Universal Religion

[Heera Singh]

Universal Religion

Chapter 3

By: Khoji

"Some practical advices and percepts on this subject from some Illuminated Blessed Sages and Saints may be useful in guiding the sincere spiritual aspirants and students of the 'Science of the Soul'.

"Minute sensitive waves of 'thought-current' are constantly and habitually scattered and wasted in the outer direction towards materialistic world, and are spent, absorbed and lost in materialism. These extroverted thought-waves have to be collected, concentrated and re-directed inwards -- to the Source of Divine Light i.e. our Soul"

This reverse process of mind, from 'extrovert' to 'introvert', is called 'Meditation' or 'Simran'.

The easiest process of Meditation is to concentrate the mind on the divine Word -'SHABAD' or 'GUR-MANTAR', and repeat it continuously for some minutes in the beginning.

The duration of meditation should be increased gradually with practice.

Sit in a comfortable posture, close your eyes and meditate at a fixed time, regularly everyday, morning and evening and at any other available time.

Repeat the 'Gur Mantar' in a low voice, so that you can hear the whisper of Gur Mantar, uttered by yourself. By this simple method, concentration on the 'WORD' becomes easy and smooth.

This is the preliminary technique for the beginners only. In due course, with consistent practice , the 'Gur-Mantar' will imperceptibly dissolve into 'SHABAD' i.e. the word-less 'LIVING WORD', vibrating with Sublime Thrill, Bliss, Joy and Love. At this stage, Meditation i.e. 'Simran', becomes effortless, automatic, spontaneous and enjoyable.

For the practice of concentration and meditation, the following things are essential:

silence

solitude

regularity

guidance, and

company

of Awakened and Illuminated Saints,i.e. Sadh Sangat, blessed with Divine Grace and Light."

******************

"Through meditation, you will gradually grow into harmony with Divine rhythmetic vibrations, and become more and more 'god-like', magnetic and endearing to all.

As you grow in meditation, you will find that veil after veil of illusive darkness of Maya is withdrawn, until a new revelation of the Divine Realm rises before you, with New Divine Consciousness."

******************

"Repeat the Name of God -- again and again, as you:

sit in a bus or train to office

work in the kitchen or garden

during your walks

as you take your bath

as you dress up

before going to sleep

during sleep, and

on awakening.

Repeat the Name as often as you can.

Repeat the name with love and longing in your heart and tears in your eyes.

Take care that the repetition does not become mechanical and boring."

******************

"Fasten this one 'Word', 'Gurmantar' to your heart.

Let the 'Word' go with you in your daily work and your daily life.

The 'WORD' will keep your consciousness awake.

In case of doubt, temptation or trouble, solve it with this ONE WORD!

Repeat the WORD, until it:

penetrates your heart,

engulfs your soul,

'hear' it with your 'heart'!

'see' it in your integral intuition, and

your whole being becomes this ONE WORD!

All else is evaporated or eliminated!"

******************

"The reverse process of transformation of Consciousness is a difficult and tardy work, but it becomes easy and smooth in the company of Illuminated and Enlightened Souls. i.e. 'Sadh-Sangat'.

As this reverse process takes place in our life, our mind is gradually purified and spiritualised in the 'Sadh Sangat', and becomes amenable and conductive to the sublime influence of subtle vibrations of Divine Grace and Light. At the same time the influence of materialism is imperceptibly reduced and eliminated from our consciousness.

The more our thoughts are spiritualised by sublime company or 'Sadh-Sangat' and meditation, the more they become subtler, powerful, dynamic and magnetic with reflections from Divine Grace and Light.

Ultimately, when our soul is awakened and illuminated with Divine Light, by the Grace of the Guru, we, in turn, become channel or pipe-line for the outward flow and expression of all Divine attributes of kindness, Joy, Bliss, Love, Compassion, etc."

******************

"The personal contact or company is the easiest and quickest way of conveying thoughts and influencing others.

The effect of such influence of thoughts is dependant on the intensity and conviction of one's feelings on the one side, and the receptibility of the other mind.

Hence, persons of developed minds, with deep convictions and strong faith, can influence and infect weaker minds- with their thoughts and beliefs.

