiran helps in improving focus, so that you could do it better. "Ekaagar Cheet" and "Sumiran" fuel each other. Indeed as you advance, "Ekaagar Cheet" becomes more profound as a result, but there comes a point where "Ekaagar Cheet" is no longer required, when you have crossed over to the other shore. "Ekaagar Cheet" is like a boat that you used to reach the other shore, once you are there will you continue carrying the boat on your head? Would it be required once you have reached your final destination? "Ekaagar Cheet" plus "Sumiran" is capable of taking you to that final state of "effortlessness", where focus will no longer be required. The Guru expects you to try to do Sumiran with an unwavering mind, with an "Ekaagar Cheet", as well as you can, that's all. I think i have explained all this above. Anyway, if your Sumiran is True and is upto its fruition then the Guru will bless you with divine Union. Through this Union, your consciousness (Cheet) will become one with God, Guru and the whole of Creation. Then there shall be no 'other'. You will become the observer, the process of observation and the observed. There will be nothing left to focus upon because you will be in everything. You will become all there is. A finger can point at everything else but it cannot point at itself. If the finger becomes all there is then what will it point at? Where will you point your devotion? You will be in everything!
snavneet: Not exactly. A thirsty person will recognize the virtue of water even if there is no water around him. Then he will make maximum effort to find it. Once found, he will start drinking it and will feel more and more satisfied and ultimately will feel that all his thirst has been quenched and will no longer look for water. The process of looking for water requires focus and attention. If he is really thirsty then while looking for water if he sees a bag full of the most precious jewels, they will mean nothing to him. If his thirst is real then his search for water will be one-pointed. And he will keep looking for it unless he finds it. On similar lines, if we are really thirsty for salvation then our devotion will be one-pointed and if it is not then we will have to wait till our Vairaag (thirst) reaches a point where our entire focus rests on our target. Otherwise, even a little stone lying on the road will distract us. In the Mahabharata, do you think Arjun could have hit the eye of the fish with his arrow while looking at its reflection in the water, if the arrow of his mind was not one-pointed? And when the arrow hit the eye of the fish, was there any need to be one-pointed any longer? After the arrow hit its target, it would just have become a reason to celebrate. Do you think that once you unite with God you will need to be one-pointed on anything? What for? It would be the greatest reason for the most glorious jubilation! In God, you will find infinite peace, bliss, joy and ecstasy for eternity. One-pointedness will have no use for you any longer. It is required before the goal is achieved when you are trying to hit the eye of the fish!
I hope this really helps! 
Bhul Chukk Dee Khima Mangdaa Haan.
