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https://nattieteefilms.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/is-god-capitalist-or-communist/

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Is it normal to go through the highs and lows of spirituality? What I mean by 'highs and lows' is the time spent to do simran and the state of mind. I noticed that there are days or weeks when I feel the motivation and love to do path/simran. It's so easy to concentrate on doing path. I long to join sat sangat and feel blessed during those days. Then there are days I have a really hard time getting up on time. Mind is wandering so much that I can hardly finish japji Sahib or sometimes do not want to do any path at all. My interest in doing path/simran totally dies and feel 'no ras.' I find it striking how can I jump from one state of mind to another so drastically? How can one be in 'sehaj' state of mind?

Do not ever mind the mean words which others say to you , for it is Waheguru himself who is speaking through them . ਆਪੇ ਸੁਣਿ ਸਭ ਵੇਖਦਾ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਮੁਖਿ ਬੋਲੇ ਆਪਿ ਮੁਹਾਹੁ ॥ आपे सुणि सभ वेखदा पिआरा मुखि बोले आपि मुहाहु ॥ Āpe suṇ sabẖ vekẖ▫ḏā pi▫ārā mukẖ bole āp muhāhu. The Beloved Himself sees and hears everything; He Himself speaks through the mouths of all beings.

MUST READ Part I PART II of II Sept. 20, 2015: During his visit to Anandpur, the city was under attack by an alliance of Rajputs and Moghuls. Kalgidhar Pathshah Ji asked Bhai Ji to do water seva because he had been undertaking water seva for so long, for the Sikhs fighting in the battle. Bhai Ji happily agreed to comply with His Hukam. Bhai Ji, wearing white robes, was often seen with a mashak (a water pouch) in the battle field, serving water to wounded soldiers without any discrimination. It was amazing that due to Bhai Ji's spiritual state, he had easy access to frontiers of all warring factions. He would fearlessly continue his seva while arrows were flying and swords were being swung at each other, and where bloodshed, violence, and hatred was the order of the day. However, in that battle, Bhai Ji with his love and compassion, pour water into the mouths of the wounded, bless them with his hand on their head, and heal the fallen and wounded soldiers, who would then rise and resume battle. His acts of compassion inevitably stirred up doubts and criticism among some Sikhs who were unable to comprehend the ways of a Brahmgyani, like Bhai Ji. They judged him from his outwardly conduct and were outraged with his conduct. They complained about this to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj saying he was a traitor even though Maharaj Ji said he was a blessed Sikh. They said, he eats and lives with us, but gives water to the enemy and that he claims to be a Sikh despite his friendship with the enemy as he was helping the enemies heal so that they could get up and attack the Khalsa again. They also said that they tried to stop Bhai Kanhaiya Ji several times from giving water to others, but that he would not stop. Maharaj Ji called for Bhai Ji and told him that his fellow Sikhs were complaining about him and asked him to respond. Bhai Ji humbly stated that as mortal always sin, however, he never gave water to the enemy. Guru Ji enquired from Bhai Sahib about that, to which Bhai Ji replied "I see you alone, my master in every person, I cannot distinguish between the Turks , the Sikhs and You." The Sikhs got angry and told Guru Ji that Bhai Ji was lying. They said that yesterday, in a skirmish, they severely injured a Mughal commander Noori Shah, an associate of Wazir Khan, left him there thinking him to be dead. However, last night, he regained consciousness and loudly asked for water, which Bhai Ji immediately obliged. He also took Noori Shah to the Mughal camp and treated him for his wounds. Guru Ji smilingly asked him whether he gave water to the Mughals, which Bhai Ji denied. Then, He asked whether he gave water to the Pahari Hindus, which Bhai Ji denied. Again, He asked whether he gave water to the Sikhs, which Bhai Ji also denied. The omniscient Guru continued with His divine game, and asked whether he was even doing His assigned seva. Bhai Ji replied that, in the battlefield he is serving water, but he did not see Sikhs, Mughals or Hindus, but that he just saw his omnipresent Satguru Patshah. He said how can one who is smitten with your love, see someone else anywhere and then therefore not give water to those in whom you live. He said he was just giving water to his Satguru Patshah. Some of the Singhs got angry at this untenable explanation in their opinion, and went for their swords, asking Guru Ji's permission to punish Bhai Ji. But, Guru Ji told the Sikhs to look into Bhai Ji's eyes. When they gazed closely into his eyes, they saw Guru Ji's reflection. This was proof that Bhai Ji indeed saw Guru Ji's everywhere, and that he was telling the truth. Guru Ji explained what it meant to be a blessed Sikh, and dispelled doubts of Sikhs that Guru Ji was just defending his favorite Sikh. Sri Dashmesh Pita Ji, smilingly looked at his Sikhs and pointed to Bhai Kanhaiya Ji, saying that he understood the deeper message of the Gurus' teachings correctly and that they all should strive to learn to live like him. Guru Ji told them to let him carry on with his mission. He said that many more will follow in his footsteps and keep the tradition of Nishkam sewa alive. Maharaj Ji declared that Bhai Sahib was my real follower, i.e., a true Sikh, treading the Divine Path as a Gurmukh. Maharaj Ji said that Bhai Ji made his life a living example of Gurbani because Sikhi is meant to be a spiritually experiential way of living. Guru Ji then reminded the Sikhs