Singh 5

This has got to be one of the most MISLEADING articles I've ever read in my life. Take amrit...and live like nothing has changed!! Great! That's a great way to think: just go to the amrit sinchar, drink the amrit, come home and live like you were before, just don't take off your kakaars (unless you go to sleep or bathe, or just feel like it) and don't be "unfaithful to your spouse". Great! I'm telling you now, people who follow this advice are going to go to the amrit sinchaar looking for a revolution in their life. They're going to go and want to feel somethign different. When they come home and live life just like they always did and feel NOTHING, they're going to be mighty disappointed. Why on earth do I need amrit if it's not going to change anything? Just a ritual then? What kind of "amritdhari" would go out to the movies, eat meat, wear jewellery, not cover their head, listens to and dances to "pop music" and then eats at restaurants? I'm sure these people would be just fine with them dating as well. Is this the "niaaraa" Khalsa Guru Sahib talked about? Is this the "khanio tikhee vaalo(n) nikee" path Guru Sahib talks about? It's the usual Manmukh path every other person in the world is following. No. Amrit is acknowledging that the world and the way of the world is not right and cannot make me happy. It says that I submit to the Guru and will take a new birth as his Khalsa. I will change everything in my life to live this new lifestyle. And the reward? The reward is peace, meaning, happiness and understanding. If you follow the advice in the above post, guaranteed you'll fin d none of those things and NOTHING will change. But frankly, I don't blame the person who wrote it. When I first became amritdhari, my thoughts were exactly those and I even did some lectures with the same theme. It took me a year before I realised my life was the same as ever and there was something missing. I chanced upon Bhai Sahib Randheer Singh jee's "Jail Chitheeaa(n)" in the Library and found out about Naam and Rehit and everythign began to make sense to me again. Please don't try to water down Amrit and Khalsa. If we show Rehit and Amrit for what it really is, I assure you people will want it. When the Khalsa was hiding in the Jungles and hunted, people still fell in love with Rehit and Khalsa and became Sikhs. Why? Because it offers the most amazing path. The path to SachKhand (which btw. is not "heaven" as this article says). Dont' fall for this propoganda. Find out what Amrit and Khalsa really means, and embrace it. And if you do, guaranteed you'll feel the difference. Khalsa has always been about quality, not quantity.

I think the site does have a few stories on why people "chose Sikhism"; check out the Personal Stories section. as for the quote "Bed Kateb Kaho mat jhoothay..." it's a more accurate translation, based on grammar which interprets this line to mean "call these false".

I don't think it's realistic or possible to actually BUY a province or state or a country. Where would this land be? Who has the authority to sell this land? Would the people living there be just fine with it? I know that if the place I was living (province, country, etc) were sold to lets say the Japanese or Chinese, I wouldn't take it too well. Buying a country seems completely unrealistic to me. The only alternative I can see is mass migration to a certain area. If all the Sikhs moved together into a town or province, they could become a major political force there and run the show. This wouldn't be a Khalistan however, it would still be within the confines of another greater country. Frankly though, I think all this is very unlikely to happen and overall unrealistic. I think when the Khalsa is ready to rule then Guru Sahib will give them raaj. All our scheme-making and planning will be a failure if we aren't the real Khalsa capable of running a Khalsa state and we end up making our whole community look bad with a disaster. As for the Jews: the Jews made Israel in a very unique way. They had a very wealthy community in America where most of the Jews in the world still live. They received very substantial international assitance in the after-math of WWII and the Holocaust and Germany also gave very significant reparations to Israel. The British were also closing up their colonial empire so it all fit together.

