Demographics Thread: The Continuation

[Barfi n Mithai]

I think the problem is with the word daily.....Daily implies everyday, 365 dayes a year!!

Truth is a lot of people don't pray everyday. Most people who keep their hair do know bani ....its just that they don't pray everyday but prehaps a few days here and there....I think only amritdharis pray everyday..

Which leads me to ask....how do people find time to do 5 or more bani's? Do you have a job, family etc? Whats the secret. Where do you find the time to fit it in?

[guptveer1469]

I think it kinda easy but we are just lazy...

Most Sikhs know the mool mantar if nothing else, but dont do it daily.

Morning Banis: Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Tav Prasad Svaiye and Anand Sahib: 1 hour max

Rehras Sahib: 20 minutes max

Rakhia de Shabad and Kirtan Sohila: 5 minutes max

The ones that begin with Bani mostly count the time, but slowly slowly it just becomes a routine and you recite bani much faster.

My Bhuaji that lives near us, does Sukhmani Sahib daily since a few years... And guess what? Sukhmani Sahib (sampooran) usually takes 90 minutes to recite.... But she does it in 45-50 minutes!

For example.. Veerji, you start doing (atleast) 2-3 Japji Sahibs a day at normal time (between 15-20 mins).. You will see that after some time you will be able to do it in 15 mins if you did it in 20 mins before, and be able to do it in 10 mins if you did it in 15... (Its not exactly like that, but just to show you, that your speeds becomes much faster)

In beginning your WHOLE daily nitnem usually takes between 85 to 100 mins, if you keep doing it daily, it decreases and can go as low as 60 to 70 mins.

[alias]

veer sunny bond singh ji, benti chaupi was missed out on your behalf, an onist mistake i take..this aside...

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the 5 bania (in my younger days) i got it so fast i donit (in my hed>surti de naal) in 24 mins :D

then i slowed everything down.

once it takes you 35 40 mins to do the 5 bania, then you can increase the timeto an hour again by adding more bania. you shouldnt doit too fast, but u shouldnt doit too slow. (mahapursh bachan sed that >paat thora teej karna changa hai< !!)

then an hour wont be enough!

once you clock an hour, you want to do more, then 2 hours will be nothing.. it will go so quick cus surti is in the naad of the paat..

and thats just the morning!

then you got reheraas time.

theres another hour or 2 there.

then in the middle of the day! noone needs lunch for an hour! unwind with naam! (or bani)

p.s. thas funny bout the job and familly!!

gurfateh!

[Bundha]

Panj bani are normally recited amirtwella, then you go to work , when you come home you do Rehras Sahib and just before bedtime you do Kirtan Sohila. So these banai nitname can be fitted around a normal working day, although we should fit our normal working day around our nitname.

In addition, one can do Arti, Shabad Hazaray and of course Sukhmani Sahib. Sukhamni Sahib being quite long and maybe hard to do in one day, so do a few astpadhis one day then carry on where you left off the next and so on. Also try doing the same with Akal Ustat sahib, a bit hard to recite when you start but once you have done it a few times it is amaziing, again it is quite long so do a little every day until sampooran.

Always try to do Mool Mantra simran in your daily life. If you are making breakfast, what better way then to recite Mool Mantra in your mind while doing it. When you walk to work or school do Mool Matra , or do Wahe - with one step, and Guru - with the next step as you walk, make it a routine so that every time you do a certain chore or process automatically you start your simran. It happens slowly but persevere.

[guptveer1469]

veer sunny bond singh ji, benti chaupi was missed out on your behalf, an onist mistake i take..this aside...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the 5 bania (in my younger days) i got it so fast i donit (in my hed>surti de naal) in 24 mins :D

then i slowed everything down.

once it takes you 35 40 mins to do the 5 bania, then you can increase the timeto an hour again by adding more bania. you shouldnt doit too fast, but u shouldnt doit too slow. (mahapursh bachan sed that >paat thora teej karna changa hai< !!)

then an hour wont be enough!

once you clock an hour, you want to do more, then 2 hours will be nothing.. it will go so quick cus surti is in the naad of the paat..

and thats just the morning!

then you got reheraas time.

theres another hour or 2 there.

then in the middle of the day! noone needs lunch for an hour! unwind with naam! (or bani)

p.s. thas funny bout the job and familly!!

gurfateh!

Veer, most people do Benti Chaupai in their Rehras Sahib... So I didnt count it apart...

[Barfi n Mithai]

ok. I guess it depends on lifestyle u have. Most ppl shud be able to do it cos u guys have normal 9-5 jobs but small proportion won't have tht. I don't think its a bad thing if u cannot pray. Its more about intent and time. God knows if u meant to and if u had time etc. So it doesn't matter how much u do...its like giving money at gurdwara....its not about how much u give but its about the proportion of ure earning so if u only got £2 and u give £1 then u gave half ...similarly if ure busy then god knows doing any bani is big amount of ure time. So number of bani don't matter....god knows all.

[Bundha]

If you are busy then that is 'sansaar-thay-dhudhay' - worldly things, and people can spend their whole lives in wordly things without even noticing their is a God or only give lip service. Yes, we have to work to provide for our families but it should not be to the detriment of you Simran.

