Sat1176

I can't get in either... Probably had a power cut.

Loads of kirtan to download, but think some of it is from other sites. http://www.sikhwisdom.com/download_audio.asp

Bhan-ji. Please don't listern to the advice or arguments about running away. It's definately not an easy option like some are trying to make out. A life on the streets is nothing rosey. This risks and dangers associated with taking such a move could be disastrous. What parents go through when a girl takes such an action is unbareable to watch. Trust me, I know. And no I don't approve of what your parents are doing either. I seriously suggest you get some help from someone. Have you spoken to the sevadars of sikh helpline? It's totally confidential and you don't have to give your name or anything. Just talk to them and see if they can help you or at least offer you some sensible advice. Running away from home like some are trying to convince you off shows a serious lack of maturity. :wub: It is very easy for us to sit here behind our computers and tell you what to do, but you alone are the one who will have to take any action, and the consequences of what you do you will have to face. So think twice before doing anything silly.

My heart felt condolences to these young gursikhs family and friends.

My heart felt condolences to these young gursikhs family and friends.

Also showing at Ilford Cineworld.

Bhai Maninder Singh Koi Bole Ram Ram - Bhai Maninder Singh (Sri Nagar Wale) Also here... http://www.www.kirtansevauk.org/maninder.html :wub:

I am thinking of going on the Pakistan Gurdwara Tour this year organised by Panjab radio and wanted to know if anyone has been? I am NOT interested in Panjab radio, but more interested in the trip they organise, so any comments about the radio station please leave for another thread. My relatives went a few years ago and they said it was very well organised and they were well looked after. Accomodation was also very good. Any feedback or comments would be much appreciated..

I must admit, I'm diappointed :wub: to hear that once again no living character has been used in the film to depict Baba Deep Singh. How can a film be made without the main person. I just think our people are way behind when it comes to media and so narrow minded. It's not as if people are going to start worshiping the actor... (unless they are really stupid). If a proper film was made with real characters I would personally find the movie far more rewarding. Why do we have to alway resort to our imagination to picture what might be going on? I've watched serials about Krishan and Ram, movies about Jesus. I have found them inspiring and rewarding. I fail to understand why Sikhs always cut out the main person. Cartoons are ok, but it's not the same thing. Imagine a full length movie or serial showing the lives of our Gurus. Wouldn't that be something. But O no, our people couldn't work together and unify for such a project. We would probably start arguing amoungst ourselves about the accuracy of any content. This didn't happen like that, who are you to play the part of the Guru. :wub: Anyway enough of that... Anyone know where it is being shown in London?

Jalandhar, September 15 The Punjabi film industry is all set to take a new leap with the release of “Anokhe Amar Shahid — Baba Deep Singh,” in India and abroad on September 22. It is not only the first cinemascope Punjabi feature film on Sikh history, but also it has the biggest-ever budget of Rs 2.5 crore. That the canvas of the film is vast is clear from the fact that more than 700 artistes and 250 horses are part of the film. Its songs have been rendered by top Bollywood playback singers, including Jagjit Singh, Daler Mehndi, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Uttam Singh and Hans Raj Hans. The baton of the inspirational and devotional music of the film is in the hands of ace music director Uttam Singh. The entire film is a subtle portrayal of the two major battles of Shaheed Baba Deep Singh, who along with his enthusiastic fellow Sikh soldiers, warded off Moghul invader Ahmed Shah Abdali’s attempts to take looted jewellery and about 33000 Hindu, Muslim girls to his country. Interestingly, no living character has been used in the film to depict Baba Deep Singh, a devout Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh, who avenged Abdali’s invasion by waging a war against him. “No one but the Sikh Sangat provided the requisite degree of inspiration to us. This inspiration made us handle such a huge project. It is a mission to propagate the supreme and unparallelled sacrifice of Baba Deep Singh Ji amongst the world and at the same time to portray the Sikh identity to the international community. So many Sikhs have been shot as they were mistaken as Afghans in the West. This movie will make it clear that Sikhs are not Afghans, rather they fought Afghans and drove them out of India,” said Guriqbal Singh, the chief of the Amritsar-based Mata Kaulan Ji Bhalai Kendra Trust, which has produced the film. He said that though they were not expecting any profits at this moment, any profits that trickled in would be used in initiating an ambitious project aimed at starting “Dashmesh Airline”, which would operate direct flights between Amritsar and Takht Sri Hazoor Sahib. “This is our project for the future and it is all dependent upon the blessings of the Almighty. We are looking forward to a day when Sikhs would be able to go to Hazoor Sahib and return from there after having ‘darshans’ the same day. One should dream big and we are doing so,” said an enthused Mr Guriqbal Singh, who has also rendered a one-minute song in the film. The film has been directed b Mr Jaswinder Singh Chahal while its songs have been penned by renowned Mumbai-based lyricist Dev Kohli. Mr Anil Trehan, the distributor of the film, said the film would be released in five to seven cinemas in India, and in about 15 multiplexes in the US, Canada and the UK. “After two -three months, the film would be available on VCDs. We have already got the permission of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in respect of screening of the film,” said Mr Guriqbal Singh. :TH: :TH: About time....

Bhen-ji, May I suggest you speak to these sevadars in confidence. http://www.sikhhelpline.com/ :TH: Maybe they can help you with your situation as they have trained professionals who are familiar with our culture.

I don't think you should run away from home. I know this is a difficult situation but leaving/running away from home is not the solution. Try and find some family, relatives or friends to help you in your local area.... I know everyone is feeling really sorry for this girl, myself included, but lets not start offering silly advice.

