New Member.

[Sayf Udeen]

lol its NOT sat sri akaal

its:

VAHEGUROO JI KA KHALSA VAHEGUROO KI KI FATEH

and welcome : )

Thank you for the welcome.

I can assume you're female based on "Kaur" in your username?

"Veheguroo ji ka khalsa vaheguroo ki ki fateh" is how Sikhs greet each other? What's that mean in English?

theres lots u can read : ) will post later

Thank you in advance.

both, best is sitting in sat sangat...the true congregation who sings vahegurus praises :WW:

So are there times you must pray?

Do you pray outloud?

What you have posted. Is this what you say at times of prayer?

I'm confused by the intro...is Satriakal for non-Sikhs?

[SonyNeech]

Thank you. What is "Satsriakal"?

Also my question was more on the significance of these two names. I love the meanings and I'm gathering that the significance of the female last name is to suggest their husbands should treat them as such?

There's one thing I hate, and that is the atheist (Don't drill me any Atheists here - I'm not generalising, I just see it regularly. I'm not saying all Atheists think this way) claim that there is no gender equality in religion, when there clearly is. Islam is scutanised for the hijab [veil] blindly for example. So it is great to see an apparent reference to respect for women in Sikhism.

Does the man being the lion refer to him being a protector of sorts?

Also, is it true males carry daggers? Is this for self defense or as a monument?

I saw a pic of the dagger while looking for a forum. It was curved. Thought it looked cool.

Sorry if I'm coming off as ignorant, I am here to learn and broaden my horizons so it could be expected in ways.

Any Aussie Sikhs here?

~BeirutBoy.

SAT SRI AKAL

SAT MEANS--TRUTH

SRI MEANS --RESPECT

AKAL MEAN--A-KAL(KAL SHOWS DEATH AND IF IT STARTED WITH A AND BECOME AKAL MEAN BEYOND FROM DEATH)-----BEYOND FROM DEATH

[Sayf Udeen]

Thank you for that Sony.

Is that how one greets non-Sikhs, though?

[Singhstah]

sat sri akal is used by non-amritdhari (non-baptised sikhs). Its actually derived from our war cry, and moved into general panjabi culture.

amrtidhari sikhs or those working towards it say Vaheguroo Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguroo Ji Ki Fateh- The Khalsa (sikh army) belongs to God, Victory belongs to God. Generally more religious ones say Vaheguroo Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguroo Ji Ki Fateh

[Bundha]

<<< Is Sikhism an Abrahamic religion? >>>

No, Sikhism is not an Abrahamic faith. It comes from a totally different lineage.

<<< Do you have Prophets? >>>

We have Gurus. Prophets have the connotation of telling prophecies and telling the future and the Gurus were not into this. Their mission was to come into this world and show us the path to God which had been obscured. Guru Nanak Dev Ji came to this world at a time of great turmoil and upheaval and the general population was oppressed and lost. On one hand they were oppressed by the rulers who had no respect for them and on the other they were lost spiritually due to rituals and rigid social hierarchy. Guru Nanak Dev Ji came into this world and said that to love God one must love ones neighbour, to share ones honest earned earnings with those around you, to remember God with every breath.

<<< What do you believe to be the fate of those who lived before Nanak? >>>

In Sikhism there is on one way to God. We see many ways to God, most may be long and winding, others maybe meandering and take a long time to get to the destination, others are more direct. So even before Guru Nanak Dev Ji there were enlightened souls who attained oneness with God, but Guru Nanak Dev Ji showed us a very simple way, within the confines of a married life one can evolve spiritually, you do not need to wonder off into the wilderness for God is there right beside you, always.

<<< Do you believe in the hereafter? >>>

Yes, there is a hereafter. But it is not permanent, unless you attain the highest level and your soul, which originated from Him in the first place, merges within Him. Most of us who are so engrossed within our daily affairs and have no time for God, or who reject Him outright are destined to transmigrate from life to life, until either we make an effort to haul ourselves out of this mire or are blessed by the grace of God who then sets us on His path.

<<< Do you believe there were Prophets? >>>

Again it’s a matter of interpretation. We regard souls like Jesus, Mohammod Sahib, Moses, Bhagwan Krishan Ji to be enlightened and showed Gods way and as such we have respect for them.