Where vocal exhortations, or intellectual propaganda fail to leave any sustaining mark on the minds of the audience, the very presence of a dynamic enlightened personality can silently inspire and transform the lives of people with his penetrating dynamic spiritual rays and vibrations, which constantly emanate from his sublime dynamic Spiritual Personality.

The same principle applies to the intuitional writings of the Enlightened Souls, which are ever fresh, original and soul-stirring.

If cultivated powerful mind can affect the ordinary mind so deeply on the mental and emotional plane, the Enlightened Divine Souls can also inspire, awaken and ignite the aspiring souls and usher them into the subtle intuitional plane of Divine Realm.

If the laser rays or radio-active radiation can penetrate through thick metal, and the destructive flash of the 'lightening' can do so much havoc on the physical plane, the dynamic spiritual subtle rays of Divine Vibrations-- emanating from the Dynamic Personality of a God-Man -- can also pierce the thick clouds of materialistic ideas and intellectual conceptions, and touch the Divine fringes of the soul of the aspirant and usher him into the Divine Realm.

Thus the silent rays of Divinity can transform the life of an aspiring soul into a spiritual 'God-Man', having been re-born into the Divine Realm.

This is the direct way of 'introduction' of souls into the Divine Realm of Grace and Light.

The most difficult part of it is that of finding and recognising Truly Enlightened Spiritual Souls or 'God-Men'

******************

"If we desire and aspire for a higher, nobler, healthier, happier life, it is essential that first of all we avoid, discard, forget or brush aside our baser ideas and thoughts at once, as soon as they sprout in our mind, and at the same time replace or substitute them with higher, nobler, inspiring thoughts by invoking the help and guidance of Guru's Grace, and seek, and imbibe sublime inspiration of Gurbani and holy company of Awakened and Enlightened souls.

If these depraved thoughts are not forgotten or diverted in the first instance and are entertained and cultivated, they percolate and penetrate deep into our mind and sub-consciousness gradually. In course of time, they become insidious and powerful to enslave us, making our lives unhappy, corrupt, depraved and miserable, with a trail of baser elements of selfishness, envy, avarice, jealousy, hatred, anger, egoism, aggressiveness, wickedness, cruelty and what not".

******************

"The one thing essential of meditation is 'concentration', one-pointedness of the mind. The mind must become steady, as a flame flickers not.

The wind of worldliness disturbs our mind and makes it flicker.

There are lamps enclosed in glass cases. They are called 'hurricane lanterns'. Storms may blow outside, but they do not touch the flame. They continue to burn steady and bright.

Living in the world, as we do, our minds cannot remain steady without a protective influence.

This protective influence is 'Sadh-Sangat' or the fellowship with the Enlightened and Pure ones. Blessed amongst men is, who lives in the company of fellowship with the Blessed and Pure ones, who have realised the Divine Truth. They help the seeker to discipline the mind. The unsteady, wavering, restless and doubting mind becomes steady, unflickering and faithful under the purifying influence of 'Illuminated Souls'.

When the mind is purified, a higher Centre of consciousness wakes up -- called 'Intuition' -- with which the seeker no longer waves or doubt; he 'sees', he 'knows', he enjoys the Bliss and Joy of Divine Grace."

******************

"What is needed is the 'loving surrender' to the Master, the Guru.

The way of 'Love' is the simple way.

He, who would walk the way of Love, will also have to study the scripture of the 'Soul', and on every page of the 'Soul Scripture' is inscribed the Name of the Beloved in Celestial Light, i.e. 'SHABAD'.

He who would walk the 'Way of Love', need not torment his body, nor practice 'prana-yama', nor undertake pilgrimages to Holy places. The 'pilgrim' of the 'Way of Love', lives and moves, and has his breath in the 'One Beloved'!

The emphasis of the 'Simple way of Love' is on inner renunciation -- inner detachment.

Live in the midst of the world, but be not stained by worldliness.

Live for God,

Live With God,

Live in God.

The pilgrim of the 'simple way of Love' moves along the pathways of Life, singing the song of the Beloved. He spreads the sunshine of Divine Bliss, Joy and Love, all around wherever he goes.

He hates none

He has malice against none

He loves all and gives out Love to everybody from his pure radiant heart

He serves all, with Love in his heart.

