Wicked Warrior

I have to do it because of family but the way things are (my siblings and i didn't even know) it'll be forgotten soon. I have no care for it but you know what? For me it highlights my relationship with my sisters. In the same way there's a Fathers Day and a Mothers Day, I see it as a Sisters Day (and they as Brothers Day) and I appreciate them that much more. I love my sisters soooooooo much :wubc: Even when they sit there and poke me and annoy me

Dunno where u trainin at but here in UK, I had loads of time to do non-medical related stuff. There's plenty of time for Sikhi if you look for it. My course did the typical first two years of mostly lectures followed by three years of clinical. Used to go home and chill. Do some paat or just mess around with friends. As long as you do some work, whether it be two hours a day Mon-Fri or five hours a day Sat & Sun, it's up to you. Fifth year was a bit more stressful and very busy. Did 8-6 everyday, come home and collapse for about half an hour. Then had to get up and study before going to sleep. I'm not amritdhari so didn't keep nitnem but it's not difficult to do. Also depends on where you go - there might be a SikhSoc there. If not, do what we did and set one up (if there are enough people interested). Now I've started working and things are a little easier. Bit like fifth year with the entire 8-6 job but after that, you're free to do whatever you want. No exams so no need to study, though I'm trying to do a little to fill the gaps in my knowledge that I didn't fill during fifth year. Yeah medicine's hard compared to other courses but I had mates who complained about 9am starts when I was doing 9-5 lectures for two years! The only thing that I regret was not making better use of the free time I had. Could have done more paath or learnt a new one or something. Do ardaas to Maharaj to keep you close to him and Sikhi and you'll be fine.

I remember being told in Punjabi school as a kid that the kirpan was defending against attacks by dogs. Even aged 10 I could tell it was a lie!

I know I've read about oil-pouring on the doorway/entrance in Gurbani, as a metaphor for letting Maharaj into your (tenth) house. Or something similar.

Oh yeah the "dhan hai dhan hai" shabad - first time I heard that (about a year ago) I started crying right the way through. SOOOOOOOOOOOOo beautiful. Been to the house in Wolves many times. They have Maharaj sitting in the same room as Sant Ji slept (I think he did - there's a bed with his pic on it). It's a nice house and the Gursikhs who live there and look after it are really welcoming. Lots of pics of many Sants there.

I was speaking to my mother about when she got married a whiles back. She said that back then, brides wore white and the Anand Karaj was finished at sunrise. When did it change to being later and later until it now happens 1-2pm? I also remember going to one wedding where the groom symbolically removed his Kalgi and placed it at the foot of Maharaj. When did kalgis come into use during anand karaj's? Is it a bad thing if you wear it and then give it to Guru Maharaj, since he is the True King? What about the maya bit, where they give money and the women do silly things, waving the money around their heads before placing it in the chola? How did this come about? I don't know who of us will get married and who won't but I believe that whoever out of us gets married should have Anand Karaj the proper way just to show everyone else how it's done. I for one (if I ever get married) will have my Anand Karaj at something like 4am. Though it's more to annoy the guests :wub: Imagine the look on peoples' faces when they realise how early it is :wub:

When I was able to do that, I was 16-17 years old. More recently, I began to realise that it doesn't matter how many I do. What matters, which is what I heard in a katha, was that if your mind hears the paat, only then does the Guru hear it. He was trying to say something similar - basically take your time and make sure you're not just moving your tongue about whilst your mind is on other things. From then on, I tried to stop moving my tongue by biting (softly) on it, forcing my mind to do the paat instead of the tongue. Still very hard tho.

Not sure about Baba Attar Singh but Baba Nand Singh truly believed in the Guru Granth Sahib as the physical form of Guru Nanak Dev Maharaj and even had darshan of him. It would be inconceivable that such a soul would not take Amrit. Baba Isher Singh Ji helped maintain the Nanaksar movement and under his supervision, thousands of Sikhs took Amrit. Would be hypocritical if they hadn't themselves taken Amrit. A lot of Sikhs wear kirpans under their garments - just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

For me, building up rehit and still don't feel ready. For example, I can do Japji Sahib paat in five mins (timed myself) but even now, just can't bring myself to do it. There are times when I will do paat/sing a shabad (in my mind) and there are times when I'm not even thinking about God. Unfortunately, I think I'm drifting more and more away rather than closer. I need Gursikhs to hang around with - when I was at college I a Singh as a mate and he taught me loads about Sikhi. At the same time, I started doing more and more paath - to the point where I was doing something like 5 Japji Sahibs and 3 full malas of mool manter paat a day, along with singing 2-3 shabads and full anand sahib paat. When I came to uni, this dropped to maybe 1-2 Japji Sahib paats per day and now, six years later, I do less. I find it difficult to find time to do things I'm supposed to do everyday, let alone do paat. Once I can correct this, paat gives me strength to do more, but it's always taking that first step that's the hardest.

