MrDoaba

Errmm no. That's not the point I was making. While qawwali is good is doesn't come close to Maharaajs Bani and Shabad Kirtan. Bhajan Kirtan is Pavitar. And we're not on the topic of religious music anyway. A Sakhi: A group of qawwals came to Damdami Taksal to display their talents and the Sangat was enamoured with the music they heard and they received praise from everybody. They then proceeded to insult and shame a member of the Taksals Kirtan Jatha by saying "allah ne tuhanu Raag ni bakshe ah". The Singh of the Jatha was upset with their comments and took it to heart, he then went to Sant Gurbachan Singh Ji to explain what had happened. Sant Ji told him not to worry and keep bharosa in Guru Sahib - he was instructed to do a Chalisa of Raagmala and then return. After completing the Chalisa the Singh joined his Jatha and began to do Kirtan - the Sangat was left speechless as well as the qawwals - the Kirtan which was heard could not be described in words - the only word which comes close is divine. The qawwals begged for maafi and promptly left the Dera with their heads hanging in shame. The level of Gyaan Maharaaj can baksh is not comparable to anything else. With true sharda Guru Sahib does beant Kirpa. Vaheguru

Bhangra these days is the epitome of gandh. Old Punjabi songs however, are epic - a lot of them are deep, and a lot provide light-hearted harmless entertainment. Although, you have to be quite desi at heart to appreciate them. Compare todays rubbish with these two examples: Ask your folks about the days they used to kali bhande. This song I believe, is far deeper than it seems - depending on how you hear it personally, it sounds like a devotional song, much like Sufi/Qawwali. Truly amazing example of the depth of Punjabi poetry.

According to? This is no different to shops and restaurants omitting certain ingredients to fulfill certain dietary or religious requirements, not because meat itself is forbidden. Tell that to all the Sikh owned veggie eateries which have menus just as long and extravagant as a place that serves meat, whose menus I might add, have an abundance of items designed to replicate the taste and texture of meat. Lets not also ignore the extortionate prices people are willing to pay for these pretend meat products - I guess they really have changed their tastebuds for Sikhi. What's next, changing our sense of smell for Sikhi? I'm no expert but I doubt the skin/hides of animals which died of natural causes were used. Skin from aged animals wouldn't be viable for use as it loses its properties over time.

Thanks for your answer. I'm guessing you could find this out later? This may sound like a silly question, but how long does it take? And what was the rehit you were given - anything specific or unique?

ਲਖ ਖੁਸੀਆ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੀਆ ਜੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰੇਇ ॥ Hundreds of thousands of princely pleasures are enjoyed, if the True Guru bestows His Glance of Grace. ਨਿਮਖ ਏਕ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਦੇਇ ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨੁ ਤਨੁ ਸੀਤਲੁ ਹੋਇ ॥ If He bestows the Name of the Lord, for even a moment, my mind and body are cooled and soothed. ਜਿਸ ਕਉ ਪੂਰਬਿ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਤਿਨਿ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਚਰਨ ਗਹੇ ॥੨॥ Those who have such pre-ordained destiny hold tight to the Feet of the True Guru. ||2|| Lakh Lakh vadhaiyan bro! I wish your journey continues with Sehaj Anand! A question, how did you feel and what was going through your mind before, whilst, and after?

This question was answered on Sangat TV Q & A once. Someone called in to ask whether or not they could do this as they worked night shift. The answer given was straightforward: It's not a matter of when the sun rises or sets, rather it is a matter of when your day starts and finishes - do your 'morning' Baniyaa at night when your day technically starts and Rehraas Sahib & Kirtan Sohila Sahib in the morning when your day technically finishes. There's is nothing wrong with doing x bani at any time of the day, but bear in mind they are set for specified times for a reason i.e. to prepare you for the day ahead, to make you reflect on the day gone etc. To sum up, as long as you do your normal Nitnem, I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

There was a major documentary being produced on Bapu Ji, but is delayed as they did not raise enough to meet their production costs which included costs to cover gathering more footage. "In January 2016, GraySkull Media managed to get an exclusive interview with Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa. Being guarded by over 30 Punjab Police officers, who are there to keep the media out and keep Bapu Surat Singh in, so that his story may never be told." "With unprecedented access, we have started making this film, the story of one mans' struggle against a world power and their conduct, a story which is being ignored by the world's mainstream media." Here's a short trailer:

Guess you went for the colonic irrigation after all then! (joke) Sorry to see you go brother. Why not keep your account active? You never know when you might be back.

Aren't all Tories? Lol This sounds like a sentence overheard at an English public school during a pipe smoking session. I'm now suspicious of your previous comments! Jokes aside, what do you actually think of Bhai Mohan Singh attending this? I know he has worked with the Hindu Community before and some Hindus occasionally attend his talks, but being seen with someone slightly controversial? Lesser of two evils maybe? Will it earn him any favours with our own qaum? Personally, I can't say I disagree with some of the sentiments expressed by Mr Tapan Ghosh.

