humkire

Dear bhenjee, all we ever need to focus is on looking beautiful for God and Gurujee. Real beauty is strength of character, how 'magical' you are, how at school or work place people look up to you because of how sharp, sober, balanced, clever, focussed, you are and all these qualities -'gunhs', come to you as you do amritvela jaap , nitnem etc etc. People will be attracted to you and fall in love with you , fancy you, want your company etc because are an awesome and amazing person. So you dont really need to look in the mirror and fuss about some little hair on your face. I worked in hotels many many years ago in my life and i realised one thing. The people with the most ''pretty '' or 'handsome' partners werent necessarily good looking themselves but they had qualities that drew such people to them. If you wear a nice keshkee, covered it with a nice dupatta , like snatan kaur etc and wore the rest of your clothes, had a sparkle in yur eyes and just looked peaceful and loving and relaxed thats more beautiful than i can say. Its lots of good qualities, skills, good education, experience, talents, hobbies, abilities, the ability to be well read and highly informed, that takes you places in life. This ought to be your focus. Be beautiful in God's Eyes. Thats what really counts.

hehe bhen amarjit kaur jee tusee sanu vee sudoko kheln dee jaach sekhao. i heard its good for making brain age younger.

ISingh123 jee, i am happy your response is so positive. Keep sharing with us how you feel, what you are considering, how things are making sense so we know how to answer and help you more. Always here for you . Some people who have answered you here like Amarjit Kaur are very very inspiring Sikhs who you can even message in private on here who will help you on a 1 to 1 basis.

To help you from a medical point of view , more facts are needed e.g 1) what medication have you been taking recently especially flu medications 2) whether you ever had any form of epilepsy/seizures/convulsions 3) when was the last you took( if u ever have)alcohol or any drugs, 4) your age 5) whether any tests have ever been done on electrical discharge in the brain 5) when was the last you took a sight test and the results 6) at what stage of your sleep do you get this deja vu-early, middle, or b4 waking up 7) whether u take any statins 8) do you get deja vu only during sleep or daytime too 9) does it affect your breathing, any panic attacks, any feeling to vomit, any palpitations, memory loss , sense of colour, 10) any stress in your life . You can post this information to me privately and i will assess it with a specialist, or alternatively write down all these 10 questions and their detailed answers and see your gp and show it to him because he will need to see those answers to make a quick assessment (among other things) to work out the way forward. He may recommend some neurological tests etc. Apart from that, all the stuff from dreams is best ignored and focus on amritvela simran even if its only for 15-30 minutes any time during the night but on a daily basis. A life packed with gurbani, simran , satsang , sewa , etc is the best guarantee for good overall health.

In a way, I kinda understand exactly, where you are coming from, because when i was growing up, I was subjected to the exact interpretation of Sikhism you have mentioned week in week out by the local granthi whereby as you said ''''the ultimate achievent of prayer and meditation was to receive Darshan'' and ''there are a rare, select few in this world who have attained this status through their devotion''. Hence your dissappointments, disillusionment, and confusions with personalities of those you look up to. This was a view very much propounded by the business community(phape,aroras) gurudwaras in the 60s/70s/80s and propped up by the nanakseria tradition whereby the goal of being a Sikh was to ultimately get enlightened by a real life vision/visitation by Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh, Waheguru etc etc. Getting a divine visitation out of the blue is also the main aim of mysticism in most, if not all religions. However, my lifelong journey has taught me that 1)Sikhi is not about an existence purposed on some in- flesh or magical 'out of the blue from thin air' darshan that 'I' am a sikh for, as if without this darshan my life would be meaningless and of less quality 2) that Sikhi is not about hero worshipping anyone no matter how great they are, and that the only hero worship to indulge is of our Gurus. I can however derive inspiration from the life and works of wonderful Sikhs through the centuries and decades. In Raag Sarang , panna 1226, SGGS, Guru Arjan Dev Maharaj clearly stated ''pothee parmeshwar ka thau''m i.e Shree Guru Granth Sahib is the abode and dwelling place of God. For a humble Sikh this is all that counts and gives ultimate joy without ''demanding'' more. Our 10 Gurus have bestowed SGGS to us as our living Guru to guide us and bless us, and the presence of God almighty is in SGGS. As long as we can do even that and receive Amrit ka Pahul and live in rehnee behnee kehnee sehnee as Sikhs, we are sorted. Sikhi.... as we live day by day waking up in amritvela then living a life of naam dan ishnan and sewa simran and satsang, etc works wonders in our life, gradually through attrition removing our ego, duality, tri-gun maya based existence, and making us beautiful gurmukhs described in gurbani as swans and tulips. Sikhi transforms us into sant sipahis without necessarily being called or recognised as a ''sant'' . And there are countless Sikhs who live a humble life of getting up early, doing nitnem and simran, beholding SGGS as God and Guru incarnate. living in rehat, looking after their families, working hard, sharing what they got, serving the community , etc . They are blessed Sikhs from whom i draw my day to day inspiration. Such beautiful Sikhs are always around but they dont dress or call themselves 'sants' and they are the ordinary looking people you meet in a gurudwara whom you may dismiss as being 'normal ordinary folks'. One of the greatest inspirations of my life was a very very ordinary Sikh bibi who had a load of children and a husband given to drink and the sort. They lived in abject poverty as my neighbours. This bibi would not let her family and her husband's bad ways affect her Sikhi. She had taken Amrit, wore a lovely small keshkee and was a quiet humble person who never gossiped , grumbled about her circumstances or talked manmat. Every morning at around 4, she would be up singing shabads loudly like ''tu mera pita'' etc. Then she would do simran, nitnem etc, and then make parathas and tea for the family and wake them up. In my books, that was a very blessed Sikh, more than any preacher i met. Wisdom will tell you to live humbly and to be content with the darshan of Satgur Maharaj in Shri Guru Granth Sahib. If God wants to give you anything 'more' thats His business, but not your asking. A Sikh is a humble person who wants to give not take, share not grab. Infact a Sikh is just a humble beggar at God's door always begging for Naam. Countless verses in SGGS point to this fact. As you live a life of Sikhi you become a jeewan mukt, a marh-jiwearh who through the wisdom of SGGS has understood that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. This is the true mysticism of Sikhi, not some craving for God to appear luminously before you like a fireworks display. In raag dhanashree , its clearly stated all eyes are God's eyes and all forms God's forms. SGGS does not make you ''wait'' endlessly for a mystical darshan. On the contrary , SGGS from the word go starts opening your eyes so u start 'understanding' , knowing and loving God the Creator and Architect of the universe and his wonderful presence and mysterious ways and perfectness. SGGS starts making you see the Command/Hukum/Order of God in operation throughout all of creation, and helps you 'bend' your will to be in sync with God's almighty Hukum. The God of Sikhism does not make you wait for His darshan, but rather makes you love those who come in your radar and serve them because He lives in them. What counts is to live for the sake of His majesty, to give your utmost for His Supreme Pleasure. The God of Sikhi makes you such a humble servant that you ask him nothing because you see yourself as a nobody and leave it to Him to feed you as and when He wants. All you ever beg is for Him to keep you . All you desire is to surrender to Him. Focus on this, rather than on personalities. People can look blessed, be great preachers, but so what. What they are, only God knows. Your job is to derive inspiration from other Sikhs but stay focussed on being a humble Sikh of Gurujee. Then no matter what happens to whom, you will never falter or get confused. Gurbani says the only perfect one is Satguru. ''man kyeo bairag karega, satgur mera pura''. Dont keep waiting for darshan. Rather,do your prayers knowing and remembering that God/Guru is with you always. A gurmukh develops his spiritual life by knowing and understanding that God/Guru is always with him 24/7. ''guru mere sang sedha hai nale' and ''hai hazuur, duur kat nahe''. Focus on amrit vela and in time slowly by slowly, you will be enveloped by the presence of God. If you please God, God is perfectly capable of speaking through you, using you as His servant, and making you aware of His sweet presence and give you many more goodies that you cannot even imagine.

