Wicked Warrior

I personally feel there's a widening rift and blame a sort of "fundamentalism" mentality. It definitely feels like "if you're not amritdhari, you're nothing/nobody". You see it here in some posts. I've encountered two moneh who feel Amrit is unnecessary and believe following Guru Nanak's message of "Naam japna, Kirat karni and vand chakna" is enough in this life. Not heard about anti-Kirpan messages. Agree - Guru Nanak Dev Ji didn't start off by going round, brandishing a blade and demanding five heads. He came with love. It was through love (for Akal Purakh, for humanity) that he brought people into Sikhi. This is a much better approach. You're encouraging the Sikhi within the mona to flourish through this. Said Sikh is more likely to grow their hair and take Amrit. Agree - respect for maryada can follow love for Sikhi. I would take it to an even more basic level. Make it initially simpler to follow and then build up. You don't start educating a child by breaking out War and Peace. You start with teaching the alphabet. Again - including everyone and excluding no-one brings together a sense of community, a sense of "sangat". I'm not amritdhari. There are times when I feel I've been treated like crap. The amritdhari does not consider how they come across. It can be enough to turn people away from Sikhi. I've kept company with Amritdhari who have reinforced my Sikhi, meaning I awoke at Amritvela, did Japji Sahib paath, went to Gurdwara etc. With these Amritdharis, I never felt an outcast and learned more about Sikhi than I ever did from anywhere else. Surely, if Amritdharis feel they are superior to others, they are no better than the Brahmins who looked down those they deemed below them? Is it not ego that then feeds their feeling of superiority? Or is it a case of "we're all equal, but some are more equal than others"?. I've always felt Sikhi is like a rainbow but often feel (esp on here) that there are those who want to turn it into black and white, yes or now, right or wrong. I used to frown on moneh, especially when their kids were moneh. I used to think those who ate meat were evil. Then I saw a monah matta tek to Guru Ji and something changed inside me. What was bitter became less so, and I saw not a monah but a Sikh bowing to his Guru.

Depends on how much you want to sell your Sikhi for. Sikhs of old would sacrifice their lives before selling their Sikhi.

Remember that Amrit is the first step and not the last. IMO the entire rehat thig is about people's expectations of Amrit and Naam. Perhaps they think about it too much, hype it up and it fails their expectations. Giani was right - Naam is Naam. Follow the published sikh maryada rehat. Learning Nitnem is important. Correct pronunciation is imperative. Learn this first. I prefer to learn listening to a CD of nitnem and following in gutka. I can read Gurmukhi so this helps. I don't know where you are based but if there are punjabi classes, it will help. Alternatively, ask someone at a local Gurdwara to help. All gianis should be able to help. Regarding animals - if you are concerned about other living beings, do you give any thought to the bacteria in your gut? Do you sweep the floor as you walk in case you tread on anything? Do you avoid washing so you don't harm life in water? To what extent do you avoid harming others? If the chauri sahib is made of horse hair, the tabla out of animal skin and the gatra lined with leather, what are you going to do? There needs to be some "common sense" about these things.

In some ways, I agree about the way things are done these days. A few years ago, some giani jis came to our house. We looked after them, fed them and in return they did ardaas for us. I was only a teen back then but even so it still reminded me of the old brahmin system. I used to think giani jis must be awesome doing all that paath and kirtan. Unfortunately, that ideal has since been shattered. We are our own gianis. We can do ardaas and talk to Paramatma ourselves. We should all be capable of doing our own kirtan and paaths.

I read this a while back and it initially confused me but I agree - he probably converted and then wanted to convert his wife.

I normally speak to my patients about this around the time of their diagnosis. The specialists need to give you the pros and cons of treatment, and the prognosis of non-treatment. I do raise DNAR issues and the like soon after. Some people are ready and some just do not want to know. You can have advance directives made. You cannot demand specific treatment but you can use it to decline certain treatments. I would also encourage discussion with the family so others are aware.

Not weird at all. I understand the power of the five evils. I have seen them rob me blind. I used to be able to do three malas of mool mantar and five japji sahib paaths a day. I then lapsed. Since then, I struggle to do more than one japji sahib a day. Everything goes wrong if I try. If I stay at one, everything ticks along fine. I feel like I'm being held back but I realise in the end it is only me holding myself back. I normally remember stuff when I'm relaxed. But I find it distracting during times of simran.

Water has a memory of sorts. No idea how this is related to Bani. Anyway, I used to be really scared when I was about 10. Scared that the Incredible Hulk would jump through my window. Scared that I could hear ringing indicating there was someone in my wardrobe rattling the hangers etc. I used to have to sleep with my hallway light on and my door open. Anyway I was given a paath to recite with which all my fear rapidly dissipated. p562 Dhan so vela jit darshan karna... Helped me so maybe it'll help you.

Have you got the right diagnosis? Lice means you should be able to see eggs and the lice. If so, have a read: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Introduction.asp If it's just itching, it could be anything else like scabies or hives, or secondary to some other condition.

I normally try and stop my tongue moving so simran moves to the brain and that's where I hear it. Very difficult to master.

Quite often I remind myself to do something maybe 2-3 tasks. Nothing critical but just stuff that needs doing. Sometimes I'll forget. But I find during simran or paath, when I'm relaxed, I remember what it was I was supposed to do. I'm never sure what to do next: should I get up and do those tasks, or wait until after? If I get up, I interrupt my simran. If I don't, it plays on my mind until I get up anyway. What is the best course of action?

