Bhajneet

1,Hell

2.World

3.Heaven

3 type of physical world we cud categorize all this countless world to as mods saab said above most ppl(except tru Gursikhs) roam in these 3 worlds only.............

There is fourth world(not exactly a world) called sachkhand or getting merged in jot of waheguru where a tru sikh aims for.....

needn't say more cos sumtime i also get confused :wub:

Hell and Heaven are not physical worlds, haha. But yes, I think the three worlds are the three planes of existence. The Physical, the Mind-world(merging with god), and then the Spiritual world (God, Heaven)

And hell isn't beneath most of us... most of us are living it...

Also I agree with the post above that says: screw thinking about this, unless you're at the spiritual stage where you can contemplate it (and trust me, brother, if you're at that stage, then the answer will come to you with intuitive ease, and it won't require pondering)

Leave it to Guru sahib to worry about these things.

Oh wow. I haven't read this in a long time. My views have changed however.

I think for the vast majority that there is a good time for amrit vela. I know I know... this contradicts what I said earlier. But I've found that there is a time when nothing is going on between midnight and around 5am where honestly... no birds, no family members, nothing is active.

If you can (as in you have a diturnal sleep cycle) I suggest you wake up around these times. They are most meditative and it's very easy to find one's rasa during these times.

For others who work night-shifts (i doubt the vast majority on here do), of course you can find your own amrit vela.

As Japman Singh has noted, amrit is sans time.

So in essence... yes I still agree with myself, but with a higher priority to wake up between midnight and 5am.

Just felt I should clear that up, for myself at least, haha =P

lol........im gonna take gaddi to work tomorrow now.................and its Pehnjee (why everyone think im a boy? :wub: :wub: )

i agree im truly thankful to maharaj for bring a moorakh like me into this world and putting me on the path of sikhi..................so is Sikhi a religion or way of life or both? whitch is more important or do they both fit together? each serves it own purpose..............?

sorry if i sound confusing...................cos i am confused most of the time :wub:

Sorry Bhain jee, I saw an old bearded guy (bad analogy... but somehow that translated to veer jee =P)

Sikhism is a religion. Recently, however, a lot of people have decided to follow a more "mystical" path that revolves around the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev jee... of course you can choose one, but I think Sikhism as a religion is a better choice for me. That's why I follow it and not Christianity, Judaism, Jedi-ism, or Mysticism (which is basically the umbrella term for "Sikhi as a way of life").

It doesn't mean to say that those other religions cannot help you reach God, I simply think this religion is most compatible with me.

I can't choose for you, Bhain jee, it's up to you to find the compatibility test. There are so many things people miss out on. The religion Sikhism, looks very confusing and scary because people don't know so much about it. It's surprising when a lot of our youth say they know a lot about our religion simply because they know all the guru jee's or know what our panj kakkar are. But... Sikhism is a LOT deeper than that.

Veer

PS - sorry if this is very rantful, I'm in a ranting mood today =(

For many people Sikhism is a way of life. For those of this Sangat that have taken amrit... Sikhi is a religion that was put into existence by Guru Gobind Singh jee based on the teachings of the 10 gurus.

It is a religion for many people on here. And the answer to your question: Is Sikhism the Easiest Path to God? My answer is: Yes, for me

Why would I be Sikh, otherwise?

And veer jee, of course you may still go to God. Sikhi isn't the only path to God. Religion is still important however, so I suggest you work on building your rehit as if you're going to be hit by a bus tomorrow =P

Inspiration comes from within. Inspire yourself and you can inspire others, which in turn may inspire others.

Random Rant (you can skip this if you want): A lot of posts on SikhSangat (at least from what I remember a couple of years ago) used to be more compassionate as well as patient. When I read things now, I see a lot of people bashing others down (yeah, that's inspiring =P) or otherwise saying: "don't waste our time on sikhsangat" as if they know what others want. </end rant>

Maybe we should be asking ourselves this question, and not others. Instead of looking outwards, maybe it's a time to delve inwards.

I know you said that you're looking for the history/gurbani that inspires you. But... honestly, history/gurbani isn't inspiring to the un-inspired. Inspire yourself with God now; He's right in your face =P

PS - It might also have to do with.. you know.. so many topics being banned. I know it led to a lot of immature fights, but if done properly it could have been highly educational as well as broadening of the mind's viewpoints and perceptions.

I know you said gutka, but there are online stuff (in case you didn't already know... but i'm sure you did):

http://www.sridasam.org/dasam?c=t

<banned site filter activated>institute/dasam/glory.shtml

I don't live in England, So I can't really help you out with a physical location on the gutka.

Good Luck

That really un-made my day.

Bhaji, you are calling yourself 'Singh' yet you've blatantly disregarded Gurbani. So if you do decide to cut your kes, IMHO I don't think it would be appropriate to call yourself a Sikh or Singh. It would be misleading to say the least.

