shanti

:doh: @

Okay i dunno much about Gatka..ive only read about the basics of it very briefly. I was searching for sum videos of gatka and i found one where "ragra" was being done ummm it says that "ragra" is prepararation of the drink for the martrys the "Shaheedi Degh" It says the drink is laced with cannibis!! Can sumone please advise if this is true or what..and if it is true..its contrary to Gurmat..so why would a "Sikh" warrior do things that arent Sikh...i mean why fight for sumthing u dont follow yourself.

If that wasnt bad enough...the next video was of "Chatka" or the killing of a selected goat isnt that again...contrary to Gurmat! i am very confused..and is this wat all gatka is all about?

If we dont use anything...our body will begin to smell its natural..but because we live in stressful times and eat the wrong foods...it means our odor is prolly worse than it should be.

I would agree that we can use something to make the scent nicer, but sumone commented because the smell would be affecting others....thats true but i would disagree with using aerosol spray cans (body spray) because these damage the ozone layer and add to global warming..that IS going against Gurbani, we can use roll ons or talc..these are prolly the best options for those around us and the planet. :TH:

i havent wrote anything b4..but Ang Sang Waheguru is my favourite mantra....so here is what it means to me....hope it makes sense.

Ang Sang Waheguru

by Carmen

(shanti kaur)

When the Naam penetrates deep within our being, we begin to feel Guru Ji within us.

We are in the deep crimson bridal robes of his Naam, held lovingly in his arms like a mother cradling her baby.

Our being vibrates, Waheguru Waheguru and our soul is in cherdi kala, soaring like a bird flying high in the sky.

With prana and apana we breathe ur divine Naam.

It is a cooling sensation of the sweetest air, the air of your Sat Naam, this is what creates our true identity.

Without the Lords Wondrous name, we would wonder around lost and become at one with the she serpent, Maya.

She would coil her body around us and crush our bones and bite our skin. Save us, please save us, O Wonderful Lord.

Our being is at your mercy, the mercy of your Naam. Fill us with love, grace and peace and let us dive deep into the ocean of your Light.

Let us merge with you and become one with You, Oh Divine Lord...let us be filled not with the 5 vices.

Allow me to be you and you be I. Let my soul merge with your light, in this world and the next.

Let every cell of me be filled with your Naam, let my body be the home of the divine Naad.

As a fiddler, fiddles and a drummer drums...let the Great Giver give and let us be his listeners.

Foolish are those who dont know your wealth.

Your Naam alone is worth countless posessions, i would be foolish to give you such a comparison!

People are poor, and beg for riches. Can’t they see the true asset is You Lord.

Your Naam is the gold and my ears and mouth are open begging hands, ready and waiting for your abundance.

Oh sinners, it only takes one minute to sit in the rush and become one with the Lord.

It takes not a scholar to receive his Divine light. It can be anyone who opens his heart and lets the Naam wash over him.

It may be gentle waves or a mighty wave. The Divine Lord may choose to splash you or drown you in his Dvine Light. The True Lord will keep you afloat.

I am immersed, imbued and involved. I am floating across this world ocean, clinging to your Naam with my soul. I have merged into you. I am at One with You. I am I am I am.

We are at one, the True Lord and I. I have less falsehood behind and surrendered to You. Now I can trully say ANG SANG WAHEGURU.

awwwies arrie barrie dats so cute man what u wrote and soooooooooo true well done.....i hope we all learn from it and grow as one khalsa panth :TH:

yay! go for it! You are taking a great step towards Guru Ji in becoming keshdhari....i wear my dastaar out too....and the scariest part is the first step...but u get used to it and so do other people....when i didnt wear my turban the other day people were like....aww carmen where is ur turban jus wear it with grace..Guru Ji will take care of the rest....Wahegurus kirpa on you always...i wish you luck! Blessings xx

Jus wondered if anyone on here uses myspace...none of my friends do and my list is rather boring..if any of u have an account feel free to add me, heres my page www.myspace.com/shantiwarrior if u dont use myspace u shud sign up its a good way to keep in touch.....

this is a good discussion.

I dont agree that when you become Sikh you are immersed in GuruJi so much that you dont have ur individuality and that you cant live a fulfilling life with aims and enjoyment other than Sikhism, because i think going by Gurbani that this would be contrary to gurmat.

As a Sikh, we are encouraged to live a life that allows for spiritual growth, and in doing so our desires will be different from the desires we would crave if we were not following Sikhism as much...but this doesnt mean u cant have a life.

Sikhi should be what you are but who you are is down to your own choices you make in life.