"Home secretary Amber Rudd spoke at an event in Parliament that was attended by an anti-Muslim Hindu extremist who advocates forced birth control and conversion for Muslims, and who has boasted of his relationship with the English far-right leader Tommy Robinson. Rudd addressed guests celebrating the start of Diwali at an event on 18 October organised by the Hindu Forum of Britain. It was also attended by Tapan Ghosh, the founder of Hindu Samhati, a far-right nationalist group in West Bengal, who claimed in a tweet to have addressed the event." Satish Sharma, the general secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples, claimed the organisation was "unaware" of Ghosh's extremist beliefs. "If there is truth in them, we reject them without reservation," he said. Nevertheless, Sharma defended the decision to invite Ghosh. "The subject of the event was Tolerating the Intolerant - the abuse of Hindu Human Rights in Europe and in India. A core subject was the sustained targeting and abuse of Hindu and Sikh girls, their selection on the basis of their religion and their subsequent physical and emotional abuse for the purposes of forced conversion to Islam." https://www.buzzfeed.com/aishagani/amber-rudd-spoke-at-an-event-in-parliament-attended-by-an?utm_term=.tmeL82pr8#.hc2A2qp12 What are your thoughts?

I see. I think it's quite common to feel this way. Doing more paath to make up for the lost simran is fine in theory, usually it's the other way around - people doing more simran to make up for lost paath. If you're having trouble concentrating try breaking your simran up into segments, I'm sure 10mins of simran given your full concentration is worth more than one hour without. Also take into consideration how essential simran is - Gurbani talks about Naam, the infinite greatness of it, and that without it there is nothing. Through Gurbani the value of Naam Simran will become apparent and you will feel that connection. You're already well on your on way with this. Naam is the essence of Gurbani and Gurbani is the essence of Naam.

Is there something in particular preventing you from doing simran when you would normally do it?

May I ask how missed out on doing simran and replaced it with a lot of paath? Did you miss out simran on a number of days and then do lots of paath in one go? Do specifically make time to do paath and simran or do it while completing your day to day tasks?

Because 'tis the case. I cannot comment as to the loyalty of Taksalis due to the fact that I am not a Taksali nor am I representative of Taksal. Sorry if I offended you bro, that wasn't my intention. I was simply stating what I have observed. Like I said, I have no opinion on the matter.

Why say what?

Bro even some fairly kattar Taksalis no longer believe Sant Ji is Chardi Kala. I've also heard that Gyani Avtar Singh Ji (Bai Ji) doesn't support this theory either, although I can't back this up with evidence as I haven't personally witnessed them saying it. Whether he is a Sant Mahapurkh and his bachans are true is not up to me either so take what you will. I'm neutral on the topic anyway. Lets not start throwing cyber chappals at eachother over this though, no point arguing - you want to believe it, fair enough. You don't want to, pher vi teek ah.

Excellent link with pics of one of India's most underappreciated but most amazing architectural marvels. https://www.boredpanda.com/ancient-architecture-unesco-heritage-stepwell-victoria-lautman-india/

Bro trust me, don't have *edited* pange, they're not worth it.

Maybe of Guru Sahiban but not of the rest, there's plenty of examples where I live of both oldies and youngsters with such names. Although I get what you mean about naming children after dead or alive family members. I think most apne do that.

We could say something similar about parents who give their child a name with a lot of mahanta, especially one which carries with it great responsibility and one which aam janta most likely wouldn't be able to live up to. Instead of aiding their Sikhi and spirtual development it could very well backfire. They could feel immense guilt, lowered self-esteem/confidence and could also feel disappointment/hatred for the parent, for giving a name which, in some cases, may have near impossible-to reach standards attached to it.

Fair enough. So it doesn't matter if the name given is dedicating a child to another force seeing as they may not live up rehit either way?

What about names such as Karnail or Jarnail?

That's epic. You should defo make a thread on your observations and veechaars. If I ever have kids I'll choose one of the 1008 names of Vishnu Ji to counteract this lol. Some may be stuck in their old ways of thinking but they do provide us with some gems. Little tidbits of info to piece together the past. I'm just speculating but I think names which end in deep/preet/inder/meet became more prevalent when the Singh Sabha Movement and Akali Movement were gaining momentum, before then these names were virtually unheard of. Maybe it was an effort to try and create a more homogeneous Sikh identity? Just an example, my Dadi is the youngest of 5 sisters, yet she is the only one with a name which has a suffix like those above. Tbh if I think back to all my Bazurg, none of them had names like that.

Could you elaborate? It would be interesting to hear.

Very true although some would argue the M sound is actually supposed to be a of bindi of sorts, or at least a nasal M rather than labial (if that makes sense). If you look at some transliteration of text in the Devanagari script you'll occasionally see the bindi represented as an M while it's pronounced the same way as a bindi in Gurmukhi. This could be what misleads people into using their lips when Om is spoken. Many do say Oankaar. Doesn't Bhai Jarnail Singh pronounce it this way? Or am I hearing it wrong?