I hear a lot of Sakhis. Now some are well-known, consistent in their telling and have a profound meaning attached. Others though I've never heard of and am unsure if true. Today I heard a Sakhi (heard two but can't recall the second one) and just wondered if anyone else has heard it: Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote something (scriptures, pothi, granth - I don't know) and threw it into the sarovar of where he was. It is said that if anyone goes there and writes "penti" (don't know if this refers to number 35 or something else) , they will receive gyan. Has anyone heard this? I'm lost as to why Guru Ji would write something valuable and then throw it. It'd be like throwing angs of the Guru. ***** i remember the second Sakhi: Guru Nanak Dev Ji, around age 10-12 sat on a crooked wall. An elderly bibi told him off and said it was dangerous to sit on it because it might fall and he might hurt himself. Guru Ji replied that it won't fall and would remain standing throughout the ages (ie the four yugs). Apparently this wall is still standing. Does anyone know where this wall is?

I watched two episodes of this. Some of it was genuinely funny because it's true eg cultural aspects shown which apply to Indo-Pak populations. Some of it was ridiculous and OTT. Not something I'm going to spend my time watching. GGM used to be funny but sometimes I was offended by some bits eg "Hard Kaur". I think we all have our own boundaries on what we accept/don't accept.

The issue is largely around public expectations. If a healthy person collapses from cardiac arrest in an Emergency Room, their chances of successful resuscitation is around 12-15%. An elderly person with multiple health problems has vastly less chance of survival. But if you mention "DNAR" (Do Not Attempt Resuscitation) to patients or their relatives (in UK) they are horrified and expect you to do CPR. The outcome is that your beloved one dies with broken ribs, lines everywhere, vomit (from compressions) etc - all very undignified. As a doctor, I'd only want to undergo CPR if it were favourable. Multiple health problems and i would decline. Similar with certain things eg surgery - these days seen as "routine" but something i would still avoid unless necessary. Even with cancer, unless it's easily cured, there's no point in spending whatever time you have wound up in chemotherapy. Imagine you have six months to live. Would you really want to spend that time in and out of hospital, in pain, suffering from the side effects of chemo just so hou could live a couple of months longer? I'd rather spend those months as comfortable as possible. Too much time is wasted on trying to survive an extra few weeks rather than valuing the time remaining.

I've found aveeno to be better for me. In the end, I'd normally advise experimentation. The greasier it is, the better it is at holding in moisture but the more messy/smelly it is and more likely to stain clothing. Creams tend to be userfriendly but less effective. Also I'd recommend reducing sugar intake and using aqueous cream as a soap substitute.

I'm in the UK too and TBH it really depends. I've found some who don't care about halaal status. Others, when I've pointed out it's halaal meat, have then refused to eat from those places.

Short answer is it's easier to keep beard than to trim and try to grow it back later. It was the biggest regret of my life. You can still keep it tidy and neat without trimming. In the end, you're trying to justify your own actions to please yourself. Posting on here is only to help justify your decision further. You're trying to make yourself feel better. In the end, it will come down to you and you alone. You can't pin this on anyone except yourself.

No idea about Sikh related quotes (probably because it wasn't important). Generally, south facing houses are more in demand, require less energy (people occupy the main/living room which is also facing south and hence gets more sunlight).

In UK, I've seen sevadaars stand either side of the mat (before the golak where you matta tek) with full sized kirpans. Only ever seen this at Nanaksar during puranmashi. This is something we need 24/7 ideally but difficult to do logistically. Would sevadars be allowed to stand at/by Gurdwara entrance holding shaster? General public might be alarmed and cause further security issues, but then if on Gurdwara grounds, might be permitted. Where else would you locate them?

Isn't there a list of unsuitable products? I remember seeing something here Also the news item is from 2007!!!

Surely, if amritdharis should be making all the food then the problem is that there aren't enough or that they are not involved in the making of langar? I completely agree with making food/things yourself and presenting them to the Guru. It means so much more than just buying prepared food. However, I've been guilty of this, if only because I can't cook samosas.

In the past, halaal meat was prepared and eaten by Muslims only. Similar to kosher meat and Jews. Eating of halaal meat was forbidden - it was akin to accepting being a Muslim. Sikhs who are baptised are generally vegetarian and this includes food being prepared away from meat. Sikhs who are not baptised may be vegetarian or non-vegetarian depending on their choices. A very few number of Sikhs who eat meat would eat halaal meat knowingly. Hence it would be best to put up a sign saying meat was halaal meat. The question is would non-Muslims knowingly eat halaal meat?

Don't forget that we make endogenous ethanol too in our bodies. It is also formed naturally in plants.

She's already had a scan showing no pregnancy in the womb. You can't see the baby below six weeks as it's too small. Checking the hormone levels will show if the pregnancy is continuing or whether she will/has had a miscarriage at some point. As above, it can be potentially life threatening if it ruptures. If she becomes unwell, seek urgent medical attention. Surgery is the only real option and she will have the Fallopian tube cut. This causes a few issues: risks of surgery, future risk of ectopic - this can happen in the remnants of the same Fallopian tube, or it could potentially occur in the opposite Fallopian tube. Removing the second will mean you cannot get pregnant by natural means. http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Ectopic-Pregnancy.htm is a good leaflet to read.

If you can read Panjabi/Gurmukhi, it will be easier. When I first learned Japji Sahib, we used to listen to the CD and follow the words on the page. After a while, you recognise how to pronounce the words. If you continue, you will reach a stage where you can read the bani fluently without a CD. I would only allow it to "count" once I'd reached that stage.