His aspirations are:

'Lord', I am wholly Thine, I need Thee, I love Thee.

"Keep me in Thy Service"

Thus the seeker grows in Divine Blessedness and every cell of his blood is saturated with the Nectar of God's Grace or 'NAAM', which overflows from his radiant personality."

******************

[Heera Singh]

Universal Religion

Conclusion

By: Khoji

The process of transition of the Soul from -- materialistic consciousness,

to -- intuitional Divine consciousness, is called RELIGION;

to enjoy the bliss of Divine Grace and Love is the ultimate goal of RELIGION;

to be lost in the infatuating Divine Love is the fulfillment of the individual soul;

to be merged in the Ocean of divinity is the destiny of the Soul.

This Universal Religion of Love is the:

all-embracing

all-pervading

vibrating

living

unchanging

eternal, and

innate

Spiritual consciousness of the SOUL.

This transformation of 'spiritual consciousness' can only be attained with the grace of the Guru through:

contact,

company,

guidance,

help,

inspiration,

infection, and

ignition

of the 'Sadh Sangat' i.e. personal company of, and devotion to Awakened Illuminated, Blessed Souls.

But to come across True Illuminated 'Sadh Sangat' is the crucial point in the spiritual life of the aspirant.

There is a surfeit of so-called 'Sadhus', 'Saints', and self-proclaimed 'Gurus' in the world, especially in India, and it is impossible for the aspirant to distinguish or identify the real 'Sadh Sangat' to guide his soul to this destiny.

So many aspiring souls have been misguided and distracted from the real path of spiritual goal, y these so-called 'Sadhus' and 'Gurus'.

In fact, real Illuminated Souls or God-Men are rare, and it is impossible for the aspirant to recognize them with his own limited and illusive intelligence.

Each soul is the 'Ray' of 'Divine Sun', and as such, there is an innate attraction of the soul towards its original source, i.e. 'GOD'.

This hidden attraction or longing of the soul, for its Divine Source, is over-shadowed by worldly consciousness, which can be thinned away or dissolved by sincere and devotional religious 'Sadhnas'.

In the degree, this illusive shadow of Maya is removed, the genuine innate attraction, aspiration and Love for the Divine Consciousness, is aroused and developed.

At this stage, the aspirant is not satisfied with the outcome of dogmatic intellectual, conventional religious 'Sadhnas', and

desires,

aspires,

longs,

burns, and

cries

for higher, sublimer, blissful and loving state of consciousness.

It is these aspirations, longings, yearnings and cries of the aspirant for higher and sublimer experience of Divine Consciousness, which invoke the Grace and Blessings of the LORD, who arranges the introduction of such a yearning soul to genuine 'Sadh Sangat'.

To have the privilege and blessings of genuine 'Sadh Sangat', is the dispensation of love and Grace of the Lord, in response to the inner aspirations, longings, yearnings and cries of love of the soul.

Once the spiritual aspirant is put on a right path to Divine Consciousness, he can experience the blissful ecstasy of higher and sublimer Divine Vision, under the guidance of genuine 'Sadh Sangat'.

'Religion' should exude and demonstrate sublime attributes of inner intuitional

awareness,

knowledge,

wisdom,

experience,

realisation,

detachment,

renunciation,

peace,

joy,

bliss,

devotion,

love, and

ecstasy

of the spiritual state of Divine Consciousness, vibrating through every pore of the body, and manifested in all aspects of life.

But, we have:

mis-interpreted,

mis-constructed,

abused,

mis-used,

debased,

maligned, and

denigrated

'Religion' in our daily life-pattern or conduct, which is manifested in:

selfishness,

pride,

hatred,

jealousy,

greed,

strife,

confrontation,

bigotry,

hypocrisy, and

violence

through our thoughts and deeds, under the cover of, or in the name of 'Religion'.

Thus, we, the self-made religious people have unconsciously insinuated and element of:

doubt,

misunderstanding,

misconception,

ignorance,

indifference,

faithlessness,

hatred, and even

allergy

about 'Religion' in the minds of the common man!

