guptkuri

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVNIT BHENA JI!

I will keep my eye out

just read both the posts, made me smile. crashing into lamp post in uk, what a memory to have. can you get more random then that? i hope you keep updating your blog regularly now, its cute.

kids these days.... Thanks for letting us now. finally we have a when now

Thanks, veer ji for the wishes! better late then never right? so its all good. Yup, as a Sikh, I am always learning or atleast trying to when I am not all caught up in ego. And I think your right, it is like a gift from Guru Ji. Anything that helps me become a better person in the long run is a good present.

i am older than you, show some respect.... kids these day, respect karni nahi aundi

am i blind or is the when part missing?

Happy Birthday to Me I recently celebrated a important milestone in my life when it comes to Birthdays where a Gurmukh celebration turned into a Manmukh celebration within minutes. I learnt an important lesson on this day that trying to act in a Gursikh fashion is not enough, one has to bring the change from within. I have been trying to focus my life on Guru Ji and Sikhi as much as possible and thought it would be great to bring in a new year of my life in a Gursikh fashion, since that is what I want to be. Instead of a perfect Gursikh birthday, my day was an example of how to ruin a perfect Gursikh birthday. The trouble started the night before the big day with the arrival of presents or should I say one special present? In recent years with all my birthday parties turning out to be complete busts, I had taken to celebrating on my own by wearing a new special suit/lengha for the special day. That and going to the Gurudwara Sahib with my uncle whose birthday falls on the same day. Back to the dress, this year I got 6 dresses to choose from my aunt who just got back from India that week. Suddenly, I became ungrateful. The dresses were all very beautiful and will picked out by my aunt but none appealed to me. I couldn’t decide if I was just so spoiled or if I had become so unattached; that upset me. I didn’t pick out a dress and my moodiness upset my mother and we got in a row about me being ungrateful. Upset with my attitude my mother forbade me from staying up all night and doing Path to bring in the new year of my life. She said I was spending enough time with Waheguru Ji the next day and this was just going over board. I am not the kind to be daunted, I snuck out of my room once everyone was asleep to go to Guru Ji’s room. I started Simran shortly before midnight and end shortly after midnight. All the tension over stupid clothes, just couldn’t let me concentrate on Waheguru Ji’s name for too long. I went back to bed and fell into uneasy sleep, hoping rest of the plans work out better. First thing in the morning I head to Gurudwara Sahib Ji with Parsad (prepared for the first time, all myself) and a Ramalla Sahib to offer Guru Ji and thank Him for the life He blessed me with. It sounds great thing to do and it is but the way I did it, is the wrong way. I don’t have a great relationship with a relative that is currently visiting and she was actually felt the need to ask if I would allow her to come with me to the Gurudwara Sahib. One should never turn down or make anyone feel they need to get permission to go to the Gurudwara Sahib. Its not right but I had that effect on someone and that upset me. I think it upset Waheguru Ji also because I didn’t receive a Hukam from Guru Ji. There was Akand Path and Guru Ji was busy. I felt very dejected, Waheguru Ji was not pleased with me trying to do everything like Gursikh, instead of from my heart. In a grumpy mood I came home and put on a chef’s jacket and began to prepare langar for the ladies that would be coming for Sukhmani Sahib Ji Path to be held later in the day. My mother and my aunt called to offer to come early and help me, i turned it down. Langat had to be made by myself right? My relative that had gone to the Gurudwara Sahib with me was disappointed in not being allowed to help. Nobody understood, I have to do this myself. Did they forget about Mata Ganga Ji and Baba Budda Ji’s refusal to accept food not made by her? I didn’t want Guru Ji to reject my seva but at same time I couldn't bear my relatives reaction, I let her help peel and cut the carrots. Its still mostly my seva, right? She only helped with one thing? I filled with pride of working so hard to prepare all the langar that it upset when my mom came home and looked at me in horror for not cleaning the house. I was in tears, why didn’t she see the seva I did do, not just the work I hadn’t gotten time to do? I was filled with kordh for my mother and hankar about the langar. Not a good combination and Guru Ji agreed, Guru Ji did not accept my langar either. While I was out picking up some serving plates, the ladies arrived and one of the started eating without checking if ardass had been done. I was fuming with anger by now. Time for Sukhmani Sahib Ji Path arrived shortly after the langar incident and there was no way I could concentrate. I sat down with the aunts to do path, trying to ignore the little kids running about. Guru Ji must have known I couldn’t concentrate because shortly after Path started i was called away to go pick up my sister-in-law. At this point I just gave up, trying to do everything in Gursikh way on my birthday. This not so perfect birthday was a perfect lesson for my daily life and any future birthdays, once I got over being upset that none of my grand plans worked out. Its not about how much you do, or what you do, its about how much love you do it with. Anything done with love for Guru Ji, he accepts. Anything done for the sake of doing, like my ‘gursikh’ birthday, is not accepted because you can’t just imitate gursikh actions, you have to mean it, you have to feel it. Next year, no manmukh activities, where I forget Waheguru Ji even while trying to serve him. No need to go overboard, simple actions filled with love is all that is needed.

