How Can We Turn The Sikh Community Into Leaders And Soldiers Again

[whyhellothere]

great leaders inspire others and ignite fires in others belly's

and today we dont' have much of that in our community,real leaders are ambitous confident ppl with a fire in them so that inspires others and makes others believe

SGGSJ tells us we become like the person we love.

If a giani loves the guru, he will inherit his qualities.

Also love for the guru means love for the gurus cause, anyone with enough love for the gurus cause will be able to inspire with his love and belief in the cause.

Plus, gianis at gurdwarra can use gurdwarra funds, many people want to campaign but don't have the money or means, the gurdwarra could raise this money.

[humkire]

Everyone's giving fantastic ideas here how to move be sant sipahees again and its inspiring . I hope all of us reading this will be in one way or other work on some of the ideas here in ways possible according to our individual situations to bring about a revival. I want to quickly touch on a cple of points shastr and sall made further up this dialogue about puratan mentality and being proactive. Puratan mentality should refer to that which brings life when touched, kissed, drank and embraced dearly, which was what our Gurus gave us in human form and then through Shree Guru Granth Sahib . Puratan Sikhs understood this but there is nothing puratan about it, if puratan merely means old wine in new bottles. . Sikhi is an ever living Eternal Force with nothing puratan about it. It does not need reinvention, neither revisiting, it just needs to be engaged by successive generations, some of which may have been, are , and will be more successful in this endeavour than others.As to the the other point of being proactive, proactive can mean just more than a refrain from reaction but is rather best xpressed through an effort by every Khalsa generation to behold and activate the vision, the image, the form, the challenges, the Will of God and Guru for it, as Sikhi spreads through the entire universe like an oak tree sprouting from a seedling.

[sall]

As to the the other point of being proactive, proactive can mean just more than a refrain from reaction but is rather best xpressed through an effort by every Khalsa generation to behold and activate the vision, the image, the form, the challenges, the Will of God and Guru for it, as Sikhi spreads through the entire universe like an oak tree sprouting from a seedling.

WJKK WJKF

Many Thanks humkire jeeo for your input the "proactive" indeed it's effort and to act on it for every Khalsa. An essay could be written on this word.Sikhee indeed itself is "proactive" and will prosper as it's seeds have been planted so deep beyond imagination by our Guru Jee and our Sahibzadas. Bit by bit, day by day,second by second of our precious lives we should aim to work on ourselves to be part of that spirit and to be grateful for having such a Gurus/Masters and Dhan SGGS.

[Mangalacharan]

Knowledge is power!

[sall]

Knowledge is power!

WJKK WJKF

Apologies manglacharan agreed knowledge is power only when applied otherwise knowledge is nothing if NOT applied.

[humkire]

Do agree with sall. Knowledge facilitates power when channeled and acted upon correctly. But which knowledge?

Kitabee gyan i.e read up stuff is a limited knowlege with a limited potential. Real knowledge comes through amritvela simran and all the rest of the Sikhi choice lifestyle as Guru manifests within and gives us dribh drishtee i.e the inner eye to behold the reality behind all that we can see and beyond, with our naked eye and raw mind. Knowledge accumulated otherwise is good and important i.e like getting a PHD in politics and learning how to conquer but it has its latent defects as it can cause and flourish ego within which acts as an in dwelling and secret, slow killing parasite,...and an existence slaved and trapped within the 3 gunas. Power generated from such knowledge is what made Aurangzeb think India could be made all Muslim and that killing 4 sahibzadas would eradicate Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh in Zafarnama alerts Aurangzeb that there are powers and forces beyond his acquired thinking that will shape things in time, in ways beyond the horizon of the little vision generated by that which he knew and wanted, which had been the driving force determining the structure of the agenda upon which he had been acting!

Gurmat drishtee gyan is an amazing, startling, shocking occurrence and experience when it starts to activate and manifest within any Gurmukh. It propels one to synchronise with the will and workings of God past, present and future. One starts to see the shape of things to come and what is his role and function in this new emerging order and gains an insight as to how to activate it to release the power thus generated that is better than the worst explosion you can imagine in the entire universe. . Now this is true empowerment and you smell this heavily when you read the writings of Bhai Vir Singh and Bhai Sahib Bhai Randhir Singh and other illuminated gursikhs of past and present, not to mention our Granths like SGGS and DSGGS which express this in a trillion more clearer and variant ways, that when comprehended by the right eye, can result in an instant explosion of unbearable , unstoppable tears and crying, which is even the founding root of gurmat gyan ras which is a topic for another discussion elsewhere and another time.