In fact, we have ourselves denigrated and reduced 'Religion' to:

farce,

ridicule,

laughing stock,

mockery,

un-necessary,

time-wasting,

repelling,

blasphemy, and

hypocrisy

in our daily life, with little or superfluous faith in subjects of Religion, Spiritualism and God!

The world is madly running headlong into the horrible abyss of materialistic hell, without any hope of 'return'.

Only Illuminated, Awakened and Blessed Souls i.e. 'Sadh-Sangat', can save humanity from this sordid clutches of materialism, and help it in the re-discovery of True Eternal Universal 'Love-Religion'.

The essence of all religions may be summed up into the following practical 'LIFE-MOTTO'

"LOVE TOWARDS ALL

MALICE TOWARDS NONE"

The magnetic

DIVINE-PULL

towards the individual soul is the

DIVINE GRACE,

and the spontaneous

RESPONSE

of the soul to this Divine Pull is the

ONLY

TRUE

ETERNAL

ALL-PERVADING

ALL-EMBRACING

ALL-ENGULFING

VIBRATING

LIVING

UNIVERSAL RELIGION of the Cosmos.

All religious doctrines, theories, dogmas, austerities, rites, rituals -- are the projection and expression of this primal basic religion -- innate in every soul.

Devoid of this Divine Pull, and spontaneous response -- religion becomes:

dry

dreary

superfluous

shallow

showy

meaningless

egoistic

hypocrisy

farce, and

a mockery.

*******************

[Mehtab Singh]

I must say I didn't read all of it, but did read a good amount of the entire write up. It is a must read for people who are paranoid freaks about following things strictly and miss out the core point about love for God which is the fundamental and basic essence of Sikhi. "Fanatics" could learn a lesson from this.

However, (edited...I didn't mean to offend my veers :lol: ). The writer repeatedly keeps on stressing on "love". I support the "love" stance of the writer, but when someone starts going on and on and on about "love", about making religion more "free" and devoid of "rituals" that lead one away from the Divine, I start thinking "whats he on about?" It gives me the feeling that he is against any maryada that exists. To be honest, this entire creation is in maryada. The planets revolve, the sun rises and sets, the climates come and go, the weather changes, etc. is all maryada set forth by Akal Purakh. The concept of maryada applies to us humans as well, especially if it is Gurujee's hukam. For example, waking up at Amritvela is hukam ( gur sathigur kaa jo sikh akhaaeae s bhalakae out(h) har naam dhhiaavai), walking on the Guru's path is hukam ( gurasikh meeth chalahu gur chaalee ). Laws are required, as Bhai Gurdas Jee says here . If Sikhi was all that easy, there would be no other faith today as all would have become Sikhs. But Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee wanted a Khalsa who could (and would if needed) give it all up. If the maryada of kesh wasn't there, there would be 6 billion Sikhs today, but we are only 5th in the world in terms of religion. No system can last long unless it is bound within the boundaries of discipline (maryada). It would just scatter.

But overall, its not bad at all and worth reading. Just wanted to point out a few things before people start thinking that Sikhi is too hard/tough/strict and its best to follow a so-called "natural" way of life that has no name and is free from any labels attached to religion. Sikhi is not really a religion, it is a way of life, and that too a divine, pure, true and lovely one!

No offense to any veer/bhen

bhul chukk maaf if anything said was out of context or uncalled for

And please free to correct me wherever you think I am wrong

ps: I am interested to know who this "Khoji" is and where he/she gets his thoughts from :lol:

[Heera Singh]

I think you actually should read the whole thing before you make your comment. Firstly, everything that is stated is in LINE with Gurmat and Gurbani. You can have as much 'rehat' as you want, wear as big dumalla as you want, wake up at 2am everyday; but if u have no PYAR inside you, then whats the point? it becomes ritualistic, does it not?

Nowhere has this writer spoken AGAINST rehat maryada, in fact, he's repeatedly said go towards 'Sadh Sangat', Enlightened and Illuminated Souls -- in our case, that would be Gurmukhs, Mahapurakhs, Brahm Gyanee's etc... those same people that Guru Sahib praises, those same people who inspire us and help us on the path of sikhi. Hence,

"jan nanak dhoor mangai, tis gursikh kee, jo aap japai avrai naam japavai"

This writer is stressing that you can 'proclaim' ur faith to any religion, do as many 'rituals' and 'prayers' n what not, but that doesn't show your 'spirituality'. The outside doesn't make the spiritual progression, the inside does. If a person doesn't have a 'clean' inside and is not attempting to 'cleanse' their inside, everything they're doing becomes baseless.

again, bani says those people as "jeeo mailay, baarho nirmal"..