waheguru

waheguru ji that was so nice to read.....please keep mosting such touching stories

you brought the life of sikhsangat with you. it was so quiet without you, bhena ji

why can't you go? omg, how can you not go. try to go. I will be excited for all our brothers/sisters doing gatka. I wanted to see you with them, also. either way I am excited. can't wait.

did you get picked? omg, I am so excited.

omg, for reals bhena ji?

I want paneer

welcome to sikhsangat. Don't worry about what paneermonster said. He probably said that because once a topic has hit a few pages, you are likely to find him stirring up some trouble. jk

no you don't. you have barely been active these days, you don't need to take another hiatus.

This does not make Guru Ji a missionary, nor does it make Sikhi a missonary religion. Because once again we aren't asking anyone to convert. In my opinion (I might be wrong and correct me If i am because i am still learning about sikhi), What Guru Ji is saying in this pankti is for Sikhs to burn away hope and desire with the word of shabad, chant the lord's name and inspire others to chant it too, meaning be good yourself and inspires others to be good too (read their religious text and understand, not blindly follow). A Sikh through the Guru finds his way back to Waheguru Ji. The people that we inspire find their way too, with what every religion they follow, if they follow it properly not blindly. I think some people take it too literally that inspiring others to chant means to inspire them to become Sikhs. In my opinion (once again probably wrong) I believe it means to inspire them to become a good sikh, a good hindu, a good mulsim or whatever religion they are. An example out of my own life is a hindu lady that attends the local Gurudwara Sahib here but is always discouraging me from following the Sikhi path (says I am too young), I always try not to get mad or in an argument with her. Instead I think of this pankti and encourage her to become a better hindu and study her religion more. Let her be happily immerased in her religion, and may Guru Granth Sahib Ji bless me to be a better Sikh. We don't both have to jaap the same name, we just have to do it with the same love and desire for Waheguru Ji.

whats the truth? for which you are looking for sources?

and we missed you, so quiet without you

We aren't missionaries because we don't want to convert anyone. Yes, people convert into Sikhi but it is not because we force them or encourage them too. From my understanding of Sikhi we encourage people to leave false practices and become a good hindu/muslim or whatever religion they are. If people find it easier to to relate to and understand Sikhi and become Sikhs, that is their choice and we welcome them. But we do not go out saying all other religions other then Sikhi are false, nor do we go out and try to force people to listen to us. Even when our Guru Ji's went out to preach, they only preached to people that came to listen, not shove their beliefs down peoples throats and force them to see their prespective. I think the fact we don't force our beliefs or religion upon others and encourages others to be good, is what sets us apart from other religions. And for that reason we are not missionaries, we aren't here to save anyones soul by converting them. I am still learning about Sikhi, so if I say something wrong, please forgive me.