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Balkaar

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Everything posted by Balkaar

  1. You need to be very careful about how you understand this notion Kaur Ji. Interpreting it as literally as you just did basically gives people a licence to do whatever the hell they like, claiming God's plan as their justification. "No, no Mr policeman sir, I didn't choose to make a necklace out of my neighbours' ears. It was God's plan for me, everything is in his hands". God has vested us with freewill and responsibility. We aren't simply puppets. Apnaay have a very trying habit of treating subjective personal anecdotes as though they were the unquestionable laws of the universe. For every amritdhari lady you claim has reformed her mona husband, I can show you two whose husbands have lived and died as drunks.
  2. That is unfortunate but it is unavoidable Singh ji, unless the Punjabis can take back control of their waters.
  3. If people are treating this topic like it's unimportant, that's because it isn't very important. The khanda has no historical precedent in Sikhi at all. The puraatan emblem of the Khalsa was the trio of degh, tegh and katar, as found in all the old depictions of nishaan sahibs. The OP's question about whether it should be as highly esteemed as GURU SAHIB [really? ) betrays some ignorance of Sikh itihaas. Treat it as you would a picture of the Guru's. Symbolic of some aspect of the Sikh faith, but completely unworthy of respect or reverence in itself.
  4. Global warming is certainly real, but I'm skeptical about how much of a 'threat' it poses. I wasn't yet born in the 1970's when there was all that end-days alarmism about global cooling, but my parents told me some interesting things. This phenomenon also benefited from the consensus of scientists and experts who agreed it was a serious threat, and yet now in 2016 few people have even heard of it. It's apparently no longer a cause for concern because the world is now warming, not cooling. The history of climate is one of periodic increases and decreases in temperature. The world warmed up quite a bit in the period from around 900AD to 1200AD [known as the medieval warm period] and was subsequently cooled down in a period known as the Little Ice Age. This was before cars and agriculture and modern livestock farming, the pumping of greenhouse gases en-masse into the atmosphere. There is no way to prove that humans and their activities are solely responsible for the current increases in global temperature, or that it isn't yet another one of these recurring, naturally-occuring fluctuations in climate. People want to believe that global warming is somehow their fault because it confirms them in their vain belief that humans are the masters of nature. They refuse to believe that some things are just out of their hands.
  5. All these subliminal sexual images can be easily accounted for by simpler explanations, like poorly executed drawing/animation [the ‘boner’ of that priest in the Little Mermaid is actually his knobbly old man knee, if you'd have looked at the next frames instead of just going by this Christian pervert’s video you’d have seen this too - when they realized how it looked it was removed from the newer versions of the film], or perhaps the animators are even a bunch of lechers inserting these things for a laugh. The simplest explanation is usually the right one. It's also a bit rich for a follower of Jesus the zombie king to criticize Disney for promoting magic. This after all is the same guy who was always turning water into wine, raising the dead [Lazarus], casting out demons etc… These magicians are also usually the villains in these movies - they’re not presented as good role models. Moreover, is it a crime to have an imagination? Magic/fantasy/Pagan myth makes for a lot of good stories, films and literature would collectively be pretty boring otherwise. Most of the stories featured in Disney movies were not even written by Walt Disney, some are almost a couple of hundred years old. If an innocent little girl starts off with Disney and turns into a bit of a slag later in life, it doesn't necessarily have something to do with Disney's corrupting influence. For a lot of girls [and boys] acting out is part of growing up whether they are famous or not because the corruption [embodied by the panj chhor] is already inherent within them. It’s nothing new, been happening this way for a long time, long before Disney or mass media or TV.
  6. Importing your butt-hurt into other threads are we? Sikhi has always been in favor of teaching children shastar vidiya (unlike half-baked conspiracy theories). Our brothers the chaar sahibzaaday are definitive proof of this, not to mention the fact that Puraatan Sikhs instructed their kids in horsemanship and marksmanship from an early age. The gun [matchlock/flintlock rifle] is also one of the most highly praised of all the weapons by Guru Gobind Singh Ji himself in shastar naam mala.
  7. The 'illuminati' response is almost certainly rooted in a kind of defeatism/hopelessness. The world has been so messed up for so long that many people just can't comprehend why things have not got better, especially since there has never been a lack of people seeking this improvement in the human condition. The only way they can make sense of this [and take their mind off their own feelings of powerlessness] is by imparting responsibility for it to some supernatural agency, like demon aliens. But one of the most dangerous things about misrepresenting the establishment as a pseudo-supernatural omnipotent institution is that it distracts from the reality that it's power is actually very fragile, and could easily be broken if ordinary people were politically aware enough and motivated enough to break it. This illuminati/alien invasion stuff is little more than a convenient excuse for us to give up trying to make things better.