I agree whole-heartedly.

Sikhism must not be your religion, my friend. I suggest you find one that agrees with your views on spirituality.

I hope you find peace with your "enlightened" lifestyle. Good luck.

PS - You can stop defending yourself around here. We're just trying to help, veer jee -- not attack you.

I've noticed a lot of people on here have had good intentions of helping this man out, but I feel that we should look to some of the things we've been saying:

Do you think that the shaheeds that gave up their life for you to keep your sikhi saroop are a joke?

So many sikhs lost there lives, so we could be in the position that we are intoday where we can keep our kes without fear of being locked up/killed/mistreated. If you cut ur kes that will be a real shame because i can tell you this, from my experiences in life, you will regret it.

And if you can still find something to argue about after thinking about Bhai Taru Singh Jees sacrifice than you seriously need to think about how much love you have for sikhi (myself included)

Do you think that those Singhs that kept their kesh during hard times, despite knowing that they where being hunted and brutally tortured and murdured by the goverment during 1984 where a joke?

I believe the shaheeds gave up their life for themselves. Because they believed very strongly in their beliefs of keeping hair. Again, I remember that these people probably did not intend to burden future generations of mankind, but simply *were* what they believed in. I encourage the Sangat to to help this man understand why people were locked up, killed, and tortured for keeping their hair. That will be much more beneficial than trying to attack someone with guilt.

And No. It was not a joke to them. But again, I think you should just look at the faith these people have. I wouldn't say: "don't cut your hair, greater men than you have kept their hair through tougher times, suck it up you can do it too".

However, on a sidenote, I think reading these things did strengthen my belief in keeping my hair. It gave me a Sangat to associate with. But again... just saying that it is wrong to associate blindly; that it is very important to understand why some people had the faith they did. These great people led by example. We should look to their examples. Bless them.

No Singh please down cut your kesh, our panth will be short of 1 Singh who could make a whole lot of difference to our panth.

And I most definitely would not advise someone to keep their hair just so they were supporting my cause. I would rather help them understand why they should keep hair for themselves.

Also it shows us how little we think of ourselves to be affected by how other people percieve us. Why is our appearance *so* important? Why do we fail to see people for what they really are and connect with their souls and not their shaven/hairy arms/hair/legs etc????

Apparently there are also other questions that have not been answered. I'll try to help quickly with a quote I recently read:

"Consider one farmer who reaps some crops even before they are ripe, and either sells the unripe crops or feeds them to the animals. Consider another farmer who lets them become ripe and reaps a rich harvest and uses the grain wisely. Those who acquire Siddhis and use them before they are morally and spiritually mature are like the first farmer. Such people never come to the profounder experiences of contemplation of the divine Name, nor can they attain peace and contentment."

I remember, that it is good to offer advice and guidance. But I think it's wrong to look down on those whose fates are not as gifted and enlightening as mine or others.

---

I'd like to start out with a quote:

A king may move a man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convinient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that.

Remember that your sorry excuses won't hold up in the Court of God. You cannot say: Oh, but the world's petty notion of beauty was to cut your hair. Or to have a partner was something everyone was doing. In the end, the choices of your soul and mind are those of yours alone.

I'm glad you're asking for help, it means that you're at least giving the tiny voice of reason in your head a chance to grow stronger.

There are a lot of reasons that you should be keeping your hair and not cutting it. Some of the reasons include a more simpler life:

Compare the 'amount of trouble we take' to the amount of trouble and lengths others go to in order to stop their hair growing back everyday! Shaving/waxing/plucking has to be done on a regular basis. Why not just keep things simple and live happily with what you've got.

And another great reason is that it takes the doubt out of your mind:

pUrY Bwig sqguru imlY jw BwgY kw audau hoie ]

By perfect good fortune, one meets the True Guru, when one's destiny is awakened.

AMqrhu duKu BRmu ktIAY suKu prwpiq hoie ]

Suffering and doubt are cut out from within, and peace is obtained.

gur kY BwxY jo clY duKu n pwvY koie ]3]

One who walks in harmony with the Guru's Will shall not suffer in pain. ||3||

gur ky Bwxy ivic AMimRqu hY shjy pwvY koie ]

The Amrit, the Ambrosial Nectar, is in the Guru's Will. With intuitive ease, it is obtained.

ijnw prwpiq iqn pIAw haumY ivchu Koie ]

Those who are destined to have it, drink it in; their egotism is eradicated from within.

nwnk gurmuiK nwmu iDAweIAY sic imlwvw hoie ]4]13]46]

O Nanak, the Gurmukh meditates on the Naam, and is united with the True Lord. ||4||13||46||

http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=76

http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=72

http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=75

http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=109

http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=107

If Gurbani isn't your thing, then try to understand this: God's creation is perfect. Why tamper with it by cutting your hair? It's quite egotistic of myself to think I can improve on God's design by cutting my hair.