From what I know about the Bhatra community this is a common practise amongst them to marry their children very young. Their views are considered quite backward.. (No offense intended) I found it hard to believe at first but was convinced when I actually met a girl from the Bhat community and she told me what happened to her. All I can suggest bhen-ji is you talk to your parents and try and make them understand. It's probably going to be difficult because I know you have respect for your parents and going against them at this young age is going to be very difficult. Especially if they are fixed in their views. Try speaking with your older sisters to see if they can help you. Good luck.

Has Bhai Joginder Singh Riar been on yet?

The Ladder of Religion (Step 8) 8. The Purity of Mind Don’t entertain in your mind the feeling of enmity and jealousy for anyone. Don’t listen to the evil talked about another. Don’t deliberately give advice to anyone to commit fraud or deceit on anyone. Similarly practice non-violence, meaning that keep your mind free from any thought of violence, never commit physical violence, nor violence of speech or mental violence, nor violence or thought or violence through your powers. In place of this (violence) offer prayer to Waheguru. Keep in mind the magnificent maxim; Nanak, God’s Divine Name is exalting and may all proper by Thy Grace. Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala. Cultivate this mentality (of wishing well to all) and don’t keep in your mind any idea of hostility or violence for any living being. Rather practise love and non-violence. Sharing your food with others (the needy) and giving one-tenth of your earnings in charity are acts of purity. The mentality of giving donations frees man of Maya (false deceptions). Cultivate contentment in your heart. Restrain the untrammelled flights of your sense organs. Practise this self-control. So when we have achieved control over our sense organs and also control over our mind, then it will become very easy for us to practise jap of Naam, So when after preparing the soil of the body we sow in it the seed of Gur Mantar, and also put in hard-labour as explained above, then the harvest of Naam will soon bear fruit. Also Nine Treasures and Eighteen successes will be following us. We will then enter the divine circle of Naam and drink the nectar of Naam. We will obtain the divine sight with which we will see God in all His Creatures. Our existence will merge in God and our soul, separated from God for so many births and lives, will be united with God. That would be the riddance from all the miseries and troubles. Our soul would become an indistinguishable part of God, Who is Sat, Chit, Anand (Truth, Consciousness and Bliss) Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala

Ladder of Religion (Step 7) 7. Strong determination for the Jap of Naam The two examples of this are Bhagat Prahlad and Bhagat Dhruv. They worked wonders by the jap of Naam. Bhagat Dhruv immersed himself in repeating God’s Name, after getting such advice from Narad, the Godly Rishi. The world was wonderstuck to see Dhruv’s iron determination to carry on the programme of Naam. There is a reference to it in Gurbani – By the desire less service of the Guru, purity begins to shine in your consciousness; and thus dirt gathered there through many lives is washed away by jap and soon success is achieved. But to do such a service, it is very necessary to adopt the fundamental principles of the Gurus – Beyond this, there are two major faults, praise and censure. One feels very happy at heart on hearing one’s owns praise. And hearing ones dispraise, one’s mind becomes despondent. Later both these (praise and blame) produce misery, that comes of desire and jealousy. They shake the mind and make it restless. The mind is not inclined to the worship of God. Rather different types of stray thoughts cross the mind. For this reason, Guru ji commanded us to leave these two defects and try to search for salvation. Praise and blame are both great obstacles in the programme. Apart from these, one should develop virtues like fortitude, forgiveness, charity, soft heart, life of truth and speaking sweet words. These greatly help in the path of the seeker’s progress. Lack of egoism and prayer and devotion prove generally very good ornaments. Life should be run within the limits of the code of conduct prescribed by the Guru Maharaj. Leading ones’ life in the light of these instructions of the Guru is living according to the code of conduct. Also purity is a very great quality. Bodily purity is a very great quality. Bodily purity saves us from many diseases and hindrances. For this reason, taking a bath at dawn is very necessary. One should practices purity of speech. As commands Guru ji –

6. Keeping one’s mind untouched by the lure of Worldly Desires These desires are the cause of our circle of births and deaths; they give us only temporary pleasure for the moment. A person tied in these desires remains drowning for all time in this ocean of the world. The influence of these desires runs so deep that one cannot forget them. It is narrated in the book Yog Vasishth (Rishi Vasishth was the Guru of Sri Ram Chander) that once saint Vasishth enquired of Ram Chander why he (Ram) had laughed loudly, while sitting in a spiritual meeting. Ram replied thus; I laughed at that broken legged ant, which is trying to climb the wall. I laughed at it mentality. For I was surprised at this ant, which before now had graced the throne of Inder, King of the Gods for 14 times. Bound in the whirl of desires, it is caught in the cycle of 84 lakh births and deaths. Even now, its desire is to be born a man, to pass that life without any obstruction and after that once again to reach the position of Inder. This fool does not posses this knowledge that he can be immersed in happiness for all time, only seeking the company of a divine Guru and by forsaking all his desires. Many kinds of such desires lie hidden in our subconscious and they remain the biggest obstacles to the jap of Naam; so long as we do not live contented with whatever is the Will of God for us, we will remain bound in the circle of being born and dying again and again. In our consciousness are present different kinds of desires, such as desire for wealth, desire for a son, desire for worldly success, desire for heaven, desire to be learned in scriptures, desire for performing great religious programmes, desire to have all sorts of possessions and successes. Because of these desires, a living being can’t get out of the circle of lives and deaths. So when freed from all these desires, we perform the jap of Gur Mantar, tehn alone our efforts will bear fruit quietly and we will find our residence in the hemisphere of Naam. (we will live in God)

5. Firm Belief in the Existence of God All the living beings go through life, doing actions as per the Will of God. Every person’s destiny is written according to the Will of God. One must feel happy and contented in whatever the Will of God sends him. As Gurbani says: Many such sacred texts inspire a person to be content with whatever destiny God has ordained for him/her. Because living with a happy face with whatever god has sent him (and not weeping, crying or cursing one’s luck) helps one in the pursuit of Naam. Just a Bhai Bhikhari whose son was to due shortly after his marriage, went on completing the ceremonies of marriage in the house with a calm mind.