of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji' Maharaj Ji's Shabad in which He said that He had totally forgotten His jealousy of others, since He had found the Saadh Sangat. He said that no one was his enemy or stranger, and that He got along with everyone. He accepted Waheguru's will as good, which was the sublime wisdom He had obtained from omnipresent Waheguru. Thus, the great Guru spoke to the narrow-minded Sikh soldiers to fight in the battlefield, only to uphold the divine cause rather than fight with ill will, anger, and hatred because such a fight would not lead them to the path of the divine. The 10th Nanak also told the Sikhs that Bhai Ji has adopted the rehat of five elements of human composition: pure and cleansing water which washes filth of others, indiscriminant fire that gives warmth to all, air and earth which treat everything equally, even if someone has dug into the earth or decorated it, and the sky which is so wide and inclusive as it covers the whole earth. Satguru Maharaj Ji took him in embrace and took balm from his pocket and gave it to him, and told him to put balm on the wounded also when serving water; and put his Own stamp of approval on Bhai Ji's seva. After the end of Battle, Guru Kalgidhar Patshah asked Bhai Ji to go back to his home town, Sodhara, and with His grace, continue his seva and simaran. One of the key teachings Bhai ji used to emphasize was that a Sikh must be compassionate by nature, and if he should see someone in any difficult situation, he should pray for his emancipation and divine grace. The first fallen Mughal soldier who was healed by Bhai Ji was so touched by Bhai Ji's seva that after the war ended, he came to Bhai Ji. Bhai Ji was in trance on the bank of a nearby river. After Bhai Ji opened his eyes, the former soldier paid respect and offered him an expensive jewel. Bhai Ji smiled said these stones are not useful for him and threw it into the river. This made the him upset, and he asked Bhai Ji to give it back to him. Bhai Ji looked at the river, which immediately split into two. From the middle arose a sand spot with so many jewels. Bhai Ji asked him to take his jewel back. Bhai Ji lived 70 years full of contentment, love and compassion. He preached unity of humankind and God. His Gnostic life epitomized all the values of Gurbani such as Naam Simaran, service, obedience and surrender to Guru's will, renunciation, bliss, and divine grace. His journey was long and arduous. He is credited with the founding of the seva panthi or adanshahi sampradya. One day, in his pleasure, he patted his main sevadaar, Seva Ram, and expressed his appreciation of his seva and simaran. Bhai Ji told him that since he passed all the tests, he should take charge of seva and spread naam as ordained by Guru Maharaj. Nearing his time to go to the eternal place of Waheguru, on one bright morning, he discussed death and after death rituals with the sangat. During the discussion, it was mentioned that there either is the option of cremation or burial followed by extensive rituals. Bhai Ji, also added that holy people always live in transcendent state, and shed their body as a snake casts off his skin. Crossing all limits of humility, Bhai Ji then said that as poor people we cannot afford funeral expenses, if one of us had to leave this world as divinely ordained, it would be better to submerge one's body in running water. He said that it would be good for aquatic creatures. The sangat did not catch the clue, and thought it was a general sermon. That same evening, he came in the sangat as usual and sat with the support of wall. Exegeses were told and minstrels were reciting Gurbani. Usually, at a set time, Bhai Ji would signal them to stop. However, Bhai ji did not signal them this time. Everyone was exhausted. A sevadar went up to him to check on him and found his body motionless, and discovered that he had left his mortal body and went to his beloved's place, Sachkhand. The distraught and shocked sangat now understood the mystery of Bhai Ji's parable about death and after rituals. As per Bhai Ji's wish, the sangat submerged his body in a running stream nearby. As the news spread, Bhai Ji's family received news about his departure. They saddened by his passing and lamented for being unable to conduct traditional funeral activities. They hired divers to find his mortal remains within 18 miles of the river, but could not locate anything. In the entirety of the cosmos, Bhai Ji saw the only One, and eliminated all intellectual barriers. He overcame mind's fickleness and did not see the duality. His life exemplified that in the game of Love there is no duality and judgment; there is no victory or defeat, no enemy or friend, no loss or benefit, no hatred or attachment, and therefore no discrimination. His life proved that so long as mind control one's existence, there are going to be artificial barriers within humanity, therefore no justice. The mind cannot see all as equals with the omnipresent Light because it invariably studies, contemplates, and reinforces duality. Only Guru's grace in the form of Brahamgyan can illuminate the mind and erase roots of darkness, then one can see omnipresent Waheguru Akaalpurakh in his creation, and Bhai Ji's exemplified the same. Only those who are immersed in Naam and enlightened with the Guru's Grace, like Bhai Ji, who are holy and pure, have the capacity to be just because they see the cosmos in their own form and vice-versa. Only they can see HIM in both sargun and nirgun form in all, and give limitless space and love to everyone in their heart, therefore clairvoyantly can engage in the eternal salvation of human beings. Bhai Sahib Bhai Kanhaiya Ji, paved the way for the salvation of many others. His name and conduct will remain in eternity.