I don't think Kaur was a very common last name or name in those times among any but Sikhs. Just the sheer number of Kaurs related to Guru Gobind Singh jee is proof enough that Sikh women did indeed take the name "Kaur". Prem Sumarag's author is not known, but it is recognised as being one of the older rehitnamas. When looking at rehitnamas, we can't take them at face value. We can use them to confirm some of our beliefs, but not to take them 100% as truth. Like right now we're using rehitnamas to see whether women received Khanday Kee Paahul or kirpaan. By examining the rehitnamas, we find references to women needing to receive khanday kee paahul but nothing about kirpaan. Here's a quote from Prem Sumaarag about giving women Khanday Kee Paahul, "Fayr, Sikh kareeai, jougat naal paahul khandai kee deejeeai. Ar Ardaas kareeai: "Jee! Eh jee man bach karam kar Khalsay kaa jama pehar kay SikhNee hoee hai. Khushee karho! Jo Sree Akaal Purakh apnay marag kaa rang bakhshay. Anand saath rahai" Meaning, "Then, make her a Sikh, by giving her Khanday Kee Paahul with the proper method. Then do ardaas" "Lord! This one has by word and action taken on the form of a Khalsa and become your Sikhnee (female Sikh). Be pleased! May Akaal Purakh give her the divine colours of his path. May she live in bliss." Clearly women received Khanday Kee Paahul. Here's what I have previously posted about Chaupa Singh Rehitnama:

Let's not confuse ourselves. Things are simpler than they seem. If someone is looking for details of X Kaur receiving amrit dee daat then that information hasn't been found yet. Then again, there is no real description of how anyone in Guru Sahib's time received amrit. In a book on Prem Sumarag Granth by Historian Randhir Singh, he writes that perhaps things like this were kept secret at that time for some uknown reasons. At any rate, there are a number of Sikh women named "Kaur" who are found in Guru Gobind Singh jee's time such as Bibi Deep Kaur, Bibi Anoop Kaur, Bibi Harsharan Kaur, etc. Both Bhai Chaupa Singh rehitnama and Prem Sumarag, considered two of the older rehitnamas, both say more than once that a woman should be given "Khanday kee paahul". Neither mentions anything about kirpaan daa amrit. I'd actually be interested to see a reference to kirpaan amrit. The concept of kirpaan amrit is based on the ridiculous concept that Khanda is a "male word" and Kirpaan is a "female word" and thus, a kirpaan should be used for females. By this logic, someone who takes kirpaan amrit can be a Khalsee but not a Khalsa. On a side note, I really am confused what the goal of these Sanaatan Sikhs is. What are they trying to prove by making ridiculous, completely refutable statements. What's their motivation? They badly lost the AKJ debate (now on the Sikhawareness archives) and it's clear they cannot back up their statements with proof.

That Gurbilas P: 6 is the work of Guru Hargobind is a totally new theory I've just heard on this forum from Navjot Singh and Khalistani. No one has ever, EVER, claimed this before. Gurbilas itself claims it was written in 1718 in the script ie. 1775Bk. But things inside the script make scholars guess it was written in 1843AD or after. The work begins by naming all 10 Gurus and aksing for their blessings. It then says that this work is based on the teachings of Bhai Dharam Singh who was at Nankana Sahib who had heard this katha from Bhai Mani Singh, who had given the Katha at the request of Bhai Bhagat Singh. The Author says Bhai Mani Singh had learned this Katha from Bhai Daya Singh ofthe punj pyaaray. The date of Guru Sahib's jyoti jyot is also wrong and the work is so controversial that when Bhai Joginder Singh Vedanti published it, the SGPC was forced to recall the book and suspend printing. It's MAHA MAHA manmat. All this information can be found in the Sikh Enyclopaedia, pg. 134 Vol. 2

I'm not sure this is an issue at all. I call a lot of people "Bapoo jee" out of respect. All the Singhs in the Jatha called Bhai Sahib Randheer Singh "bapoo jee" (who were younger than him). Guru Gobind Singh jee is our spiritual father, but that doesn't mean that we can't call someone "bapoo jee" out of respect. I'm thinking this thing is a bit of a non-issue.