4. Belief in the Supreme Power of God’s Name Till the seeker has overwhelming faith in the power of the Mantar, till then the Name appears to be very ordinary thing, to the seeker. The supreme importance of the Name dwells in the hearts of the saints. But common people have no deep faith in the invaluable worth of Naam. So they do not put in any great effort to acquire the Naam to complete success. Everyone has heard the parable of Mata Loi and (her husband) Bhagat Kabir. Mata Loi made the king’s son utter the Name of Ram three times to remove his illness. But Kabir did not take kindly to her making the king’s son utter Ram Naam thrice (once should have been enough). He expressed his displeasure. Mata Loi submitted thus, the first Ram Naam finished the crores of sins of the prince. The second Ram Naam was to make his diseased body disease free. The third time I made him utter Ram Naam, as the Guru Mantar given to him by me, so that once again he does not get caught in the whirl of old sins.

Ladder of Religion (Step 3) 3. Faith in the Guru Mantar The Guru gives a Guru Mantar. Some don’t have 100% faith in it and indulge in argumentation and discussion, holding, that the other Guru’s Mantar is the best, or the Guru Mantar given in some other sect bears fruit more quickly. Such notions are useless. This makes one’s faith shaky and does not allow complete faith to develop. So long, as one has not complete faith in one’s Mantar, till then one cannot achieve one’s desired objective. In this context, some great men give this example. A simpleton sort of seeker went to a saint and respectfully requested him to give him the gift of Guru-Mantar, so that by its jaap, he could achieve his objective and may be liberated from the circle of lives and deaths. The saint addressed him as a lover and told him that there are generally 3 big defects in one’s consciousness that do no entitle any person to be worthy of devotion to God. This first is that the dirt of evil acts done through many lives dirties the inner consciousness. And as long as the dirt is not removed, God’s Name cannot find a lasting place in one’s heart. To remove this grave defect, the way is to recite and hear Gurbani with understanding and pondering over it. Hearing and contemplation of Gurbani are very necessary. Along with one should do service to the sangats (holy gatherings) and perform noble acts without expecting any rewards. By performing desire less actions, the inner consciousness becomes clean and pure. The second fault of the inner consciousness becomes clean and pure. The second fault of the inner consciousness is the allurement of worldly pleasures. The person is caught in the very strong and complex meshes of physical desires and having lost his way in the labyrinth of Maya (illusion) has forgotten his divine origin and feels very miserable. As says in Gurbani – Also – The person caught in the waves of physical desires feels very miserable and bemoans. The mind can’t be fixed in the house of concentration; this defect is called attractions for pleasures of the flesh. This defect can be removed when the mind attains concentration for gaining which, one has to resort to the worship of Waheguru. The external worship consists of such acts as worshipping your favourite deity as the visible form of the Almight. You bathe it, offer it food Pershaad and such like acts of worship. These are limbs of outward worship. The second worship is Internal Worship, this consists in concentrating your consciousness by contracting your tendencies, also contemplating the form of the Guru and to perform holy singing in his presence. When inner consciousness is purified, and the evil of deep desires for worldly pleasures is gone, then the stage when the covering of falsehood is removed, but this can’t be done without the knowledge imparted by the Guru. To undertake this method, first it is necessary to do service and upkeep of the holy sangat and preparing langar. You spend time rendering such services. One day that simpleton of seek came to his Guru to receive Guru Mantar. At that time, a king was coming to pay a visit for that Mahatma and the Raja’s functionaries had spread very costly rugs on the ground. The Mahatma shouted to this seeker from a distance- Parei, Parei meaning Away, away, away, away. That simple minded seeker understood this (Away, Away) in the Guru Mantar which his Guru was giving him. He started non-stop jaap of this mantar (Parei-Parei). As result, after some time by the worship of this Gur Mantar the evils of his mind disappeared, His mind got concentration and started dwelling in the taste of the Almighty. At all times, he went on practising his Guru Mantar (away, away). All blessings and successes came there waiting upon him. One day, the Mahatma had to send this seeker to another Mahatma to get answers to some questions. The seeker was given the order to go to the other Mahatma. At the prospect of a journey, the seeker was bewildered. So God Who is present in every atom, appear and Himself did the work assigned to this person, Just in a few minutes did the work assigned to this person. Just in a few minutes, he placed the other Mahatma’s reply before his Guru. (He had not gone, God had run the errand for him, in no time) Reading the other Mahatma’s reply, this man’s Guru feeling strangeness recalled, ‘I have not yet given him even the Guru Mantar. How has he achieved such complete success in his search that Lord God Himself has run the errand for him? So the Mahatma went into Samadhi (contemplation) and invoked God in His Realm. Sensing this curiosity in the Mahatma’s heart, God thus ordained, “This person is my supreme devotee. At all times he has been remembering me by my Name, Away, Away. On hearing this our Mahatma was wonderstruck and enquired. O God is ‘Away, Away’ also one of your Names? God replied, the world calls me Beyond, the Beyond. Hence I am beyond the Visible and Invisible both. So this lover has done jaap of my Name, Away, Away. So great souls try to establish their follower’s firm faith in Guru Mantar, by narrating such stories. So long as the seeker has not complete faith in his Gur Mantar, the mind remains shaky and the Mantar does not bear the desired fruit. Hence once must have total faith in the Mantar, to achieve success.