Sikhism should resonate in your being and in every limb of your body..you should chant Waheguru 24/7 without even knowing. It should be automatic. Along with our prescribed daily nitnem and simran and our other studies in relation to Sikhi, we are allowed to study and learn whatever we want...this gives a Sikh the potential to be anything they choose to be.

Read Sukmani Sahib and Japji Sahib...both of these are very comforting and aid with depression and anxiety.

Grace bestowed on us by Guru Ji is what makes us beautiful.

you dont have to be any part of 3HO to practice Kundalini yoga.....its totally optional and 3HO is actually Sikh Dharma of Western Hemisphere.

I have practiced Kundalina yoga for more than a year now and it has helped me greatly with Sikhism and finding my identity and also helps for simran and banis....

dont knock it till you try it

as the 3H0'ers say...once the heart opens the mind opens...a flexible mind is a flexible life...

i reccomend kundalini to those who are wanting a deeper more spiritual life.

SAT NAM

~*~ Butterfly Wings ~*~

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon, a man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.

It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.

If we went through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly.

I asked for Strength.........And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........And God gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........And God gave me a Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........And God gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love.........And God gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors.........And God gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing i wantedI received everything i needed.

I was EXTREMELY unhappy as a Catholic and my family have been Catholic for generations.......not practicing..but they were Catholic because their parents were, and their parents were and so on....

As you have just stated above, your family weren't practicing Catholics therefore you can not comment on this discussion because you never looked into the Catholic faith (as you just said) but you were unhappy. You just went by the fact that your parents and their parents were Catholics so that meant you were automatically a Catholic. WRONG!

EXCUSE ME i said my family were not practicing catholics...did i say i wasnt? I was baptised AND confirmed as a Catholic and read the bible. I studied Catholiscism in depth....i also studied Islam for 4 years before being graced with Sikhism (waheguru)...that comment hurt!

I believe we all play a role in this..without guidance and support from peers where do our youth (of any race or ethnicity) learn good values?

Theres a difference between preaching and educating.

Sum of the so called "good" Sikhs, in my opinion are too preachy and fanatic.

Personally from my own point of view (im not saying my view is right jus opinion) i think the MAIN issue with Sikh youths today is they are missing the sense of belonging.

The ones born in the UK are brought up more or less Punjabi with very minimal Sikh education due to their parents.

There is a huge difference between being a Punjabi and a Sikh and i dont agree you can be both...or even all three....for eg you hear kids say im A British Punjabi Sikh...like waaaaaaaaaa????? imagine rasing a kid with three identities!!

Oh yeah and then we have the parents who still celebrate Hindu traditions..but still call themself a Singh or a Kaur.......i think we can see where the confusion is coming from..even this post is getting confusing

What we need is peers who love Sikhi for the religion it is and value it greatly to stand up and show how they can help.......we need more education...and we can all play a part in this by starting up youth groups..by teaching young children songs and Janamsakhis....by teaching them the importance of our Gurus crown...by teaching them that our banis are a gift and Sikhi itself is a treasure that should be cherished.

I think then up and coming kids will embrace Sikhism in a whole more positive way and they will then grow up knowing their true identity and be able to say I AM A SIKH!!!! and isnt that what we all want....

so the motto of this lesson is "TAKE A DIET PILL ON PUNJABISMS AND ONLY EAT KHALSA" :doh: (i dunno wheeeeeeeere on earth that came from )

SAT NAM (truth is my identity)

since we are all talking underwear...i made kacchera with lace trim and little cute bows on them ) THEY ARE WHITE!!!!

Before anyone else replies........

This website is a good website i agree, informative and educational BUT it is quite old now...i dont know if these things are still happening or not.

Also Islam is such a seductive faith......its always in the media and it is the most popular religion....the people that convert to Islam were probably never really followers of Sikhism anyway.

And about converting.......okay...i "converted" although i would use the term blessed, by the grace of Sikhism......you are saying converting to any religion is wrong because your family are born into a certain faith. I stronly disagree with this. I was EXTREMELY unhappy as a Catholic and my family have been Catholic for generations.......not practicing..but they were Catholic because their parents were, and their parents were and so on....

Everything is by Gurujis Hukam and i think its wrong to judge each other....and what did Guru Nanak say...all paths lead to one God..there is ONE GOD and no matter what people believe we are united in that fact...stop seeing the difference and start seeing the similarities...if Islam helps sumone get closer to God, then is it for us to prevent them from their path?

i like this idea

ahem *coughs REALLy loud* im ghori and i dont do those things!! if i was sikh or any other religion i wouldnt do those things...i think it depends on who you CHOOSE to associate with in life....i know jus as many asians who drink and sleep around than i do white people.

oh i love these tracks too woo hoo!!!