My ideas.. 1. NO TV - Cut cable, netflix etc off. Absolutely no over-use of TV. There maybe positive channels like discover/travel channels but overall tv has more negatives than positives. Not worth it. I am not suggesting to cut it off immediately. Start it from trimming your channel packages and slowly-slowly get rid of it. 2. NO LOAN - Take no loan. Exception can be made on house but other than that no loan on phones, cars, credit-cards etc. The reason is because your mind get caught in this vile maya circle and one tends to get too busy in earning/paying-off these loans. Precious time to remember waheguru gets over taken by tension of assets/liabilities etc 3. Gadgets - Phone is for phone. keep it that simple. Don't use it other than calling purposes. Sure one can use to take pictures but spending hours and hours looking at phone screen is another way that our mind wants to steal our spiritual time. Keep kids under 10 away from all gadgets. Keep your phone and tablets away from toilets. Certainly don't take your phone with you to bed. Don't let phone/tablet dictates you on how to live your life. You need to show all of them their right place.

Dear All Forum Users, I am currently studying the Doctorate Practitioner in Counselling Psychology at the University of Wolverhampton. As part of my training, I am conducting a research into: “Impact of Religion and Spirituality on Wellbeing within an Asian-Faith Community: How can Counselling Psychologists help?” I am writing to request your valuable time and participation in my study. This study intends to explore the spiritual and religious experience of the Sikh community in particular in relation to their wellbeing. My aim is to increase the knowledge base within the Psychology field in the hope of helping the Asian Faith community access mental health services. I would like to interview twenty Sikhs (male or female) who have been practicing their religion for at least 2-3 years within the West Midlands. This interview will take place at your local Sikh Gurdwara or Health Centre and will last for about 45 minutes. The interviews will be audio taped so I can analyse them fully to improve our understanding. Please be assured that all interviews will be kept strictly confidential and personal information will be removed from the transcripts. Any information collated will only be used for educational purposes. If anyone is interested to take part, please private message me on this forum and let me know how you would like to be contacted (e.g., telephone, email, post). I will then send you an information sheet and a consent form with more details of the study. I would like to add that as the questions on religion and spirituality might bring up sensitive issues to some, it is not advisable to take part if you are currently going through a difficult period. The interview is not an alternative therapeutic treatment for people who partake in. Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide any therapeutic treatments as a result of you taking part. I hope you may appreciate this. Thank you for your time. :respect: Kind regards, Mandeep Kaur.