  8. Indeed, and that kind of morbid obsessiveness over the occult has been amply demonstrated on this thread Singh, with certain posters claiming nightmares or sleeplessness for three entire months. I'm not even sure it was the content of these posts which had me miffed , [we're hardly strangers to fruity views on this forum] so much as their utterly hysterical tone. It'd be kind of funny, if I wasn't also certain that someone somewhere would be taken in by it and get into a frenzy of their own.
  9. Lool I'm tempted Moments like these make 'Sarbat Da Bhalla' a very tricky ideal to live by. God preserve me from my own temper
  10. Actually these satanic alien 'theories' are very different from ,say, the theory of evolution by natural selection. Mainly because they aren't actually theories, but hypotheses. A hypothesis is nothing more than a way of explaining something, a guess. A scientist develops a hypothesis about a certain phenomenon and puts it to the test in a series of experiments and researches. He/she then circulates these findings among other scientists who conduct experiments of their own to see if they yield similar results. If they do, then the hypothesis becomes a theory, as in Darwin's theory of evolution. Your alien theory is not a theory. It's a hypothesis, completely meaningless until you can prove it with tests and evidence. Anyway 'theories' and 'hypotheses' belong in the realm of science, not religion. Your views on alien demons are strictly religious, so we'll discuss them in terms of religion i.e. Bani. Bani does not agree with any of these fanciful stories you are circulating. Popularity doesn't make something right, being right makes it right, whether people choose to accept it or not. It also doesn't follow that everything which is not accepted by the many will eventually become accepted by the many.
  11. 1 - If there was truly some cosmic conspiracy involving demonic aliens which threatened the whole of God's creation, why does our antarjaami Guru Maharaj not make a single mention of it in their Bani, or anything even remotely similar to it? It's hardly the sort of thing you leave out. 2 - Shouldn't the alien demons have assassinated you or something, you know, considering how you're exposing their evil plans to the world? 3 - Personal anecdotes and 'people's experiences' are not very good tools for establishing fact. People have had 'experiences' about all sorts of crazy things, case and point, all these people who've gone and murdered/raped children because they claimed that God told them to do so. Anyone one can claim to have been raped by extraterrestrials, that doesn't make it true. Research? pfft. Your 'research' is meaningless, you have no actual evidence. This absolute gandh you two are spouting is crazy, dangerous and manmat. There is no devil in Gursikhi, there are no demonic aliens, Guru Sahib specifies that there are beings from several worlds in Karam Khand, which would not be the case if they were evil satanic entities. Quit spreading this anti-Sikh nonsense. God forbid some impressionable youngster browsing this forum gets infected with these surreal views.
  12. After the demons read ^this^ they'll quickly lose all desire to mate with us, I promise you. Few better turn-offs than crazy. By far the wackiest post I've ever read on this forum.
  13. Tbh veerji if this bloke is living in the western hemisphere, then the meat he eats almost certainly isn't jhatka. It's khulla maas, largely battery farmed and therefore no less cruel than Halal meat - no Sikh should be eating it.
  14. Balkaar

    Death

    Some people would definitely take it an excuse to go mental, it's true, but not all of them. Consider the Jews for example. They don't even believe in an afterlife, so there is no promise of a reward in the next world to entice them to follow their religion or be good to each other on earth - and yet they do follow it, and they are good to their fellow men. There are several reasons for this. One is that humans recognize, innately, that we are accountable to each other as well as God. It is the way God intended us to be, and the way we evolved. The example of the Jews also shows that faith does not have to be a product of cynical self-interest and fear of death. It can arise from characteristics altogether more noble. This should be very encouraging to anyone who considers himself/herself a believer.
