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So I just got back from Gurdwara and I had an interesting experience I feel like I should share. While sitting at langar, a singh came around to serve some food and seeing that I was gora and such, he promptly introduced himself, struck up a quick conversation, and shook my hand. To those of you who grew up in Gurdwara this may not seem like a big deal, but I can promise you this gesture means so much to an outsider. It honestly quit bothering me quite some time ago, but the insular nature of desis can be a bit jarring at first. I think this is even the case with other desis coming to gurdwara... people just tend to ignore them if they don't already know them. I think this is just as valuable a form of sewa as serving langar, if not more so. So if you are serving langar and see a new face, brown or white, be a gentleman/lady and kindly introduce yourself. I promise it will make quite an impression. *sorry mods, this should probably go in general*

Guru Ji, Mai Tera Joga I am worthy only of You Guru Ji In each Sikh’s life there comes a time when he realizes he is only worthy of Guru Ji, no one else. It is common for us to think that because we are full of sins, we are not worthy of Guru Ji but Guru Ji through Bhai Joga Singh Ji teaches us otherwise. Bhai Joga Ji teaches us to serve Guru Ji, to learn from our mistakes and to never forget what we are worthy of. Everyone has their own ways of serving Guru Ji and they are all correct if done with a pure heart. Bhai Joga Ji stayed with Guru Ji and served him in person, I serve him through my writings. It gives me so much pleasure to write about Sikhi because I learn so much about Guru Ji and Sikhism. Each writing is a lesson to me, a reminder of what Sikhism is all about. I had begun to write purely for myself and it grew to something that I write for anybody that wants to read. As it grew, it became a seva and I had to be more careful as to what I write, so that I never write anything disrespectful about Sikhism or Guru Ji. Sometimes when I write, I get praised and that praise builds ego within. When you do seva, sometimes you are filled with much pride and ego. That was the case with Bhai Joga Singh Ji when he left his wedding to go back to Guru Ji but then on the way decided to stop at a prostitute’s home as a way to reward himself. And that was my case this weekend, I had been writing a lot and thought I deserved to take a break and go to a concert against the advice of the Gursikhs in my life. So to the concert I went, filled with ego for being so good and trying to follow Sikhi. I had dressed in my best clothes and tied my favorite turban…everything was perfect. The concert started with me in the second row, wondering if Gurdas Mann would notice the only turbaned girl in the room. I sat all filled with pride and ego. Then magic happened and Guru Ji intervened. Just like Guru Gobind Singh Ji had stood guard at the Prostitute’s home to scare Bhai Joga Ji away from making the mistake, he came to stand guard for me. Not even one song in, my view got ruined by a couple that came and sat in the front row. The whole time this couple was acting in a very non-sikh way and non-punjabi way. The whole time I ended up watching them and thinking what am I doing here. So like Bhai Joga Ji was stopped by Guru Ji from going in, I was stopped from watching the concert and being filled with ego. Guru Ji broke my ego in a sweet way, just like Guru Ji did with Bhai Joga Singh Ji. With Bhai Joga Ji, he told him that he was at guard himself and made him realize what a mistake he was about to make. With me he showed me the wrong of my going to the concert, against the wishes of Gursikhs. The concert was wrong I realized because of the type of Sangat it surrounded me with. Every time I would look up I would see the couple, not the singer. Every time I would look around me I would see people pointing at the couple and laughing or I would see the drunks. I eventually ended up closing my eyes doing simran and asking for Waheguru Ji’s forgiveness for not listening to the Gursikhs. And as I sat there I realized Guru Ji wasn’t trying to make me feel bad or guilty. That’s not what Guru Ji does, he just loves. Guru Ji in his loving manners stops us from making mistakes; we just have to ask him to do so. I had asked Guru Ji to help me become a good Gursikh and avoid things that would be a hindrance in the process. Guru Ji did not block my view; he opened my eyes to see the stuff around me that my ego was blocking out. I will not be attending any more concerts in the future because I am no longer blinded by the ego within me. Guru Ji opened the eyes of Bhai Joga Singh Ji and he realized he was joga (worthy) just of Guru Ji. Guru Ji is slowly opening my eyes and making me realize my true worth. I hope one day soon with no ego or pride, I can truly say I am worth only Guru Ji. I would recommend every Sikh read Sikh history along with Gurbani as it opens our eyes to much around us. With our eyes open we can see the lessons Guru Ji is trying to teach us.