But the idea is simple - God made us the way we are, we keep it that way. It's natural and right.

Now to simply nitpick everything you said:

"But like in real world I dont know but I am really attracted to fantasies"

I hear you, mate. I also couldn't do some roles in theater because of my dhastaar, but I could still be happy in watching theater. Try being content with simply knowing that theater will live on without you. I also had the same issue of swimming as you did, but I finally figured that out (swim caps do wonders, I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out =x). I honestly don't know what to do about deep sea diving, but I'm sure there are things you can do about it. Otherwise, forget it... why do something that clashes with your beliefs? Deep sea diving is less important than God.

What I'm also worried about is that you might have forgotten that the "real world" isn't what you're describing. The "real world" is in your mind, it's a spiritual plane of existence. It's really hard to get in that state, especially with maya pulling you away from it all the time.

"My girl friend does not want to hang out with me. And if u think I want to cut hair for her alone then I have dumped her for that."

Two things about this:

1) Relationships... a different topic.

2) How did you two get together? I'm sure you had your hair then... why even bring up the idea of hair and your girlfriend. Cutting your hair is not going to improve things with her (as you just said: if she was that shallow you would have dumped her for that. I respect you for that).

"And its like as much as we want to cover this fact but the girls really dont want to be out with us."

Hah. You're speaking from experience? You just said you're having issues with keeping your hair (I'm assuming you're debating whether or not to cut it), therefore... how'd you end up with a girl again?

And another thing, why worry about this? Don't you have more important things to worry about? Like the little voice in your head? If girls didn't exist, would you keep your hair? Think about it... There will always be excuses to cut your hair. It's hard to find the faith required to keep it, but I hope you realize how important hair really is.

"and I know lustful life is not what Guru Ji would have guided but then I am really young and I do want to enjoy my life a lot more!"

Okay. Listen to yourself:

I know I'm wrong. But I'm young, so I'm allowed to make mistakes.

Would you ever allow your child to reason like this? If you understand that a lustful life is against Sikhi, then why do you look for an excuse? How else can you possibly enjoy life a lot more with hair cut? Doing some drama? Deep sea diving? A girlfriend that supports you and reminds you that you're not alone?

All of these are cheats. Life is hard for a reason. Don't numb the pain of everyday hardships with these painkillers. Cutting your hair is going to be an aphrodisiac you take to get "better" opportunities in life and to enjoy it more.

Would you say that drinking is bad? Smoking? Why... drinking isn't bad for your health if done in moderation. And marijuana has been found to be quite beneficial in the short term. But Guru Jee told us to NOT do these things because they alter our perception on life. They make life easier to take.

This is unadvisable, because suddenly the great becomes only good and the good becomes normal. Without these hardships, my friend, you won't understand the true happiness in life.

I would redefine enjoyment, if I were in your shoes.

Gurbani Ji repeatedly only said to give importance to molarity, be humble, remember God, God is the ultimate.

You are quite smart. Now... wouldn't it be immoral for a child to go against his parents wishes and cut his hair? Would it be humble to cut your hair and gain fame and power and other high lofty titles? Would you remember God after you've cut your hair and associated all these great things (which you like to call "a better life") to your decision? I think you'd rather say "I'm a great man for having cut my hair that day, look where it has landed me!" and then you'll truly forget God. All these great things you'll achieve.. they'll go down the drain someday, then where will you be? What will you do when God asks you: "So what did you achieve, exactly?"

God IS the ultimate. Don't you dare believe you are greater than His wishes.

Take care, singh.

I pray you'll make the right decision.

PS - I apologize to the members who's posts I criticized at the top. I did not intend to be overly harsh, and I did remove names and typos so it wouldn't be overly obvious as to who wrote which quote.

fateh all

well basicly just want to no where i can purchase bhai sahib randhir singhs books (english) ones??

i've read the autobiography ... jsut wodnering were i can get others from?? and what other books have been translated?

Heyo, you can find some on akj.org (go to Literature - the sixth tab a little past the middle).

Rangley Sajjan (http://akj.org/skins/one/books.php?ch=1&bookid=5)

Timar Agiaan... (http://akj.org/skins/one/books.php?ch=1&bookid=6)

Amrit Ki Hain... (http://akj.org/skins/one/books.php?ch=1&bookid=2)

Vaheguru Si... (http://akj.org/skins/one/books.php?ch=1&bookid=7)

These are the four I know of. I don't know which of the others are also Bhai Randhir Singh Jee's, but these four are for sure.

----

If you want to buy some of his books go online, you lazy bum! Just google "bhai randhir singh book english -autobiography" without the quotes and you'll find some things. I found this article at sevatothemax: http://www.sevatothemax.com/blog/2006/03/2...preface-part-1/ by searching that. Or buy some from here: http://www.sikhlink.net/store/catsearch.as...y&type=book. I saw at least two books by Bhai Randhir Singh jee there, and they looked like they were in english.