How do we achieve inner peace and find meaning and purpose in life on today's unnatural hectic society. Where most people are so far away from reality due to the modern stressors on the mind. To even begin to achieve this first your mind has to be in the right frame of mind or you will struggle to get to that level of spiritual enlightenment. for instance 200 years ago people were more spiritual and open to religion. Due to their mind being free from the many ill effects of modern society . ie bad diet, no exercise. all this effects the mind and consequently ones spiritual health as we cannot attain spiritual well being when our mind is not correctly functioning to begin with. Just like our bodies have become overweight and unhealthy due to diet and nutrition so has our mind. but the only difference is you cannot see your mind hence its not that obvious to people and ourselves to the actual condition of it. Its like trying to run a marathon when you haven't done any exercise all your life and then suddenly have to run 26 miles. ie if your mind is unhealthy how can you actually be a good Sikh and even understand and feel the benefits of peace from region when our minds are completely out of shape. I believe to reach this goal, first your mind needs to be in shape also before you can even fully begin start this journey. what causes our minds to become unbalanced and lead us onto the path of self destruction and also committing bad deeds?? ie to feel the pleasure that comes from our religion first our brain must be in an actual position to feel this. I think one of the best things we can do to get our mind in shape is to do physical exercise. as exercise is not only good for our physical health but also more importantly good for our brain/mind. I would say we need to jog a few miles a day.

Did anyone else take notice that langars in North America (and maybe Europe - never been there) are usaully very rich - many dishes , paneer lots of sweets, smosas etc. This creates a bad incentive for people to come just looking for satiating their tongue rather than the spirit. Langar halls have way more 'sangat' comapred to darbar halls. Wonder what this does to the morale of keeranias and kathawachaks. In India langar is very simple - daal and roti and mabye achaar at the most ...

https://class.coursera.org/psychbuddhism-001 In context of budhishm but many concepts tie into gurmat.

Its a deity if your relation is all about mehar and based on pure emotion wherein most of the time you are imploring guru to fulfil your wishes. Its a guru (literally - dispeller of darkness) - if you study it , contemplate (sabsai upar gur shabad beechar) on it and try to incorporate the teachings in your day to day lives. Share your thoughts !

Countries consuming the most milk products also have the highest rates of degenerating bone disease (like osteoporosis), heart disease, breast cancer, allergies, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. The United States consumes more dairy than the rest of the world put together and yet has the highest levels of osteoporosis and weak bones in the world. Milk does NOT put calcium in our bones- it does the opposite- it PULLS calcium from our bones making them weak, soft and brittle. Why ? Because dairy products are acidic to our body, which forces our body to protect itself by pulling alkaline minerals from wherever it can get it- namely our bones- to neutralize the acids. This ironically leads to calcium deficiency. Cow's milk is not the same as human milk. The calcium in cows milk or cheese is not the same as calcium from organic plant sources like leafy greens (that's where cows get their calcium !) Milk and cheese are the leading cause of arthritis, constipation, allergies, asthma, colic, sinus issues, heart disease, ovarian problems, anemia, insulin-dependent diabetes, cataracts, obesity, congestion, lung problems and even cancer. It has been directly linked to heart attacks and stroke. When people are autopsied, they cut open the heart and all this white thick goo pours out... gues what it is ? Calcium plaque ! That's like trying to use cement instead of oil in your car's engine. Dairy creates mucus which clogs up our intestines, lungs and reproductive systems, overloading them with slimy mucus that smothers our cells so they can't breathe. When white spots start appearing on different parts of the body, it means fat and mucus has spread throughout the respiratory and reproductive systems. Hormonal imbalances often result, including thyroid, pancreatic and gonad functions. This condition results in cysts and tumors, eventually leading to cancer, expecially breast, colon and reproductive areas. All animal products lead to fat and cholesterol deposits in the arteries and heart, lining them with a white thick pasty cement made of inorganic calcium. Nothing clogs up your intestines faster than cheese and dairy. It is glue. Cows milk contains higher levels of saturated fat than human milk, meaning cholesterol buildup and blood circulation problems in babies and adults. Too much bad unusable calcium is actually the real cause of osteoporosis. Milk and cheese is one reason more women are dying today of heart problems and cancer than ever before. People have all kinds of inorganic calcium clogging up their bodies and hardly any good absorbable calcium. If you think cheese isn't an addictive substance, try and separate a woman from cheese. Pasteurizing milk (boiling at high temperature) kills the enzymes, so the milk cannot be properly digested. The pancreas can't replace these missing , so here comes diabetes. Homogenizing milk makes fat particles so tiny they go through the intestinal mucus, directly into the bloodstream where they become an alien substance ( like hydrogenated oils or margarine) that he body doesn't know what to do with, it so it accumulates in the arteries, joints, heart and other organs. Pasteurized milk is dead food. Calves (baby cows) fed pasteurized milk normally die after 8 weeks ! Even if you drank it raw, you wouldn't want to. Most cows are sick and diseased. They are milked by a machine causing blood and pus to be in the milk. When a human drinks milk, only half of the protein is used, the rest becomes foreign protein in the body... and foreign proteins are the number one cause of all disease in humans. It puts a serious strain on the kidneys ( the kidneys of a meat eater or someone who drinks milk or eats cheese) has to work 3 times harder than the kidneys of a vegetarian. They ultimately turn to stone. It's very hard on a baby because the kidneys aren't even fully formed yet. A 12 year Harvard study of 72,000 showed those who drank the most milk (3 or more glasses a day) had more bone fractures than those who drank very little. Where do cows and horses, goats and elephants get calcium ? From grass. Greens have more nutrition than almost anything on the planet. The best way to make greens digestible for humans is to put them in a blender with some fruit. That makes all the nutrients instantly absorbable. Excerpt from HEAL YOURSELF 101 by Markus Rothkranz We don't eat meat because of compassion for animals - then why do we steal milk that was intended for calves ? Also as we all know cows at dairy farms have horrendous living coniditions - why be part of a system that is hurtful ?

