harsimran kaur

I think it's just a question of fashion. Eg. dumalla and gol dastaar (round-shaped dastaar) are worn both by women and men. So yes, a woman can wear the same style as men, and vice versa.

i think what the topic starter means is how to tie dastaar (and keski) in a way that it can be "opened", so that the panj piaare can sprinkle the kesh with amrit. when i took amrit, i just tied it normally, though it took some effort to get my kesh uncovered and the dastaar ended up a complete mess after that, not that it mattered.. i have no answer to the question though, you could probably figure it out just by trying.

I've ordered dastaar material from both places. If you're in the US, you might get it faster from gosikh.com since they ship from California. I ordered malmal from there once and it took ages to ship (it seems that they've improved on this lately though). And you could just ask for 10 meters. About sikhstuff.com... the first time i made an inquiry, i didn't get any reply and ended up not ordering. The second time they were extremely helpful and shipped everything really quickly. So i guess it all depends on luck!

So far the only book I've found found on the language of Gurbani is The Sacred Language of the Sikhs by Christopher Shackle (he's also compiled a Guru Nanak Glossary with all the words used in Guru Nanak Dev jee's bani). You can find it on amazon most of the time. It's an academic textbook, so you need to know something about basic grammar terms and also know how to read Gurmukhi beforehand.

There are some self-study books with audio, apparently the Colloquial Panjabi is the best one. You can find it on amazon. And yeah, if you have a punjabi speaking wife/fiance (or if you have friends who speak punjabi), get some book and read the lessons with her.

I believe that a person of any religion (or even without any religion at all) can reach God and be liberated if they do simran (remembrance of the Timeless and Formless God)... In that sense all religions are the same. If you read the holy scriptures of different religions, and especially books and poetry written by the saints and mystics in different traditions, the core message is amazingly similar in all of them! So what you said seems 100% correct to me.

Shaving, trimming, whatever... it's all no-no for both guys and girls. Let's cherish our beautiful natural bodies the way God created them.. why would someone want to remove something that vibrates with NAAM?

The symbol is called the "Flower of life" and it appears in many different cultures (including India)... I doubt that the British illuminati put it there! here's the wikipedia article for it... http://en.wikipedia..../Flower_of_Life here's also a bit better image.. http://www.flickr.co...ket/1624296685/

Gurbani makes it quite clear that wherever, whenever, however, whoever chants Naam it's always the better! As for dancing for spiritual purposes, there's a slight difference between dancing of joy while singing naam and a hindu woman performing a dance to please a stone statue.

I'd be interested in that sort of thing too, but haven't really found out about any either.. i know that the 3ho has something like that going on in Española and maybe elsewhere, but i'd prefer something with more sikhi and less kundalini yoga. Here's the website for their ashram if you're interested.. http://www.espanolaashram.com/pages/ I wonder if there are any Gursikh communities like that in India? I'm thinking of a community where you could do agricultural or some other basic work in exchange for food and accommodation and have the chance to learn about Gurbani, Punjabi, keertan, gatka etc. That would be like ideal.. :smile2: Vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji ki fateh!

It can be a sign of lactose intolerance. Stop drinking milk and eating milk products for a couple of days and see if it helps.

I don't understand how Sri Akal Takht could have based its view on Gurmat, since Guru Sahib says nothing about homosexuality. In my world, homosexuals have the right to marry and live just as anybody else. Sexual orientation is totally irrelevant if we view the marriage as a linkage between two souls. Gays and lesbians just happen to feel harmony with the people of the same sex. If Vaaheguroo made some people feel attracted to the opposite gender, and some people attracted to the same gender, then who are we to say what is right or wrong? Homosexual can change their orientation just as much as you can change yours. It's ridiculous and hurtful to suggest something like that. A lot of youths commit suicides failing to change their orientation and filling the sexual norms set out by their religion or community. Also, i wouldn't like to get married to a man who's gay but pretends to be heterosexual because he wants live gursikhi jeevan according to the rulings of Sri Akal Takht.

The only place where I've really had trouble was in Brussels earlier this year. It's the only time I've ever had to tie off my dastaar and keski, usually when i say that it's a religious wear, they are okay with it, but it didn't work that time.. maybe i could have talked my way out of it, but i was in a hurry for my next flight. They had some cubicle thing where to go, but i just untied it in front of everyone, as a protest, i guess. At Schiphol i've got my bags randomly checked, and the security people may feel your turban with their hands. All the other airports i've been to in europe have been relatively cool (Germany, France, Finland).