Good luck, his books are amazing!

---

Okay... after a while I really got into this and decided to do more research. Here's a short summary of Bhai Randhir Singh Jee.

Meanwhile, apart from such introductory works, there have been written numerous writings that have focused upon Sikh mysticism. Bhai Sahib Bhai Randhir Singh, a Sikh mystic par-excellence wrote more than twenty books on Sikh theology, philosophy and mysticism. Bhai Randhir Singh Ji explains Gurmat concepts in light of mystical concepts and also mentions various types of spiritual powers, energies and mystical notions. Some of the books include 'Jail Chittian (Auto-biography)', 'Amrit ki Hai? (What is the meaning of Amrit?), 'Anhad Shabad Dasam Duar', 'Gurmat Vichar', 'Scahkhand Darshan' and 'An-Dithi Duniya' (The Unseen World). Bhai Randhir Singh has in a very special way explained hidden concepts of mysticism. In the books such as 'Sachkhand Darshan' and The Unseen World, Bhai Sahib gives an account of the after-life. 'Gurmat Vichar' is one of his works on Sikh philosophy, that also from a mystical viewpoint. An important concept of Sikh mysticism being the 'Dasam Duar', or the Tenth gate that opens the channels of spiritual wisdom is also explained in his writings.

I got it from an article at Panthic Weekly (again.. Google is amazing). There are other influential writers on there tha tyou might want to read about so here's the link: http://www.panthic.org/news/132/ARTICLE/1298/2005-05-01.html.

---

Now here's what I figured would be most useful to you: http://www.nahal.com/

That site has a long list of Bhai Randhir Singh Jee's books (http://www.nahal.com/randhir.html) (or click on Bhai Randhir Singh on the left side (there's a scroll bar). There's also ordering information and everything there.

And the Panthic Weekly article also had a list of inspirational articles online at: http://www.gurmat.info/sms/smspublications/. I didn't look into it, but it's a good resource as well.

--

Okay! Now have fun, haha

You have to practice. So at 1st get up at 6 no matter what and a few weeks later wake at 5 and after a month wake at 4 etc. until your at the point where you get up at the last {4th} quarter of the night. Remember it changes with the seasons so in the winter the night is longer than in the summer etc. but the time isnt too drastically changed.

But Amritvela is meaning that you wake at the last{4th} quarter of the night and not at a specific time like lets say some say 3am and some say 4am but it has to do with the night being divided up into 4 quarters

what about people who sleep during hte day and wake up at night? or insomniacs? Amrit Vela means when you wake up and nothing else is going on.. so technically the middle of the night (when nothing outside is going on) and you JUST woke up refreshed is considered amrit vela

i've never heard of this fourth quarter thing before, where'd you get that from?

A real Gursikh will never sleep through A.vela.

There is Gursikh and there is Manmukh. There is no real or fake of either, it's quite simple.

actually you can get drunk off of listerine

but moving on

hahaha

why do you only do 7 baanis in a day then?

someone decided that.

they chose 7

i believe thats cutting down the SGGS a little bit

idk.. sounds a little like the Guru jee told us to "cheat" gurbani

Whats wrong with putting packs of meat on display ? The meat is not exactly going to jump up and drop in your mouth.

It is wrong to drink alcohol but I have not seen many people in ASDA etc drinking whilst they work.

So just get the job and do good honest work. No one will force you to eat and drink what the place sells.

Restraint.

Food companies make advertisements which you see on TV, most people (let's just say weak-willed or unconcentrating people) will get hungry simply looking at the advertisements. That's the way they get you to buy their products.

If watching something makes you want it, what happens when you touch it? If you touch meat or alcohol you become accustomed to it, someday you'll think "eh, it's not too bad if i even take a sip of this, its not like i'm gonna get drunk, juts a little buzz". There's absolultely nothing wrong with touching meat or alochol, its just that most people wont be able to resist afterwards. Guru jee knew this, so he told us to lay our hands off it, and if we needed even more restraint to not even go near the stuff.

Your senses are a gateway, you touch/smell/hear/see and y ou're gonna wanna taste too eventually.

To "kurtas":

I think it's more like if you don't think it's a good thing, why would you want to be associated with it.

Or am I wrong? Then could somebody explain why you guys think it's wrong to just place it on shelves, etc, if it's packed? I don't get it

How far do you want to go then ? Do you pull out of your final salary pension scheme because you know money will be invested in firms that profit from anti Gurmat activities ?

Do you put your money under the mattress as banks lend to firms that profit from anti Gurmat activities ?

Do you invest your money in a Las Vegas Casino? Do you invest your money in the bleeping Mafia? No. How is that going too far?

Or do you mean investing money in a gas station that sells meat? Cuz that is a good question that i'd have to think about.

