Sherdil

I think Sikhs in India are in a tough position. They can't criticize the government without coming off as Khalistani separatists. If Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare were Sikhs, they would have disappeared just like Jaswant Singh Khalra. I think that's why some Indian Sikhs go out of their way to prove their patriotism. The funny thing is, they don't display that fervent loyalty once they leave India.

This is what I gather - The realm of Karma deals with the cycle of life and death we are trapped in. The Word (Naam) gives us the power to liberate ourselves from this cycle. - The warriors of power and spiritual heroes are within our mind. I would guess that they are fighting the 5 evils that plague us. - Sita is referenced for her beauty. Guru ji says that this area of the mind contains such beauty. - People who attain this level of consciousness don't fear death or deception - All over the world, devotees live in this state. They celebrate, because they have become one with God. - Sachkhand is the realm of truth within the mind - Then Guru ji describes the infinite universe. He sees this because he has become one with everything. - In the end, even Guru ji says that it is extremely hard to put into words what this feels like.

This is what Guru ji says of Sachkhand karam kha(n)dd kee baanee jor || In the realm of karma, the Word is Power. thithhai hor n koee hor || No one else dwells there, thithhai jodhh mehaabal soor || except the warriors of great power, the spiritual heroes. thin mehi raam rehiaa bharapoor || They are totally fulfilled, imbued with the Lord's Essence. thithhai seetho seethaa mehimaa maahi || Myriads of Sitas are there, cool and calm in their majestic glory. thaa kae roop n kathhanae jaahi || Their beauty cannot be described. naa ouhi marehi n t(h)aagae jaahi || Neither death nor deception comes to those, jin kai raam vasai man maahi || within whose minds the Lord abides. thithhai bhagath vasehi kae loa || The devotees of many worlds dwell there. karehi ana(n)dh sachaa man soe || They celebrate; their minds are imbued with the True Lord. sach kha(n)dd vasai nira(n)kaar || In the realm of Truth, the Formless Lord abides. kar kar vaekhai nadhar nihaal || Having created the creation, He watches over it. By His Glance of Grace, He bestows happiness. thithhai kha(n)dd ma(n)ddal varabha(n)dd || There are planets, solar systems and galaxies. jae ko kathhai th a(n)th n a(n)th || If one speaks of them, there is no limit, no end. thithhai loa loa aakaar || There are worlds upon worlds of His Creation. jiv jiv hukam thivai thiv kaar || As He commands, so they exist. vaekhai vigasai kar veechaar || He watches over all, and contemplating the creation, He rejoices. naanak kathhanaa kararraa saar ||37|| O Nanak, to describe this is as hard as steel! ||37||

I got the wavefront too. There is still some glare but it's not that bad. Drops for only a week? No way. Are you sure? I've been putting them in every day for the past 2 years.

Bro, sounds like you're saying that sachkhand is heaven. That's not true. Sachkhand is the highest level of consciousness a Sikh can attain. It's when your mind merges with God. You become one with the Universe, and are thus liberated.

Come on brothers, let's not start making fun of other people's religion. If we do that then we're no better than them. Let's show some class.

I agree. It seems the Indians can dish it out, but they don't take it very well. LOL at 0:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPfusXpVmw

Man, these lemmings would jump in a pile of feces for their beloved Amitabh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWEx5gACui8

That wasn't funny at all. They are mocking other people's religion and the killing of innocents. What is funny is these desis attempts to emulate Western culture. No doubt, the producer saw an episode of a Western late-night talk show and attempted to copy it. As usual, they came off as being fobs or freshies. They probably thought they were being satirical. Sikhs are running from '84? You want to know what you folks are running from? Lack of toilet facilities, hepatitis, lack of deodorant, malaria, and dysentery. Man, don't you desis realize that the world is laughing at you? You're fob accents and strong body-odor give you away, no matter how hard you try to act like goreh. "Hello, this is Rajeev, err...I mean Randy. Thank you for calling Dell."

Ditto. I thought all castes and lineages were supposed to be equal in the eyes of God. I don't think He would play favorites. Let's not fall into the trap of assuming we understand God's plan. Only He knows why He does what He does. This thinking is in realm of Abrahamic religions, where they believe that God is a guy in the sky making all these decisions. That isn't Sikhi.

Agreed. They do it for the money, but I think Sikhs are the ones coming out in large numbers to watch the film. Singh is King movie highlighted a new formula. Put a famous Bollywood actor in a dastaar, make him the hero of the film (rather than the clown), then sit back and watch Sikhs pay good money to see a movie about "Singhs". Unfortunately, I have yet to see an authentic sardar, or an accurate representation of our religion in these films. They mostly just perpetuate negative stereotypes.

The whole world will the watching the Olympics. Is there a bigger stage than this? If there was an opportunity to tell the world about 1984, then this is it.

I'm not implying that these devtas didn't exist. I'm saying that they were mortals just like us. They had their flaws just like us. To elevate them to the pedestal of Gods and Goddesses I think is blasphemy. Gurbani doesn't challenge the devtas legitimacy because it doesn't serve any purpose to do so. Rather than knocking them from their pedestal, it is better to say that even the devtas serve Akal Purakh. If the devtas serve Akal Purakh, then why do you waste your time bowing before the devtas? Can we really compare the devtas with our Gurus and Sant ji? The devtas were preoccupied with self-gratification and worldly things. Did our Gurus or Sant ji ever behave like this? Aren't we all avatars of the Supreme Brahman? Aren't our thoughts and actions just the drama of Akal Purakh playing out?

