Damdami Taksal Rehit-

[TheVampire]

pMjwbI ivAwiKAw :

sloku m 1]

jy sUqk mMn leIey (Bwv, jy mMn leIey ik sUqk dw Brm r`Kxw cwhIdw hY, qW ieh BI cyqw r`Ko ik ies qrHW) sUqk sB QweIN huMdw hY; gohy qy lkVI dy AMdr BI kIVy hMudy hn (Bwv, jMmdy rihMdy hn); AMn dy ijqny BI dwxy hn, iehnW ivcoN koeI dwxw BI jIv qoN ibnw nhIN hY [ pwxI Awp BI jIv hY, ikauNik ies nwl hryk jIv hrw (Bwv, ijMd vwlw) huMdw hY [ sUqk ikvyN r`iKAw jw skdw hY? (Bwv, sUqk dw Brm pUry qOr qy mMnxw bVw hI kTn hY, ikauNik ies qrHW qW hr vyly hI) rsoeI ivc sUqk ipAw rihMdw hY [ hy nwnk! ies qrHW (Bwv, BrmW ivc ipAW) sUqk (mn qoN) nhIN auqrdw, ies (pRBU dw) igAwn hI Do ky lwh skdw hY [1[ mn dw sUqk loB hY (Bwv, ijnHW mnu`KW dy mn loB rUpI sUqk cMbiVAw hY); jIB dw sUqk JUT bolxw hY, (Bwv, ijnHW mnu`KW dI jIB JUT-rUp sUqk hY); (ijnHW mnu`K dIAW) A`KW prwieAw Dn Aqy prweIAW iesqrIAW dw rUp q`kx dw sUqk (cMbiVAw hoieAw hY); (ijnHW mnu`KW dy) kMn ivc BI sUqk hY ik kMn nwl byi&kr ho ky cuZlI suxdy hn; hy nwnk! (ieho ijhy) mnu`K (vyKx BwvyN) hMsW vrgy (sohxy) hox (qW BI auh) b`Dy hoey nrk ivc jWdy hn [2[ sUqk inrw Brm hI hY, ieh (sUqk-rUp Brm) mwieAw ivc PisAW (mnu`K ) Aw l`gdw hY [ (au\ qW) jIvW dw jMmxw mrnw pRBU dw hukm hY, pRBU dI rzw ivc hI jIv jMmdw qy mrdw hY [ (pdwrQW dw) Kwxw pIxw BI piv`qr hY (Bwv, mwVw nhIN, ikauNik) pRBU ny Awp iek`Tw kr ky irzk jIvW id`qw hY [ hy nwnk! ijnHW gurmuKW ny ieh g`l smJ leI hY, auhnW sUqk nhIN l`gdw [3[ siqgurU dy gux gwauxy cwhIdy hn qy AwKxw cwhIdw hY ik gurU bhuq v`fw hY, ikauNik gurU ivc v`fy gux hn [ ijnHW mnu`KW pRBU-pqI ny (gurU nwl) imlwieAw hY, auhnW auh gux A`KIN id`sdy hn, Aqy jy pRBU Bwvy qW auhnW dy mn ivc BI gux v`s pYNdy hn [ pRBU Awpxy hukm Anuswr auhnW mnu`KW dy m`Qy qy h`Q r`K ky auhnW dy mn ivcoN buirAweIAW mwr ky k`F dyNdw hY [ jy pqI-pRBU prsMn ho pey, qW mwno, swry pdwrQ iml pYNdy hn [18[

English Translation :

SHALOK, FIRST MEHL:

If one accepts the concept of impurity, then there is impurity everywhere. In cow-dung and wood there are worms. As many as are the grains of corn, none is without life. First, there is life in the water, by which everything else is made green. How can it be protected from impurity? It touches our own kitchen. O Nanak, impurity cannot be removed in this way; it is washed away only by spiritual wisdom. || 1 || FIRST MEHL: The impurity of the mind is greed, and the impurity of the tongue is falsehood. The impurity of the eyes is to gaze upon the beauty of another man s wife, and his wealth. The impurity of the ears is to listen to the slander of others. O Nanak, the mortal s soul goes, bound and gagged to the city of Death. || 2 || FIRST MEHL: All impurity comes from doubt and attachment to duality. Birth and death are subject to the Command of the Lord s Will; through His Will we come and go. Eating and drinking are pure, since the Lord gives nourishment to all. O Nanak, the Gurmukhs, who understand the Lord, are not stained by impurity. || 3 || PAUREE: Praise the Great True Guru; within Him is the greatest greatness. When the Lord causes us to meet the Guru, then we come to see them. When it pleases Him, they come to dwell in our minds. By His Command, when He places His hand on our foreheads, wickedness departs from within. When the Lord is thoroughly pleased, the nine treasures are obtained. || 18 ||

Thursday, 18th Vaisaakh (Samvat 540 Nanakshahi) -- Thursday, 18th Vaisaakh (Samvat 540 Nanakshahi) (Page : 472)

[akal sahai]

wow its wicked how guru ji expalins everything. it all makes sense know. for a second then i thought being sarbloh bibek was the only way........

[~Preeti~]

How would sitting next to a manmukh affect your sikhi? Why cant people just sit together

how does one judge if one is manukh or gurmukh?

also, I would definetly say sitting in bad sangat can have a bad influence. These days there are even amrit-dharis who can be bad influence, it is best to choose people who have good values, and keep other people for businness-work relationships.

