SunSingh

euthanasia is terminating another's life. i didn't say it was sinister. but i certainly do believe someone would get very bad kaaram from doing it. i'm not turning sikhi into anything xtian, your ridiculous stem cell example has nothing to do with euthanasia. nor does not normalising euthanasia prevent our community from progressing.

pain is a way for our karma to work itself out. euthanasia is maha paap

we go through stages where we feel less inspired, we don't get as much anand, everything seems to take more effort etc. think of it as a test. Sangat sangat and sangat are very important. so is simran and seva. just try to keep pushing on and always do ardass all the time.

patka trend began earlier in the 20th century, where parents started to imitate some sports heroes over their Gurus. you are right that it would be a lot easier for kids to just wear a dastaar from an early age. I also feel it's easier to tie a simple dastaar rather than a patka. I feel the reason that this transition from patka to dastaar is difficult is b/c the turban represents responsibility and adulthood *to these children*. As children, their parents usually teach them nothing about sikhi. OR if they teach the teachings, they don't live them. Without the necessary spiritual backbone of simran/seva to hold up bana, kids fear the pressure of wearing a turban. they worry that they will have to do paath and wake up early etc. the lazy parents don't raise the kids in this culture from the beginning. The other reason, besides fear of the unknown or fear of making effort, can be social difficulties, but these are overcome through simran/seva/sangat. When I first began keeping my kes and wearing a dastaar it was extremely difficult for me. I had no Sikh or punjabi friends, only goray cheenay, and was living alone at university. I noticed that over time it became easier b/c I took my nitnem seriously. I felt power/will/"the ability to be independant" came to me from my nitnem. It is this simran/seva as well as regular sangat at the gurdwara that builds up the necessary spiritual backbone to enable a person to live in society with their kesh and dastaar.

thanks for the reply. what about if you set it to landscape orientation? how it for reading gutka sahib pdf's and pothian than?? I'm referring to pothian from gursevak.com and gutkas similar to those found on gurbanifiles.org.

I'm interested in getting a Kindle 3 to use as an electronic Gutka sahib. Has anybody else tried this? How well does it work out rendering Gurbani fonts from pdf files on that 6" screen?

that makes sense.

a different point of view, i feel that gurdwara accomodations are only required for sangat, and not for those who are just gallavanting about. sangat's money is for prachaar, not to make backpacking across india cheaper. you have some good points, but i just don't think that it's part of the function of gurdwara sahibs to be inns. i don't think there is anything wrong wiht providng said accomodation, but certainly feel that it is not required.

everyone gets tested. sometimes it's best to explain, sometimes it's best to walk to the darbar with your eyes focused on the ground so you see no negativity. you shouldn't feel like you owe an explanation to anyone. no matter what, some people will just do kintoo. it's part of the game.

building up overall energy levels can take time. i've been there. the above suggestions are very good. it takes time, but you can regain full energy. read about acid / alkalline balance diets. fruits, veggies, whole grain carabs (to some degree) are helpful. junk food, white flour, are not. write down all that you have to do, prioritise it to decrease your worry load. do more paath in your spare time instead of watching news etc. go to gurdwara more. exercise, fresh air, pranayama. it's about life balance. read the dale carnegie book on worry. all these things will help you. if you want specific diet suggestions, dr. fuhrman's eat to live book has great testomonials and looks like it helps with fatigue issues a lot.

do more paath to relax instead of watching tv. read How To Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie It has simple but effective techniques. some exercise and fresh air will probably help you manage that stress as well. many people store it in their bodies. all you can do is try your best. after that, the results are in god's hands.

other sampradas also hold this knowledge.

Namdharis are a samprada. British tried to promote Baba Ram Singh ji as dehdhari guru despite the fact that he was proper Gursikh and denied being a guru. B/c he was in jail the propaganda worked and Namdharis kind of split from rest of panth over guru ship issue. In the past they did not have dehdhari gurus. Giani Tahkur Singh has mentioned that those sects which originally came from Sikhi and then split away from it will one day come back into the panth.

Parmarathak Badan Simran Dia Jugtiaa http://www.gurmatveechar.com/audio/katha/01_Puratan_Katha/Sant_Ishar_Singh_%28Rara_Sahib_wale%29/051-100

it's not ok when they are smoking or drinking, even if they don't pressure you. and if you feel even slightly influenced, you should find other sangat. it's probably a good idea to find friends who don't do this kind of stuff. i'm not saying to burn down bridges or anything, but its nice to have friends with shared dharmic values, even if from another dharm, that way you can encourage each other in life and on your dharmic paths.