There was a picture in a science magazine about what Jesus probably looked like, ie. average jewish guy with curly black hair. I've seen pictures of black and asian looking Jesus too, every nation wants to own him. In any case, he always has longish hair and beard.

Here's a summary of the talk written by Bhai Manvir Singh Khalsa jee! http://manvirsingh.b...aur-khalsa.html

Maybe singhnia don't care whether they look attractive or not (except to Vaheguroo jee). For me chunni is just impractical, because during keertan or any seva, it keeps getting on my way and i start fiddling with it and getting frustrated.. i just haven't learned how to wear it graciously like some of my sisters do. I used to wear chunni too until very recently, because people had told me to... but then i saw so many chardikalaa singhnis with just dastaars. To me dastaars/dumallas look so beautiful that i don't understand why they should be covered with chunni. I doubt warriors like Mai Bhago wore chunni to battle like in the picture... it restricts free movements and may cover part of your vision... plus someone can just grab it and pull you off the horse. Some feel more comfortable wearing chunni and some feel more comfortable without it. No judging needed.

I tried the nitnem pdfs on gurbanifiles.org.. it's not too bad. The font size in the pothia on gursevak.com is a bit small but readable if set in landscape orientation. There's also software to convert pdfs to .mobi files (which makes it possible to change the font size etc. on kindle), but unfortunately it doesn't recognize the gurmukhi fonts.

Vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji ki fateh! I just got my Kindle a couple of weeks ago.. i've found it a bit tricky to read gurbani pdf's with it, mainly getting the zoom right.. though it depends on the formatting of the pdf and your eyesight. Personally, i wouldn't buy it just to use as an electronic Gutka sahib. But if you want to read ebooks too, by all means, get it.. the e-ink screen is nice and the battery lasts forever. Hope that helps.. Vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji ki fateh!

Yes. And seaweed is delicious and healthy too! (they are just a more primitive version of plants)

vaahiguroo!

Homosexuality is biological... there are homosexuals in different animal species too.. so it's not a cultural or social influence. It's just the way their brains work. The brain of a homosexual man resembles that of a heterosexual woman (and vice versa for lesbian women), which is why they are attracted to men instead of women. Also there are many people who are born as something "between", or have both female and male reproductive organs. How should these people be classified? Whom are they allowed to love and marry with? And generally, masculinity and femininity manifest themselves in so many different ways in the average heterosexual people too... Anyway, it's a serious issue.. Denying gay Sikhs the right to marry, is basically to deny them of gristhi jeevan. Either they have to live alone for all their lives, be untruthful and marry a woman (or man in case of lesbians), or break the rehat. What should they do? If anand kaaraj is a union between two souls, why should it matter what the two bodies are like?

found this in dictionary: madhyaahna = midday; middle of the day... so madhyaan is probably a simplified version of it.

slok mÚ 5 ] salok ma 5 || Salok, Fifth Mehla: pRym ptolw qY sih idqw Fkx kU piq myrI ] praem pattolaa thai sehi dhithaa dtakan koo path maeree || O Husband Lord, You have given me the silk gown of Your Love to cover and protect my honor. dwnw bInw sweI mYfw nwnk swr n jwxw qyrI ]1] dhaanaa beenaa saaee maiddaa naanak saar n jaanaa thaeree ||1|| You are all-wise and all-knowing, O my Master; Nanak: I have not appreciated Your value, Lord. ||1||

Sikh astronauts and ballet dancers.

Vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji ki fateh! I'm thinking of going to Punjab next summer for 2-3 months, and i'm wondering where i could stay and what i could do there. I would like to know if there are some sikh organizations that have volunteering opportunities in Punjab, especially something agriculturally or environmentally related would be cool, or maybe some gursikh-run organic farm that would be willing to take volunteer workers. Though something else would be okay too. Alternatively, are there some Gursikh communities where i could stay and do seva and learn more about sikhi? Any information would be appreciated. I've been wanting to go to Punjab for so many years and i'm hoping that it would come true this year, with Guru's kirpaa. Vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji ki fateh!