Anad

Sat Sri Akal Sangat, Here I am to discuss a very important issue, Most of you must have gone through the answers to the question "What is the funniest sardar joke you've heard?" on www.quora.com. I had also gone through and I felt bad, as a huge social platform like quora was being used to shame Sikhs. Some people may say , it is "fun", but targeting a particular religion in public like this is not acceptable. Anyway, I happened to edit the question(which Quora allows). However, the person who had posted the question reframed it to the same again; I edited it again and this process continued for sometime. After that I mailed quora-moderation to take action against this question. The other person must have also mailed them to check why someone (me, I was anonymous) repeatedly editing the question. I did get a message from quora saying that it is not okay to edit any question in this way, also, Quora removed all the joke answers from the question. But still the question is there; the moderation team has reframed it to "What are some Sardar Jokes?". It has also mentioned some strict guidelines which the answers, if any, must adhere to. Two or three new answers(jokes)had been posted but they were removed as they didn't meet the guidelines. Although Quora will be strictly observing the joke answers now, and would remove them if they are actually demeaning the religion, but still, I feel that the presence of the question itself is unacceptable. Why should such a question be allowed on a big social platform like Quora, which is meant for knowledge and awareness sharing? Here is the link to the reframed question : http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Sardar-jokes All the members here, I would request you to go to this link and downvote and report this question. If a sufficient number of downvotes is reached, Quora will be forced to remove it. Also please write a formal email to this email id : tatiana@moderation.quora.com, explaining that this question is hurting religious sentiments and should be removed. ] Please show unity and do this ! Thank You :-)

Heres another such attempt to demean the Sikh practices: http://www.quora.com/I-have-become-a-clean-shaven-man-from-a-bearded-sikh-I-live-in-India-with-my-parents-and-I-did-not-ask-for-my-parents-permission-for-the-same-They-have-told-me-to-leave-their-home-within-a-year-What-should-I-do Please Read and Comment.

Just one question. If we have begun the sava lakh Mool Mantra Jaap, then do we need to also observe restrictions on diet? Like abstinence from non-veg food,eggs etc.?

I have mentioned all the points in a comment to the answer (if you check the link). Hair keeping was definitely in practice since the times of Guru Nanak Dev Jee. These people are trying to differentiate between 'Khalsa' and 'Sikhism' which is stupid. Definitely we should also use our freedom of speech, and in a united manner correct such misconceptions, either by commenting on such answers, or by downvoting it in huge numbers so that such false information is removed from the internet.

I agree that getting the question removed is not a solution. But look at the other way round too. A question is acceptable as long as it is getting genuine answers. Did you go through the answers there? The answers are simply stupid. I agree also that is is better to be the few and proud. And we have no right to force Sikhi on others. However we do have a responsibility to speak up when 'Sikhism' itself is being portrayed in wrong light. We have no problem in what they do, what they follow but when they justify their actions by poinitng their fingers at the teachings of Sikhism and say that these things are not useful etc, and not only that ,they even guide others to move away. You will be shocked to read this answer. Read the question and answer here: http://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-Sikh-atheists-Do-they-cut-off-their-hair/answer/Jas-Anand Ill even post the answer here: "The Question is in its effect divisive. One can't be a SIkh and an atheist at the same time - as Sikhism does teach following one God. The second part - Yes. Sikhism was alive and present before Sikhs ever kept uncut hair and will remain afterwards we are gone too. Same way as Guru Nanak's hair was never uncut - or was later Gurus - It doesn't mean that the rest were not Sikhs of Nanak - They were. Nanak never taught cutting or not cutting of hair. Till almost 200 years and 9 Gurus later. Even Gobind's hair was shorn - but he chose to adopt a new path of Khalsa to fight the tyranny. So you can chose to be a Sehajdhari Sikh or a Khalsa Sikh (with all 5ks) - Both paths are based on the same underlying Granth. However it's imperative to note that Sri Guru Granth Sahib or its writers - from various saints to the Nine Gurus never had full hair. So, it doesn't mean that if you don't have hair / you are bald / you may not be Sikh - Yes faith in the Guru Granth Sahib is required. Yes you may not be Khalsa - if you don't have (hair) or any other of the five K's. (Literally speaking)" So here you go. He says that none of the nine Gurus had full hair !!:O. Even Dasam Pita had shorn hair before Amrit. :-( So many people are reading these answers. What will they understand from this wrong information on Sikhism, and that too when the person posting the answer claims to be a Sikh. ( He also says in another answer that He has always been a Sikh w/o a turban/hair. As I said we don' care what he does, but when people come up claim wrong history of Sikhism, of the Gurus, the of course there is a problem). Therefore, the problem is not of such youth etc moving away from Sikhi, but the problem lies in their wrong portrayal of the teachings and of the history of Gurus, which can greatly misguide not only the Sikhs but also the non-Sikhs about Sikhism.