Personally I dont think you should touch the meat or the alcohol, and dont worry about not getting a job. There are LOADS out there, and no offense but a lot of those jobs are more interesting too

why are you guys doing this? was concentrating solely on doing simran too easy for you guys? just figured hey.. saying it, hearing it, trying to visualize the word, and thinking it, wasn't enough?

if you need to go on, but if you're doing it for ego's purpose only stop.

i'm sure there are some people here who can better concentrate on waheguru jee when they dont' ahve to worry about typing his name properly or fancily

what the hell?

<sarcasm> i thought we were supposed to do all of SGGS every day, i can't believe people get by doing only the seven baaniaas everyday. what sinners. </sarcasm>

my opinion is that the more the better, i'm an optimist i like to think that if i do more i get more in return. i dont like taking the pessimists view of saying "hey if i dont do these last paurees i've basically done more harm than i did good." Let's be honest here, i agree we should do the 27 paurees of chopai (i never even knew that) and if possible do the 40 paurees of anand sahib whenever possible (which in today's world it really should be), but please.. when you're trying to persuade someone dont be so pessimistic (or some other word, which would be better applicable, i just can't think of it.. negative perhaps?)

dont force people. encourage them.

points to you, keep up the good work

A post to Janet and the Sangat (the group of people here, you can think audience if you like).

There’s a fine line between helping someone and butting in (ahem the whole bit about lust/adultery… I mean what were you thinking?).

And I’d like to give my two cents. A lot of people (AKA 99.999%) believe that you shouldn't go into love marriages or marry outside the “brown people” (I say this, because many of them allow Sikh-Hindu marriages but not Sikh-Caucasian). Now obviously Sikhism (the religion he practices, I’m sure you knew that, but just in case...) is against lust. Wanting someone’s body, I mean in general all of society agrees on this point. But according to me Sikhi is not against love, I’m sure God was all for love (esp. seeing as he wants us to love him).

If what you feel is to be love (and considering you're about to change religions for it, I’m sure it is) then by all means go ahead and try to marry him (which I hope you still are), don’t mind some of the people here, it’s mainly a huge republican/conservative crowd. Many have forgotten that Sikhism is open-minded, that the religion wouldn't have existed unless there were some people who were open-minded and ready to change.

The whole, love-marriage thing, its not written in bani (Sikh scripture) or anything, it's an INDIAN tradition, not Sikhism. So stop that now.

Now you're having problems with his parents, makes sense, a lot of Indian parents are very strict/ignorant/narrow-minded/etc. They do what tradition has asked and not what religion dictates for them.

You also want to learn the culture, totally understandable, where else to start? I agree with the post above, Mr. Sikhnet knows a ton; I’m sure he could help you a lot, or perhaps the teenage Sikh community. Most of us are 2nd-generation like you’re hopeful-husband-to-be; therefore we understand both cultures quite well. If you could tell us perhaps a bit more about where you live, maybe you could find one of us, or heck go outside, we're not that big a population, but I’m sure you'll find someone.

Also to the sangat, remember we're not missionaries, we don’t believe in converting people into Sikhism (I may be wrong... but I believe strongly that I understood your intentions correctly). We believe that another should be INSPIRED to become a Sikh. She wants to learn about the culture first, so let’s take it one step at a time. If she doesn't want to then she doesn't have to. Just another fine-line I’m talking about.

Also, realize that she may not understand all of the jargon being typed in here, be more respectful about your surroundings in the future. (Yes, I understand that its second-habit and that we may not catch it (I’m sure I missed some), but at least try)

And in the future, please don’t post gurbani that is irrelevant to the material on hand. This whole thread disturbed me enough to bring me back outta hibernation.

yep, thats why you have static build up. you're making friction, and normallyl when the electrons would transfer through the comb to your hand, which then transfers to the ground (gotta be bare foot.... and on floor, not carpet, haha, for max benefit).

you can also help by

brush your hair

take other hand and smooth out the path you just brushed

like one after the other

and make sure your feet are touching the ground (that way you're grounded and the electrons CONDUCT through your skin to the ground, lol)

since wood is an insulator, i doubt it would reduce static. if anything, it would build it instead.

science tells you to use polished comb teeth, dunno what polished means......

okay.... this might take a while.

To everyone with the utmost respect:

you've disrespected me by asking me to answer an ambiguous question.... only to have me....

EVERYONE, ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU PROCEED, IS HUMANITY THE AUTHOR OF EVIL?

mm... i actually asked myself that, felt like an <banned word filter activated> too since i'm a layman, and didn't understand half of what i asked myself.

Okay, so if i understand this correctly... you're saying that back then the popular beliefs were evil, and thats why guru jee wanted to fix them.

and the so-called "evils" gave birth to sikhi.

then you said, why do we want to eliminate that which gave us birth.

umm... isn't this a bit circular? you say that evil gave us birth (because we wanted to stop evil..... thats why we were born)... then you say why do we want to stop evil.

i'm a layman, not a simpleton

what you're asking is for me to give up sikhi.

once again, you seem to have this image of yourself "rallying the troops" so to speak. you can't just make an argument with circular reasoning and hope i hail down to you.