Ladder of Religion (Part 2) 2. True Faith in the Guru The position of the Guru is very exalted indeed. Only where there is total faith in the Guru in the heart of the seeker, then alone God’s Name would dwell in his heart. As Guru Maharaj has ordained – Once upon a time, the congregation were sitting in the durbar of Guru Angad Dev Ji Maharaj, listening to his words. Suddenly the great Guru looked at Bhai Bala and remarked, ‘ you have kept company with Guru Nanak, emperor of the earth, at all places, where ever there is land and population. You have sent eh whole show enacted by Him. So tell us, what is your idea of Padshah Guru Nanak? With what faith did you keep company with the great Guru, in all his journeys. Bhai Bala replied thus; Sir Guru Nanak was a perfect saint. On hearing this, Guru Ji said, you are also a perfect saint. After that, he put the same question to Baba Buddha. He replied, Guru Nanak Padshah was a perfect God-realised saint. In the same way, he put the same question other Sikhs. All gave replied according to their belief. In the end, the entire congregation requested Guru Angad Padshah to enlighten all about what he thought about Guru Nanak Sahib. At this, Guru Angad assumed a great serious posture and said, dear members of this holy audience, hear me; Guru Nanak had incarnated in this world, bearing the brilliance of God Himself, Who is the Master of crores of such universes. In His Order, crores of Gods, and goddesses, deities and celestial beings keep on singing his (Guru Nanak’s) glories. God-incarnate Guru Nanak has manifested himself to remove people’s ignorance. Hearing this the entire congregation bowed their heads and said, Padshah, you too are Lord God Himself. There is a wholly text in the divine writ, gurbani – So anyone believes that God and Guru are different can never attain that surpreme stage. Anyone who sees the Guru as mere human being is without faith and such a one can never attain any spiritual greatness. Hence the seeker always looks on Guru, as the image of God. There are different heights of one’s faith in the Guru; one, my Guru is a good saint. Two, he is the best of all saints; three, my Guru is like God; four, my Guru is God himself. So long as the seeker does not rise high to the level of above the fourth stage, so long the devotee can not have complete faith in the words of the Guru nor can one forsake the ideas of the mind.

Ladder of Religion (Part 1) 1. Complete Faith in Waheguru In this connection, this is the commandment – One should have complete faith in the existence of God, in His Truth and in His Majesty (of which we are servants). One’s belief in God should be unshakable. Also – It is necessary to have firm belief the Waheguru (god) whom I remember repeatedly is present within me, with full force. To illustrate this principle here is an ordinary example. There was a Mahatma who wanted to choose one of his chief disciples to succeed him and to be in charge of giving sermons to his congregation. For that purpose, he summoned his two disciples before all the congregation and expressed his objective. He asked two disciples to pick up each, one of the two pigeons that were there. He who will be the first to reach here after killing the pigeon will be entitled to get Guru’s gaddi. But the condition is that the pigeon is to be killed at a spot where no one sees it. On hearing this one follower quickly went to an isolated place at the rear of a house and making sure that no one was near seeing, he wrung the pigeon’s neck and brought it and threw it near the Guru. On the other hand the second disciple first went to a sugar cane field and said to himself that no one was seeing at that place. Just then he saw two small spiders flitting hither and thither. He said to himself here that here these little creatures are seeing, After that, carrying the pigeon, he went to the jungle, but here two birds were seeing. Then he got into a pit and covered his own eyes with a cloth (so that he too should not be seeing). But then the idea crossed his mind. At that time, seeing with the light of his knowledge, he felt that the Master of the World, who is present in every spot it seeing it and me too. He is playing His great play. So he could not kill the pigeon (there was no place where no one was looking) and returned to the Mahatma and offering the living pigeon at his feet submitted thus, Sir, I have not found any place where nobody should be looking, there is no secret spot, where God the Omnipresent should not be seeing. So the Mahatma made the announcement that he appointed in his place that disciple, who has such unshakable faith in God’s Omnipresence. His in his consciousness does live in God Himself. As for the other disciple he was living in darkness (ignorance) since his inner eye had not opened, such a person’s words, however sweet they may be, cannot give right guidance to others, since he himself lives in darkness.

