Rituals & Ceremonies in Sikhism

[Masti]

In my lifetime, I have been to untold Gurudwaras, people's houses for Parth, weddings and funerals. I have always observed the many rituals and ceremonies in place, even though there are variations everywhere in the World, due to other customs and traditions. But, the question begging in my mind like a bad dream is....Is The Almighty Creator really impressed with such precision, timing, colour, ritual or tradition ?

I cannot envisage A Great Almighty Creator being sucked into such ritualism, which then confers grace, power and spiritual benefit to The Individual. This should be abandoned and left to individauls to decide, how and when they choose to make APPEALS to Our Creator (BTW - I am not supporting Religious anarchy here... :umm:

What say thee brothers and sisters ? :D

[Guest SikhForLife]

any specific you speak of?

[Khalsa4ever]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

There are many rituals that Sikhs practice, although none of them are mentioned in Sikhi.

I think its important to remember the distinction between culture and religion in this case. Many people confuse the two, and begin calling various festivals or rituals that are cultural based (ie: INDIA) as something that is a part of the religion. Obviously this is wrong.

So in answer to your question, I don't think Waheguru is impressed AT ALL with such rituals (something that is done simply because it has been done in the past).

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[ms514]

Sat Sri Akal:

Please give a list of the rituals so that they may be evaluated Ji.

[Masti]

oh and wat rituals do u speak of.. please clarify

Here's your answer.....

The sewa done to the Guru Granth Sahib is done the same way as it was to the human Gurus because the same Light prevades in both. It is not empty ritual to fan the Guru Granth Sahib, to dress the Guru Granth Sahib and to bow to the Guru Granth Sahib...it is the exhitibing of love and respect for the Light which has been able to banish the ignorance of a human and replace it with humanity's true purpose, which is to become reunited with the Almighty.

There are many rituals that Sikhs practice, although none of them are mentioned in Sikhi.

Yep........exactly what I mean ! :umm:

I'm all in favour of RESPECT, but what I see in the Gurudawaras is tha

t hundreds of people go there, bow their heads in front of a 'money box' (put money in no doubt) placed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib (strange this, when any Sikh comes to visit The Guru Granth Sahib really and anything else should be second). They then listen to some prayers, hymns of God's praise, more prayers, eat food, chat and go home. What do most learn 'jack'.

1. Why are the Sikhs visiting the Gurudwaras not being allowed to personally 'witness' the Guru Granth Sahib ?

2. Is The Guru Granth Sahib the property and possession of only the select within Sikhism ?

3. Any Sikh can download the full Guru Granth Sahib these days from the many Sikh sites around the world onto their PC. Tell me, are these Sikhs then to bow to the PC everytime they open the document, put a cover on top of the PC, have a chore, make some parshad and put some money in a box at the front of it.

4. Here are some more ceremonies !

Example Two:

The ritualistic practise of reciting the Five Banis in the day (that's if you are a Sikh)

Example Three

The marriage ceremony which has also many various steps and procedures to accomplish the deed.

Example Four:

The practice of washing the body before conducting any Religious Activity

Example Five:

The ritualistic reading (SGGS) in Akand Parth (chota & vadha)

Example Six

Ardas, Parth, Kirtan, Bhog, Vakh, Ardas, Parshada

Example Seven

The ritual or procedure conducted to become a Sikh when one takes 'Amrit'

Example Eight

Money being thrown into the 'tin' in front of the Granth Sahib to finance the day to day running of the Gurudwara or pay the giani's ! The Gurudwara

39;s of old never had that..........

[Guest mehtab]

Masti means mischief, which is exactly what u are here for pyaareyo. I am not going to answer any of your questions ( feel free to call me a fool :umm: ), but your questions define your affiliation ( hmmmmm, are the rest of you thinking what I am? :T: )

[Masti]

haaahhhaaa, lol...I cant help my nature friend ! :umm:

[ms514]

Sat Sri Akal:

So you are now above the Guru's Rehat Maryada, Guru's Amrit, Sewa to the Guru and even giving money to Guru Sahib's Panth (which is a requirement under the Rehat Maryada under Daswand as well).

Again, Kala Afgana or fake Sant-chela?

[Deep Singh]

Masti i believe you are from the clan [my assumption] that talks about direct connection to God without rituals. Very good! Try seeking for that one....direct connection without rituals..that is just great.

And also tell us how you do that?

[Akaali]

Gurmukh pyareo, lets shed light on this topic, if 'Masti' doesn't understand something we should try to the best of our ability to do so, obviously there's great ignorance on the part of 'Masti' for not researching the topic beforehand from numerous websites as he/she is fully aware of the topic at hand.

RITUAL: The prescribed order of a religious ceremony.

Yep........exactly what I mean !

I'm all in favour of RESPECT, but what I see in the Gurudawaras is that hundreds of people go there, bow their heads in front of a 'money box' (put money in no doubt) placed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib (strange this, when any Sikh comes to visit The Guru Granth Sahib really and anything else should be second). They then listen to some prayers, hymns of God's praise, more prayers, eat food, chat and go home. What do most learn 'jack'.