Wierd - why do you not believe in God? Is it because you can't see/hear Him? Remember, God is beyond our comprehension and grasp. Trying to look for God is like trying to measure the mass of the universe using a 15cm ruler - there is nothing in existence, nor will there ever be, some tool or device that allows us to detect/see God. Is it doubt? Some people look at the world and then believe He can't exist because of all the suffering in the world. With respect to reincarnation and karma - imagine this: you are a young child. You've done something bad that your parents told you not to do. They then decide to punish you - for three weeks, you're grounded. That's 21 days. You don't quite understand why you're being punished, just that you are and that you hate them as a result. Now also imagine that instead of 21 days, it's 21 lifetimes. Your punishment can and may last longer than a lifetime. Sometimes one lifetime isn't long enough for you to undergo the suffering that you've accumulated. Death The problem with death/dying is that you don't know what's going to happen until you're dead. Rare are those that come back from the dead. As with God, just because you can't see/hear something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Sikhi If you don't believe in Sikhi, which is based on you merging with God, then it's probably a good idea to stop dressing like a Sikh. If you're that worried about people and what they think of you, then do something about it.

Um did any one actually read my question? I already have my belief of what happened in 1699. What I don't have/know is what bana the Panj Piare - Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh, Bhai Himmat Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh and Bhai Sahib Singh. Wiki Clicki says they wore orange, which is what I've always thought. But then you have pictures like these:

When I hear about Vaisakhi 1699, when Guru Maharaj created the Khalsa, I always hear about the Panj Pyare being in orange attire after they come out of the tent. However, I see lots of pictures of the Panj Pyare and Guru Gobind Singh dressed in blue, and occasionally dressed in orange. Why is there such a discrepancy? I understand people maybe confused/mistaken in their belief in what happened in the tent and whether there was a tent, but surely something as basic as this should be universally accepted - ie whether they all wore blue or wore orange bana.

People shave/trim/wax so that they can conform to society's view of how humans should look. People inject themselves with poison from a bacterium, they are willing to risk surgery, they want genetically-engineered babies just so they can conform to society's rules and expectations. Sikhs are different. They don't bow their heads down to society, instead they bow to the Lord Almighty himself. The conform to Him and to no other. They follow His Rule. In the end, it comes down to this: 1. Are you going to follow God or Man? 2. If you follow Man, are you willing to accept whatever comes your way because you did not follow God?

Why doesn't someone say "I don't have any money. Make me rich and then I will pay you."

Yeh my mum got this same letter today. Scary - I was like htf did they get her details? Then I remember having to fill in some crappy forms in Delhi airport and half of them were like flying around.

WRT marriage, I believe Maharaj himself has already determined what will happen to you. If He wills that you will get married for one year and then divorced and never get married again, then that's what'll happen. Unless Maharaj then wills that maybe you'll get married again and then you will. The problem is you can never truly predict the future (or your own life events) because, in the end, it's up to Maharaj what happens to you. For some, Maharaj has decided will stay single, others will be married, yet others will be divorced. You don't know which one you are. This is why everyone says "don't worry about it" - because you can either waste your time worrying and then realise all too late that there was no need to worry, or you can spend all that time Naam-japping.

ACtually I think Ch4 or five here in the UK did a programme on this gora kid who claimed a similar thing - but scarily a lot of what the kid knew was true and there was no way he could have known about this. Will try to get some more info.

I know of people aged ~30 years old doing medicine who were in my year. Granted they weren't Sikhs but they still chose to go into Medicine. Age shouldn't matter. As for marriage, don't worry about it. My dad was 28/29 when he got married.

It's a facebook group called "Singhs who drink Whiskey". :umm:

Sometimes, when I can't sleep, my mind starts wondering. Eventually it'll start thinking about death. Been thinking about it and about Gurbani and how it calls everything else but God false, and about how God is the puppeteer and we're just puppets. Do we really exist? Or is everthing God? Is my arm God? Is my hand God? Is my brain God? Is this cup God? Is the water God too? Is God everything, and everything God? Thus do we really exist, or are we all God?

It would be ideal if all the Gurdwaras in the UK were connected, so if there was an offence, it could be reported and a copy of the Giani's face and 'file' could be sent to all Gurdwaras and they would be banned from employment.

Or do what Baba Nand Singh Ji did and use a sotee (don't know what it's called)

The bit after Gur Prasad - I was always taught that: Jap = Repeat Aad Such = HE was True in the Beginning Jugad Such = HE was True throughout the Ages Hai Be Such = HE is True now. Nanak Hosai Be Such = He will always be here. I always thought that 'He' referred to God himself, so God was True (ie present), has been and always will be True. Everything else matches up! :TH:

The fifth Guru did not finish writing all of Guru Granth Maharaj. The tenth Guru added in the Bani of his father, the ninth Guru, so it was not complete until then. Also, just because the fifth Guru Maharaj compiled it does not mean the transformation was ready. The Panth had to undergo further changes before it formed as the Khalsa Panth under the instruction of Guru Gobind Singh. I've never heard of this lady nor her discourses. The problem with people like these is that they look for "flaws" in religion. She was looking for flaws but what she found were flaws that no 'ordinary' Sikh could answer so expressed them. Until one has true understanding of Sikhi, one will always find "flaws" or areas where many Sikhs do not know the answer. But a true Brahmgiani will know the answers to every question there is.