Your lefesyle needs to be built around your naam simran, not the other way round. It is not good enough to say "I do not have time" because when you get dragged infront of DharamRaja, he will not accept your excuses, he will only see what you have done, simran wise.

[Barfi n Mithai]

If you are busy then that is 'sansaar-thay-dhudhay' - worldly things, and people can spend their whole lives in wordly things without even noticing their is a God or only give lip service. Yes, we have to work to provide for our families but it should not be to the detriment of you Simran.

Your lefesyle needs to be built around your naam simran, not the other way round. It is not good enough to say "I do not have time" because when you get dragged infront of DharamRaja, he will not accept your excuses, he will only see what you have done, simran wise.

I don't believe God or sikhi is as strict as that. God is antar jani. He knows everything. And ultimately its not about praying. Alot of people think this but I don't believe that it is that simple. Its about what you learn and put into practise from the prayer. And lets remember that Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not know all of the Guru Granth Sahib and all these extra bani's we talk about.

Instead bani is a method for us to learn and remind ourself of God....if u can and have time then yes you should pray....its like the story i just said about giving money....if you 10hrs in ure life and u spend them playing games and only 10 mins praying then God knows u not prayed enough and are wasting.....

but lets say ure a dr....and u are oncall....then even if u said waheguru that is worth more than the person who prayed for 10mins.....similarly what if ure a pilot.....In my view God does not care about the quantity of ure prayers.

Its all about quality and how much that prayer is worth relative to ure life. So with the money story say a billionaire gave £10 but a poor person gave £5....the poor person however gave more when compared to individual worth of that money. Likewise prayer for me and i believe in sikhi is not the end point.

If prayer was an end point then we would be told to live in the mountains and pray all the time, to have no gristi jeevan etc. Prayer in sikhi is rather an aid.....and how it fits into different people's life various....from some people one waheguru can be enough but from others it is not. I feel its part of the bigger picture ji. But like I said majority of ppl can fit in more prayers only few like drs are unable.

[Bundha]

<<< I don't believe God or sikhi is as strict as that. God is antar jani. He knows everything. And ultimately its not about praying. >>>

Then there was no need for Guru Gobind Singh Ji to stipulate that we must recite a minimum of panj banis per day. If it was that relaxed an attitude then Guru Ji would never have given his hukam for panj banies, Guru Ji would have said " do some banies as and when you like" but he did not.

Also Gurbani stipulates that you get up at amritwella and jap His naam, if it was as relaxed as you think then this would not have been Guru Jis hukam.

<<< Its about what you learn and put into practise from the prayer.>>>

Agreed. Japing bani is not the end, it is the beginning but unless you recite your banies daily to a strict regime then you will not progress along Guru Jis path.

<<< And lets remember that Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not know all of the Guru Granth Sahib and all these extra bani's we talk about. >>>

I beg to disagree. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was One with Akal Purkh so He knew the bani that he composed and that that was to be composed.

Guru Ji new what had happened, what was happening and what would happen in the future all in one instance. And let us not forget that the jyote of Guru Nanak Dev Ji was that that was passed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, so yes Guru Nanak Dev Ji knew all of Guru Granth Sahib Ji that was to be granted Gurgudhi by Guru Gobind Singh Ji .

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was antar Jami , Guru Ji knew all the bani of Guru Granth Sahib Ji, even Dasam Granth Ji , but composed it in the jyotes of Guru Angad Dev Ji, Guru Amar Das Ji, Guru Ram Das Ji, Guru Arjan Dev Ji , Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji and Guru Gobind Singh.

<<< Instead bani is a method for us to learn and remind ourself of God....if u can and have time then yes you should pray....>>>

I disagree. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji says that this life is like a dream and one day it will end for all of us. Then what will go with you to the next word ????? Only Naam. Then why would you not find time to jap naam? Why would you not fit your life around Simran rather then the other way around ????

I agree it is about quality, but the attitude of do it when you can and not do it if you are too busy is not what guru Ji has told us.

<<< If prayer was an end point then we would be told to live in the mountains and pray all the time, to have no gristi jeevan etc.>>>

This is the beauty of it, we are told to Jap naam with every breath, to get up at amritwella and jaap naam, BUT to be done in Grit jeevan. You have to cut a path to Akal purkh through the mud and mire , not to be aloof in the mountains and caves but as a gristi. Just recite Sukhmani Sahib Ji, time and time it is repeated that the only thing that will have of any value in the next phase is Naam, so why would you treat it as something that should be done in your spare time ??? why would you not follow Guru Sahib Jis hukam ?

[Barfi n Mithai]

I think u missed the context. I am not saying you should not pray....I am saying if your a dr or pilot there are gonna be times u cannot do bani.....then God knows....god understands...

Not only tht. Lets say u never went into those professions but then u could be knocked down crossing the rd...u cud be in hospital for ages....and then u cud be having an op at amritvela....u cud be bedridden and unable to shower....unable pray...

Reading bani and thinking bani are different....the whole point of reading is to think....and just cos someone is reading it does not mean they are thinkging and applying....so its all individualistic.....and if ure unable to do completely 5 bani say in above examples then it does not mean dharam raj is gonna be mean or whatever u said.

I believe God understands each person's situation. As long as you doing ure best, nothing else matters.