sorry if ''vahegurujikifateh'''s words hurt. In God's eyes we are ALL god's beloved ''kids'', me, you and the guy who called you a kid. Of course, all those wonderful people who have been giving you lovely tips as to how to get close to Sikhism, think of you as a wise and lucky person in somehow getting interested in Sikhism. There are a lot of misguided 'unlucky' people in this world who make the wrong choices in their life and end up hurting. I consider those who find interest in Sikhism as being unique. What he was trying to say was, not to stay confused and delay things till you are in your late 20s-30s. That is understandable because why do we want to delay eating something tasty, or buy something that is useful to us. I have a friend who makes electronic music for which he has a studio( btw he is a white norwegian who has been through a lot of suffering and pain, alcohol and drugs etc. Sikhism has helped him overcome all these and he is a very peaceful person today, with a beautiful new Sikh name, Deepak Singh, deepak meaning a lamp of light). The moment the new itouch player was being sold, he bought it immediately because it had dj and music making apps. Likewise, as in your own words, you have been through lots of stuff, hence here is a great chance through Sikhism to rise up like an albatross. There are many very wonderful Sikhs on here who have replied to you who would make very good and loving friends you could talk to privately about Sikhism and who have offered to meet you to help you clear your confusion, if you go through their replies.

Hey Carl you shouldnt worry about the turban and beard and let that be a hurdle. These things come naturally as one transforms into Sikh. Everything does not happen over night, well for some it does. Sikhism is not a conditional mental exercise of ...look like this then you can be a Sikh. Sikhism is a beautiful way of thinking, talking and acting that slowly envelops your soul and guides you into a new healthy lifestyle and way of looking and presenting yourself. Sikhism is to lead a life guided by the Higher Power that constitutes the real you. There are a number of 'white' people i am connected to in my life, who are very inspired by the lifes of of many many many wonderful Sikhs, and like you, have started taking an interest in Sikhism. In oxford university there is a white american girl doing her PH D who became like a sister to me a few years ago. She started to chant Waheguru every morning, then started to read the SHREE GURU GRANTH SAHIB online line by line, then started to go to gurudwaras and infact because she is very independent minded, she hardly even asks my help anymore but everytime i meet her, she is a step closer to Sikhism. Another white english girl i know has given up drinking alcohol and talking drugs(which were messing her brain) and has found strength in chanting and reading about the lifes of the Sikh Gurus.The list of examples i can give you is inexhaustive. A Sikh is a 'learner' and we are all at varying degrees of our learning. My advice is to seek out Sikh friends on this site with whom you can hang out and learn stuff. So if you share the town/ city you live in, there would be Sikhs on this site who would be willing to meet you, be your friend,show you around some Sikh gurudwaras, take you to a Sikh bookshop and converse with you. You would find this great fun because Sikhs generally are very very sincere, faithful , lifelong and genuine friends and will invite you over for food, and adopt you as their own brother. Likewise, you will find a Sikh gurudwara a great place to visit because they are filled with beautiful music and real tasty vegeterian food served free. Sikhs are also relaxed people and you will not find that you are being 'forced' to convert. Sikhism is about stumbling across truth, the truth about yourself, others, the universe, and God. Infact as we are speaking, there is a young white guy in birmingham who has started working in my friends shop. This guy's life is pretty messed up but my friend is a wonderful Sikh guy always blossoming, cheered up and focussed. This white guy told my friend ''I want to be like you''. Hence my friend is guiding him to come out of all his troubles and introducing him to the Sikh lifestyle which is making this guy become bubbly and begin to take an interest in his life, studies etc. You mentioned about it being a 'big' step. Actually its not. To the things we like which are good for us, we take small and steady meaningful steps, like the ones i have mentioned. This will clear your confusion. Confusion is when you confront yourself with big decisions unnecessarily. Becoming a sikh should not be such an experience. Its about making sikh friends, reading about Sikhism, visiting gurudwara, getting to understand things, going to a Sikh youth camp etc, trying out new things, etc. This is all great fun. After all life is about getting out of your comfort zone, exploring and discovering new things to enhance your human experience.