PS - stop with the leftists free your mind thing, its very disturbing and i keep thinking of the rave party in the matrix. "free your mind, neo" yadda yadda. btw, general rule of thumb when trying to persuade someone, dont use big words that dont fit in context

My second edit...

Also, i noticed that this isn't really about what you're talking about. If i inferred correctly, what you're trying to do is criticize sikhi from teh inside. I have the strange feeling, you dont really care what gave us birth and yaddda yadda, wha tyou're really trying to say is that we were born so that we could correct the evils.

you're playing this persuasion thing like a chess board, you can't make a move like that.

{edited by user}

hey wow, you did what i couldn't, haha

nah i should be asking for maafi, sorry

but i am glad we straightened that all out, heh

As Einstein said:

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

Our Baani is full of Science which we've readily shown you. It is the main reason why i like Sikhism so much, because it makes sense. Whereas you have rituals and other things (wine is converted by a priest to Jesus' Blood, etc.) in other religions.

I dont want to reprimand Gupt Dasan Dass jee, but Sikhi is full of Science for a reason. And Science cannot prove the existence of God (understood, thats why there's faith), but it is a basis for religion.

First off, I'd like to agree with UntitledSingh, You dont have to freak out if you're losing hair. I highly doubt (though obviously a moorakh like me wouldn't know) that you can't be one with God, just because you dont have long hair.

Anyways, since y'all are lazy and can't google anything (it really shows how badly you care about losing hair.. :lol: ):

The right food is important for your hair.

Without Vitamin A your hair becomes brittle, and abnormal dandruff can develop.

Without Vitamin B1 or B6 you can start to lose your hair.

Vitamin C stimulates the hair growth and regulates the generation of pigments in the hair strand.

Vitamin B12 supports feeding the root.

Using combs with unpolished teeth may be a reason for such damaged scales, also sharp hair clamps. With such a damage, the strand will rip more easily, the opened scales do not allow other strands to glide over as smooth as before, which can result in tangles.

Split hairs are caused by hard combing or brushing, especially on wet hair. Furthermore hair can split after it dried out, because it lost its natural flexibility.

Bent hair Everything which is hard and sharp may harm your hair. If you use force against hair, it will be damaged.

Indeed is a good preparation required to get the best result out of your washing routine. Don't jump into the shower, pour the shampoo on and start rubbing.

"Oh, you have so silky soft hair!" - isn't this what you like to hear? Well, then you better start to believe that your hair is like silk. How do you wash your silk clothes? Do you throw them into the washing machine at high temperature, choose the cheapest washing powder, get a high rotation factor, and let it tumble dry afterwards?

Well, if you ever did this, you know the result.

Use water of room temperature for your hair. Usually you will use the lowest temperature you can bear. Hair is not sensitive, so bend over, and have a final rinse of the lower hair part with cold water. If the water does not touch the skin, who cares? And it is good for your hair.

Why is cold water good for hair? Warm water does more easily dissolve the natural scalp oil, which is distributed over your hair during brushing or combing. This oil gives protection and shine. Let's better keep it, add-on products as Jojoba oil are good, but never as good as the original.

Furthermore does warm water open the hair scales, making the hair shaft more vulnerable.

Please do not use hot water on your hair, and in fact you better don't use it on your skin either. Many skin irritations these days result from the every day washing, with water which is too warm.

I can testify to this, haha

Ready to enter the shower? Not yet! Take your comb or brush, and give your hair a few strokes. This aligns the strands, and prevents that you get out of the shower with a lot of tangles.

During the washing you shall try not to move your hair. This keeps the hair strands at the position they were before, they won't move upwards and wrap themselves around other strands, resulting in unbearable knots.

She rubs the hair on top of her head, and the hair strands have wonderful opportunities to knot - more work for her!

Half a bottle of shampoo each wash, right?

Wrong! Shampoo is used to clean the hair, and not to cover your head in white foam. It is easy to measure the right amount of shampoo, and to apply it correctly.

Take some shampoo into your palm. Rub both hands together. Then run the palms of your hands over your head (not yet down the string of hair). With the right amount of shampoo you will get a somewhat glibberish coverage, which shall not start to foam. If the shampoo starts to foam, you used too much.

If you have accidently used too much shampoo, you can distribute it down the string of hair by letting the string slide through your fist. It is helpful for detangling to run your fingers through the string of hair, from top to bottom.

The shampoo will take away the dirt, which lays on the top layers of your hair. You do not need to bend over and start washing your hair inside out - the shampoo suds will penetrate these layers briefly when you wash it out, and this is sufficient.