The writer talks of SIMRAN, SEVA, and SANGAT. All concepts that Guru Sahib writes in Gurbani. The writer talks about 'cleansing' of the inside and connecting with your soul, "intuition". Gurbani tells us of 'antar bibek' and 'bhareai mat papa kai sang, oh dhopai navai kai rang'..

The writer stresses more 'spirituality' then 'outside religiosity'; which was the message of Guru Nanak Dev Jee, was it not?

So you actually might want to read the entire thing again, as everything is in LINE with Gurbani and Gurmat.

P.S. Khoji - is Bhai Sahib Bhai Jaswant Singh Jee, aka Bauji - A Mahapurakh, who devoted almost his entire life to Gurbani, Sikhi, Seva, Sangat, and Simran!

[Mehtab Singh]

You can have as much 'rehat' as you want, wear as big dumalla as you want, wake up at 2am everyday; but if u have no PYAR inside you, then whats the point? it becomes ritualistic, does it not?

Agreed.

The writer stresses more 'spirituality' then 'outside religiosity'; which was the message of Guru Nanak Dev Jee, was it not?

True.

P.S. Khoji - is Bhai Sahib Bhai Jaswant Singh Jee, aka Bauji - A Mahapurakh, who devoted almost his entire life to Gurbani, Sikhi, Seva, Sangat, and Simran!

My apologies . I just wanted to reiterate and emphasize on certain facts such that we (in the pursuit of higher goals) don't set aside the rehits we need to stick to, and don't set aside the maryada thats given to us. True he doesn't say a word against them, but weak individuals like myself could start misinterpretting his message and think "Its all about love, and so I don't need to follow any rules". But since you say (and as you have clarified it) that Bhai Sahib Ji doesn't speak against rehit (which I agee, he doesn't), I take back anything that might have come as a negative criticism . My purpose was nowhere close to demeaning the writing. I agree with most of what is said in there. Maybe moorakhs like me can't comprehend the hidden meanings behind avastha vaale mahapurakh's bachans. I didn't know it was Bhai Sahib Ji who wrote it, and I think the English language sometimes doesn't do justice in bringing out the real message which comes out better in Gurmukhi/Punjabi. Not that I am blaming English, but at times the message comes out best in its original form. Lets try our best to follow the core of Sikhi, which as Bhai Sahib Ji says is based on love. And at the same time, lets continue to stay firm on other things as well (which I repeat he doesn't speak out against). Like I said I didn't read the entire thing, but just got a gist of it. Its just that when I read something stressing on love too much, my manmukh mind begins thinking that this too much "love" is aiming towards taking the reader away from rehits. There have been a couple of shady writers like that which made me post what I felt. But probably this time I was wrong, or I don't possess that level of prem Bhai Sahib Ji has. May Gurujee do bakshish on me .

So in the end, please accept my apologies once again :lol: . Let me know if you want me to delete my post, or let it be there to be an eternal proof of my moorakhta .

[Balwinder Singh]

I must say I didn't read all of it, but did read a good amount of the entire write up. It is a must read for people who are paranoid freaks about following things strictly and miss out the core point about love for God which is the fundamental and basic essence of Sikhi. "Fanatics" could learn a lesson from this.

However, (edited...I didn't mean to offend my veers :lol: ). The writer repeatedly keeps on stressing on "love". I support the "love" stance of the writer, but when someone starts going on and on and on about "love", about making religion more "free" and devoid of "rituals" that lead one away from the Divine, I start thinking "whats he on about?" It gives me the feeling that he is against any maryada that exists.

WJKK WJKF Veer ji. I kind of disagree with you on the above mentioned points. You are saying Bau ji is stressing more on "freedom" and making us devoid of rituals. Then you are equating "rituals" with "rehit maryada". do you think rehit maryada are rituals? Do you follow them as rituals?