Wah! This is great news! More research showing Gurujee even travelled to such far off places as Uganda in Africa. As Bhai Gurdas says ''cherea sodhan dharat lokai'' i.e Gurujee arose to reform the darkness of the world. Now all we have to do is to follow our Gurujee's example and reveal Sikhi to the world, rather than keep it to ourselves. Gurbani says ''khavoh kherchoh ral milh bhai. tot na aveh.....'' i.e enjoy,consume, spend and share this gift of Gurujee of which there is no shortage. Sikhi is infinite. If all the people on this planet i.e more than 6 billion became Sikhs, there will so much unending more of Sikhi, to even fly to the other planets in the billions of galaxies where there is life abundant, and share it there! From around thirty or earlier onwards, Guru started his travels. In contrast, nowadays, when we are reaching thirty, all we want to do is to be baptised Sikhs with a good job, get married, have a couple of kids, get a mortgage, a house with a garden , and buy a car to fit in with the norms of being Sikh and middle class..... and of course do nitnem every morning , go to gurudwara, do plenty of sehaj and akhand paths, maybe belong to a jethabandhi and fuss and fret about cooking, shopping and maryada..... and hope to live happily ever after. Its all about ''aap''.As sweet and safe as this sounds, its bereft of an innermost desire to ''aap japeh, avreh naam jepaveh''. Ocassionally, some rare Sikh somewhere takes on a desire to give up a full time job, do a couple of years granthi training and then serve in various gurudwaras around the world, like Gyani Sawinder Singh from Malaysia who is in New Zealand now or some ragi jethas and parcharaks who do tours. Again this is usually confined to punjabee Sikhs wherever they go. We have got acclimatised to regarding this as the 'norm'. Even the international migration of Sikhs outwards from Punjab has done little to help us bring Sikhi to the communities within which we have migrated be it Canada or Australia. Our excuse?.. to each his/her own. I hope this article posted by singh_soldier inspires us to act otherwise and be more effective ambassadors of Guru. As much as we are proud of Sikhi and condemn those who hurt or attack Sikhi in any way, we need to have a conviction that Sikhi indeed is God's answer to the human suffering we see and feel today in all parts of this planet, and gear ourselves into action. This is the real challenge facing the Sikh youths of today and tomorow as the flagbearers of Sikhi.

Thats sweet. To have emphasised on bismad , 'sikhi sikhiya gur vichar ' and nimarta as starting points to introduce Sikhism to others. This provides openings to talk about sewa, equality, human brotherhood etc. You could have added another sentence on bismad by drawing an example from Asa ki // in the section where Gurujee keeps using the word bismad bismad as He sees nature. This also ties in with God as the Divine Creator-Designer-Architect-Engineer, which then helps introduce Sikhism as a scientific religion that recognises and does not dismiss the physical laws that govern the creation, expansion, operation and dissolution the universe(as part of God's hukum and construction of the maya-matrix) and promotes inquiry and research into evolution, microbiology, astral physics etc. May Gurujee bless your son Balraj Singh to grow up to be a proper chardikela Sikh, deriving great bal from all powerful Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj. We look forward to your future installments. Keep promoting Sikhi. Guru ang sang.

Welcome one, welcome all to Sikhism, the path that unveils and connects you to the Reality of the Universe without subjecting you to become an extremist, terrorist, or fanatic living in hatred of others and segregating yourself in some belief that makes you look down on others. Sikhism, the path towards loving and serving God and all of His creation. The path without an old angry God waving at you 10 commandments, forcing you to circumcise, or dance in frenzy around some idol, or chant some empty mantra endlessly, or sit before a new age 'guru' in the hope that he winks at you to get you 'high', or believe in virgins birthing someone who has to die for your sins. The God of Sikhism is the Cosmic Architect and Divine Engineer of all of creation. Sikhism, the path that promotes equality, democracry, freedom of choice and liberation from tyranny as well as care for the environment, personal responsibility and compassion to all. Sikhism the path that makes the living Word of Reality as your personal Guide that helps you escape the matrix. Sikhism the path that opens your eyes, and helps you get into sync and harmony to the reason and purpose for your existence. Sikhism the path that helps you realise the fullness of your human potential, helps you overcome your fears and rise above your limitations. Sikhism the path that helps you rise above sin and virtue and the stranglehold of karmas upon the journey of your soul. Sikhism.... that which delivers your lost wandering soul back home.

I now have had time to go through the sikh chic website and the I.J Singh stuff. Again like the gobind sadan thing running in another post on here this is another choc a bloc situation of trying to appear contemporary and relevant and interfaith by bringing in all kinds of essays and quotes from elsewhere and it confuses rather than enlightens readers about simple sikhi. I do not understand why we cannot just focus on Sikhi in a straightforward way, and how to be in chardkilela and share Sikhi with the world so such kind of websites do not appear to be trying to blend in westernism with Sikhi. Sikhi is about getting close to Gurujee , to be practical and transform our life through gurbani, the lifes of our Gurus, and to filled with Gurugyan. Sikhi is not about trying to second guess intellectually, whether or not our Gurus experienced pain and suffering, in order to ''humanise'' them to justify their ability to identify with the human experience, in order that we feel more psychologically sure that our Gurus understand us! That is just so long winded and unnecessary. This deflects attention from the bigger role the Guru shaheedis play, emphasises the needs of our ego and questions our faith in the omniscience of our Gurus, which ought to be the basic premise of our faith in our Gurujees. All i see in that site is a lot of theory, poor attempts at intellectualisation of Sikhi and efforts to make Sikhi look very presentable and appealing. What the youths of today and tomorow need is not that but to know 1)the history of our Gurus and of martyrs and Sikhi 2) how to read , write and understand gurbani and do kirtan 3) how to live as a chardikela Sikh and the beautiful lifestyle, psyche, mindset and values of a Sikh. This requires an upfront, not mumbo jumbo approach. Always keep things simple and straight and you will reach somewhere. More you engage in mind boggling exercises and theories, this will distract us from the basic things like getting up at amritvela and doing simran and nitnem and focussing on sewa and parchar which ought to be our focus.

The most interesting bit, has been missed out because that translation in its aim to limit itself to the definition of God cut out on 'gurprasad ' after explaining 'ajoonee '' and ''saibhang'' and went straight on to ''aad sach.....'' In fact gurprasad HAS to be included, if not such a God would be omnipresent, onmiscient, omnipotent etc but not accessible. The word Gurprasad in mulmantar authoritatively qualifies the fact that such a supreme Master Creator of the universe who is inimical to none, is infact accessible to His creatures through Guru, the manifestation of that aspect of God's 'personality' by which Gurujee through shabad/naam/amrit/grace connects us in surrender to God. Wah! 'gurprasad ' is a very exciting aspect of the 'personality' of God because it means God the KING is not leaving us on our own to just look at Him hopelessly without any means to 'touch' our Maker and Creator. At the word Gurprasad the dice is rolled towards us, the string is hung down from heaven, a Divine Hand is extended to us to put our finger on Gurujee's holy finger to begin our Sikhi journey to be lifted up into heaven so we can kiss and worship the Lotus Feet of our Lover, His Majesty, God the Divine Husband. Sikhi is birthed with gurprasad. How awesome is that!