I personally found this chapter from a book I was reading very inspiring. Thought I'd share the contents with the sangat. Hopefully someone else will also gain something worthwhile from it. (Address delivered on 15-10-1995 by Dr. Swami Ved Bharti) Source : Discourses on the Beyond 4 What can I give after my guide & master (Sant Waryam Singh Ji) has spoken? I have been hearing those matters which he has raised for the last 25 years. For how many times I have to remember them again and again to see those ideas in my mind. Every time one hears him, one discovers something new. This is the one secret in the saying of the saints. Some who hear that spiritual talk but hear not, some who see that, but see not. There are a few lucky persons, who listen to a few words, and get riddance. Anyone who has the power to utter a few words as will enable one to cross the ocean of the world is called the True Guru or the Saint. Here is a meeting of saints and of the religious minded people. It is a matter of joy that in this congregation, anyone who shuts his external eyes, is enabled to open his internal eyes. He sees Arti (waving the light before God in the act of worship), which consists of lakhs of suns, moons and the stars. They are waving the light before Akal Purukh (Timeless God), consisting of all the lights that are in the world, like garlands of pearls, like the light of the lamp. One sound echoes through the entire universe: Ek Onkar, Ek Onkar, Ek Onkar – there is only One God there is no other; no other existence was there in the past or will be in the future. Just as a child is reared within the womb of the mother, similarly all the suns, the moons and stars , all the beings, all the souls lie inside that One God, reared by His food, - they are all growing (like the child in the womb). This greatness is not of the body; it is His Supreme Spiritual expanse. It is a matter of great joy to remind oneself that the great saint has organised this Samagam. It is a matter of great happiness that those whose minds were besmeared with mud have washed that mud of their mind by coming here. It is a matter of great satisfaction that all the minds that are in the world would slowly and gradually henceforth emit some perfume after coming here. Think of it, my brothers and my mothers, whenever we go to the bazaar, in the fragrance of all those thoughts that come out of our minds and touching other persons. Hence convert your mind and your inner consciousness into a garden of flowers. Each thought of yours should be sweet-smelling like flowers. Or each thought should shine like a lighted lamp, so that not a trace of darkness will remain there. One the light should spread. The other name of this Light is God. Some rare person (prophet or saint) is born in this universe, who shows to the world the path to reach God, Who is Light. He shows them the Way. He catches us by the hand and directs us to move in that side. We try to free our hand (from that Sant’s grasp) pleading – I have got this work; I have got that work. He (the Sant) asserts – walk on; all your work will be done (by God). He gives us that blessing, but we do not accept that blessing (benediction). Then we revert to those worldly affairs and get engrossed in them. Different desires, different ambitions so influence our minds that we forget all about the Light that is God. Anyone who has washed off the mud that besmeared their body, who has washed the mud with clean water of peace – and who repeatedly sits performing the jaap, then he somewhat rises high. He sits on low stool and thinks that he has arrived at his goal. He feels a sense of pride. After feeling pride, he does not advance forward, he keeps sitting there. If we want to progress sitting on a low stool, we should think that a bed is higher than a stool, and a throne is highest of them all. One sitting on the bed tells the persons sitting on the low stool – why are you sitting that low; come up to the height of my bed. He says, I am quite satisfied with my low sitting. Slowly he degenerates. Sometime he tumbles over from his low stool and once again falls into that mud and is besmeared with it. His rises and falls again. Thus by degrees, he reaches the height of the bed. Then by chance, some saint or sage passes that way and see that this man has not achieved his destination; how shall I show him his goal? The saint, with great difficulties, with great love, makes him understand the true welfare, on account of the great pity that rises in the saint’s mind. He lifts the person, who was shedding tears, feeling miserable and uplifts him and puts him on that throne, which is named the Akal Takhat (Throne of God). When one is raised to that high state, there death cannot touch him, cannot come near him. People raise different questions (about this path), different religions and faiths provide different answers (to those spiritual questions). My co-fellows, I tell you a special thing. He who has realised the truth (God) speaks not. He who has not achieved God indulges in loud talk about Him – God is of this sort. He is of this kind. No, no, your statement is all wrong. Even I know more than you do. Thus in our pride, we seek to foist our fundamentals and thoughts on other people. He who treads the path of real sainthood, keeps mum. In silence, he leaves different sort of things (ideologies), he forsakes them, and entering into the caves of his mind, he practises meditation. I make this (humble) request to you that you enter into this cave (of the mind) and practise Mediation. Now a days, in the Himalayas, which were once full of caves, there have risen bus stands. There is much sound. There is a spot where the external sounds cannot enter; that place is inside you. Enter there. There are many ways of entry inside, which are shown by the saints and ascetics. For reaching there, there is no need of mutual debates. Adopt that path, which your true Guru has shown you. Keep advancing on that path, keep advancing. One day, you would reach your destination. You must tread that path (of godliness). That is our goal. To reach that goal, to do there, we cannot go all alone. For that, you need the leadership of all the saints and gurus who will hold you by the hand and take you on the right path, saying come this way. Inside these saints, a river of light flows, a spring of light flows, in fact there inside them the ocean of Light (of God) roaring with its sound. That light has no beginning; there is no end of it. No one can measure the depth; no one can measure the height of those godmen, who have become one with the Light. Those saints says, “where I have reached, you can too can arrive”, “How can I reach there?” “In the same manner, by which I have reached there” All the brethren who are sitting here, all the congregation, all my mothers, all of you – each one of you can scale that height. Today I plainly tell you – you must have a keen desire to rise (to those spiritual heights). You must awaken in you the desire that ‘I have to reach there. I must arrive there’ in this world, I am suffering and groaning. I am falling from one side to the other; wherever I go, I slip and fall. I must leave this path of hurdles. I must go on that path, which is clear as the sky. No one can know the speed of the flying birds. When you and I march on this path, we leave behind our footprints. These footprints fall on the ground. But there are no footprints left by the birds flying in the sky. The fish swimming in the sea leave no mark behind. It is the path, where there are no footprints, only the Light is there. Awaken in you a strong desire. The desire is already present there. Otherwise why should you have come here? The desire is there, but awaken it more keenly. We must reach that state, where the saints and sages have reached. If you awaken your desire