I am sorry to hear about ur marriage ji...

A Sikh marriage is described as a union of 2 souls...not just 2 bodies

What seems to have happened is your spiritually more involved in Sikhi than ur partner was.....

I think turbanned or non turbanned isnt the issue but more with your relationship to Waheguru...remember its all GuruJis hukam

This partner of yours probably wasnt ready for the spiritual and social commitment you have made in Sikhi....please dont regret your choices.......if it feels right for you to connect to Waheguru in this way by physically representing yourself to the world as a proud Singh....do as your heart says....

I hope Waheguru shines upon you many more blessings and fills your life with wonderful gifts

Stay in Cherdi Kala and chant the Naam of our divine Lord

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

SAT NAM

there is scientific reasons for keepin kes.....i think its important you know why you keep it rather than "coz its for God" im sure God wants us to understand its importance....

well kes...is meant to be tied at the top of your head for a male...and slighly further back than the top of the head if ur female......

this is your "tenth gate" apparently, where the soul enters and leaves the body.

Tying ur kes up provides better concentration and focus...there are books and stuff about it....its 135am so im too sleepy to think hehe but read up on it more im sure you will find reasons and come to an understanding of the importance of our kes......

as for body hairs....well they are there because we are naturally that way and we dont alter them....

again im sleepy this post may not make much sense

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh :bakreey:

i cry too doing simran.....and even listening to kirtan its a strange feeling its like all your emotions come to surface and youre overwhelmed.....jus go with it......it shows ur connecting with Waheguru.

SAT NAM

Dear Shanti,

First of all My Best Wishes to you For Becoming A SIKH.

You are just 19 years old & in these small period you were a Catholic, you have wanted to be Muslim & now you have taken up Sikhism.

YES, Sikhism is the Best & the most Simplest of all Religions to find the TRUE LORD.

Just a simple question, do you devote your whole time to the Religion or are you doing something else also like are you studying or doing a job?

I am asking you this because if you have devoted all your time to the religion then very soon you will be bored of it too & you will want to look out for something new. In Sikhism we are not asked to give away our worldly responsibilities till a certain age or if there is an emergency. Anybody who gives up these responsibilities will never be called a Sikh.

Once you know you are a Sikh you will remain a Sikh_a_Disciple for your entire life.

I know one thing that its people like you who can find the TRUE LORD faster than  the children born in the Sikh Families. Cause we have started worshipping our Gurus & their Gurudwaras rather than finding the TRUE LORD from the Shabads of our Holy Guru Granth Sahebji.

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SAT NAM ji :-)

in response to your question....

Im actually almost 21 now.... i have been followin sikhi for nearly 2 years since i was 19 waheguuuru...and no i do not dedicate all my life to sikhi but the vibration of Waheguru resonates in my being 24/7...waheguru ang sang

so.....i am at the minute not working or studying because i am looking after my mohter who is very ill now, she has been for a year....before that i was a translator. And i recently applied for a course to train as a holistic therapist...so i do learn about more than just sikhi....you have a very fair point though about becoming bored of religion in General...it may or may not happen, but its by Gurujis hukam.......and i still have more to learn about Sikhi....much more!

And to all the replies and comments...THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

oh this will be a long post i suggest u get a cup of sum herbal tea and maybe sum cookies =D

i was brought up roman catholic....strict and went to a catholic school till i was 11 but i really didnt like the atmosphere with the priests and nuns and i seemed to always have questions that they cudnt answer..like why is the world square? (im joking)but i was a kid and jus nothin about religion appealed to me....then i chose to go to a non denominational school wen i was 12 and we had very minimal religious influence and we learned more about morals and values...which was really quite kewl.

then at 14 we went on holiday to Turkey..the first thing i heard was the islamic call to prayer and i was instantly drawn to it...we visited some mosques(islamic place of worship) out there and i found it amazing that these people could live their life centred around a religion all the time..it was a great learning point.

i ended up going back to turkey wen i was 16 and stayed in a very remote village with a turkish family and just loved the way their religion was part of their everyday life and i started to study islam until i was 18 and throught learning about it i had thought of converting to Islam....especially with the amount of converts in my area and that was in our media....but then my grandmother took really ill and ended up in a Catholic hospital ran by nuns..and my uncle also started teaching in a Catholic school so my immediate thoughts were that of guilt i felt terrible that i wud ever think of changing my religion and going against my familys Catholic beliefs....so i just thought i shud stay Catholic and take what i was given.