,My advise is to stay close to 'nirol' or mainstream Sikhi for which there are plenty of 'normal' gurudwaras etc one can go to. The Gobing Sadan website shows things like a big complex where there is a gurudwara, but a few feet away, a havan or fire place around which you sit and whose ashes have supposed magical properties, then nearby too a statue of Jesus where a spring washes his feet perpetually and then water of this spring too has some magical properties , etc etc, and a mosque nearby etc etc. It shows some punjabee or Sikh looking women lighting some candles at the exact spot where jesus apparently appeared to and met baba virsa . This is more of a choc a bloc confusion of a medley of faiths rather than some intelligent interfaith stuff. Proper interfaith is about dialogue leading to religious tolerance, as our Gurujee's did by preaching that God's light is in all , that all humans are one family and that in all heterogenuity is the one presence of the Divine. Gurujee did not go about constructing mosques, churches and havans inches away from Harmandir Sahib to 'promote' interfaith and prove Sikhism is a religion of tolerance. It is a normal thing for a Naam chanting, chardikela Sikh to receive divine visions of past prophets and saints etc but we dont start lighting candles at the site and encourage others to do so. Infact , such a vision is best kept as a private secret between man and God. Also Gurujee didn't go around trying to prove and show or boast of themselves as some great interfaith missionaries or leaders by trying to celebrate all the hindu, muslim and christian festivals as happens in gobind sadan if you check their website. In Sikhi we are encouraged to celebrate gurpurabs as per maryada. We have to follow the examples set by our Gurujee's. As Sikhs, our mandate is to live in Sikhi, be in chardikela and be a beacon of hope to all human beings, shower everyone around us with love and compassion, and to preach Naam Dharam to everyone in our life, letting anyone in our radar know of the greatness of the House of Guru Nanak, and bring Shree Guru Granth Sahib to this broken world of conflict, pain , poverty and sorrow.

And to you! my pyare Guru sevareh, Mehtab Singh Jee, and all your loved ones including those on this site hehe, hopefully me too! haha.

In Sikhism, theory is practicalised and given a living shape. Where Gurujee has pointed out that we aint just flesh, blood , brains and bones comprising mainly of fluid but within us is a soul, there Gurujee has given us plenty of advice as to how to nurture this soul to get it out of the matrix. This constitutes the crux of gurmat and is at the core of the important Amrit Pahul we receive to be 'baptised' Sikhs. The Amrit pahul we receive kickstarts a process of 'rehabilitation ' of the soul to make it worthy of surrender and approval at the Door of God in due course as the soul gets soaked in the Divine Nectar of Guru Gobind Singh. People without knowledge of either God and, or, the soul tend to operate at the brain level talking and thinking based upon their intelligence, education, exposure, experience, intuition and awareness of things, this then comprising the levels of their maturity and wisdom, upon which they base their decisions. A gurmukh however has an animated/activated soul within, through which the ominiscient super intelligent, super aware, spirit of God guides such a person. The soul starts reflecting in due course the higher wisdom of God in all situations, and an insight unparalled by intuition. This is because the spirit of God knows past, present and future , i.e 'kal trehdersee''. The soul becomes a million watt lightbulb shining in that person. This is the exciting bit because it means this activated god-soul within helps us to think, speak and do beyond the normal human means. We no longer operate as computers with a small working memory. We become like super computers . Wisdom flows out of a gurmukh beyond his/her belief and knowledge, like the juice of a mango squirts when squeezed. The perhaps not so exciting bit is that none of this usually happens by being complacent. A Sikh has to do his/her homework and ... lots of it because this soul has got used to some stubborn lazy ways that have made it rigid, inflexible and predictable. This homework involves reading a lot of gurbani regularly with understanding to help us recarve our thinking and polish our soul like an uncut diamond needing plenty of grinding. Likewise, a lot of simran so this soul can be bathed in the power and presence of God and start dripping with juicy Amrit i.e God's nectar or juice. However, all our efforts are not alone thankfully. Sikhi brings to us a very important core ingredient vital for our success in our endeavours to let the hidden fragrance be released. This is Guru's grace. Gurujee out of love and kindness grants us his parshad /grace to guide us and help usalong, to give us Naam 24/7 . And ultimately as we continue we slowly become transformed into the ultimate goal of the soul , i.e to be a saint soldier, forever worshipping the Lotus Feet of Gurujee. And as this process continues we become living angels of hope in a lonely dark world of billions of unhappy people.

The tendency to look down on some, and look up to others is an integral part of the materialistic or manmat human personality. It finds its expression in every society and age through all sorts of manifestations. In our Guru's immediate geographic Hinduistic surroundings, as is pointed out above, this compulsion festered and sustained itself through religion backed casteism. In today's society even among sikhs, we find caste rearing its head as people define themselves as ramgharias, jats, etc. In other societies, it takes form as class. The rich and famous moving up to become upper class, and the uneducated and poor spiralling down to be the lower classes. In the west... celebrities, great musicians, models, footballers, film stars, billionaires , politicians, academics, bankers, media tycoons etc are celebrated, worshipped and adored while people living on benefits, earning meagre salaries, living in poor/high crime / alcohol and drug addiction areas are frowned upon. In many societies woman are looked down upon. in others fairer is better. Nowadays people look down upon those from another religion as being inferior , and even within one religion, people can look down on each other. In many countries immigrants are looked down upon. This only creates a broken, disunited society where individuals and groups create boundaries around themselves, isolating themselves, and hating others. Almost all the conflicts around the world, violence and terrorism have their root in this kind of divisive mindset. It is also the root cause of discrimination. It is destructive behaviour leading to puffing up of ego in some, and depressive behaviour in others. Gurujee's message thus reaches out not just to hindus but to all peoples in the decades to come to never entertain such a mindset. Within Sikhi, Gurujee initiated langar and pangat so all people can learn once again how to sit together and eat as a family. Every sikh male's name stops at singh and for females at kaur. Those who are rich and famous are not to be adored but warned that what they own is due to past karma , and their actions in this life may be catapulting them straight into a future hell. Likewise those who are disadvantaged, left behind, etc are to be thoroughy helped , loved and cared for tenderly to get them on their feet. Hence as Sikhs we need to do a lot of soul searching. Are we being sharp in identifying racism, sexism, bullying, discrimination, segregation wherever it occurs in society and standing up against it in Khalsa spirit. Do we go beyond our cocoons and involve ourselves in community projects to help the poor and disadvantaged of any race or are we just happy to be an isolated self reliant self sustaining community only good in looking after itself. Do we at school, colege and university make friendships with people of all races, colours and sex in order to be the 'living saint soldiers' amongst them always accessible when they need our love, care, advice and nurture. Do we look at famous people and adore them or look at them as beggars at the door of God. If you met barack obama , sarkozy, gordon brown would you say wow and freeze or just see them as fellow human beings worthy of a smile from you and strong gurmat advice . A sikh is a fearless human being who can tell off a prime minister but kiss a leper. A sikh is a ''samdrsee'' who looks at all as being the same and God's light in all. Guru Nanak Dev Jee identified himself with the lowest of the low and at the heart of Sikhism is an order to cultivate utter humbleness. Sometimes our material success in all the countries we have migrated to , makes us look as upper class people. We wear sharp pointed starched turbans, look regal and rich in our suits and jewellery, make up and silk clothes etc and drive in posh cars, live in classy houses , go to gurudwara every sunday,and identify ourselves as Sikhs. We look at blacks and whites as 'others' and want to have the minimum to do with them . Mind you this is a very subtle form of casteism. A true Sikh may be a fearless warrior, but will look humble, loving and caring always smiling at anyone coming within his/her radar. A true Sikh may be a warrior but on a day to day basis has all the markings of, and walks and talks like a saint. A true Sikh will want to touch anyone in trouble or pain and inwardly pray to God to help that person. Is your life centred around your education, family, work, house and car only or do you receive phone calls from many non sikhs to visit them in hospital or for other problems. That is a good indicator as to what people out there think of you. Do you see a prostitute and look away in disgust or do you see in her a human sister with God's light in her, a person you could preach naam to. Do you meet someone you know on drug addiction or methadone and feel uncomfortable or do you stand there and try talking to that person and try to give good advice. Is Sikhi all trapped within you or does Sikhi emanate from you to whoever comes into your life or sit besides you on a bus. A Sikh is a mobile gurudwara on legs, an ambassador of Gurujee, a servant of the Lord, and as Bhai Nand Lal calls himself 'O Lal l is a dog of Guru Gobind Singh'