To be honest, this entire creation is in maryada. The planets revolve, the sun rises and sets, the climates come and go, the weather changes, etc. is all maryada set forth by Akal Purakh.

I think this is not inline with your argument. Sun,moon etc. do not follow "rituals", they go with the flow. They are "free" and deviod of "rituals". I think (not sure) they follow the hukam not "rituals".

The concept of maryada applies to us humans as well, especially if it is Gurujee's hukam. For example, waking up at Amritvela is hukam ( gur sathigur kaa jo sikh akhaaeae s bhalakae out(h) har naam dhhiaavai), walking on the Guru's path is hukam ( gurasikh meeth chalahu gur chaalee ). Laws are required, as Bhai Gurdas Jee says here . If Sikhi was all that easy, there would be no other faith today as all would have become Sikhs. But Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee wanted a Khalsa who could (and would if needed) give it all up. If the maryada of kesh wasn't there, there would be 6 billion Sikhs today, but we are only 5th in the world in terms of religion. No system can last long unless it is bound within the boundaries of discipline (maryada). It would just scatter.

I think aim of human soul is to meet infinity. Do you think "boundaries" can help you meet with the "boundless"? Sikhi was not made harder by guru ji to make it an exclusive path. Sikhi is harder because the aim of sikhi is set the soul free(i.e. hukam of waheguru), which is indeed the toughest task.

[Mehtab Singh]

Sikhi was not made harder by guru ji to make it an exclusive path. Sikhi is harder because the aim of sikhi is set the soul free(i.e. hukam of waheguru), which is indeed the toughest task.

Veerji I was going to respond, but you have beautifully answered everything yourself right at the end of your post :lol: .

[jss]

I just wanted to add...that i believe we all need to take a deeper look at what LOVE is..

there is the popular saying that God is Love, Love is God...

prof puran singh ji states that the Ultimate love is that between man and god...and that all other loves that we have in our lives is simply a manifestation of that One Great Love...

it was Love that created this world....it is Love that sustains it...it is Love that recreates it...

The writer is emphasizing love...and only love...that is because at the end of the day....there is NOTHING BUT LOVE

our guru's maryada was a LOVE GIFT to his sikhs....

just as a groom gives a ring to his bride and the bride cherishes it out of her love for the groom...

so the Guru has given his love gift to the sikhs who as His Soul Brides cherish their guru's ways, their guru's words, their guru's ornaments...as it is the physical manifestation of their deep inner connection (known in punjabi as aatmic leva devi)...

now...imagine a scenario...where a bride sees an umarried women wearing the ring of a bride...and all her actions are those not of a bride...would the true bride not feel that the unmarried woman is Not a true reflection of a bride....EVEN IF her outer ornaments are even prettier than the true bride....it is the inner devotion, the inner love...the SELF SACRIFICING LOVE....that separates the bride from the umarried...separates the Suhagan from the duhaagan...only one of them is truly acceptable to the Husband Lord....

and true gursikhs, like the true brides...to them it is heart wrenching when they see the "religious" actions of those who have only filth in their heart....when they see so-called religous people who cannot look upon humanity with one eye as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh ji himself...when they see the love gifts of their guru being used as status symbols...when they see the blessed nitnem with which they repeat over and over in ceaseless love and yearning to truly understand everything written and to truly live it....when they see this beautiful nitnem used as a case of argument amongst "religous people" ....will only feel pained..and they will call such actions, such "maryadas" DEAD AND EMPTY RITUALS....the same actions that they themselves will repeat and hang on to with dear life for it is their way of communion with their husband lord...

again going back to Love...love is a deep deep concept that we have not yet understood...for if we understood what love is..then there is no argument....the fact that we say ..oh such and such stressed too much on love...should make us reflect on what superficial level of understanding we have of love...

we do not truly love unless we DIE in love....and dying is to lose our Self....this egoistic Self that separates man from man and man from god...this self must die in the great love, so that our souls can live forever in love...following guru sahib's hukam is symbolic of dying in love...

we must all continue to read gurbani and live gurbani and do deep vichar of gurbani...if we don't...then we will not truly understand what any of these concepts are...and imagine leading a whole entire life of "religiousity" without truly knowing what it is...nor achieving anything...