:waheguru: very impressive! how long did it take to prepare this?

Puratan singhs fighting in jung were unable to farm etc. and followed jung maryada of chatka. However, some singhs like Baba Deep Singh ji and others of that caliber did not ever eat meat. These mahapurkhs had such kamai that they could live off Amrit russ. -- Yep, it's cunningham, not what I typed.

A very Thoreau mini-doc on how democracies crush our individual rights. I don't agree 100% with everything that they are saying, but still very thought provoking. Especially for our more mentally gullam singhs.

Please don't delete this. if you don't agree, you don't have to comment. the worst that will happen is that people will do more kamai than normal. Guru Nanak Sahib ji graced the mortal coil in human form during pooranmashi (full moon). Since then, Sikhs have celebrated this anniversary every pooranmashi for hundreds of years. Baba Nand Singh ji Kaleranwale has blessed the Sikh panth by teaching a viddhi (method) by which we may make spiritual progress by leaps and bounds. Those who remain awake on the night preceding the day of the pooranmashi will attain the spiritual merit of doing one month worth of amritvela. Those who remain awake the whole night preceding the pooranmashi of Guru Nanak Sahib Maharaj ji’s advent to this world will attain the kamai (merit) of one year worth of amritvela! The point is to remain in yaad of Guru Nanak sahib ji the whole night. This year pooranmashi of Guru Nanak Sahib ji’s prakash diharra is on the 21st of November. This means you need to start on the night of November 20 and continue at least until the sun rises (or as much as you possibly can do). Das has heard that Baba Nand Singh ji said that Guru ji took avtar at 12:21 AM. People sometimes do nindya of such things as they fall outside the bounds of ordinary human logic. However Gurmat has its own logic, it is internally consistent. But this does not mean that one can figure out the ocean of Guru Granth Sahib ji through mere philosophizing. If that were true the ocean would in reality be a mere puddle. Gurbani unequivocally states that the bachan of a True Sant automatically comes true. Have sharda in your Guru’s bachan about the sants. -source

Macaulliffe is excellent. There are some mistakes in there, but it's worth reading just for the way he explains bani using sakhis. Patwant Singh's The Sikhs is excellent. I don't agree with his views on Bhindrenwale and I think he got them wrong, but otherwise he is solid. The best to fill in your understanding of the 1984 years is The Gallant Defender by AR Darshi. You can read it online for free at bhindrenwale.net. Cunliffe's History of the Sikhs is very good. It gives a very clear picture of the times, in deep detail. There's also Suraj Prakash Granth, the oldest source of history. An amazing read, although you can find katha of it on www.gurmatveechar.com as well where any mistakes/discrepencies in the text are pointed out. There's also the oldest source on Guru Nanak SAhib ji's life. You can read English translations of it here.

I have heard that Baba Nand Singh ji gave bachan that whoever remains awake the amritvela of pooranmashi of Guru Nanak Sahib's avtar purab will gain the merit equivalent to 1 year's worth of amritvela. Could anyone please elaborate?

unfortunately, i don't have links for these. They've been on my hard drive for years. You can probably find many of them from ikirtan and sites like that. Please also share your favorites.

So what are some of your favorite bairaagi kirtan tracks?? I've recently got much more into kirtan, whereas before I used to listen mainly to katha and simran tracks so I'm searching for some more. Here's some of mine so far: Satgur mera seda - Bhai Satvinder Singh & Harvinder Singh Sloks of Bhagat Kabir ji - Satvinder Singh & Harvinder Singh Hale Yaara Hale Yaara Khush Khabri - Bhai Amarjeet Singh Mera Satgur Rakhwala Hoaa - Bhai Amarjeet Singh Bin Dekhe Preetma - Bhai Lakhwinder Singh Milho Pyare Jiye - Bhai Niranjan Singh

without support from teh panth, widows and children of shaheeds sometimes turn away from Sikhi. They are often forced to become beggars and sometimes the widows are forced into prostitution. Surely there can be no greater Gurmat prachaar than supporting organisations like Gur Aasra Trust ??

you need to assess your own self, decide if you have what it takes to commit to Amrit. If you're still not sure, then I suggest taking all the steps to get ready for Amrit anyway and presenting your concerns to the punj pyare who can do ardass for you. In the meantime, continually do ardass to Guru ji to control your vikaars, keep you in Guru ji's Charan, and bless you with Sikhi dhaan. Ardass done at the time the sangat stands up for the ardass is quite powerful.