Our history is rooted in and around Punjab. However, Sikhi/Gurmat itself is Gurujee's ideology/teachings that has no physical boundaries. Gurmat was never meant to be confined to one physical space. That is why in the early days the centre of Sikhi moved with each Gurujee from Nankana to Khadur to Goindwal to Amritsar to Kiratpur to Patna to Anandpur. In these movements is locked a divine secret i.e ''sa dharat bhei hreeawli jitheh mera satgur betha aae''. Shree Guru Granth Sahib after being bestowed gurgaddi in Nanded is now practically in every country of the world. Wherever Gurujee goes and Sikhs go, that is supposed to become a centre of Sikhism , a place of worship, where Sikhism flourishes and spreads wide, like oil over water. While we can make a lot of effort to secure a physical space in Punjab called Khalistan, which the majority of us Sikhs support fervently given the GOI political scenario and anti -Sikh sentiments among the majority of Hindus that ''wakeupUK'' has articulated above, the fact remains that pre and post such Sikh independence, the biggest challenge we face is introducing Sikhi to the world. Someone earlier on, has said Sikhi is not a religion of conversion. This is not true. No where does SGGS say that the message of Sikhi is meant for a particular ethnic group in a particular physical area. Guru Nanak Dev as we know travelled far and wide and people converted out of their former religions to become the early sikhs called Nanak Panthis. Even the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Gurus opted out of hinduism to become Sikhs(before receiving gurgaddi). Guru Amardas in fact created 22 manjis i.e authorising 22 people amongst others to specifically preach Sikhism and spread the word of Sikhi among their local communities. The prime reason why Jahangir ordered the murder i.e the matrydom of Guru Arjan Dev was because hindus(amongst others) were converting to Sikhism in large numbers, alarming the muslims who wanted conversions to be to Islam. Its only after passing of Gurujeeship in human flesh, that subsequent generations of Sikhs started becoming complacent in spreading the message of Sikhi to others without any command to do so. Subsequently, we have slided towards becoming an introverted community engulfed by infighting and disputes. Today new oppurtunities present themselves because outward migration has resulted in Sikhs slowly spreading around the world. Wherever we have gone, generally we have gone with an economic agenda of starting a new life of economic and financial prosperity rather than seen ourselves as saint soldiers on a mission to spread Sikhi internationally. Well, that was then but the Sikh youths of today and tomorow have a choice. The choice is between a) allowing ourselves to get diluted and blend like melted butter into the majority population and lose our identity, or, b) try to maintain our numbers and gurudwaras wherever we are and fight off attempts to dwindle our numbers and faith, or, c)wake up as the Khalsa of our Guru and spread Sikhi to local populations wherever we are so our gurudwaras get packed with newly baptised Sikhs from all races. It would be a dream come true the day i could go to a gurudwara and see it packed with sikhs from all races, all worshipping the greatness and universality of SGGS. There is an inherent human need to know God,and an inherent human desire to be in chardikela . At present people are weary of the ability of islam to nurture and justify terrorism and people dont buy the argument of Jesus's strange birth and death. Likewise people find the strange mantras of buddhism rather obscure and the pantheon of hindu gods as characters from a mythical Harry Porter film. Hence this is the ripe time for us to sow the seeds of Sikhi. Look at tibetan buddhism. Do buddhists worry that if the chinese goverment nuked and killed the last remaining buddhist in tibet, that tibetan buddhism is finished. No! Why? Because the Dalai Lama's dharamsala has been actively and effectively marketing Tibetan Buddhism in the west in the last 20 odd years and setting up a network of buddhist organisations and centres. Even if India banned the Dalai Lama and Buddhism in india it will still survive because it has found sympathy and support in the west. Likewise Bahaism has been eradicated in Iran but instead has became a world wide movement with sprawling temples around the world and an international organisational structure. Khalistan we may get or not get . But spreading Sikhi is a goal we can start working for today. We need to move on from our mindsets that paralyse us from wanting to spread Sikhi . Our pride that our religion is democratic,universal, not gender-biased, modern, relevant, practical and scientific must translate itself into Sikhi parchar sewa done tirelessly.

Adding on to mehtab veerjee's point, every sikh has the potential of being a leader in his/her own right without needing a mandate or recognition from someone. Every time a person gets baptised, the power of Amrit is the same for that person compared to another baptised Sikh. Gurujee does not play favourites amongst those that receive Amrit. Its us not living up to what has been entrusted to us and required of us. Whether its yogi bajan, bhai sahib Randhir Singh, Sant Bindrawale, Sant Baba Nand Singh etc all their lifes showed that they just woke up and did sensibly the maximum they could for khalsa panth on a day to day basis out of sincerity, a sense of responsibility and humbleness without too much thinking and 'chatrai', casting their net as far out as they could to do maximum amount of parchar to the maximum number of people without fear and favour.