<<< What is your holy scripture? Are there English translations I could read? >>>

Guru Granth Sahib Ji is our eternal Guru. Guru Ji comprises of compositions by the Gurus, as well as Bhagats (saints if you like). When Guru Granth Sahib Ji was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjun Dev Ji took compositions from enlightened souls, so we have compositions from Bhagat Kabir Ji, Bhagat Namdev Ji, Bhagat Ravidas Ji and Sheik Farid Ji.

If should checkout www.sikhitothemax.com for translations of shabads (hymns)

<<< Do you attend prayer congregationally or pray alone? >>>

It is in our code of conduct that a Sikh must rise very early in the morning (anytime from 1.00 am to 4.00 am) bathe, and recite the morning prayers, then pray in the evening and before bedtime. God is acknowledged with every breath, many Sikhs will spend the whole day, whatever they are doing, repeating Gods name on their lips or within their mind. Also we have a special prayer called Ardaas with, if you like, is a personal conversation with God ,where you can tell Him your woes and ask for forgiveness of all the wrongs one has done the previous day.

[Tera]

Hello BeirutBoy, i've tried to answer your questions below. Hope it helps.

Greetings

There are 2 common greetings...

1) Sat Sri Akal

Sat (Truth) Sri (Repectable word) Akal (Almightly God)

2) Vaheguru Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguru Jee Kee Fateh

Basically means the Khalsa (Pure Ones) belong to Vaheguru (What we call God) and Fateh (Victory) also belongs to Vaheguru (God)

Preference is given for the second greeting to be used all the time. However, both of these are often used whenever and to whoever, there is no seperate greeting for Sikhs and non-Sikhs.

Equality

Within Sikhism, there is total equality amongst all. Caste, Gender, Age, Colour are all irrelevant. The 3rd Sikh Guru (Sri Guru Ram Das Ji) also formalised the Sikh tradition of the langar (free kitchen). Before seeing the Guru, the congregation would all sit together and eat together eradicating the ego within and showing that all are equal regardless of 'caste'/ power etc

Our Tenth Guru (Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji) also formalised the Baptism Ceremony. When one wishes to become baptised, Men and Women alike would use the new surname Singh (for males) and Kaur (for females). One would then not be recognised by the traditional Indian/Hindu caste system by surname. All are equal and as Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji says "There is only one race, the Human Race".

Dagger

A baptised Sikh is joined into the Khalsa also known as Akal Purakh Dee Fauj (Gods Army) and are Saint-Soldiers. Therefore it is our duty protect the weak from tyranny, oppression and slavery. Hence all baptised Sikhs (men and women) will carry a Kirpan as one of their 5ks. The word Kirpan can be broken down to "Kirpa" means "mercy" and "Aan" means "bless". It is only ever to be used as a last resort and even then only in defense. Please do not refer to it as a dagger.

Prayer

A baptised Sikh will complete prayers in the morning, some do 3, some do 5, some do more - more the better. Personally, I recite 5 - Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Twaiprasaad Swaiyee, Chaupai Sahib and Anand Sahib.

A further prayer is done is the evening - Rehraas Sahib and a further one done at bed time - Kirtan Sohila.

The prayers can be done in your mind, out loud, standing up, sitting down etc. However is best for the person. The prayers above are just the prayers that must be done as our daily routine. However in Sikhism, we are to strive to constantly remember God with each and every breath so essentially praying 24/7.

I have just typed this up going along so please forgive any mistakes I may have made.

[Sayf Udeen]

sat sri akal is used by non-amritdhari (non-baptised sikhs). Its actually derived from our war cry, and moved into general panjabi culture.

So Sikhism is heavily cultural?

What is the difference between a baptised Sikh and a non-baptised Sikh?

Must a practising Sikh be baptised?

How is a Sikh baptised?

amrtidhari sikhs or those working towards it say Vaheguroo Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguroo Ji Ki Fateh- The Khalsa (sikh army) belongs to God, Victory belongs to God. Generally more religious ones say Vaheguroo Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguroo Ji Ki Fateh

"those working towards it"...is to say there are pre-requisites for baptism? What are they?

We have Gurus. Prophets have the connotation of telling prophecies and telling the future and the Gurus were not into this. Their mission was to come into this world and show us the path to God which had been obscured.