with that intensity, you are sure to reach there. Then the mother would say, as in the case of Saint Kabir, Kabir has gone mad. But Kabir (a great saint and a poet many of whose sayings are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib) says, now I have seen the wrap and woof of reality. Similarly when you tread this path, it is possible that one day you may sit in the valley of the river; for three days you don’t open your eyes there should be no need for breathing; all the life’s processes come to a stop and the Light within you may create such an atmosphere all round you, that you may be left with no desire in your mind to leave that Vale of the river. When you reach that height, then the whole world would become your field. When you reach that height, you will remember, you will see that wild folk of the jungle would bring fruits and place them before you. My Gurudev (Sant Waryam Singh Ji) was telling you that in the jungle bears followed him like the domestic dog. Don’t you have a desire to become like this? Is not such a strong desire present inside you? These separate desires, which are present today, did not exist yesterday. People say, God does not listen to me. He does not respond to my prayers. I beg (things) from Him but I get nothing. What should God do? Today you ask for one thing, tomorrow for another thing. Yet on another day, you say, no I don’t want these things. I want a third thing, which request of yours should God hear? I tell you a story of a person, who was so God-realised that he had developed so much power that he could cause rain to order. He had two daughters : one had been married to a potter and the second to the farmer, who ploughed the land. The farmer had sown the seed. He told his wife, go and tell your father to send rain here, as we have sown the seed. The potter had made the pitchers and kept them out to dry. He told his wife, go to your father and tell him not to send rain now at all (so that his pitchers would dry to hardness). Such are our prayers; sometimes we wish for rain, sometimes we want to avoid rain. Sometimes the same wife looks very beautiful, sometime we are fed up with her and turn her out. Sometime a wife loves her husband; and another time she feels like abusing him. This is not the way to make a prayer. How would God answer your prayer, amidst your contradictory wishes? Make up your mind as to what exactly the thing that you want. Consider well and decide and then pray for that. Do it every day, do it every moment, do it all times. Those whose prayers have been heard were the persons, who made up their mind who exactly they wanted. Then keep on pursuing that desire. Yes sir, we will pursue it. We wish that your daughter should be married or that we should earn a profit of 1 lakh rupees. To pursue a thing half heartedly is not the way. Death will come and take us away. We don’t know at what uncertain hour death would catch hold of us and carry us off. We cannot say. Therefore get going today itself; get going now. We have only one desire- a big one not many petty desires. God is greater than the whole universe. Many universes lie packed inside of Him. Yet he goes on fulfilling even small wishes of people (despite his greatness). Your desire should be so great to match his Greatness. Do you go to the Emperor and beg him of a penny? Will you ask for such petty blessings from the saints of God? He has heaps of diamonds and jewels. Will you beg from him such little petty things? Hence you should definitely decide which is the goal you want to reach, before you leave this meeting. Go home after awakening your mind to rise high and become great spiritually. If you have to earn money, say, we will earn money so our small needs should be fulfilled and we should be able to pay back our debt to our creditors. After that, close the external eyes and open the inner eyes (of the mind). Put out the external lights and light the inner lights. Love the diamonds and jewels that are inside, throw away the pennies of the outer world and enjoy the bliss of the spiritual diamonds and jewels that are inside you. Thus you make up your mind, you should decide your spiritual programme once for all. If today your mind will not be engrossed in jaap, tomorrow things will be a little better. You will forget the sense of time; you will remember your programme of prayer. Half an hour will pass in this – you will not feel, where time has flown. Because at that time, the Akal Purukh (timeless God) will come and take his seat in your heart. He is Timeless; so there is no limit to Time to Him. But people don’t practise jaap. Rather they (indulge in idle talk and) ask the saint, where does the soul go after death? This is no question; I tell you that it is no question – you yourself find out its answer. Enter within and see, what is the form of the soul. Will the soul die, when the body dies? (No), there is no question of the death (of the soul). The soul never dies. There is no question of after death (when death itself is not a reality for the soul). You ask, what happens after death? That is future tense. The soul has no past, no present and no future (it is ever lasting). There is no meaning of what you have said about what happens after death of the soul. (The soul never dies at all). Why do you speak like this? Firstly the soul never dies; secondly it is not limited by time. (where the soul goes?) It means that it goes to some world to some place. You have not at all understood the meaning of the soul. The soul is never bound in the limits of some place. This is not some small thing that is present here, but not present there. So the question does not arise where it will go. When it (soul) is bound neither by time, nor by place, then where arises the question at what place it will go. To all these questions, there is one common answer, which is inside of you. There leaving all questions, listen to that. When he closes his eyes and enters inside and takes his seat on the throne of his heart, then no question arises in him. All the answers are obtained automatically. Also those answers are given not in the words, not in the phrases. There is a sort of silence, a sort of mental peace; all answers are available there. Go there and see and you will know. But the whole matter is that living the world and engaged in various activities, you have to do this work (of remembering God). When your baby is born, do you ever forget him? You may be busy in any work, you may be ploughing your farm, you may be going to your avocation, you may be supervising the running of the shop – but you always remember your new born baby. Here is a mother, she is preparing food; she is peeling the potatoes; she is attending to all other jobs in the kitchen. Her two month baby is lying in another room. Does she ever say that she has forgotten the child, in the midst of her activities? This is the sign of love. In the same manner, if you can’t look upon God as a Father or as a Mother; if you can’t love God like the Gurus, then consider God as you small child and start rocking him in the cradle of your heart. He will rock with each beating of the heart. You will feel a strong intoxication inside. That intoxication would rid you of all anxieties and shrieks of the world. It will raise you higher and take you to the high state, where the soul of the sages and saints merging with all the lights that there are in the universe, waves the arti (passing light before God) of God. Thus you will rise very high. That is possible in this very life, it can happen even today. This can be possible, if you concentrate your mind on this. Thus whatever sages and saints there are, whoever the Gurus are, they are not bound in their bodily self. They reach the heights where there is neither time nor place. There is no tomorrow, nor today, not the