My question is: do we continue with the PATH/PRAYER/JAPJI even if there is no connection?

Here’s a short twisted story to answer your question:

Once, the son returned home from his school and said to his father- “Dad, I could not concentrate the whole day. So, I didn’t understand what the teacher taught today.”

Father was progressive and intellectual too. He said- “Son, attending classes without concentration is merely a ritual, which is meaningless. Next time, go to school only if you can concentrate.”

Son followed the footstep of his progressive Dad and remained at home. He kept on waiting for the day when he would be giving full concentration to his studies. The day never came.
Son lived ‘happily’ forever along with his like-minded loafer friends.

Father contemplated on the gap and realized that he should have given some other advice on that day, something like this – “Son, it’s good you have guilt that you are not able to concentrate. Keep attending your classes religiously without fail. It becomes a fake ritual only, only when you are attending classes with the deliberate intention of ignoring, or if you are attending the wrong classes altogether.
Do not expect perfection, my dear Son. Learn from the Sikhs. They do their Nitnem daily. Most of them do not understand what they are reading. They too have the guilt of not being able to concentrate. This keeps them connected with Baani and their school of Sangat, which ultimately helps to understand Nitnem. Don’t let this guilt die in you, this will surely lead you to your destination, the way it has helped Sikhs all the way.”

Gurpreet Singh GP.