Vaheguru ji ka Khalsa, Vaheguru ji ki Fateh Sangat ji, you may not have heard of "Everythings 13" a sikh educational charity, however some of you may know about our YouTube channel "Basics of Sikhi". Most of you may not be aware that (with Guruji's kirpa and aagiaa) we're embarking on a new and comprehensive project to spread Guruji wisdom across the UK and Globally. Its called Plan BE13. Here is what our channel has on it currently.. Here is a video about Plan BE13 for 2013 Essentially we are hoping to do a 5 stage process of Parchar (1) Getting people into Sikhi (already happening) - Talks at Gurdwaras and Sikh Societies at colleges and Universities to interest youth/others into Sikhi and bring onto youtube channel - Spreading word about the Youtube Channel using facebook, twitter and and getting people into watching videos about Sikhi when they have spare time (there are around 80 videos on our youtube channel already) (2) Building a solid foundation (already happening) - holding a One Day Course +Kirtan Katha called "Re-Assessing the Fundamentals - Vaheguru, Guru and You" at various Gurdwaras (first one is due at Park Avenue Gurdwara Main Hall on the 29th December 2012) - 12 topic introductory course to Sikhi - called the WhyGuru Course. This course goes through the history of Sikhi from Guru Nanak to the present day and also has 4 separate topics which cover Guru Granth Sahib ji, The Khalsa, Raag Kirtan and Sikh Spiritual concepts of merging with the Divine. We already delivered this once in May this year and it was a success. (there is a video about this on our channel with video testimonials - we had 5 non-punjabi people attend. One lady, ex-muslim convert has now taken Amrit). (3) Learning Basics of Gurmukhi (planning done, needs filming) - A series of videos that goes into Why its important we learn Gurmukhi and How does Gurmukhi work? (Penti Akhar, Moharni) - Series of common vocabulary in Gurmukhi and how the words are put together - Basics of Santhiya - Slow paat, in video format with downloadable MP3s (4) Japji Sahib Vichaar classes (already happening) - We're doing weekly English katha of Japji Sahib and with Guru's kirpa are at the 34th Pauri. - Katha will be transcripted and put into an ebook format - Set up Japji Sahib Vichaar classes at variour gurdwaras where attendees would learn in their own time (watch the video, read ebook, watch/listen to other recommended katha (English by Bhai Sukhraj Singh, Punjabi- Maskeen ji, Giani Pinderpal Singh etc) and then come together for the vichaar class at their local gurdwara (ie build a sadhsangat) to discuss Japji sahib, pauri by Pauri. (5) Further Study (to be developed as part of Plan BE13) - More Gurbani Katha - planning on Rehras sahib and Asa Di Vaar - Basics of Kirtan and Tabla - Attend an intermediate level - "WhyKhalsa WhyFateh Course" In terms of funding, our parent we've raised about £18k of our £52k target for 2013 already. 99% of this has come from the sangat, (mostly youth and non-amritdhari). We're not charging anything for katha or the courses, as we see this as Spiritual Langar (Bhugat Giaan) which should be given freely and be dependent purely on Sangat kirpa (daeaa bhandarani). Read more about the specifics of Plan BE13 here: http://www.virginmoneygiving/charities/everythings13 Please do ardaas for us to Satguru that we stay on this path and stay true to Sikhi. Thanks for reading ji, bhul chuk maaf Vaheguru ji ka Khalsa, Vaheguru ji ki Fateh