Yeh i agree to an extent but if you sat with them sometimes good influence can rub off on others

[lowest of the low singhni]

vahegurujikakhalsavahegurujikifateh

We might think some of the things mentioned in the original post are harsh or unrealistic but doesn't Gurbani say very similar things?

There are many examples where Guru Sahib tells us not to associate with those who are 'Saakat'. I'm not sure what the literal meaning of Saakat is but I think it is close to one who is an apostate, immoral, unholy, faithless etc.

ਸਾਕਤ ਸੰਗੁ ਨ ਕੀਜੀਐ ਜਾ ਤੇ ਹੋਇ ਬਿਨਾਹੁ ॥੯੩॥ (Ang 1369)

ਕਬੀਰ ਸਾਕਤ ਸੰਗੁ ਨ ਕੀਜੀਐ ਦੂਰਹਿ ਜਾਈਐ ਭਾਗਿ ॥

ਬਾਸਨੁ ਕਾਰੋ ਪਰਸੀਐ ਤਉ ਕਛੁ ਲਾਗੈ ਦਾਗੁ ॥੧੩੧॥ (Ang 1371)

- which basically means run far away from the Saakat-type people, do not associate with them, and then uses the analogy of touching a vessel which is stained with dark soot. It is very very difficult for a clean person to remain clean when surrounded by soot. It is much easier to get dirty. In the same way when one person stands on a chair and another person stands on the ground, it is much easier for the Chair One to be pulled down by the Ground One, as opposed to the Chair One being able to lift the Ground One up and place him on the chair as well. It is possible, but unlikely.

ਸਾਕਤ ਸੰਗੁ ਨ ਕੀਜਈ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਜੇ ਕਾ ਪਾਰਿ ਵਸਾਇ ॥ (Ang 641)

In this Shabad Guru Arjan Dev Ji says that we should try to avoid the company of those people who are Saakat because (in the next line) in their company it is likely that Akaal Purakh will be forgotten. Gurbani tells us that we should avoid anything which makes us forget Guru Ji, not only certain people. So if being on a website, or talking to our friends too much or buying unnecessarily expensive shoes or playing computer games all day long makes us forget Guru Ji, then we should avoid those activities too. Unless we have reached a stage where we can meditate on our Guru and do the other things at the same time. But very few people can really do that. We need to draw the line for ourselves because everyone is different and everyone's minds work in a slightly different way.

Anyway when Gurbani tells us that some people in this world are Saakat, is it those who have no faith in God? Or is it those people who do bad deeds? Or those people who have turned their backs on Guru Sahib? Whatever the answer is, are we really any better than them? The issue is how our own spirituality is affected by those people or activities. To conclude this ramble, taking into account what Gurbani says, decide for yourself where you time is most usefully spent and with whom your soul is fed the most.

vahegurujikakhalsavahegurujikifateh

[Guest peacemaker]

It does seem harsh based on the world we live in. Many people might not want to hear it because it depresses them. I know it depresses me. That's my problem though.

[lowest of the low singhni]

vahegurujikakhalsavahegurujikifateh

But Gurbani is helping you to get the most out of life and everything beyond this life.

The mind is upside down; what it thinks is happiness is actually false, and what it thinks is sad is in fact the truth.

vahegurujikakhalsavahegurujikifateh

[Guest peacemaker]

I know. I've heard that before. I'm just saying it is hard to do, but I accept that it is the truth.

[Laadli Fauj]

i think traditionally, when you eat with someone (break bread in Jewish/semitic culture) you're in a way publicly showing who you associate yourself with, who you do sangat with.

We have this concept of one=sava lakh in Sikhi

Not simply that one sikh can fight that many ppl, has the strength/bravery of that many warriors, but also that one Amritdhari Sikh, one Khalsa, represents that many other Sikhs. When you think about it that way, you realize that the panth's ijjat goes where you go

as Khalse, we not only represent ouselves in our daily lives, but our nation as a whole, and Maharaj, so presenting yourself in public as someone associates with saakti lok outseide of business relationships, could potentially say a lot about your community

Which why Sikh ppl have quite a few negative stereotypes

good drinkers

fight wherever they go

etcetcetcetc

list goes on and on

Point is, next time you go outside, remember, the Panth's ijjat is on YOUR shoulders

no pressure though

[TheVampire]

All responsible parents tell their children not to mix with bad crowds.

But that is differnet to saying one should not eat food prepared by non-Amritdharis who could be

perfectly good people.

[Aparadhee]

alot of people keep bibek and say it done nothing for them and dismiss this rehit of guru sahibs. once we reach an avastha we will surely see the affect on our kamaee of eating food from non amritdharis. there are levels of bibek. eating from someone that isnt a a.dhari but has a honest job and refrains from the 4 bujjer kurehits is surely better than eating from a smoker etc. but ultimately we cannot deny that eating food from a a.dhari who japs naam and keeps rehit will have a gd effect on our mind also.

amrit is made in sarbloh by 5 rehitvaan abhyaasi gursikhs while reciting bani. surely food made in the same way is also close to amrit? do we not want to eat amrit everyday? or do we deny the very power that makes amrit in the first place, shall we now give panja di seva and degh di seva to non amritdharis? becus obviously the person behind making the amrit/degh or langar doesnt matter right?

we have to accept that certain sevas are only for a.dharis and at that rehitvaan a.dharis, it may seem cruel or like discrimination to some but this is guru jis maryada.

bibek rehit has been preserved in the panth by many jathas including nihungs, taksal, akj etc. this is perhaps one of the things that they all agree on in principle.