GurFateh Jee The main reason why Sikhi seems so beautiful is because its simple and has logical meanings! The thing that got me into Sikhi is listening to Keertan, going to Simran/Keertan Rehansbhais etc...Also, reading baani like Jaap Sahib was an all time favourite prior to me receiving Amrit...Baani and Keertan got me hooked onto sikhi and maharaaj Kirpa will stay like this too!!! With His Kirpa, ive also started wearing my banaa at home which for me is a big thing and for my family! Vahegurooo!!

The article doesn't look like it was well researched. Major Sanghera a Muslim? The Mosque handing out free food? Some of the sheds tend to be badly constructed but most that I have seen are well built with cavity walls and insulation and double glazed. What the article doesn't tell you is that Ealing council's housing stock is swamped by Somalis. They come to the UK with about 5-7 kids and the father lies that he is separated from his wife so that the council has to house him separately. Because none of them work, they get free housing, health care and benefit payments. As they are treated as being two households by the benefits system they get higher rates of benefits. But the poor faujis because they are illegals don't get anything from the system but contribute to the local economy when they spend money in the local shops. Ealing council makes money as these sheds now have to registered for council tax which for the lowest band is about £800 a year. The council are cashing in, they have no incentive to enforce when they are benefiting from these developments. It is only because central government has given a cash pot to the councils to take enforcement action. One prosecution in a year, what a joke.

totally agree..need to become more inclusive

http://manvirsingh.blogspot.com/2011/10/fake-encounters-uncovered.html

Really good! This is what I wrote on the same sakhi on March 19 2009 last year. I don't have the capability to interpret Gurbani. I can put forward just my worthless thoughts. This shabad is extremely cooling, and so I shall attempt to think about only a few panktees in this shabad which are really thought provoking. ਸਹਜੇ ਸਹਜਿ ਖਿਲਾਇਦਾ ਨਹੀ ਕਰਦਾ ਆਲਕ ॥ sehajae sehaj khilaaeidhaa nehee karadhaa aalak || Slowly and steadily, He feeds me; He never fails. This is so soothing, so calming. It is like an answer to most of our anxieties and frustrations. At times we demand things from Vaheguru, and we want them right away! Here Gurujee says that we are fed "slowly and steadily". A mother knows how much her infant can take in. She feeds him/her accordingly, in small spoonfuls. The other thing is "He never fails". Its not that Vaheguru is not capable of giving us what we are asking for. Its just that He knows best when to give us, what to give us, how to give us and how much to give us. He never fails at that. also, if He doesn't give us something, it probably means that either we are not ready to receive it, or probably we don't deserve it, or maybe its not appropriate for us. Maybe we deserve a lot more, so He isn't giving us just the bit that we want. SatGuru Ji never gives His Sikh anything that is bad for the Sikh, even if the Sikh demands it repeatedly. On certain instances, if we are being stubborn, SatGuru Ji gives us a small mere bite of what we want. That is also done just to wake us up that its not good for us. He saves us even then, and just in time! ਅਉਗਣੁ ਕੋ ਨ ਚਿਤਾਰਦਾ ਗਲ ਸੇਤੀ ਲਾਇਕ ॥ aougan ko n chithaaradhaa gal saethee laaeik || He does not remind me of my faults; He hugs me close in His embrace. I am not sure if "ਚਿਤਾਰਦਾ" means to remind. I thought it means "to keep in mind", "to consider", etc. However, this pankti is another huge solace, a big consolation and encouragement that SatGuru Ji doesn't look at our faults. And not only that, He hugs us tightly! Our human associates (family, friends etc.) may or may not accept us if we make mistakes. If they do, at some point of time they do think about our faults, and may even hurt us by reminding us about them. This also reminds me of Bhai Joga Singh's sakhi. Dasmesh Pita didn't yell at him for what he was going to do. Rather, Maharaj still showered him with love, which brought Bhai Joga Singh to tears. Guru pyaareyo, this is the kind of Guru we have! He doesn't yell, He doesn't scold, He smiles. And that smile is so forgiving, that it brings us down to our knees, it makes us fall at His feet. Even if He gets annoyed with us, that is also His way of showing love. That is also His love. ਮੁਹਿ ਮੰਗਾਂ ਸੋਈ ਦੇਵਦਾ ਹਰਿ ਪਿਤਾ ਸੁਖਦਾਇਕ ॥ muhi ma(n)gaa(n) soee dhaevadhaa har pithaa sukhadhaaeik || Whatever I ask for, He give me; the Lord is my peace-giving father. The term "ਮੁਹਿ ਮੰਗਾਂ" literally means whatever that comes to my mind and I ask for it. Can you imagine the extent of His love, His mercy? ANYTHING that comes to your mind, He GIVES it to you! He gives it unconditionally! No matter what it costs! The Kashmiri Pandits came asking for help, for shelter, for mercy. He went to the extent of sacrificing His physical body just so that they could live. Did He ask them to become Sikhs? Did He ask them to build temples in His name? Did He say that you people can't reach God if you don't follow me? NO! He did NOT expect them even to thank Him! His sacrifice was unconditional. He didn't ask for ANYTHING in return. He gave them EXACTLY what they wanted. He gave them THE BEST that they could get. And He gave it all without expecting anything back, without any promises from their side. This is the extent to which our SatGuru Ji can go when we ask something, and when He gives us something. Let us never ever doubt the simratha of such a SatGuru!