My earlier post was addressing the issue of unity which is fundamental for us to be effective in warding off threats to our panth be it sirsa, GOI or muslim guys making off with sikh girls in canada. The best long term measures in safeguarding the community's interests are education in gurmukhi and sikhi, and effective Sikh institutions. The aim should be that every Sikh child starts getting education in gurmukhi, gurbani, keertan etc well into the teenage years. A young guy or girl who is proud to be a Sikh, feels comfortable in reading and writing gurmukhi, and reading and understanding Gurbani, understands the history of sikhism and sikh shaheeds, feels at home in a gurudwara, understands sikhi, and feels very connected and proud to be a member of khalsa panth is very unlikely to ever want a non gurmukh as a partner or stray away to convert to other faiths. In muslim majority countries like Malaysia, where there has been a lack of such long term sustained sikhi education accessible to every child, frequent large scale youth samelans/youth camps have proven to be an effective instrument in ''catching '' those in their teenage/school/colege/university/early working adult years and ingraining Sikhi in them and a love for fellowship with other sikh youths. Likewise naujawan satsangs, sikh societies at schools, coleges and universities. In today's age, the use of facebook, twitter, instant messaging etc should be harnessed as well, to network sikh youths, apart from sikh websites specifically designed as ''catchment '' areas. The strategy is as simple as used in the american elections i.e who do I need to ''persuade'' or reach out, how do I make a connection with this person( or group) and then how do I''enlighten'' this person/group. The other sticky issue always tricky to resolve is how to reinvent existing sikh institutions like gurudwaras so they become effective instruments for parchar and reaching out and caring for local communities instead of being restricted to be used for religious functions, ceremonies and gurpurabs primarily in punjabi by sikh preachers from another generation or country who are not conversant with the local language or mindset. The big challenge is however even beyond this. This challenge is best posed as a question. Do I worry about dwindling punjabi Sikh numbers and how best to preserve them, or do I believe in the promise of Raj Karega Khalsa and set about making Sikhi as an option, a lifestyle choice amongst non Sikhs, so Sikhi will spread like wildfire wherever sikhs migrate. The advantage of this is that then we wont have to scratch our heads if a few ''dhileh'' sikhs here and there jump ship and we wont have to worry about muslim migration. The following serve as examples; 1) Sikhs migrated in the early 20th century in large numbers to Malaysia. There are loads of god hungry/god wanting chinese , thais, singaporeans/tamils /indonesians in that part of the world . Why has our obsession been with ourselves rather than spreading sikhi. In this parts of the world we worry about majha/malwa and doabia and which maryada is the best for us, while sikh girls run off with tamil, chinese and muslim men for which we cry foul. 2)Sikhs in the latter part of the 20th century have been migrating to Europe/canada/usa/ UK /Australia/New Zealand. Here our obsession is with jethabandis and ramgharia vs singh sabha while a materialistic west tired of christianity and weary of Islam cries unknowingly for God, and in the meantime drowns itself in alcohol as a stress relief mechanism. One simple man migrated from India to the west and in his own not so perfect way introduced Sikhism to white americans and just look at the wonderful example of scores of chardikela white sikhs now trying to reach out to south american and other races. 3) In canada there is no shortage of punjabee sikhs but a shortage of a simple sikh like yogi bajan who would come to canada not to earn lots of money, have a nice house and car and attend the local gurudwara, but to reach out and extend Guru Nanak's love to the poor, the drugged, the alcoholics, the prostitutes, the depressed, the lonely. I am sure there is no shortage of chardikela dodra or akj sikhs and keertan darbars and samagams in edmonton or calgary for example, but what i can never make out is why is not at least one of them making an effort to reach out to non punjabees, unless I am somehow not informed. Likewise in the UK , Spain, Italy, Norway, France etc. This really baffles me. Again lots of punjabee sikhs in nairobi, kenya, south africa etc but no missionary zeal among Sikhs there . Gurudwaras plenty yes. We some how feel a great barrier and constriction and indeed feel very iffy about wanting to spread the message of sikhi in our work places, places of study, neighbourhoods and local communuties. We somehow want to be just chardikela sikhs affiliated to one sempardaya or other and lock ourselves within a comfort zone of punjabee sikhs. We somehow believe that we need to get our house in order before worrying about 'others'. Yet we like to boast about raj karega khalsa. Hows that ever going to happen if we stay this complacent . Are we expecting sweets to fall from the skies above just because khalsa is God's favourite. Indeed khalsa IS God's favourite but look at history, He did make us work for every bit of success. Likewise i keep hearing guys lamenting about how much we miss Sant Jee(Bhindrawale ) , but wherever His Holiness maybe today, does our complacency,lethargy, and indifference to parchar give his soul any peace. In santjee's own words, his one drop of martyr's blood will give rise to thousands like him. Those thousands we surely are, but all we ever do is look past and hope his future return, but never do today what would make his blessed soul most happy i.e Sikhi parchar in a very upfront, intense, marching on to victory manner, among punjabees and non punjabees alike. Here is Guru Nanak's love, Guru Gobind Singh's chardikela, Guru Granth Sahib's wisdom, as the exact tripartite answer to the world's problems. But there are we paralysed into inaction, waiting for the rebirth of past heroes, perpetually indulging in infighting, stressing about dwindling numbers and some ignorant supposed sikhs straying away,........rather than behaving , thinking and acting excitedly as saint warriors on a march to spread the flag of Sikhism around all peoples of this planet. Now, that would constitute our real respect for our glorious Nishan Sahib

Satnam. Smashing!!! keep it up. If i was in my early 20s and had a diploma/degree in media/computers, this is exactly what i would be doing! Stay in chardikela and get better at it everyday, and do it better than those before you, thats my advice. Break new barriers and incorporate new technologies and make this a pukka site. Guru ang sang.