Then as i was finishing up college i became friends with a Sikh boy in another class. I started hanging out with him and we had a good friendship and he wore a turban..but i never saw him as any different from anyone else..to be honest i knew very little about Sikhism...anyway at weekends he used to go out and get drunk with all his sikh friends and cousins (yeah all punjabi boys tut tut) and they all found it hilarious that me as a "ghori" white girl never drank or went to clubs and bars.

They had all been out one weekend on a drunken nite out and he called me the next day mouthing off and screaming about some "ghora munda" white boy who had asked his cousin why he was wearing a turban and in a nightclub drinking beer? My friends cousin went crazy with the white boy and started saying it was a racist attack and he shud be able to wear his turban anywhere he wants because these white ppl attack his religion when hes trying to have a "good time"

After speaking to him i came online and found SIKHNET and sum other sikh sites and did a bit of research....and found out that actually Sikhs CANNOT drink alcohol and certainly not while wearing dastaar....so i called the boy and asked him a few things about Sikhism and i was trying to get him to explain, thinking maybe i had read it all wrong but he cudnt he kept giving me the reason we are Sikh u wudnt understand. So i came online again and found an English version of Guru Granth Sahib and as soon as i read the Mool Mantar sumthing changed that instant, it was like sumone had hugged me (i now know its cherdi kala =D) and from that second have read nitnem and jus lived as much as a sikh as i can (sorry there wasnt anything hugely dramatic anout me becoming Sikh)......im not sure if that makes sense while writing but i guess i was graced by Waheguru and thats all i can say..now i cant imagine anything before being Sikh......i feel like i was born Sikh even tho it took me almost 19 years to find it..and as for my friend slowly we drifted apart but the last time i spoke to him he was reading more about Sikhism..so i wish him well.

Being Sikh to me is simply being a learner....and i have a lot to learn like everyone else and i am hoping one day if its Gurus blessing that i can be graced with amrit also........i hope this has all made sense.

Waheguru Ang Sang

Shanti xx

:wub: WOW !!!!! AMAZING STORIESSS .. WOW!.. Realsing that i am not alone .. everybody goes through things like this!

My story then !!

Well about 3 years ago i go into sikhi , I have always been into sikhi like wanting to know more , but i had no sangat!!!... i was one of those PROUD TO BE SIKH people. I did used to go gurdwara , but tried to get out of it a lot.

I stayed in birmingham with my cousins 3 years ago , they had just recently taken amrit , so i was inspried by them , they told me stories on sikhi daily and took me to a nagar kirtan my first 1 , and gurdwara a lot , from that point i realised i wanted to take amrit at some point in my life.

When i got home after 2 weeks , i went straight into my room and did mool mantar paat ( as i had a gutka). Everybody in my family started thinking i was mad, that i got brainwashed by my cousins (always have to blame someone). As my parents are not relgious nor are my family , my dads a mona smokes etc , Mums religous as in goes gurdwara all the timee does so much sewa, but doesnt really follow any rehit.

So slowy i started using the internet a lot .. researching about the gurus and sikhi and meeting good sangat online , using sikh forums a lot. My parents began to wounder where i was learning all this sikhi stuff from , as nobody realli in my fmaily are religous.

I became a vegetarian , no egg or fish !!.. ( i didnt think about it jst decided to in 1 min after talking tomy cousin) .. I was so determined to keep it up , and i did. eevrybody was like i give you a week .. it had been a year! .. I was learning more about sikhi .. through sangat and internet

Neway ..

3rd year this year .. HARDESTT EVER!! ... guru ji has set hudge tests for me.

this year ive been following rehit , all my kakkar , go gurdwara a lot , do my paat etc. But fmaily were so against it i couldnt understand why my fmaily were so against it .. maybe becausethey wasnt used to seeing me religous , as nobody else in the fmaily was , i used to eat meat , at weddings etc dance dance dance , dress up a  lot etc.

But ive realised the true path now , I went to my first rehnsabhi , AMAZING! my dad didnt know about it as he would have said no , my mum did , as i stayed round my cousins and went with someofmy singhnee freinds . , From that day i changed !!! it only takes some sangat to change me ... I stopped listening to bhangra ( i was a fanatic literally !!! ) i stopped make-up , removing hair etc. All cus of that rehnsabhi.

At this point people really thought i was mad , fmaily would laugh at me , call me a Freak , blame people for bringin me into sikhi( but wouldnt youre fmaily be supportive of you coming into sikhi? guess not).. It was the hardest ive ever faced.