The shampoo shall flow over the lower part of your hair when you wash it out. Help a bit with your fingertips to release the soap from your head. Running your fingers through the string of hair helps detangling, and ensures a more thorough penetration of the hair by the suds.

Make sure that you wash out all of the shampoo. When you think all shampoo is gone, allow another half minute of constant water flow to ensure that residues are gone

Fundamentally, there are only 3 products, I believe, that anyone needs: shampoo, conditioner and oil. There are only a few basic tools needed: a wide toothed comb, a regular toothed comb and a boar bristle brush.

People's choices do vary as to what works for their hair, and only time and some experimentation will reveal exactly the right combination of products, tools will work for your hair type.

What matters most when requesting advise, for future reference, is type of hair (straight, curly, wavy, frizzy, and texture: thick, medium, fine extra fine) and hair care: products, how detangle, how wash, how one dries their hair.

Oiling is a fabulous way to keep the moisture content high all the way to the tips, and works best in combination with other details. It is the combination of the details that creates beautiful hair: excellent detangling, proper washing, good quality products in shampoo and conditioner choices, high quality detangling tools (no burrs, no seams on those combs), oiling and dusting, and wearing hair contained for the most part (updos, braids), and even at night sleeping on a smooth surface pillowcase such as a satin pillowcase---even braiding or bunning hair at night.

There are a variety of oil choices...the two main ones tend to be Jojoba Oil, and Coconut Oil. Most here do use Jojoba Oil, but I prefer Coconut Oil for my knee length, straight and quite fine hair. I like a heavier oil to provide a protective coating to my very fine hair (indeed, hold one single strand up and it's nearly invisible in the light). HobaCare is a very high quality oil that is cold expeller pressed exactly once. When shopping for Jojoba Oil, look for an oil that is golden in color yet quite clear and rather see-through. There's many that are muddier in their color and a tad murky looking to appear through with a duller golden hue. The Coconut Oil I choose is by Spectrum Naturals, pressed specifically for hair and skin use. It comes as a solid in a 5 oz. jar, and because it's solid, is easy to figure out the right amount for your hair type and length. You can choose other oils such as Sweet Almond Oil. I know of one person who uses vegetable oil (she didn't say which brand) achieving beautiful results; however, I have been advised that many such oils are pressed differently (two or more times) to withstand high heat (for frying and such) and thus, the acid content is higher. In days of yore (and likely still) other cultures have used olive oil; however, it tends to be rather heavy and is pressed differently for sustaining high temperatures (and not breaking down). Oils such as flax seed oil are not intended for hair use although they are not pressed to sustain high heat.

OilingTo oil the hair is quite easy. Take a small amount of oil, perhaps 2 drops, or if scraping a solid such as coconut oil, barely a fingernail full....and rub between the palms to warm and melt a bit. There should be a very sheer layer of oil on the palms as a result--barely discernable except for the shine or reflection in the light. Then apply the oil to pre-washed, already fully dry and detangled hair. Apply only from the earlobes on down. Do not apply to scalp hair to leave on for days as this will upset your pH balance of the acid mantle (the scalp skin). Set the palms on either side of the hair length on one side and simply downstroke through the hair. Then repeat on the other side. Those with thick hair or wavy/curly hair need to separate the hair more to get more at the deeper inward layers to get some oil there.

This oil is then left in as the leave-in conditioner and not removed until the next hair washing (which we recommend to attempt to do around twice a week at best). Remember, scalp hair needs to be washed; typically the length does not. The idea is to allow oils to build up that is produced naturally from the sebacious glands (on the scalp) and then distribute these oils, and probably applying some more oil to the length, to more evenly distribute the oil. To distribute the oil, this is where a Boar Bristle Brush (BBB) enters the picture.

A BBB is not intended as a detangling tool and it should not be used on wet hair. A BBB can cause damage if there's a tangle or wet hair...and it also shouldn't be used if the hair is not in overall good health, such as suffering from excess frizz, excess flyaway, a fair amount of damage still, damage from perm/coloring... However, a BBB can be used once the hair is stabilized in its basic strength and integrity to move the oils around. Unlike a detangling tool which is used bottom to top, the BBB is used, generally, top to bottom. If one encounters a tangle, switch back to a comb to work it out. I switch back and forth frequently. A BBB does not penetrate the thickness of one's hair so it must be used topside and underside, separately, and this is where the 100 strokes likely derives from. A lot of strokes to work in that oil. A BBB does cause fullness of the hair but this is easily calmed by following with a downstroke of the palm.

If you're preparing for a hair wash, it is then OK to put some oil on the scalp hair (although you probably won't need it b/c the reason to wash the hair is there's an excess of buildup of oil on the scalp). You can also oil length heavily on purpose prior to a hair wash.