Then why do we even have a Gurmantar? What if I feel good and feel love by chanting RAM RAM or maybe PATHAR PATHAR or something else? Simran's about love right? Then why even have a word? Just feel the love right? No. Guru Sahib has given a method for remembering Vahiguru. This method was given by Guru Nanak. The method included both the Gurmantar and the method for using Gurmantar or the "vidhee". You'll find mention in baaNee about gursikhs doing naam "vidh sehit" or with a method. This method has been passed down from Guru Nanak Dev jee's time. You can find a description of the method in Bhai Mani Singh jee's Bhagat Ratnaavalee which describes how Guru Nanak taught the method to new Sikhs, Prem Sumaarag Granth which is an old rehitnama, Sau Sakhee and other places as well. Although talk of "just love matters" seems very convincing and very happy-happy-joy-joy, it's not Gurmat. Guru Sahib has given Sikhs a certain method of living lives and of meeting Vahiguru. It's our job to follow this method.

taken from www.tapoban.org: Author: Balpreet Singh Date: 11-10-03 13:49 The Chaupa Singh rehitnama is interesting on different levels. Chaupa Singh was a Chhiber Brahmin and sometimes he seems to let a bit of a Brahmin bias enter into his work. At other times he is completely egalitarian and condemns caste in all forms. "Naa daekhai Khatree, naa daekhai Shood ki Vaish hai. Sikh Guru kaa daekhai, jaat barn naa daekhai" meaning "One should not look at whether someone is Khatri or Shudra or Vaish. One should look whether someone is a Sikh, one should not look at caste or clan." (77) All my references on this rehitnama come from the Padam book. The Chaupa Singh rehitnama also contains a number of internal contradictions which indicate that it has been tampered with. One very clear case is the situaton of "saluting the sun". "Guru kaa Sikh praatay outh kay sooraj noo(n) namastay aakh kay, Sikhaa(n) noo Vahiguru Jee kee Fateh bulai" (91) meaning, when a Sikh rises in the morning, he should say "namastay" to the Sun and then Fateh to the Singhs. That's problematic on a number of fronts, seeing as how Sikhs don't revere the sun and the sun hasn't risen when a Sikh gets up (last part of night ie. amrit vela). But the rehitnama later contradicts itself: "Jo sooraj dayvtay noo namaskaar karay, so Tankhaiyaa" (105), meaning, "One who salutes/does namaskaar to the sun is a Tankhaiyaa". And so I come to the issue of women in the Chaupa Singh rehitnama. This again is a very confused issue. I havn't seen the manuscript you quote which says not to give Paahul to women, but the common Chaupa Singh rehitnama says the following: "Jo Sikh, SikhNee noo(n) khand ay dee paahul naa dayvay, so Tankhaiyaa" (105) meaning, "that Sikh who does not give khanday kee paahul to a female-Sikh, is a Tankhaiyaa". Even in regards to reading Sree Guru Granth Sahib, your references are correct, but the same rehitnama then goes on to say, "Guru kee SikhNee Granth Sahib pothee paRn sikhay..." (107) meaning a female-Sikh should learn how to read Sree Guru Granth Sahib. Overall, we can learn interesting things from rehitnamas, but we can't consider them to be the authority on rehit. Rehit has been passed down amongst Gursikhs and it's hard to find but it still exists. Only that rehit is authentic which can pass the test of GurbaaNee. http://www.tapoban.org/phorum/read.ppa?f=1...1&i=6411&t=6411

Bibi Harsharan Kaur jee was an amazing shaheed in the battle of Chamkaur Sahib, but very little is remembered about her. Here's a link to her story: http://www.tapoban.org/phorum/read.ppa?f=1...1&i=4078&t=4003 I had another idea last night on this topic: I'd also love to go back and meet Mata Sahib Kaur and Mata Sundaree jee in Delhi. Meeting the mother of the Khalsa would be amazing.

I find this topic really interesting. There's so many things I'd love to go back and see. My first choice though would be to meet Baba Deep Singh jee Shaheed and also Bhai Manee Singh jee. They were great Gursikhs, scholars, did sangat with Satguru Gobind Singh jee and gave amazing shaheedees.