Then at school i faced another test ... The school did allow me to wear my kara in p.e I refused to remove it .. this went on and on .. i got some singhs to come down to school they sorted it out .. ok took time .. liek had to go to the board of goveners but with maharajs kirpa it worked out ( thanks to the singhs to , done great seva.).

I started to go to more rhensbahis , keertan darbars CHANGED ME SOO MUCH ! i loved it couldt get enough , kirtan 24/7 for me now.. loved it LOVED IT loved it!!

Family were so mean to me , but i knew i had guru ji by my side ( kalgia vale mere naal hai)

I stayed a weekend at my other cousins house they are all amrtidhari ( but theyre like my dads cousins kids so a little far) .. There was a rehnsabhi that night .. OMG I WAS IN LOVE! i sang out loud .. was in deep meditation did seva chilled with the sangat .. the next day got up early as there was a r4g mission to go to .. i went WOW!!! all i can say .. that changed me for good .. that was like my first step towards to the route of amrit.

I went home wore all my 5 kakkar.. wore patka's .. that evening some of the singhs were saying in about 2 weeks amrit sanchar anybody ready heres youre chance.. i didnt realli think about taking amrit like in the weeks to come . i just let it slip my mind. I spoke to the singhs again , and i started to realise " im read for this" .. but i knew my parents would say NO!!.. as in how are you going to get married? ( plenty of great sangat now) .. job ? ( maharajs kirpa) .. how would you fit in .. it went on !!

The date got closer and closer.. i did ardas to maharaj daily to show me the true path ... to give me a sign wheter or not guru ji thinks im ready to take amrit..

I spoke and spoke to people about it .. i knew at this point i was ready!! ...  Well i thought ok im gna break it down to my parents , i thort my mum would be fine .. dad no way get out the house!! .. No dad was fine , he goes i wil ask youre mum if she says yeah , then you can take amrit!! i was liek shock  but sooo soo happy  :wub:

I started to get ready for my amrit sanchar , then dad asked my mum , they wasnt to sure  .. so they asked my grandad he said NO!! .. my heart broke into peices .. i cried and cried and cried.. i idnt talk to nobody .. at that point i realised howmuch i wanted amrit .. how much i wanted to give my head!! .. i couldt stand the factmy parents said no " how dare they stop a person on the path of god". I was determined to take amrit , wthere it be i go by my self without telling anybody !! ... hmm risky .. the worst they could do iskick me out thehouse!.. I didnt care

I did ardas next day .. and asked my rents .. i needed theire blessings , i cried i pleaded , finally managed to perusade them they sais YES! ... VAHEGUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!! vaheguroo ji had done so muchkirpa on me it was unbealivable ...

but .. i didnt tell ym parents id be wearing a dastar heheh !! lol.. took amrit WOW !! i came home with a dastar on .. my dad was fine about it , mum was funni she still is but who cares.. I GAVE MY HEAD! I WAS OVER THE MOON

I GAVE MY HEAD ON 13TH AUGUST 2005 !! :wub:  

i cant belive it , That id give my head , at the age of 15 anyway !! .. in shock seriously.

i took amrit in my hols , went to school , eevry1 was fine .. ok 1 person said something but who cares! IM GURU GOBIND SINGH JI'S DAUGHTER! IVE GOT A CROWN ON MY HEAD! im more than determined to carry on .

Now ive gotta tell my school about my kirpan heheh    hope it will go well.

Last year at school.. so shoudl be fine

People stare but .. not as bad as ithort it wud be !

I JUST THANKS VAHEGUROO JI FOR GIVNG ME THIS OPPURTUNITY! FOR SHOWING ME THE TRUE PATH .. I HOPE VAHEGUROO JI BLESSES OTHERS TO.

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Penjiiiii this made me cry....u inspire me so much and thanks for being a great sis in sikhi to me..we been through a lot of mad moments on msn i tell you heheh and Guruji helped us hunna? Your trully Gurujis princess and i love you for it xxxxxxxx

oh my goodness...thats awful....no woman should be MADE wear makeup for a career...thats so lame! There is no way of justifying that lipstick is more professional. I remember i worked in a travel agency and i never wore any make up but most of the other girls caked themselves with it and it was so horrible. The girls used the make up like a mask....when they wore this make up somehow they got all flirty and feminine.......ugh! the minds of the "western" society....i hope any women on here is never made feel that she MUST change her apperance to further her career. AKAAAAAAAAAAALLLL! :TH:

SAT NAM