guru's banni !! it's beautifull !!

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa! Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!! i come from a family, who for now, have forgotten( very badly forgooten) guru sahib maharaj. But, ever since i was a little kid, guru maharaj had kirpa, did naam simran and sang praises of god since 5 years old, and i loved him very much. But sadly, i didnt know what was sin, how to live in maryada, as no one guided me. Well, i was wrong. Satguru guides us all. I read a book when i was 10( started getting into reading), and i leraned abour sikhi. So, that second, guru maharaj showed me the path to mukhti. I stopped all the sins, with guru jes kirpa, and started my practice for amrit. I practiced for round a year, then took khanda je pahul and with satguru maharaj i learned sikh history, how to read gurbani, gatka, etc. I started waking up at 2 am and reading 5 bani, doing 3 hours of naam simran, sometimes almost fainting, and then doing asa di vaar and sukhmani sahib paat. Then in evining, after school, i would do my work, play, and do sukhmani sahib, rehareass sahib, naam simran, and at night kirtan sahila. I felt so close to guru je. No all thats on my mind is guru maharaj and vaheguru. I find eternal peace at tgurughar, and am gonna build a seperate house for guru je, where i can have their darshan everyday. I just wish that the guru sahib granted sikhi always remains with me, and may my head go, but never my sikhi. May satguru have kirpa Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa! Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!! this is a story about a kid just shows that guru jes kirpa can do anything bhul chuk maf

vaaheguru ji ka khalsa vaaheguru ji ki fateh i've been trying to get a copy of undithi duniya too, but whichever stall person I ask, they say all the copies have been sold. This book must really be awesome! How did I get into Sikhi? Well, once I was searching for Malkit Singh's bhangra tracks on napster and when I couldn't find anything new, I just took Malkit off and did a search with the word Singh. The first file which showed up was that of Dhan Dhan Baba Jernail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindrawale!! I don't know why I even clicked on that file, but when it got done downloading, I just bursted out into tears. And then daas found the websites: akj.org and akj.org.uk. I downloaded some tracks of Bhai Harpreet Singh ji of Canada without knowing that he was a good kirtani or not as I had no sense of what the files would be like. Those kirtan files gave daas a final blow of prem di teer of Satguru ji's Sikhi!! And luckily after some days daas came in contact with some Singhs associted with AKJ and I was amazed to see their prem for Sikhi and Rehit Maryada. And then I started attending a local simran program which was being organized mostly by Singhs associted with AKJ and dang!, the simran just shook me! It was so chardi kaala. Luckily after getting into Sikhi daas's local town had an amrit sanchaar (this was before starting simran programs). So I took amrit over there and started doing Path and keeping Rehit. Only after doing all these things did I find out how practical Sikhi is. There are many of our brothers and sisters who think keeping sarbloh bebeaik and baana is just pakhand but i t really isn't, atleast from what I know. We only get to know the importance of such things after we start doing them. ok, continuing with the story, then daas got naam drir and it was just AWESOME to get it done from charde kaala vaale Singhs! Sikhi is really beautiful but we really cannot see the true Sikhi without actually practising it. Sarbloh, bebeaik/baana/naam simran/paath/santhea are all the things which will give us courage similar to that of Puraatan Singhs and Kaurs. I'm REALLY REALLY thankful to Guru Sahib for blessing me with the daat of Khande baate ki Pahul. I really think that I'm not worthy of being an Amritthaari, it was the vaadeae of Guru Sahib that he bestowed me with it! :D I LOVE GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D va aheguru ji ka khalsa vaaheguru ji ki fateh