This has been discussed on here and other sikh sites many many times-how to be united. The discussion always boils down to one of 2 options; 1)All jethabandhis and sampradas to collapse in on themselves to eradicate 'cliques' and subgroups within Sikhism . Everyone would follow one set maryada and loyalties to sub maryadas would be disallowed. Overnight, the terms akj , nanakseria, nihang, taksali, dodra, rarewale etc would become history. There would be a total ban on anyone to be called a sant or baba, or to preach and interpret gurmat/sikh history/scriptures/ rehat etc in anyway varying from a set norm. You do have this structure present in religions such as Bahaism, Subud, Tbetan Buddhism and Catholic Christianity where a very rigid strict control is imposed by a central governing unit with its tentacles spread out worldwide. or, 2)Acceptance of heterogeneity in expression of religious beliefs, together with a willingness not to change the course of Sikh history which has seen the birth and proliferation of subgroups within Sikhs each with their own heroes, focussing on different interpretations of maryada, keertan, simran, the norm for a sikh lifestyle, etc. Whenever this happens, people cannot see eye to eye and even subgroups will splinter further. You see this phenomena in protestant and pentecostal christianity, and in both shia and sunni Islam too. In this democratic umbrella type scenario, the thing to push forward is mutual tolerance towards each others beliefs so at a macro level, there exists love and a desire for co-existence, with ultimate loyalty to SGGS and Khalsa Panth. This indeed is the choice we face. Ideally, we should be in a position where the 5 High Priests i.e the Jathedars of the 5 Takhts can sit together after wide ranging consultations with the different jethabandhis to formulate a futuristic strategy for unity of Khalsa Panth that would receive universal acceptance amongst Sikhs of different religious, political and social persuasions. However, for the present, their positions seem weakened and compromised and hence anything they have to command would receive but stiff resistance. Hence, for the moment they seem to be subscribing to maintaining the status quo of a free for all situation at large. Given this, the only thing we can hope for the moment is that at the ground level, different jethabandhis off their own back, try to avoid further splintering within themselves and recognise and continue to preach a message of reconciliation and mutual tolerance amongst themselves. The future may hold a different promise.

I suppose what Sikhs in UK need is at 3 levels; 1) that which everyone wants in the UK -less crime, more efficient policing, a movement from working class and benefit- centred living to middle class, less unemployment, better regulated immigration, racial unity and social harmony, modernising and restructuring the economy and making it more enterprise based, a green agenda with less dependency on foreign fuel, reducing the north-south divide, making inner cities/city centres more safe and appealing, a healthier, more educated population, 100% broadband access, and less alcoholism and drug dependency, a more trimmed and efficient public sector and more deregulation, a more bipartisan approach and transparency in politics, better regulation of the financial/banking sector, to be less dictated by Brussels and more investment in R and D. 2) that which minorities in general want---equal rights/protection of their rights, recognition of their role, no discrimination, community development funds, etc 3) that which are specific to Sikhs--sensitive thorough analysis of Sikhs, the towns populated by them and their specific needs so as to enable the community to maintain and develop its culture, whilst not living in isolation but being integrated in the broader socio-political-economy structures of the nation. Also ensuring adequate balanced and fair media coverage for the community as well as local and national representation at all levels. A political willingness to recognise the potential contribution of the community and to invest in the community in terms of infusion of academies, heath centres, learning centres, sports centres in areas populated by Sikhs etc. At this stage, i would expect the main parties to be drawing up their manifestos and battle lines based on 1 and 2 , rather than 3 , which would left to be tackled by MP candidates fine tuning their manifestos by incorporating local issues for better appeal within their individual constituencies. Against this backdrop, my advice would be for a representative think-tank of Sikhs to draw up a list of Sikh needs and lobby both labour and tories to see who gives a better deal both nationally and area specific, given that both parties are centrist in ideology now. Given the possibility of a hung parliament, both parties are as desperate as they could ever be for every vote. An en masse vote coming in either's way from a community would be treated with glee and applaud and be a dream come true. Hence now is the time to cut a deal, unless we believe in 'to each his own'

My advice is old fashioned hehe. dont use credit cards! tear and throw if you have one haha!. Try have money in your debit card which is the money you own in a particular account, plus an agreed overdraft. There are a couple of situations tho where credit cards can be handy i.e 1) certain internet transactions allowing only credit not debit card , plus overseas travel, but only if you know there is money to quickly pay it off within a few days, and 2) in the world of business especially if you own a small business where you need to buy stocks for which you have no cash, but you know that in the next few days you can sell those stocks, pay off your credit card and have a profit which is income. Even in this situation, its better to be trying to buy stocks using either a) an overdraft limit on yur debit card and, or, b) agreements to pay off suppliers on a 30/60/90/120 etc day period from the date of procurement of stocks(to buy time to sell the stocks, repay the suppliers and keep the profit. In your situation, if the above dont apply, have a debit card but dont have all your money in that account. Have a savings account by the side, used to top up your debit card account(normally a current account) from time to time.

panjabi_rani jee, You said ''ILL GO TO MY GURUDWARA.. U CAN GO TO URZ''. Bhenjee, all gurudwaras belong to Guru Granth Sahib in reality, never to you or anyone else. Gurudwara means the DOOR of GURU. A gurudwara is the palace of the King , the palace of our Gurujee, we all are just servants and children of Guru, our king. All gurudwaras are open not just to sikhs but non sikhs as well because we are all children of Gurujee. There is never a 'my' and 'your' gurudwara, ok. Infact, Sikhism helps us to get rid of a 'mine' and 'yours' mentality and guides us to see that all things belong to God , and that we can treat everyone as our own, as well as be humble and see ourselves as nothing. Also, a lot gurudwaras around the world have developed traditions that are not in strict accord with the philosophy and teachings of Sikhism. Thats what is being pointed out here, rather than any personal attack on you, ok. This is a great Sikh youth website where Sikh youths come and learn and compare their lives, what goes on in their families, communities and gurudwaras , in relation to the beautiful philosophy and teachings of Sikhism and make the necessary changes to become better, more enlightened and informed Sikhs. The people on here who are pointing out that artee should not be part of any gurudwara's practise have no personal animosity towards you and the gurudwara you attend. Infact, im rather proud of you that you go to gurudwara so regularly. Thats a very healthy and beautiful habit. In a way you remind me of myself because all through my childhood and earlier part of my teenage life, my parents took me to a gurudwara where they did artee every sunday. It all looked great and nice seeing so many flowers being thrown at Gurujee, and the granthi waving a tray of divas around Gurujee, like a nice way of worshipping God. However, as i understood Sikhism better, i realised all these rituals are derived from Hinduism and not the real way of showing respect and to worship Gurujee. Let me elaborate..... The best way of loving and respecting Gurujee is to learn how to read gurmukhi script asap, then get started on learning how to read SGGS, then progressing on to learn the meanings of SGGS line by line. This will help a person to understand what Gurujee is saying, what Gurujee wants us to do, how Gurujee wants us to think, what Gurujee wants us to think about, and what Gurujee wants us to say. Gurujee does not need us to worship Him with trays of lights and flowers because what really concerns Gurujee is how we remodel our lifes, consciousness and mindset along Gurujee's teachings. Gurujee has come here to rescue us from this evil world and for that we show our love and worship to Gurujee by being obedient to His Words and Orders, ok. The real purpose of a Gurudwara , is not so much to be a hub for religous rituals but a place where Gurujee's Word, Wisdom, and Wonder is sung, read and understood. A Gurudwara is where we receive Gurujee's Grace and bow before Gurujee to show our loyalty, surrender and allegiance to Gurujee. A Gurudwara is where we all sit together as Gurujee's children and family and eat together. A Gurudwara is where Sikhism is taught, not just to Sikhs but to non Sikhs. A gurudwara is a lighthouse beaming joy, hope, love, and rescue from maya to anyone who lives around it. A gurudwara is a place which helps people to learn how to be saint-soldiers and live a life of nam, daan and ishnan, sewa, simran and satsang, and miri and piri. A Gurudwara is a place which offers people to become baptised Sikhs of Gurujee. I like the fact that you appeared to get angry when you felt the gurudwara you visit was being insulted. But, do express that anger not against the people on here who are pointing out that artee worship in a gurudwara should not be a part of any gurudwaras practises, but towards those that mix up Sikhism with Hinduism, and those that say bad things about Sikhs and Sikhism in general. Use that ability within you to fight, to fight against those rubbish Sikhism, and use that strength and fighting spirit within you to tell people in your town about the greatness of Sikhism and bring non sikhs to Sikhism. I think you have the ability to be a wonderful baptised Sikh of Gurujee who loves all Sikhs you meet anywhere. This is a wonderful website where you can make many good friends and learn a lot about Sikhism. I hope you did not find anything i said disrespectful to you because i have only shared my thoughts with a loving heart. btw, i dont have any problem with the way you write. i love short cuts myself. When i was at university, we had no computers and laptops, itouch those days so i had to take millions of notes by hand , so i myself am used to writing in tiny abbreviations like hu for who haha. When i do write here tho, i write in long sentences in case someone doesnt catch my abbreviations. I would probably write like you if i was from your generation hehe. Very interesting hehe.