[humkire]

dear sall go on bro . do write the essay u mentioned on proactive wen u got sum time to highlight chardiikela for all our benefit here . Thats one real hot topic i like see being discussed on here to charge us all up like lightning.

[sall]

WJKK WJKF

Essay on Procactivity.....apologies in advance for any mistakes..

Being proactive means taking conscious control over your life, setting goals and working to achieve them. Instead of reacting to events and waiting for opportunities, you go out and create your own events and opportunities.

Being proactive means that instead of merely reacting to events as they happen, you consciously engineer your own events.

Most people think reactively. And reacting to certain events is all well and good. But it becomes a problem when that’s all there is to a person’s life — nothing more than instinctively reacting to stimuli.

There’s a gap between stimulus and response, and within that gap lies the potential for us to choose our response. Four special human endowments give us this power:

1. Self-awareness – the understanding that you do have a choice between stimulus and response. If someone insults you, you can choose not to become angry. If you are offered a donut, you can choose not to eat it.

2. Conscience – the ability to consult your inner compass to decide what is right for you. You can make decisions based on unchanging principles, regardless of what is socially favored at the moment.

3. Creative Imagination – the ability to visualize alternative responses. By using your imagination, you can mentally generate and evaluate different options.

4. Independent Will – You have the freedom to choose your own unique response. You aren’t forced to conform to what others expect from you.

A lack of proactivity can often be traced to a weakness in one of these four human endowments. Maybe you’re spending too much time in a state of low consciousness and never reaching the level of awareness necessary to make proactive life decisions. Perhaps your conscience has become muddled by societal conditioning, so you aren’t even sure what you want from life; when something doesn’t feel right to you, you look to others to decide how you should feel about it. Maybe you aren’t taking the time to visualize alternatives. Or perhaps your independent will is being restricted by the pressure to conform to others’ expectations.

It can be argued that on some level, we’re always reacting to events, either external or internal. The difference between proactivity and reactivity can then be viewed in terms of what degree of “mental processing” occurs during the gap between stimulus and response. A proactive person will apply the four human endowments to choose a response (or to choose no response at all). But even more than that, a proactive person will invest the time to make conscious life choices and follow through on them. Applying the above 4 points with Sikhi principles or values how can one go wrong?

Reactive people tend to be out of touch with their core values. Instead of running their lives based on unchanging core principles, they pick up temporary values from others around them. If no special opportunities come their way, they’ll stay at the same job year after year as long as it’s semi-satisfying. If most of their friends exercise, they probably will too; otherwise, they probably won’t. They go with the flow of the people and circumstances that surround them, but they don’t direct the flow. Their lives are largely out of their direct conscious control; they tend to only exert their human endowments when they absolutely must, such as if they get laid off unexpectedly (and even then it’s often to a minimal degree). But when things are pretty good, life is mostly on autopilot. Gurbani is clear on “Udham” and its benefits and how much we should strife to do udham .

Proactive people, on the other hand, are aware of their core Sikh values, They consciously make key decisions based on those values. They create their own opportunities and direct the flow of their own lives. Even when things are pretty good, they’re still making conscious choices. Sometimes that means maintaining the status quo, while other times it means changing directions. Sometimes their values will align well with what’s socially popular; other times they won’t. Proactive people will take actions that often seem mysterious to reactive people. They may suddenly quit their job to start a new business, even though everything seemed to be going well for them. They’ll often start new projects or activities “out of the blue” when it seems like there’s no externally motivated reason to do so. A proactive person will still pay attention to external events, but they’ll pilot themselves to their desired destination regardless of those events.

If a reactive person were to captain a ship, the ship would flow with the currents. This person would be preoccupied with studying the currents, trying to predict where the ship will end up as a function of the currents. If the currents are good, this person is happy. If the currents are poor, this person feels stressed. On occasion this person might attempt to set a destination, and if the currents are good, the ship will arrive. But if the currents are poor, this person will bemoan them and give up the destination for an easier one.

If a proactive person were to captain a ship, however, the ship would go wherever the captain wanted it to go. This captain would still note the currents, but they’d merely be used for navigational purposes. Sometimes the ship would flow with the currents; other times it would steam against them. It matters little whether the currents are good or not; this captain will reach the intended destination regardless of the currents. The currents can only control the time of arrival and the exact path from starting point to final destination. But the currents have no power to dictate the final destination; that is entirely the captain’s choice.