When oiling to leave in, a small amount goes a long way! So be conservative. You can always add more, even a day or so later, you can add more as needed. But it's easy to do too much: if the hair sections a bit or looks a tad greasy-ish, then you put in too much. Hair readily absorbs the oil. It does not rub off on clothing or linens. However, you may find you need to change your pillowcase a little more often nevertheless because of some very fine acne along the hairline (typical for some of us who go an extra day without a hair wash). With a little experimentation, you will find the right number of days to skip to build up oil and create a beautiful healthy shine and increase elasticity of the hair in due time.

In my opinion, there are no down sides to oiling: only benefits. Curly hair people will like it for the weight it imparts showing off the pattern of the curls; increases moisture content; provides a protective layer against damage such as splits and so forth; the weight helps the hair to move as one body (very appealing to the eye); frizz concerns are reduced; brittleness & dryness cease; and the hues of one hair color come forward resulting in a beautiful sheen that catches the light in interesting ways; and finally, the hair becomes supremely soft.

Oiling should be done consistently after each hair wash as a leave in conditioner. It is the consistency that matters most--not doing it once every so often.

OilingThere are those who like to put it in a spritzer bottle diluting it in water & applying after a fresh wash yet while the hair is still wet. This is fine if that works for you; however, do know, that the oil does not "capture" water to stay on the hair. Oil, especially Jojoba, is meant to mimic the natural oils produced by the sebacious glands. This oil is called "sebum" and has a waxy texture (you may note that when your hair oil builds up on the scalp that you can then remove what feels like a soft rolled bead...that is sebum.) This waxy medium is the protection for hair and the reason hair shines. Frequent washing removes this and also causes excess build up in a day or so. You can train yourself and your scalp to change its rate of production over the course of a month or so.

So, give it a whirl. Remember that you will have to do it around 2 times before you get the hang of it and find the right amount for you. A little really does go a long way. You can fan your hair out on a soft cotton sheet and oil that way if you like - I find this method gets to more of the individual strands then.

Applied oil is easily washed out in your next hair wash.

Oils can be found in aromatherapy stores, organic or whole food stores (beauty section), sometimes vitamin stores carry it, even high end grocery stores now have it. The oils we're speaking of are not salad dressing or cooking oils: they are "carrier" oils--the kind that "essential" oils are diluted in. (Essential oils are scented oils such as rosemary, grapefruit, geranium rose and rose and these scented oils must be diluted in jojoba (or some other similar carrier oil) because if applied to the skin in full strength, a reaction can occur...including a blood stream issue for those who are more sensitive. Also those who are pregnant or sun sensitive should really read up on essential oil use to be able to protect themselves properly. Not all oils are hair friendly, either. But the ones I named above are OK for hair. Simplers offers a booklet/pamphlet if you purchase one of their oils to get a quick overview of the whole scoop with essential oils. You can also type into a search engine, "essential oils" online and find a plethora of information on the internet.)

You can mix one or two drops with your jojoba or coconut oil to scent your hair with. Do change the amount of jojoba (or whatever your choice) to accommodate this addition so as not to over-oil your hair in one sitting. (In a way, there's no such thing as too much oil over the course of, say, a week, but in one sitting it can be too much.) Also, I notice that when I apply more to my palms for the next application (I do about 6 applications to get all of my hair length, 3 each side) that there's a bit of buildup on my palms, so sometimes I have to pat my palms on a paper towel to remove excess so as not to apply too much oil to that section of hair.

Well, hope this helps you out, and Happy Oiling! And again, we hope to see more of you. Do let us know how your oiling goes!

Umm... Wow, i got half way through and couldn't go on. Anyways, i got the gist of it and its basically true. Indians use TOO much oil, way too much. And worse still they apply the oil on the scalp (big no no, unless its 6 hours before a head wash). Thats what my doctor said anyways (due to my acne? or something like that)

It is a never ending problem of how to keep your hair from getting damaged by saltwater or chlorine from the pool.

These advices are given in order of effectiveness.

The most efficient way to protect your hair is to soak it in oil. Oil is hydrophobic (waterhating) and will therefore keep the water, and thereby chlorine and salt, away from your hair. It also has the additional benefit that you get a deep conditioning treatment while having fun.

Another is to put lots of conditioner in your hair before going into the pool, that is for short stays, as the water will take the conditioner out of your hair. This also has the benefit of a deepconditioning treatment.

If you have forgotten either of these remedies, then make sure to soak your hair in fresh water, so it is saturated, which will hinder too much contact between chemicals and your sensitive hair. And make sure to pour fresh water over it again when you are done swimming.

All these remedies will be rendered even more effective if you purcase a competition swimmers swimcap, as the cap will keep the water away.

If your hair has turned green from chlorine, then dissolve two aspirins in lukewarm water and pour through your hair, keeping an extra bowl underneath, so it can be poured through a couple of times.

Swimming often means staying out in the sun, protect your hair from the sun by wearing a hat or use a hairproduct which contains a sunscreen.

I found that very helpful, since I'm a swimming fanatic

Well thats basically it