bauji in his tapes repeatedly used to say ...when you come to samagams....make sure you all die...don't leave before dying....

there is a very deep message in this saint's words...now if i didn't think about what he said in relevance to gursikhi or if i just took the words for the shallow understandings...i'd start thinking...oh no..this guy is crazy...he wants us to die or something...this is a weird cult....

if we read gurbani though, if we keep doing the sangat of the holy ones...the enlightened ones..who wiht their glances of love, with their chup preet, can stir our souls, can turn our concepts of right and wrong totally upside down....with their sangat...one realizes...that we must truly die in His love, to live forever in His love....

the whole of guru granth sahib talks about love...and where guru granth sahib tells us to do something or not to do something, guru sahib is telling us how to LIVE in LOVE....not telling us to do rituals or rites or argue and fight over maryada or judge each other by maryada...simply given us the way...outlined the Divine Hukam that has been established from the moment of creation in writing....such is the blessing of guru nanak...

i hope this clears up the questions raised...i don't believe there is a need for anyone to be offended with any of the quetsions...it is good these questions come up...it gives us an opportunity to learn and do self reflection...

my one cautionary note to everyone is...we shouldn't rush to say what is gurmat and what isn't if we are not totally clear on what we have read or seen...seek to get greater understanding of the subject at hand..and then under the sharan of gurbani...we can truly be enable and blessed with bibek budhi to decipher what is gurmat and what isn't gurmat...

in fact....the consequences of what is written in bauji's article could be discussed to no end...everything that has been written has the practical application....case and point...so many of our dharmic institutions have been infiltrated by people who seek to destroy the truth given to humanity by guru nanak...lets ask ourselves how have they infiltrated??? is it because of our own ignorance of the message? is it because of our preoccupation with what is maryada and what isn't...i believe if we sikhs truly did gurbani vichar..we wouldn't be duped so easily...

there is a lot more kirtans going on today than before....but when i talk to my fellow youth about listening to katha of gurmukhs or reading books by gurmukhs who have done khoj of gurbani who have lived the message of gurbani...i get a couple of answers...."veerji, i don't understand punjabi that well"..."veerji, i can't listen to someone speaking for that long and concentrate"...."veerji, i don't got time" ....i love this one... "veerji, i just ain't feeling katha"... "veerji, i just read sikhitothemax"

note...sikhitothemax is a great tool..and i'm not ridiculing it...but if we choose to take that as the be all end all message of gurbani, then we will not get to experience gurbani for all that it is...i am sure the humble gursikhs that did seva of sikhitothemax will agree that it is a tool to be used to spring off of...not as the gospel...

[immortal57]

I just wanted to add...that i believe we all need to take a deeper look at what LOVE is..

there is the popular saying that God is Love, Love is God...

prof puran singh ji states that the Ultimate love is that between man and god...and that all other loves that we have in our lives is simply a manifestation of that One Great Love...

it was Love that created this world....it is Love that sustains it...it is Love that recreates it...

The writer is emphasizing love...and only love...that is because at the end of the day....there is NOTHING BUT LOVE

our guru's maryada was a LOVE GIFT to his sikhs....

just as a groom gives a ring to his bride and the bride cherishes it out of her love for the groom...

so the Guru has given his love gift to the sikhs who as His Soul Brides cherish their guru's ways, their guru's words, their guru's ornaments...as it is the physical manifestation of their deep inner connection (known in punjabi as aatmic leva devi)...

now...imagine a scenario...where a bride sees an umarried women wearing the ring of a bride...and all her actions are those not of a bride...would the true bride not feel that the unmarried woman is Not a true reflection of a bride....EVEN IF her outer ornaments are even prettier than the true bride....it is the inner devotion, the inner love...the SELF SACRIFICING LOVE....that separates the bride from the umarried...separates the Suhagan from the duhaagan...only one of them is truly acceptable to the Husband Lord....