Some examples of reactive [proactive] language:

• Where is the industry going? [Where shall I go next, and how will I get there?]

• I Don’t have no time for nitnem or sukhmani or naam simran too busy? [how shall I make time slowly to form the link with SGGS or increase nitnem daily,weekly,monthly). How should I make time to do seva of tun (using the body in physical seva), mun (mind as in meditation naam simran) dhun( of ones earnings to daswand)

• I don’t have time to exercise. [How shall I make time to exercise?] Is it OK to unfit according to SGSS “ Dhrig tena ka jeeva jo khai wadheyaa phaat”

• How much money can I expect to make if I do X? [How much money do I want to make, and what will I do to earn it?]

• I’ll try it and see what happens. [i'll do it.]

• I’m too tired. [What can I do to increase my energy?]

• I’ve never been very good at math. [How can I improve my math skills and enjoy the process?]

• Nothing really inspires me. [What would I tackle if I knew I couldn't fail?]

• What is the meaning of life? [What is the meaning I wish to give to my life?]

Taking the pulse of others is a big concern for reactive people. They usually want to work at a “stable” job in a “good” industry, and they see themselves at the mercy of market conditions. If they manage to start a new business, it’s because they know lots of others who are already doing so, and they want to join the pack. They want to know what products and services seem to be doing well, so they can do something similar. If they fail, it’s because the industry isn’t doing well, or there’s too much competition, or because of some oft-cited external luck factor.

Do you think that anything that happens “out there” will determine how successful you’ll be in your endeavors? Not if you’re proactive. If you’re proactive, external events can only affect your time of arrival and the exact path you take to your goal. But they cannot dictate your goal for you. Proactive people still get knocked around by the currents at times, but they’ll just keep readjusting their course to retarget their goals, goals which are ultimately attainable by their own efforts.Mahraja Ranjit Singh was a typical example of this if you read “Sikh raaj kevaa banyaaa”.

Of course everyone has a mixture of both proactivity and reactivity. Pure examples of the two extremes are rare. You may find that you’re extremely proactive in one area, while letting other parts of your life slip into unconscious autopilot. So take the time to use your human endowments of self-awareness, conscience, creative imagination, and independent will to shine a light on those neglected areas of your life and consciously choose to get things moving. If you don’t like where the currents are taking you, then change course. Don’t wait for an opportunity to arrive; engineer your own. The reactive people in your life will often throw a fit when you do this, so let them, and exercise your independent will anyway. Even when everyone around you seems to be reactive, you can still be proactive. Initially that will probably feel like swimming against the currents, but if the currents of your life are leading in the wrong direction anyway, that’s a good thing.

Although “going with the flow” is often considered a wise admonition, the level of wisdom in this advice depends on where that flow is going. For example: in the USA/UK going with the flow of our current state of health means becoming overweight or obese, living a sedentary exercise-free lifestyle, and then dying of either heart disease or cancer. India and Punjab following in this line too at present with ever increasing following western diets.Going with the flow financially means gradually sinking into debt and then dying broke. Going with the flow of our marriages means getting divorced (67% of Americans who were married in 1990 can ultimately expect to divorce, sources = Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence and John Gottman’s What Predicts Divorce). Going with the flow of our educational practices means never reading another nonfiction book after high school. Going with the flow of our environmental practices means … believe me, you don’t even want to go there.

If you wish to live an extraordinary life, you often have to go against the flow that everyone else seems to be following. You can choose not to be one of the “XXX billions served.” In a way you’re switching over to being guiding by the flow of your own self-awareness and consciousness. You tune into your inner flow instead of being dragged along by the flow of external stimuli. Sure you may win the lottery or receive a big inheritance, but most likely you won’t just flow into wealth… or health… or fulfillment. You have to consciously choose these things and then follow up with committed action.

Where is the flow of your life taking you? If you continue flowing along with the currents of your life as they are now, where will you end up? Gursikhe and its beautiful principles and values are absolutes even if you took one on , what will you never experience because those currents just don’t stop at certain destinations? How can you exercise your proactivity and your human endowments to direct the course of your life (regardless of the currents), so that you intentionally create the kind of life you want instead of just drifting along?

As in the Nike advert “ Just Do it” – conclusion.

[MansWisdom]

Be proactive in doing simran, bani, seva(to certain extent) only. Leave everything to waheguru as everything else is a waste of time. Why is this manuka janam given? To be proactive in anything else is foolish as it is costing you each swas.