As everyone has said, the word is "aakee" not "baakee", but aakee has nothing to do with vices, it means rebelious or defiant. The line means that the Khalsa will rule and no one will be defiant (all will fall into place behind the Khalsa).

If someone chooses to not believe in Akaal, then what can anyone say? I believe there is a creator who created me and everything else and resides in everything. I feel happy when I feel myself becoming closer to him. I don't praise Akaal to satisfy him, I do it because it feels good and feels right. If I don't praise him, then he loses nothing, but I lose a purpose in my life and miss the whole point of my creation: to have merged with him. What is the difference between a Dog and a human who does no bhagtee/devotion? Both the dog and human seek a place to live (shelter), both seek tasty food, both like to be entertained and played with and yes, both seek out pleasure through lust. Perhaps the methods both use are different, but are the goals listed any different? I dont' think so. Perhaps a dog is better because he can be a very good friend and many humans are incapable of doing this. So are we to say that a human and a dog are no different in terms of what they want? No. Humans for the longest time have felt that there is some higher purpose. Not just thought, but felt it. This higher purpose is spirituality. All other pleasures leave the person feeling empty. If I eat or sastisfy other bodily urges, I feel good for a time right after. I entertain myself and for a time I feel good. But soon I have to go and find bodily pleasure again because it has passed and I feel the same as before. Perhaps worse since I don't feel "good" anymore. Gurmat is about finding the lasting peace and happiness that's not based on the physical i.e the transitory. How can anyone prove this to you when it's an experience? How can I prove to you sugar is sweet unless you yourself have tasted it? As for heaven/hell and rewards: if you decide to cut your hair, or whatever, Sikhi does not say you will go to hell. Nor does Sikhi claim that non-Sikhs will go to hell. If someone acted honestly and did good on earth, they will go to heaven. Though heaven is not a permanent place and after a period there, they will enter the circle of births and deaths. Same with hell for those that act wrongly and do not do good. In baaNee we read "nark surag, fir fir avtaar" ie. hell, heaven and then endless rebirth. All these three things are not what a Sikh desires. A Sikh longs to return and embrace Akaal and be lost in him. This is possible in Sach Khand. And the way to do this is Gurmat. But you don't believe this? Then that's fine. No one is forcing you to believe and if your karma are not allowing you to do this, who can blame you? You think you can help others while living a life to satisfy your bodily urges: when someone is an obstacle to your physical happiness, how will you help them? In fact you will oppose them. If someone needs your help and it seems to cost you something or possibly put you in some danger, etc. you will likely not get involved. Why would you? Your body is the source of your pleasure and once the body is gone, it's -over- so of course you'll try to extend your time in the game as much as possible and avoid any cost to the body. Only a spiritual person who is above the body can truly live a life of helping because s/he is above the world and it's pains/pleasures. A par-upkaari or one who does good for others does so because they can see Akaal in everything and the end of the physical is no final end. The only thing that matters is the relationship to Akaal. But one who sees the body as everything will not be willing to sacrifice for others. In any event, to you, your path and to me, mine. Is this discussion worth continuing then? I think not.

Bibeksar Sahib is close to Sree Darbaar Sahib and was a sarover dug by Guru Arjan Dev jee as one of Amritsar's 5 sarovers. The Akhand Keertanee Jatha has a ran sabaaee and amrit sinchaar there every month on the last saturday. The amrit sinchaars conducted there are done by sarblohi Singhs. Like all other punj pyaaray these Singhs must do amrit vela and baaNee and have very good jeevans, but the main difference is that all are Sarblohi.

This amazing book is now online at www.tapoban.org in the "Inspirational Stories" section. This book is presented in the powerful Gurmukhi version. It has changed thousands of lives and so many Gurmat Principles are understood when reading this book. I encourage everyone to please read this autobiography and tell others about it as well! http://www.tapoban.org/JAIL_CHHITHIAN.pdf