and true gursikhs, like the true brides...to them it is heart wrenching when they see the "religious" actions of those who have only filth in their heart....when they see so-called religous people who cannot look upon humanity with one eye as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh ji himself...when they see the love gifts of their guru being used as status symbols...when they see the blessed nitnem with which they repeat over and over in ceaseless love and yearning to truly understand everything written and to truly live it....when they see this beautiful nitnem used as a case of argument amongst "religous people" ....will only feel pained..and they will call such actions, such "maryadas" DEAD AND EMPTY RITUALS....the same actions that they themselves will repeat and hang on to with dear life for it is their way of communion with their husband lord...

again going back to Love...love is a deep deep concept that we have not yet understood...for if we understood what love is..then there is no argument....the fact that we say ..oh such and such stressed too much on love...should make us reflect on what superficial level of understanding we have of love...

we do not truly love unless we DIE in love....and dying is to lose our Self....this egoistic Self that separates man from man and man from god...this self must die in the great love, so that our souls can live forever in love...following guru sahib's hukam is symbolic of dying in love...

we must all continue to read gurbani and live gurbani and do deep vichar of gurbani...if we don't...then we will not truly understand what any of these concepts are...and imagine leading a whole entire life of "religiousity" without truly knowing what it is...nor achieving anything...

bauji in his tapes repeatedly used to say ...when you come to samagams....make sure you all die...don't leave before dying....

there is a very deep message in this saint's words...now if i didn't think about what he said in relevance to gursikhi or if i just took the words for the shallow understandings...i'd start thinking...oh no..this guy is crazy...he wants us to die or something...this is a weird cult....

if we read gurbani though, if we keep doing the sangat of the holy ones...the enlightened ones..who wiht their glances of love, with their chup preet, can stir our souls, can turn our concepts of right and wrong totally upside down....with their sangat...one realizes...that we must truly die in His love, to live forever in His love....

the whole of guru granth sahib talks about love...and where guru granth sahib tells us to do something or not to do something, guru sahib is telling us how to LIVE in LOVE....not telling us to do rituals or rites or argue and fight over maryada or judge each other by maryada...simply given us the way...outlined the Divine Hukam that has been established from the moment of creation in writing....such is the blessing of guru nanak...

i hope this clears up the questions raised...i don't believe there is a need for anyone to be offended with any of the quetsions...it is good these questions come up...it gives us an opportunity to learn and do self reflection...

my one cautionary note to everyone is...we shouldn't rush to say what is gurmat and what isn't if we are not totally clear on what we have read or seen...seek to get greater understanding of the subject at hand..and then under the sharan of gurbani...we can truly be enable and blessed with bibek budhi to decipher what is gurmat and what isn't gurmat...

in fact....the consequences of what is written in bauji's article could be discussed to no end...everything that has been written has the practical application....case and point...so many of our dharmic institutions have been infiltrated by people who seek to destroy the truth given to humanity by guru nanak...lets ask ourselves how have they infiltrated??? is it because of our own ignorance of the message? is it because of our preoccupation with what is maryada and what isn't...i believe if we sikhs truly did gurbani vichar..we wouldn't be duped so easily...

there is a lot more kirtans going on today than before....but when i talk to my fellow youth about listening to katha of gurmukhs or reading books by gurmukhs who have done khoj of gurbani who have lived the message of gurbani...i get a couple of answers...."veerji, i don't understand punjabi that well"..."veerji, i can't listen to someone speaking for that long and concentrate"...."veerji, i don't got time" ....i love this one... "veerji, i just ain't feeling katha"... "veerji, i just read sikhitothemax"

note...sikhitothemax is a great tool..and i'm not ridiculing it...but if we choose to take that as the be all end all message of gurbani, then we will not get to experience gurbani for all that it is...i am sure the humble gursikhs that did seva of sikhitothemax will agree that it is a tool to be used to spring off of...not as the gospel...

there is no be all and end all of gurbani

gurbani is unlimited.

we can read all the katha that has ever been written and still not understand the true meanings of gurbani

this can only come with kirpa

the more we do veechar on gurbani the more likely we are to gain an understanding though, and i agree just reading any translation isnt the best way to do it.

constantly do veechar over the gurbani within your own mind and with guru jees kirpa understanding will come to you

[Heera Singh]

p.s. i dunno how to make this into a pdf file, so I've attached the full word file to this post, so if anybody can do that for me, tha'd be great!

Full.doc