prabhu

These are great photos. I still have more from my trip that I have yet to post on my blog. I hope to see more of yours. The photo that I took of you and your wife came out really well. I'm happy that I got such a nice photo of such a beautiful couple. WaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa, WaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh! Picture

I'm sorry that you felt the need to personally attack me. Yes I have ego, I never said I conquered the five vices. Neither did I say I don't recognize the contributions of Bhai Nand Lal or Bhai Gurdas. If Bhai Nand Lal's authority was to be the law for all Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh may have made him the 11th Guru rather than the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. As evidenced on another discussion Baba Siri Chand was also shown respect by Guru Gobind Singh, should I follow his rehit? My mind is very open, I never said anybody was wrong for practicing what they do. But other close-minded individuals cannot accept that other Sikhs practice things differently. You can describe my sheer ignorance, but what you believe to be my ego is not confidence in myself, but confidence in the Guru. I have repeatedly asked and prayed to the Guru for guidance. I have always received hukams that confirm my current practices. There is no need to get upset. Will I hurt you with my lifestyle? I should mention that the shabad "waho waho Gobind Singh" which is sung in many Gurdwaray is written by a different Bhai Gurdas. It is pitiful, when I cannot even air a different opinion without being attacked. Sometimes I use strong words when being attacked. When people attack me and say things with authority as if it is the only way, I also make statements with authority. Though I do not say it is the only way. What I mean is that I ALSO know Sikhi, you can guess at my level of ignorance, but I have hardly revealed anything to you about what I do or do not know. You are assuming I don't know of the Sikhs of the past. You can assume a lot of things about me, but several have already been wrong. Please do not put quotes around statements that I did not make, this shows total lack of respect and irresponsibility on your part: I never said anything so stupid as this. I'm not arguing with anybody about this issue, I'm just saying there's more than one way to live as a Sikh, and there are more important issues than this. Just understand one more thing: If I could safely wear my kirpan when swimming or playing sports I would, but I have yet to find a way. Do you want me to wear a symbolic kirpan? Is that what you want? What is the point of arguing?

These Sikhs can write what ever they want, but they certainly are NOT Guru Gobind Singh, who could have given the same instructions but didn't. They are even going into the specifics of how long our kacheras should be. What if it is an inch off? The people who follow their rehit better be really careful. If one thread unravels and it is less than the prescribed length they better fix that right away. I'm being sarcastic because that is the level of fanaticism some people will go to. I'm not saying what others do is wrong, I don't mind if others shower with everything on, I don't know how they wash the areas covered by the kachera but I guess that's for them to figure out. You can doubt my love for my kakkars all you want, but you can never know unless you are me. It is real easy to remove anybody's kirpan from them when they sleep. whether they're wearing a gatra or not. Trust me in my life I've seen a lot of pranks when people are sleeping and removing things is one of them. If my kirpan's under my pillow it will be a lot harder. If I sleep with or without the gatra my kirpan will be at an arm's length. I'm I to consider my gatra as sacred too? What if I decide not to wear a gatra? I know some Sikhs who wear their kirpans tucked into their cummercussen. Can you not see that every perspective is different? I don't think Guru Gobind Singh wished for our kakkars to be hinderances. I follow the GURU. People can write any rehit they want. I've been called Bhai ji before, should I write bhai Prabhu ji's rehit? If I were to use strong words my rehit would read "Do not do anything that brings disrespect to your kakkars. Do not clean your body while wearing filthy kacheras. Remove the kacheras while bathing and put clean kacheras on afterwards. Avoid submerging your kirpan in water. DO NOT allow your kirpan to injure yourself." I'm never going to change my practices, I've asked the Guru too many times for assurances and I always receive them. I would liken this issue to the way people bow to the Guru. Everbody does it differently, but they all do it out of Love. Some people have written instructions for how to do this, and some have argued this point. Why? What does it do for anybody?

Being stripped of your kakkars is far different than respectfully removing them during a shower or other activities which might bring disrespect. How do you wash yourself when wearing kacheras in the shower? How do you keep your kirpan from getting rusty? How do you keep your kirpan from accidentally shaving the hairs on your naked body? I assure you nobody will strip me of my kakkars. You know nothing of my love for my kakkars. If you did you would understand my perspective. You don't have to agree, but you would understand. We're all just "some" guy or girl posting on the internet. It doesn't matter if you are familiar with me or my practices, or the practice of people who were tortured to death. There's no need to compare my love against somebody else's. I was not tortured to the point of the death, but I've defended myself against extreme situations where me and my faith was threatened. It is the same love in those instances as those who didn't make it through. The point is, hear both sides, don't allow somebody to influence you in ways that you will later regret. I would surely regret showers and sports and sleeping if I was forced to wear something that injured me during those times. These are so common that it could quickly lead to resentment of my 5 k's. I'm not about to put myself in a situation where they become ritual and meaningless and hurtful to me. What's the difference between wearing a gatra at night and having your kirpan at arms length?

I don't know what rehit everybody here is following, but I choose to offer the utmost respect to my kakkars. For me (and this is only me, in the case of this forum) that means removing them with discretion. For me it would be a BIG dishonor to my 5 k's if I regarded them as a hinderance rather than gifts. It would be an even BIGGER dishonor if I was harmed by my own kakkars. This happened once with my kirpan, it was a very close call. Since then I play sports with my kirpan nearby. I also woke up one time and I could barely walk, I had a major charlie horse and huge bruise from sleeping on my kirpan. This disrespect was too great and I decided to keep my kirpan near my bed. There is only one kakkar that IS part of your body and that is your hair. Only certain jethas and groups follow the super strict rehit of keeping the 5 kakkars at all times. The agreement upon recieving Amrit is to STRIVE to keep your 5 kakkars at all times. If we were not allowed to remove them with discretion it would be a kurehit, which it is not. I will not debate this topic because my views come from my love for the Guru and my deep respect for my 5 kakkars. I already know how many disagree with my views, so I do not wish to hear it again. In other words I'm not here to debate, I'm just stating an opinion that has not yet been seen here. Good luck with your choice.

I never told you that I know Japman? He's one of the few (maybe the only) who's name and face I can remember together. The rest are faces and names without matches. It's been too long since I've been at a samagam. The next one for me is the Las Vegas samagam. Then hopefully L.A. Now that I'm a "prominent Sikh youth" I have to get to know everybody :-). Just kidding (inside joke).