Same with Prophets on that they were sent to guide mankid where we had gone astray.

Thus our [Muslims] beliefs of the unchanged revelations to God's (Subhana wa ta'ala) final messanger the Prophet Muhammad [sulallahu alayhi wasalam),

Thanks for the breifing on Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Most of us who are so engrossed within our daily affairs and have no time for God, or who reject Him outright are destined to transmigrate from life to life, until either we make an effort to haul ourselves out of this mire or are blessed by the grace of God who then sets us on His path.

You mean those who do not obtain being one with God are born again here?

If should checkout www.sikhitothemax.com for translations of shabads (hymns)

I'll do that.

Thank you.

It is in our code of conduct that a Sikh must rise very early in the morning (anytime from 1.00 am to 4.00 am) bathe, and recite the morning prayers, then pray in the evening and before bedtime.

We also Bath before prayers or touching the Qur'an (our holy text). High five for similarities amongst our differences. :D

Also we have a special prayer called Ardaas with, if you like, is a personal conversation with God ,where you can tell Him your woes and ask for forgiveness of all the wrongs one has done the previous day.

Similar to our du'a.

Thank you. From what I know so far Sikhism seems like a very open minded, loving, religion. Whilst our beliefs are miles apart I do respect your faith and thank you all for sharing what you have thus far.

Truly learning about all we can in this world will make us better people insha'Allah (God willing).

[fresh singh]

What is your story of creation?

~BeirutBoy.

Sikhs do not care about how creation was created. As creation has been created and destroyed many times in the past and will been created and destroyed many times in the future. So sikhs not care about how creation was created we should care about how we can change the world for the better.

sikh women:

[Sayf Udeen]

Hello BeirutBoy, i've tried to answer your questions below. Hope it helps.

Hello Tera and thank you for your answer.

Preference is given for the second greeting to be used all the time. However, both of these are often used whenever and to whoever, there is no seperate greeting for Sikhs and non-Sikhs.

So would it be permissable for me to use one to a Sikh I see? Or would that be disrespectful? (Just wondering cos I don't want to do something stupid hehe)

Would he/she assume I to am a Sikh?

Our Tenth Guru (Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji) also formalised the Baptism Ceremony. When one wishes to become baptised, Men and Women alike would use the new surname Singh (for males) and Kaur (for females). One would then not be recognised by the traditional Indian/Hindu caste system by surname. All are equal and as Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji says "There is only one race, the Human Race".

Agreed there is no race but the human race.

A baptised Sikh is joined into the Khalsa also known as Akal Purakh Dee Fauj (Gods Army) and are Saint-Soldiers. Therefore it is our duty protect the weak from tyranny, oppression and slavery. Hence all baptised Sikhs (men and women) will carry a Kirpan as one of their 5ks. The word Kirpan can be broken down to "Kirpa" means "mercy" and "Aan" means "bless". It is only ever to be used as a last resort and even then only in defense. Please do not refer to it as a dagger.

My apologies. I had no idea what to call it and had read a news article about it earlier in the year in which it was refered to as such. I will refrain from the word "dagger" in future.

The prayers can be done in your mind, out loud, standing up, sitting down etc. However is best for the person. The prayers above are just the prayers that must be done as our daily routine. However in Sikhism, we are to strive to constantly remember God with each and every breath so essentially praying 24/7.

So you don't change positions during the prayer?

Also what does the text on this emoticon mean?

:vaheguru:

Just incase I wanna use it in my time here.

[Singhstah]

While the emphasis is not on how the world was created and making it better. But in Gurbani it states that first Vaheguroo (God) created the double edged sword, and then with his name created the whole world. The big bang theory seems to fit within sikhism, as scientists believe that it was a large sound which set off the big bang, and is causing the universes to constantly expand. This fits in with Sikhism's concept of the naad, the sound of God's name running through the universe.

(to sikhs reading above, its from waht i can remember of maskin ji's katha, might have made a few errors).

about the sikhi and cultural thing. Well the way it worked out was that most Panjabis were sikhs, as in any religion there will be people who don't want to follow it. So they stopped following most of the Guroo's teachings, but some sikhi teachings stayed with them.

Sikhi and panjabi culture clash in many respects, When Guroo Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa, he created a new, distinct nation, with its own distinct ways.