  15. I recall reading about this picture in a book. There's an interesting story behind it. if you look more closely at the painting you'll notice that the sinister thugee kneeling behind the Nihang Singh is brandishing some kind of rag, wound tightly around his hands. He is preparing to strangle the Sikh. That's because this painting was August Schoefft's way of getting payback against the Nihangs, with whom he'd had trouble in the past. Here is a full account of that incident, which took place at Sri Darbar Sahib as Schoefft was innocently making sketches : Herr Schofft was a great smoker, and attracted attention in Umritsir from his scarcely ever being seen abroad without having a cigar in his mouth. Now smoking is considered by the Nahungs and the Sikhs as sinful, or rather criminal ; more especially in or near such a holy place as their chief sanctuary ; Herr Schofft was aware of this, and therefore studiously avoided smoking whilst engaged in taking this sketch, It happened however, that, as is customary with painters, He now and then in the course of the work placed one of his pencils in his mouth, in order to keep it separate from those in the left hand, whilst using another with the right. This was observed by those who stood watching his operations from beneath the terrace, and they imagined, in consequence, that he was smoking. The rumour first spread about in whispers one to another, and as the impression became confirmed, a general indignation manifested itself ; and loud exclamations were soon heard, that the feringhee ( frank ) was committing sacrilege by smoking in their sacred place. The people speedily increased in numbers, and a clamorous mob soon surrounded the palace. The artist was at first unconscious of the cause of the gathering-, but he soon became aware by their shouts and threats, that he was in some way the object of their fury, and that he was consequently in a dangerous position. He had no sooner, however, made up his mind that his best policy would be to effect his escape, if possible, unperceived ; when some of the ringleaders of the mob, who had made their way through the palace, rushed upon the terrace, and attempted to seize him. Being a strong and vigorous man, he succeeded in wrenching himself from their grasp, and made his way to the staircase, which to his dismay he found crowded by the mob, who were making their way up. Knowing that his only chance lay in breaking through them as quickly as possible, he struck out right and left, and having the advantage of being always uppermost of those who attempted to stay his progress, he succeeded in reaching the bottom with some few bruises, Here, however, the affair presented a still more formidable aspect ; for no sooner had he reached the foot of the staircase, then he was seized by the collar and other parts of his coat by half-a-dozen of the mob, and saw at a little distance the glittering of several of their weapons. He gave himself up for lost, and in the energy of despair threw open his coat, and taking advantage of a slight confusion at the moment ( caused by a struggle to get possession of the gold watch which he had held in his hand and had at the same instant relinquished to them ), he slipped from the coat, which was held on all sides, and pushing away those in front of him, he succeeded in reaching the street ; here his nether garments fell, in some unaccountable manner, about his feet, and he stumbled and fell into a miry puddle which was immediately before him : he instantly sprang to his feet, and rustled to the entrance of a dark stable close adjacent. The mob concluded they had now secured their prey, but they were mistaken; for Schofft had, fortunately, whilst passing this stable on a previous occasion in my company, entered it, and noticed its back entrance, which led into the bazaar ; through this back door he then gained the bazaar, and from thence ( the mob all the way at his heels ), reached the house of his protector, Baii Goormukh Sing'. The door was immediately shut, and Schofft was saved. He there met with a kind reception, and on cleansing himself from the mire and blood with which he was covered, it was found that He had not only received several contusions on the head from the iron knobs on the shields of the Nahungs, with which they had struck at him ; but also a sword wound on the back, by which his braces had been cut through, which at once explained to him the cause of his fall into the mire at so critical a moment. The mob not evincing any inclination to disperse, the police interfered, and compelled them to retire.
  16. No, for the simple reason that apnaay are idiots. Think back to partition in 1947. Lobbying for Pakistan on behalf of the Muslims was Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a University of London educated Lawyer. Representing the Hindus was the Cambridge graduate and barrister Jawaharlal Nehru. And who did we Sikhs have representing us? Some semi-literate Baba educated no further than his Oora Airaas behind the village cowshed - the sort of person we continue to elect to this day, fools that we are. Is it any wonder that the British administrators who were dissecting the subcontinent took one look at us, decided we were not serious contenders for a nation of our own, and threw us out of the equation altogether? Or that the Hindus continue to assume, correctly I think, that we are all brawn and no brains? The strength of our Sikhi is important, but believing that this alone is necessary to create Khalistan is naive. The Sikhs of the 1940s weren't lacking in Sikhi, but this wasn't enough to stop them from being screwed over was it? The most important thing we can do for Khalistan is to educate ourselves and our children in as many disciplines of the world as we can, so that we can raise up some credible representatives for the Sikh cause to replace the simple-minded old men who currently occupy every position in the Sikh world. Behind every modern people's revolution, the French, the Russian, the American, were intellectuals and men/women of great learning.