1. Why are the Sikhs visiting the Gurudwaras not being allowed to personally 'witness' the Guru Granth Sahib ?

What do you need to "witness" from Guru Granth Sahib, if it means to read a random shabad from Guru Granth Sahib, at the Gurdwara sahib, when there's a divaan/darbaar you're greatly mistaken, for example, you goto a King's court pay your respects before him, are you allowed to 'witness' him? If you want to have your say or ask the king while the court is in process, even if you try, you would be kicked out, or if you go back in history, you would get your head slain, since you would be seen as a threat. Why do you think there are numerous translations, pothis, books about Gurbani, so it would be easier for you,

is it just because you don't want to put the first step? Or is it just because you want the convenience to rather do this?

2. Is The Guru Granth Sahib the property and possession of only the select within Sikhism ?

Ofcourse NOT! Guru Granth Sahib is not the "PROPERTY" (as you eliquetly put it) of anyone, Guru Granth Sahib doesn't belong to any single person, or a group of people, as a matter of fact you can't claim gurbani to be your own. Whoever gives proper respect, and takes care of Guru Granth Sahib then he/she is worthy to see Guruji as their teacher. You may not know, but there are hindus/muslims in this world who've done parkaash of Guru Granth Sahib in their homes, and keep guru sahib with the utmost respect abiding by the rules/regulations set out by the Akaal Takht (Spiritual authority of Sikhs).

3. Any Sikh can download the full Guru Granth Sahib these days from the many Sikh sites around the world onto their PC. Tell me, are these Sikhs then to bow to the PC everytime they open the document, put a cover on top of the PC, have a chore, make some parshad and put some money in a box at the front of it.

The monitor screen is just a medium to understand what guruji is saying, doesn't mean you respect the computer because its just a file, and a source to view the shabads, when you print it, its a different thing, because now the Gurbani has come into existence. I think you really need to read more about the philosophy/teachings of Sikhi before spreading your ignorance. If you have Guru Granth Sahib ji on your computer does that mean the jot is also in the computer?

4. Here are some more ceremonies !

Example Two:

The ritualistic practise of reciting the Five Banis in the day (that's if you are a Sikh)

Why do you eat everyday? Because its food for the body, same way gurbani is food for the soul, you don't feed your soul it will get weak. We ea

t the same roti everyday, same way we read the 5 banian everyday, SURE some days we can eat pizza, or something delicious, same way, some days we can do more gurbani/simran/seva :umm: First off you need to be able to distinguish between what a ritual practice is and what is rational or logical. For a sikh, its an order from Guru Gobind Singh ji, you don't follow that order, you're not a Sikh.

Example Three

The marriage ceremony which has also many various steps and procedures to accomplish the deed.

What rituals are you referring to? You are still stuck to the notion of rituals, and due to your lack of knowledge, can't distinguish between logic and falsehood, your constant referral to rituals shows you're not interested in learning about sikhi rather degrade it with those comments. B)

Example Four:

The practice of washing the body before conducting any Religious Activity

The entire message behind this is to keep yourself clean, we humans are filthy creatures, we get dirty often, when we play, when we goto the bathroom, when we sweat, when we work, or even when we sleep. Guru Sahib knew this therefore he said:

audmu kry Blky prBwqI iesnwnu kry AMimRq sir nwvY ]

oudham karae bhalakae parabhaathee eisanaan karae a(n)mrith sar naavai ||

Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe, and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar.

"cleanse himself in the pool of nectar."

- To cleanse his soul by praying/meditating on the lord.

So, one must clean himself from any filth off of his

body before worshipping on the almighty lord, its common sense, not rocket science!

Example Five:

The ritualistic reading (SGGS) in Akand Parth (chota & vadha)

- Refer to the definition of a ritual above, we often don't even know the definition of a term, yet we use it so blatantly.

www.allaboutsikhs.com

Example Six

Ardas, Parth, Kirtan, Bhog, Vakh, Ardas, Parshada

- Yet again, not a valid example, these are all religious practices, if a religion doesn't have a certain order of how they worship or perform certain ceremonies, its not really a religion. These are all practices rather than rituals.

Example Seven

The ritual or procedure conducted to become a Sikh when one takes 'Amrit'

So you think you know better than Guru sahib? Its a religious ceremony, how's this a ritual, you either can't read or don't understand the definition of a ritual. We often mistake "rituals" with those of Hindus who drink cow piss, and worship rats.

Example Eight

Money being thrown into the 'tin' in front of the Granth Sahib to finance the day to day running of the Gurudwara or pay the giani's ! The Gurudwara's of old never had that..........

Do you have the ability to see in the past, or are you that old that your senses don't work 100%. We don't "throw" money in front of Guru Granth Sahib, but place it as an offering, this is evident in many other religions/faiths. During the time of our Gurus, Sikhs brought several types of offerings to pay their respects, again this is logical to keep the functions of the Gurdwara in tact.

I seriously suggest you read up on what you've just wrote, whether or not your int

ention was to classify these practices as rituals or just try to degrade Sikhi, you clearly haven't done it here. :D

Ignorance is bliss.

Daljeet Singh