I had it done 2 years ago. There are 2 options. 1) One involves burning the outer layer of the lens I think, so it grows back like brand new. It takes longer to recover and its more painful but you don't have to worry about messing up your eyes if you get poked. 2) They make a cut in the lens, peel it back and then fix up your vision with a laser. Takes about 15 minutes and you shouldn't feel too much pain cuz they give you local anesthesia. Shorter recovery time, but if you get poked in the eye, then you got to rush to the doctor to fix it otherwise it could permamently damage your vision. I had the second option. I saw 20/20 right away, and after a month my vision became 20/15. I had to wear sunglasses for a while, when I went outside, and I'm still putting drops in my eyes to keep them from getting too dry. There is more glare when driving at night, but not too bad. Try to get as much information out of them as you can during your pre-op. They sold me on the more expensive option by telling me it was less painful and a quicker recovery. I just have to be careful not to get poked in the eye now when I play sports. Otherwise I'm pretty happy.

I was thinking of how he is portrayed in the Duserrah festivals. Legend says that he was as smart and cunning as 10 men. I believe that is why he is portrayed as a demon with 10 heads. Overtime, people really began to believe that he had 10 heads.

Isn't the guru God? As in waheguru, the ultimate teacher. In japji guru Nanak refers to himself in third person. He refers to God as guru.

Hindu devtas aren't god cuz they are plagued by the 5 evils, and cuz they all died. Go back to mool mantar and you will see that no Hindu devta fits the description of what God is. Gurbani shows us again and again how the devtas are flawed. Even the Hindu texts state that the devtas are not god, but rather different manifestations of the Supreme Brahman. My personal opinion is that the devtas were extraordinary people who existed in history, and achieved god-like status with Hindus. Buddha was a real person, but he is worshipped as an incarnation of Vishnu by some Hindus. Ravan is described as having 10 heads, making him as smart as 10 people. One can guess how this tall-tale developed. Sikhi is simple. 10 gurus, 1 guru granth sahib, 1 god. Everything else is irrelevant.

All religions lead to god in the sense that all religions are talking of the same god. There is only one, who is called by many different names. Gurbani says that Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Jains see part of the picture, but a Sikh sees the whole thing. Too much emphasis is put on the afterlife. If you are only doing good deeds because you think you will be rewarded with God's grace after death, then you have selfish motives. If there is a heaven, I think you will find Sikhs and non-Sikhs living there. The goal of a Sikh is to achieve liberation in this life. We are not supposed to be chasing some reward after we die.

The concept of God is more complicated in Sikhism. In Abrahamic religions, God is like a father-figure watching over all of us. In Sikhism, we are all a part of God. Everything in the universe is Him. This includes the good and the bad. There is something that willed the universe into being, and that something will remain once the universe is no more. No one has been able to pin-point what that something is. Physicists are still struggling with this because their equations fall apart at the moment right before the big bang. Our Guru says that we cannot know God absolutely, because "He" is beyond comprehension. However, we can observe him indirectly through the workings of the universe. We call this Hukam, which means His command. Wether you look at it scientifically or from a Sikh perspective, there is something that eludes us from fully comprehending our universe. That elusive something is what we call God. Scientists will call it something else. There is no way to answer your question directly. I did my best :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you go to the gurdwara, there will be a place for you to put your shoes. You must remove them before entering the prayer hall. You must also cover your head. There is usually a basket with bandanas in it, just take one and then give it back on your way out. When you enter the prayer hall, there will be priests singing hymns or talking. There is a large central structure that looks kind of like a tent. A priest will be waving a brush-like thing over a book. Follow the path down the middle of the room and bow before the book. This is to show respect to the book because it is our guru (teacher). When you bow, get on your knees and touch your forehead to the ground. Nothing too dramatic, just a simple gesture to show respect. Now you can take seat on the floor anywhere you like on the men's side. Now just sit back and observe. When people stand to recite a prayer, just do as they do. I think people will be happy to see you. It's not everyday that a non-Punjabi person walks into a gurdwara. I'm willing to bet that someone will come forward to introduce themselves once the prayers have concluded. Let us know how your experience went!

Hmmm...that makes sense. I would like to try that sometime. Maybe with a smaller number than 125,000 to start off with :-)

I think N30S1NGH is saying that we should understand the meaning of gurbani. If you don't know what you are saying, then you are speaking gibberish. Perhaps that is why your mind wanders.

So the point is to develop a strict routine, almost like working out. If you say it repetitively, then it becomes part of your thinking. There is nothing special about the number 125,000. It's just a goal someone sets. Similar to a weight lifter setting a goal for how many reps he will do. Doing it 126,000 times then wouldn't be beadbi. Doing something repetitively is a meditation within itself. It reprograms the brain, so to speak. Is this the gist of it?

I don't think that is true. Majority of boys born and brought up outside of India marry girls in their respective countries. The only boys who go back to India to find a wife are the ones who immigrated from India.

Are you a troll, or are you for real? People don't come from magical seeds man, lol. Guru ji only had 2 wives. Mata Jito ji and Mata Sahib Kaur. Mata Jito ji gave birth to the sahibzadey. Mata Sahib Kaur was figurative mother of the Khalsa. Guru ji wasn't god. He said people who refer to him as god would burn in hell. He said he is just the humble servant of Akal Purakh.