  17. Demonstrating some of these humanistic/Kaljug tendencies is definitely necessary in war. The Nihang Singhs have always maintained that you need some measure of Tamoguni and Rajoguni instincts to be a sipahi, and they're right, for else would someone be capable of taking a life? Sikhi distinguishes itself from other faiths by inhabiting the real world - it doesn't obsess over the next one like Islam, and it doesn't tell people to run away from it's troubles like Hinduism - it has a very practical and human component which the others do not, partly because it recognizes that nobody can live in this world without being being touched by it in some way. Why try to replace this with the banalities of all the rest? I also prefer this Sikh history, not least because it doesn't make me feel so defeatist, like I'm aspiring to an impossible standard of human behavior as the other one did. The task of being a Sikh is difficult enough, it's not one that needs to be made even more daunting.
  18. There's a bit of a tendency amongst apnaay these days to make the puraatan Sikhs into something they weren't. It's essentially a legacy of the British colonization of the Punjab and the Sikh pysche - hence the transplanting of Western knightly/chivalric virtues onto the characters in our itihaas. This fiction was conducive to the Brits' agenda for the Sikhs as a source of potential recruits. The true story of early Sikh history, with its cast of half-naked unruly horsemen ransacking settlements and burning everything else to the ground, was not the recipe for producing the docile and obedient European-style line infantry [paid in wages and discouraged from looting] that they required - so they tried to get rid of it. *Also the very popular idea that 'Sikhs have never attacked first'. [As if to suggest that there is anything wrong with attacking your enemies before they can lash out at you. There isn't] In reality Sikhs have attacked first, it happened all the time in the confederacy era. This seems to me like another Angrezi myth calculated to keep their Sikh ghulaams from rising up and rebelling/attacking first.
  19. Caste doesn't signify one's 'identity' in any way. Does it represent ethnicity? No, Jatts, Tarkhans, Gujjars, all look identical to one another. Does it represent profession? No, not all Jatts are farmers, not all Tarkhans carpenters, not all Sikligars weaponsmiths. Does it represent social standing? No, there are plenty of rich chamaars, and plenty of dirt poor Jatts. So which facet of one's identity does their caste represent? - None, it is completely random and arbitrary. Once upon a time some snooty Bahmans just decided that some people were high caste and others low caste for no obvious reason at all, and look at all the suffering that's ensued across the centuries as a direct consequence of this inconsistent rubbish. Carrying it on makes no sense.
  20. LOL at the huge inferiority complex so many people on this forum seem to have concerning UK Sikhs. Why is it that nothing stupid anyone does while being a Canadian/NZ/Australian Sikh is ever the responsibility of all Canadian/NZ/Australian Sikhs, but when one Singh does a pudh in Britain they hold every other Sikh on the island personally accountable for the bad smell? I've never even heard of most of these guys. I'd wager that most UK Sikhs haven't either - so they're hardly our representatives.
  21. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji KI Fateh Bhai Sahib you recommended this Granth to me earlier, and I'm very glad I bought it. Thank you for that. It's poetry is so captivating, and it contains, among other things, a first hand account of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's appearance which was a pleasure to read. The next two sawaiyas are just as beautiful as the first: Sawaiya Prabhu, tend to all souls and teeming life-forms that extend over land, lake and mount Meru. Water, ether, earth - O Lord sustain; sustain the storms and the hurricanes. Bless O Prabhu all fragrance fair and foul and bless the Bull that holds the planet. Sustain O Prabhu the swing of dusk and dawn and all the shades of verdure, wood through seasons kind and cruel. Sawaiya Keep thou O Lord the ethereal canopy and the hell bowl beneath - The ocean, planet, ether, cosmos - keep all O Lord, keep thou the moon and keep the suns that hear thy hymns and follow thy hukam. Preserve O Lord the essential pitch dark that enlightens our hearts to value light. It reminded me of St Francis of Assisi's Canticle of the Sun, another homage to the natural world by a man of god.
  22. You're being very petty, you seem to have to taken this discussion as a personal attack against you. As it is, I'm not going to spend several hours searching for a detail which may or may not actually exist because one sanctimonious bloke decided to make an ocean out of a glass of water. Even if Sant Ji did say such a thing, that does not make it true. He was the greatest Gursikh in a long time, but he did not know everything, and if he were still with us he himself would be the first to admit this. Thing is, I have done a bit of research. I've gone through Maharaj's own words in Sri Dasam Granth as well as the writings of Giani Gian Singh, Bhai Santokh Singh and others, and not a single one of them corroborates this thing you are so adamant about. Mahant Ji lived in the 1600's, and the single piece of evidence you can give me of his supposed obesity is katha from the 1970s/80s, 300 years after the battle of Bhangani? This is an extremely shoddy approach to the study of history, and unless you come back to me with a proper historical source I'll consider this conversation over.
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