How To Get Closer To God...

[Guest _Singh_]

ive been told im a good honest person and i have started doing nitnem BUT i dont feel that close to God atm......wenever i pray and i want something from God i usually get it!!!!! ba how can i come close to God......do i have to do more paath than usual, Go to the Gurdwara more etc im a bit puzzled on the situation.........

[*gupt-kaur*]

we need to start doing things with love veerje,

no need to tell anyone how much jap... it should be kept between u and mahraj only.

jin prem kiyo tin he prabh payo.

gd u do nitnem, make sure u do it everyday, need to make NEM first... PREM will follow : )

gurfateh

[JarnailS]

WJKK WJKF

love mankind= love god

being closer to mankind and respect and follow waheguru ji's will= closer to waheguru ji

wjkk wjkf

[Pheena]

When you begin to beg from God, God herself. The mother keeps on giving her child toys to play with because that is what the child wants. But when the Child seeks from her mother not toys, but the warmth of her mother, so she comes running to nurture her child.

[Hau Apraadhi]

When you begin to beg from God, God herself.

Herself? i dont get what ur tryin to say here... you callin god a 'her'?

[Pheena]

It is only when that which is nor a He or a She that we are free to relate, convey our relationship with it how our heart wishes to.

[Khalsa4ever]

When you begin to beg from God, God herself.

Herself? i dont get what ur tryin to say here... you callin god a 'her'?

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

God doesn't have male or female genitalia. So stop worrying about semantics.

As for the original post, you need several points to bring yourself towards God, the three pillars: kirth karna, vandh chankna, and naam japna. Note that only one of the three involve patt/simran... the other two require you to serve humanity, volunteer, and work truthfully and hard. Always try to improve yourself!

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

[Hau Apraadhi]

When you begin to beg from God, God herself.

Herself? i dont get what ur tryin to say here... you callin god a 'her'?

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

God doesn't have male or female genitalia. So stop worrying about semantics.

metaphorically we are classed as female and vaaheguroo as male, because we are the bride and he is our husband, so we should call vaaheguroo a male, we get married to vaaheguroo when we're at our anandh kaaraj (marriage ceremony)... hence why we call god a 'him'

[Khalsa4ever]

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

Yes, I know that, but that's the point of a metaphor: its not "real". Its a good way to describe a situation, so there's no reason to be shocked to call God a different gender because it doesn't fit with one specific metaphor.

The thing also about metaphor is that it can change over time. Whereas in the past the husband wife metaphor depended greatly on the fact that the husband was generally "superior" and the wife basically "followed him around", now the metaphor falls apart a little bit with general acceptance (in the western world anyways) of true equality between males and females. Much of gurbani's use of that metaphor must then be taken in that context of what the metaphor resembled at the time it was written.

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

[japmans]

Hau Apraadhi:

What about ALL those shabads that very clearly say "meri maaey" "meri maaee"

"maee meray man kee piyaas"...

"toon mera pitaa" ANDDD "toon mera maata"

as khalsa4ever said, don't get caught up in simantics... and as Pheena said, you will relate to God in the way your soul craves it most... if it's as a lover, then it'll be the way you feel it as you've described it..soul bride....

.. if it's the way for many of us, children on this path, then it may be more along the lines of Mother, sustainer of life, feeding us amounts of various things while we are still infants, toddlers on the path to oneness... protecting us in their "laps", being the source of comfort and solace who we can go to and simply by being around, without words being said, are reassured that things are just going to be okay.

original poster:

Naam Abhiyaas will yield anything you want... if you want people to do your praise, and you ask for this from your heart when you're doing simran, it will come true... Closeness to the Creator comes largely from loving the creation... To treat everyone as embodiments of God, you will come to appreciate --but never really understand-- the vastness of the Creation, the vastness of God's Power.... Serve mankind, and you will feel close to God... Remember God whilst serving mankind, and the connection will be all the more intense... and if you can do what very few, the very rare have been able to do, that is remember God and do simran just for the sake of doing simran and not for getting anything in return... then i think it's safe to say you're on the right path...