Mohinder pal , you wrote ‘I have yet to understand where in the vastness of Sikh history the first 10 Satgurus ordained their followers to stop regarding Them as Satguru and follow the 'Shabad Guru'. Of course not! In Raag Basant , p.1192, SGGS, Guru Arjun Dev after mentioning various saints, concludes by saying… GUR NANAK DEV…. GOBIND RUP.Wah! Guru Nanak Dev is the roop of the Master of the Universe. The sikhs of Gurus times did not spend their time looking at Gurujee’s face one moment and looking at a few lines of Gurbani in their hands the next moment, and confusedly try to work out which is the real Guru, face or words! They bowed before each Gurujee as the LIGHT passed from one form to another. What counted was that they worshipped the LIGHT/JOT/GURU as each of the ten forms manifested themselves. Since Guru Gobind Singh Jee, Sikhs have been worshipping SHREE GURU GRANTH SAHIB MAHARAJ as the nirgun and sargun roop of GURU. A bunch of namdharees or any holy looking person, claiming to be Guru, trying to juggle bits of history here and there to suit themselves is not going to change that fact. You can engage in endless intellectual mind boggling debates abour nirgun and sargun roops of God and Guru, shift history to justify your claims and thrive on all sorts of theological arguments for clinging on to the need for a Guru in human form. However, at the end of the day 3 undeniable facts stand out; First, if you intelligently consider the birth and subsequent flourishing of Sikhi, in its various stages, under the 10 Gurus and nowadays under SGGS, and read mainstream books on Sikhi/ Sikh history by renowed personalities such as Bhai Sahib Bhai Vir Singh/ Professor Puran Singh etc, it is apparent that the end of the eartly time of Guru Gobind Singh, in God’s gameplan, was the perfect time for SGGS to be the ‘ is all and be all’ Guru for Sikhs thereafter, without any further need for a human Guru. A community had been birthed, reared, nurtured, matured, taken through times of peace and danger, been taught how to adapt itself, fend for itself and progress on, on its own two feet getting its guidance from SGGS, and multiplying/regenerating itself copiously through Amrit Pahul from the Panj Pyaras. Infact we have kinda been ‘spoiled’ if we compare ourselves to christians and muslims who have no ‘Guru ‘ at all but refer to a historical jesus or mohamad who they hope is there for them in invisible form today, and have scriptures which are mainly historical and chronological in nature. Secondly, the majority of Sikhs do indeed, accept SGGS as their GURU for all purposes, even if they may still not be baptised or inspired. So if you do have a problem with that, then you have a problem with God himself. Is it such that all these people worldwide which runs into millions upon millions from auckland in new zealand to singapore to borneo to europe and to USA are all a bunch of misguided fools compared to a handful of somehow better enlightened namdharees. I think not! I think the namdharees and their new ardent competitors, the neeldharees, need to start getting sensible and get back into the sikh fold and issue an ultimatum to their 2 gurus who vehemently hate each other to become missionaries for Sikhism and stop fuffing about as some supposed sargun gurus needed in today’s world. This brings me to my third point. Sikhism is about empowerment, not enslavement. Where in the vastness of Sikh history and theology is there ordained that the sikhs shall be a people created to continously serve a guru in human form? Where does it say that anywhere from SGGS to DGGS to sarbloh granth etc. Infact, this contradicts all of Sikh history. Sikh history is about power to the people! That’s why Guru Nanak gave away even gurgaddi to bhai lehna, Guru Amardas appointed 22 preachers to get on with preaching, Guru Arjun let his principal Sikhs look after Harmandir Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh initiated the institution of Panj Pyaras and Amrit Phul as a hub for the further birth and multiplication of Sikhs without anymore needing to wash and drink the water of the feet of a human guru, and commissioned Banda Singh Bahadur to go to Punjab and continue on militant resistance there, apart from bestowing future Guruship to SGGS. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the ahluwalias etc wrested control of Punjab etc from the muslims with the help of no human Guru. Indeed, we have been created to be a resilient, self funded, independent community baptised by the sword and amrit of Guru Gobind Singh through the 5 pyaras, guided by SGGS whom we worship, adore, love, serve, obey and respect. We are perfectly capable of recasting ourselves to be relevant , effective and productive in today’s world, and rising to new challenges and demands by cooperating collectively, without needing some papal figure in the form of some human guru to guide us all, make us his humble sheep and claiming to be the sole owner of all he beholds in the universe of the sikhs. In our darkest hour, in the evening of our sorrows, the voice of Shree Guru Granth Sahib is the dawn that brings life, hope and joy and makes us kiss eternally the petals of the lotus feet of God within ourselves.