Hmm.. Good. See I have posted some ideas in there, First we need to get the question removed somehow. It will be great if you can get the attention of more people towards this topic. I have tired but no one is turning up. We need more people so that we can all can mail any Quora admin and aks him to get the question removed with the answers. I have already done this. But more mails need to be sent , the only they will take action it seems. We can also unitedly report the answers and the question . That may also help. But I thnk we should all should send a request messgae to the admin first. Once more people are gathere. I will share the mail contents and the contact details of the admin.

So what you think about it?

Hello Everyone. There is a new topic posted, http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/76247-quora-being-misused/ Please take time to read through it. It is somewhat important but is not getting any attention. I am sorry for posting this here. I posted here because this topic was 'HOT',so that people participating here would take a look there too. Thank You.

Gurfateh everyone. I hope most of the people on this site must also be using 'Quora.com'. Recenlty I came across the following question on Quora http://www.quora.com/Sikhism/Whats-it-like-for-a-Sikh-male-to-cut-his-hair-and-or-beard The Questions is "What is it like for a Sikh to cut his hair?" I do not know who asked this, but I did go through the answers. There are about 5-6 answers given by Sikh males themselves who got their hair cut at some point in their life. Yes, it did hurt me reading those answers, but I felt, as you all will feel that everyone has a right to express his/her story and there is not much wrong in that. However, let me describe some things here. If you look at the contents of the answers, you will find that mostly the people are describing that how difficult it was for them to maintain their hair, and how free they felt after getting it cut etc etc. They even mention that they felt 'proud' and 'free' after doing that. Now, tell me how many of us feel this way? Hair keeping is of course not difficult for us and we lovingly maintain it. Don;t you all feel that a wrong general idea is being circulated? I mean so many people read these answers; what information would they get? That all Sikhs are in great difficulty keeping their hair? I did have a one-one comment discussion also with one of those 'answerers'. Okay let us say that we ignore this and say that let people speak what they want to, we can't stop their mouths. But you know what is more disturbing??? I have seen answers there,in which the writer (a Sikh) addresses other Sikhs who want to cut their hair and narrates to them his act of bravery (of cutting his hair ) and even advises them to act!!! I have seen some Sikhs commenting and asking these people that even they want to cut their hair and how should they go about doing this? You know what reason a person was giving there? He writes that since he has cut his hair he has made many girlfriends , and before he had none. Such statements are being used to lure the youth to cut their hair? ( If you read one 'Jas Anand's' answer, you'll find this). Shouldn't we do something? I mean those people are advising other Sikhs that how to cut their hair/ how to convince their parents /how they will get girlfriends after that etc etc? What can we do? Atleast : 1)We should comment in opposition, that keeping hair has great benefits and we take pride in it, so that the readers are not misled. 2)We should report abuse the question( We never know if the answers are actually coming from fake accounts to demean the Sikh practices) 3) We should message the Quora admin in large numbers and ask him/her to remove the question as it is hurting religious sentiments. Here is the list of the admins (their names are mentioned in the answer http://www.quora.com/Who-are-the-current-site-admins-of-Quora Or we can send a mail to moderation@quora.com asking to do the same. Please everyone discuss and decide upon this.

I had contacted Sodhi Ji some weeks ago regarding this book, and today I got hard copies of both the Gurmukhi and Hindi translations. So kind of him to mail these :-)

Thank you for your answer. It helped :-) You made some nice points about Aarti. About Aarti you said that Guru Jee did not do khandan of the practice of offering flowers,chaur etc. I always had this doubt, that how can Jyot and incense sticks bet termed as 'pakhand'? Many people do claim so. Can you elaborate what actually was the message that Guru Jee gave through Aarti at Jagannath Puri. Also, is lighting of Jyot etc pakhand? Because I see many Gurudwaras like, Hazur Sahib,Patna Sahib , Sees Ganj etc where Jyot is lighted. At Hazur Sahib, the Aarti (circumambulation) is actually done !

As much as I know, the Bhavishvya Purana is not authentic. And why do we need to go so far, to other religious scriptures when The Gurus themselves are stating the Truth in Gurbani.