past year, nor even the coming year. Perfect silence pervades there; there are rows of light. They merge there and experience such bliss. They wish to bring a drop of their bliss to those people of the world, who are groaning in miseries. These prophets & saints leave that divine state of bliss and are commissioned in the physical world. What can be greater sacrifice than this? They are born as human beings. They come to the world, because persons who live in the physical world cannot hear their voice (message) from the other world. Their ears can hear only sounds from the bodily beings. If child falls into the mud, you have to step into the mud to lift that child, even though our own clothes may get smeared with mud in doing so. That does not matter. We wash that child with love, lift him in our lap and caress him. Those prophets wash the mud of the people, with the water of Naam. They bring them pure atmosphere. They do not allow fresh mud to stick to them. When they find that no mud is left, the feel happy, as the mother feels happy to see her child cleaned of all mud, shinning and pure. Thus they come to this world for one year, two years, twenty years, so long as they feel that the world needs them, they wonder in the world. Some people understand them, others do not. People may put round their neck garland of shoes, or some may shower flowers on them, some may bring pennies, other may bring offerings of diamonds, some may offer to them chains of pearls, all this the same to them – no difference. Some may condemn them, some may sing their praises, they have no concern with that. They may be roasted on the burning plate or they may be boiled in the burning water, it is all the same to them. They have realised that they are not body, they are the pure Light, they are soul. That soul cannot be parched by anyone, nor can it be made wet with water, nor can anyone roast it. When they realise that their mission has been completed, they throw away their body, as one discards ones old clothes. They once get merged with the Eternal Light (that is God). They had taken this birth, for our sake. Birth above birth and death are the philanthropic persons who come to do good to others. They give the gift of spiritual life, apply men to divine devotion and make men meet with God. (Bani – 749) Look to us. As soon as their back is turned, we revert to the same old sinful habits. As soon as they depart, we get entangled in the groaning and fears of the world. What we do is that once again we become slaves of the five sense organs. These five sense organs create a bally hoo in the lanes of the village. So I say unto you – Pacify your sense organs. But how to pacify the sense organs? There is one secret of that. When the mind becomes tranquil, and is engrossed in prayer, then that desire that arise in the sense organs themselves quieten down. But for that you need – love, love for that Guru who is the Guru of all Gurus, love for Him Who dwells in the hearts of all saints, love for Him, by whose power the sun, the moon and the stars shine. We should live in the love and fear of God. God says, there is no need to fear. Practise love. There are two paths to the love of God. One is to love all these creatures who are creations of God. You should present double the amount of love to him, who is without love, so that your love may seep into his personality. Your love will fill the pitcher (with love) of that person, who is empty of love. This is one way. The other way is – to love him directly. Produce in your heart a sort of tide of love and a sort of strong emotion of love, for him. Repeatedly remember his good points and make offering of you love to him. There was a saint. One day, he passed through the market, carrying a bucket of water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. Sant Ji, where are you going? Where are you carrying a bucket of water in one hand and in the other a burning torch in this broad daylight. Sant Ji says, today I am going to set heaven on fire, I will burn the paradise and reduce it to ashes. I am going to throw water on the flame of hell and would extinguish it. He said very angrily. I am feeling so much anger over this heaven and hell, this paradise and over the perdition. Why are you feeling so angry over heaven and hell, Sant Ji? What harm have they done to you? What has heaven done to you? As for the hell you have nothing to do with it. The Sant replied, people remember God to be able to achieve heaven. They remember God, in fear of hell lest they should find them there. This is not method to remember God. You should remember God, for the sake of love for Him, (not goto heaven and escape hell). So today I am going to set fire to heaven; I have also to extinguish hell. I want to finish them; so that people may forget heaven and hell and pray to God, only for the love of God. People should leave the thought of heaven and hell and remember God, because they are all love for God. You should please give a little thought to this matter. Make your mind full of tranquillity; and forget the world. Enter inside of you and find out whether love of God arises there or not. See with that love. God, the Akal Purukh has given you this breath – a great blessing. God has given you breath, so that does not operate alone (you should remember God, with each breath). Weave God’s name with those breathings. As wish arise in your heart and feelings arise in your heart, similarly the breath rises in your heart. Fill love (for God) in each and every breath. With that love, remember the Name of God (do his Jaap). Remember God’s Name as you exhale the breath, also remember His Name, while inhaling the breath. While doing so, don’t utter (the Name) orally. When you reach that state, it is all peace there, the great silence. In that there is only the Divine Light. With that love, fill the Name, the outgoing breath that is rising in the heart. When exhaling, fill your mind with that love of Beloved of yours; also while inhaling, remember the Name of that Beloved (God). When the breath comes out, at once mould your consciousness in your mind; also when there is in-breathing, concentrate your consciousness in your mind. This chain should never break. If this chain is broken then the external thoughts would enter inside you and create disturbance. You have to swim with this current of union of the mind and consciousness. Experience that state and keep on experiencing it. Remember the Name with each breath. When one course of the Name is finished, immediately begin the second course. This chain should never be broken. Thus whenever you are standing, wherever you are sitting, remember the Name of God non-stop. People listen to the radio, they watch the TV, they spend their time in idle talk or on abusing others; or may sing others praises. You just keep hold of your breath, hold the rope of breathing in your hand and thinking God’s thoughts, you should rise higher and higher. Reach the height of consciousness and rest only there. Do all this with the love of God, never do any act without that love. Don’t do Japa, because there is so much misery in the world; rather do it, because God loves you. Out of that love, He has given you this world – the whole of the world. He has given you (life-giving) air; He has given you water (the basis of all life); He has given you food; He has given you the sun, the moon and the stars; He has given you trees. You have to produce happiness in this world, in place of the existing misery. You have to create love in the hearts of people, who lack this love. Hence O my God! O my Akal Purukh, come and make your lodgings in my heart. Come and sit in my heart! When God sits in your heart, then all the acts that you perform, you will do with love. At one place, langar was in progress, just then they ran short of