I dont know whether this is the right topic where I should post my question, but I will go ahead and post , because it reamains unanswered in a new post. Talking about God and His Form, it is well understood that Gurbani says that God is Formless/Nirankar. It also says that the Guru and the God are one. But, I am confused that who is Guru Ji referring to in the following lines : ਬਾਗੇ ਕਾਪੜ ਬੋਲੈ ਬੈਣ ॥ बागे कापड़ बोलै बैण ॥ Bāge kāpaṛ bolai baiṇ. You wear white clothes, and speak sweet words. ਲੰਮਾ ਨਕੁ ਕਾਲੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਨੈਣ ॥ लमा नकु काले तेरे नैण ॥ Lammā nak kāle ṯere naiṇ. Your nose is sharp, and your eyes are black. ਕਬਹੂੰ ਸਾਹਿਬੁ ਦੇਖਿਆ ਭੈਣ ॥੧॥ कबहूं साहिबु देखिआ भैण ॥१॥ Kabahūʼn sāhib ḏekẖi▫ā bẖaiṇ. ||1|| Have you ever seen your Lord and Master, O sister? ||1|| Is Guru Jee describing God Himself??? (white clothes lone nose etc ) I have seen some stupid people saying that he is referring to Kabir Jee (cannot be True). Please clear this if someone can.

Hello, Does anyone know where can I download pdf (preferably in English) , of all volumes of Gur Pratap Suraj Granth? I don not even know if the complete digitization of the book has been done. Also, if someone could tell me where to find pdf in English for Hum Hindu Nahin by Kahn Singh Nabha. I did find , but it was in English.

Oh God, I just asked for the purpose of recitation only that as "mool mantra', till where it should be recited. Why will I want ot fight :sad2: Also, if something is to be done, and it is done in the right way, then won't it benefit him/her more ? What if the person who does not know how to eat, drops half the food out of the plate and puts very little in his mouth? Isn't it our responsibility to teach him. Doing something in 'any' way cannot be right at all times. Obviously if there are two ways and both ways are correct (which I gather from your answer), then one can choose any. I was not asking for a single pint perspective but just a thought on it.

Just one question here. The Mool Mantra Sahib ends at 'Gurprasad' or "Nanak Hosi bhi Sach'?

Hello everyone. I recently came across a question posted by someone on Quora. The question had a verse from Bhai Bala's Janam Sakhi ( I have'nt verified if the verse exists there), which supposedly was said by Guru Nanak Dev Jee ( does not seem true to me though). The verse was ": “Pakh Padho Kalma Rab da Muhammad nal Milay. “Ho Ya Mashuk-e-Khuda yeda ho ya Yallah” (Bhai Bhala’s Janam Sakhi p.14) Recite the Kalma of the Creator adding to it the name of Muhammad. Who is the beloved of God by dedication of his very self to Allah. (I strongly doubt that Guru Jee must have said this :-( ) The person who posted the question was asking, if Guru Jee said this then why do we not consider Their Prophet as a messenger from God??? Obviously this cannot be true. If Guru Jee wanted us to read the kalma, then why would he have composed the Mool mantra, the Japji??? Well, maybe if at all, it was uttered by Him, which I doubt, then it must have been an advice to the muslims...maybe. What do you all think about this? I want to answer this question,but I am doubtful about where this verse comes from.

Thankyou for your advice. Actually to say the truth, since some days, I am doing one mala a day, but I am not regular. But Veer ji, I do not know how will I be able to manage time for 40 malas a day :-(. I mean at amrit vela ( if I wake up), I start with recital of Guru mantra, then one mala of mool mantar, and then, Japji Sahib. Then I have to go to work. Then the evening is obviously for "so-dar" path. So when to do more? I know that I am being selfish. In the first place I have a selfish reason, I want something from God, so I am thinking to do all this (But to whom else do I turn to?, It's only Him). In the second place, there is no time balance . Oh God :-(. I am scared that this janam of mine will be wasted :-(.

Is this for me. Well I guess it is. I do not know whether I should be asking this, but will simple recital help me/anyone to get rid of some trouble (a real big one :-( ) I had heard in some lecture by some pracharak that we should not get into numbers (like 40 paths,120 paths etc), but just have devotion. But it's difficult to have devotion and just face whatever may come. I don't know what to do. Okay how should the mool mantra Jaap be done? Like in perfect meditative posture or it can be done while moving/walking?

Hello, I really loved your post. I wonder if all this is even possible ( It must be , but it is astonishing). I am facing a lot of problems in my life, which I cannot discuss nor can I describe. I always had been some what religious, but some months ago. I decided to take the support of Gurbani. I started visiting the Gurudwara in the morning, did path etc. I continued this for some time, but then suddenly, I happened to discontinue going to Gurudwara, but continued with Gurbani recital. Reading through forums and watching videos related to Namm Simran, I got inspired to do simran. So some a few weeks ago i have started doing simran in the morning (I am not regular in this too). I feel I am being selfish when I pray/ do path to get rid of my problems. But what else can I do? No one else can help me, so to whom shall I turn? Sometimes I feel that why should I ask for only peace from Him, why not ask Him to make me His, but I do not know what to do and how to do. You are so lucky that you have been blessed with such a wonderful gift. Can you guide me what to do? Do reply please :-(