curds. They thought in their mind that this congregation will have to go not fully satisfied. What should we do? An idea struck them that in the village, there lived a woman who owned so may cattle. Why not approach her? From her, we might be able to procure, more curds. They went to her running, not just walking. They went to her running, because they wanted to provide curds to the sangat, devotees. Mother, the matter is that we have run short of the curds in the langar. It will be very kind of you if you give us a little of your curds. All right. I certainly possess curds. But I will not give. You have to pay the price for it. Whatever price you name, we are ready to give it. At this time, we have to supplement the langar. Please do give some curds to us. After giving curds, she now demanded its price. “Give me my price.” But you have not mentioned the price. What do you want? She knew that this Sikh, this disciple (of the Guru) though seemingly small, has a great power like his Guru. She said, you have to give me the price. Will you give it? They said, we have pledged our words that we would pay it. All right, then give it. Give me salvation. This is the price I want. The disciple said, all right. We bestow this price on you. This disciple felt very happy. He came there carrying that curds. The congregation ate the langar to their hearts content and then went their way. At that time Guru Ji was taking rest nearby. After sometime, loud sound of weeping and crying was heard. He said, ‘what has happened in the neighbouring house?’ He called the disciple and questioned him about this. What is the matter? Why this weeping and wailing? He replied, the matter is like this. We had fallen short of curds and I had gone to gentle woman to get some curds. When we requested the price, she asked for the price and I granted that to her. What price did you give her? She had said, ‘Bless me with salvation’. I gave that to her. Now she has left her fleshly body. She is gone to the spiritual world, the world of Light. Those worldly persons, who regard this physical body as our whole being, they are crying and wailing. Guru Ji felt very angry. She did such a great good to you, namely that the whole sangat went away fully satisfied with curds. Could there be greater favour than this? Why did you give her only heaven or salvation? You should have given her gift of God’s love. Heaven or salvation, she would have got any way. You should have blessed her with the love of God. The disciple said, what could I do? She had asked for only salvation? The idea is that where there is love, then heaven and salvation will come of themselves. Only try to create love in your heart. I said yesterday too, that for attaining that, there is no need of external lights. Enter inside of you and see that by way of this breathing, the saints, sages and ascetics cross by the way of kuldalni power and see inside a lamp is lighted. Such like divine lamps are burning inside of you, you say that you are lost in darkness. This is as if the light of the lamp should say that there is darkness inside of me. If that idea prevails then surely there is to be darkness in the world. Learn to reach that Light, by entering inward. When you reach there, and if you receive the grace of the Guru, you will in this very life reach that state, where man realises himself to be the soul and super consciousness reaches the final stage and there is no need of any further achievement. I repeat once again that you should sit straight, keeping your backbone (spine) absolutely up right. You should experience that God’s Light is present on all sides of yours, that Love (of God) is unshaken inside. That love, which is permeating inside of you. And on all sides you feel there is nothing but the light of God. That love is spread in every fibre of your being, in every part of your body and in every part of the life-consciousness. It is awakening every part of yours. When this awakens you, then you feel another wave rising inside of you. That wave (life force) goes in and goes out, in the shape of your breath. (It moves up and down). Experience this feel of breath in this way. Feel this flowing breath. With the rise and fall of your breath, your mind should go up and down, you should feel the path of the breathing. There should be no <admin-profanity filter activated> in breathing. The chain should never break; it should always remain moving. Synchronise the flow of your consciousness, with the flow of the breath; don’t feel any experience except this. Feel perfect equanimity. If the breathing goes on slowly, without any break, then the mind will automatically enjoy perfect peace. In the path of the breath, there is another cave in the chest; enter inside that cave. That is the true Himalayan cave. You will see all light inside that cave. That light that you feel inside you is the ray of light of God. It is like the light of the lamp, it is like a small mountain of light. Regard this inner light as the Light of Guru Maharaj; the light of the Self. Taking it as the Light of the Guru Maharaj, sit inside the cave on the floor, make an obeisance and start doing jaap. (repeating the Name of God). Dedicate every word of this jaap, every syllable of it to that (divine) Light. Do that with all love. Repeat the jap of Mool Mantar three times, keep sitting at that place, in the sheen of that light in that cave, then go on repeating only Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru. You can keep sitting in the company of Akal Purukh (god) for as long as you like. You can offer Him all the fruits of your jaap, just as one offer flowers to Him. Then get up by slow degrees. Then after making an obeisance, come out of this temple of God (inside you) – with great respect. Then again continue to repeat Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru in the flowing of your breath. When inhaling the breath go on repeating Wahe and when exhaling keep on repeat Guru. The chain should never be broken; it should flow non-stop. Thus always make up your determination to keep your mind at peace and to keep you consciousness in a state of tranquillity. Then after making that determination, you should slowly very slow open your eyes. But that Light of God should stay in the heart, even after opening your eyes. The name of jap of WaheGuru should continue, as you breathe out and breath in. Whenever your mind is disturbed and the whips of the worldly affairs flog you with, you get inside you, go and hide there. God Who loves all the living creatures of the world, will make of you such a hero and place in your hand a Divine sword. With that Divine sword, you would be able to cut all sorts of darkness’s of the world (ignorance and lack of knowledge), and you would be able to make your journey to those spiritual heights. Finally in this very life you will reach your goal – the destination of your life. I give you my word for it. I offer prayer for the peace of mind of you one and all..

I personally don't see anything wrong with the photographs. I don't even see this as being a major beadbi of guru ji or the premises. Ok, it's in close vacinity to Guru ji's saroops, but i don't see any wrong intentions or offence. Yes the building is smart, but that is something we as a Sikh community should be proud off. That's my opinion. I see this thread and other similar threads as just nitt picking faults in Gurdwara Karamsar.

I think you have got your facts wrong. The photos were not taken above the Sachkhand but beside it. The Sachkhand is on the top floor. You can't get above it because there is a dome on the top of the room. Feel free to check out the photos on http://www.karamsar.co.uk/ to see what i mean. It's quite clear that you guys have decided to make Gurdwara Karamsar your next target. Knock yourself out. How pathetic!