Which Religion Is Right? How Do We Know?

[Guest Loving all]

At least the christians are out there doing good helping with aid all we do is eat chocolate an play with our computers. If there was a choice of japping and helping ppl then they have it over sikhs . Despite sikhs being told this also. Wake up n smell what u shovellini!

[Bundha]

:smile2:

[harsharan000]

The word religion comes from the latin word "religare", means union withe Lord. We humans are limited in every sense, Wahiguru Akal Purukh, is beyond the reach of our mind and its reasoning, niether through our gyan or karma indriyas. So how to ever know about Him? How to have even an idea about Him? For that He himself came to our level, to make Himself known, in the form of our Guru`s. Wahiguru is a level of consciousness, so naturally consciouness is natural characteristic of living beings.

His divine ray in the beings, is that what gives them life. And naturally, He has to come in a human form, which can talk to us in our language, to make Himself understood, (we see the Sun through the sunlight). He can not come in the form of animal like cows or elephants or like a parrot for example, first of all because we may never understand them, and then, they are below the human level, which is considered the highest form of the creation; neither can He come as any devi or devta, because they are invisible to our eyes, and then also we can never have that knowledge of Him.

And for being united with Him, Guru Arjun Dev has clearly stated: anything apart from nam bhakti, is like decorating a dead corpse, or is like a dog finding food to eat in the waste( trash)..... Everything is clearly written by our Gurus in the bani, we need only purity, to be able to taste the truth in it. They teach us that, there is only one God (Ikonkar) and He is truth(Satnam), known, by His grace(Satgur Prasad). And that, to reach Him, we have to do Jaap, that is why Guru Nanak started from Japji Sahib. it says that with the proper Jaap of Nam or Nam Simran, He can be realized by us, we can wash the dirt covering our mind and soul, and thus we can merge ourselves in Him.

Below is the beautifull shabad of Guru Saheeban, where all this and more is clearly expressed:

gauVI mhlw 5 ] (240-3)

ga-orhee mehlaa 5.

Gauree, Fifth Mehl:mil mayray gobind apnaa naam dayh.

Meet me, O my Lord of the Universe. Please bless me with Your Name.

naam binaa Dharig Dharig asnayhu.

Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, cursed, cursed is love and intimacy.

naam binaa jo pahirai khaa-ay.

Without the Naam, one who dresses and eats well

ji-o kookar joothan meh paa-ay.

is like a dog, who falls in and eats impure foods.

naam binaa jaytaa bi-uhaar. ji-o mirtak mithi-aa seegaar.

Without the Naam, all occupations are useless, like decorations on a dead body.

naam bisaar karay ras bhog.

One who forgets the Naam and indulges in pleasures,

sukh supnai nahee tan meh rog.

shall find no peace, even in dreams; his body shall become diseased.

naam ti-aag karay an kaaj.

One who renounces the Naam and engages in other occupations,

binas jaa-ay jhoothay sabh paaj.

shall see all of his false pretenses fall away.

naam sang man pareet na laavai.

One whose mind does not embrace love for the Naam

kot karam karto narak jaavai.

shall go to hell, even though he may perform millions of ceremonial rituals.

har kaa naam jin man na aaraaDhaa.

One whose mind does not contemplate the Name of the Lord

chor kee ni-aa-ee jam pur baaDhaa.

is bound like a thief, in the City of Death.

laakh adambar bahut bisthaaraa.

Hundreds of thousands of ostentatious shows and great expanses

naam binaa jhoothay paasaaraa.

- without the Naam, all these displays are false.

har kaa naam so-ee jan lay-ay.

That humble being repeats the Name of the Lord,

kar kirpaa naanak jis day-ay.

O Nanak, whom the Lord blesses with His Mercy.

[Guru_Da_Chella]

let us follow dharam instead of religion; what do you think? Gurbani promotes following dharam!

[harsharan000]

let us follow dharam instead of religion; what do you think? Gurbani promotes following dharam!

Any which way you feel comfortable. Religion is an english word, dharam is an hindustani word. We should not be confused with words, the objective behind it in our minds, that is important.

True religion has no ceremonies, rites or rituals, these are all man made, all due to his weaknesses, his childish attitude, his inmature behaviour; or due to rules and regulations in the society and community.

As all that concerns in reality, is a matter of link, between the lover "soul" and the beloved "Wahuiguru Akal Purukh", every other thing is surplus, it extra, is out of place. Even Christ said: the highest law that I give you, is to love the Father (Wahiguru) above everything ,with all thy heart mind and soul.

And if this is achieved, all is done. But done, in a manner according to our wise Gurus. Not in our way. We have to be gurmukhs, by acting, according to their instrusctions, in their way, as it is in the bani. Not in our way, because then we would be manmukhs, and that we already are, since the day we were born .

Their way is of love, of grace and forgiveness, of faith. It is not an easy path. We have to cut our head (mind) , and walk bravely with it in the palm of our hand (faith).

So let us read and understand properly the bani, for our real benefit, let us sip each and every word from them, as it contains nectar of inmortality and divinity.

[harsharan000]

One more thing, regarding our Gurus. When they come on earth, they do not perform any miracles, they win their daily bread with means of straighforwardness and honesty, because depending on alms , on others, is an hindrance on the spiritual path. They look all alike, without any differences, for them all have that divine spark, known also as soul. Their drishti is full of daya meher, of grace, which they shower on everybody, without any distinction. While being all powerfull, they always remain in the "bhana". They look like us, with the difference that, we are attached to moh, maya, kam, kal... in one word, we are manmukhs. And they, while being on our human level, at the same time they are tuned with Wahiguru Akal Purukh, with means of Shabad, through each pore of their body, only mahima of Wahiguru is sparkled and spread. They infuse and develope love for Wahiguru in us. That is their real mission, they come for that purpose, to make Him known to us, and make us aware of our true nature, that we are spiritual beings, going through a human experience, not otherwise. They remind us that, we should forget zaat, paat, land, name, fame, lust, hatred.... as all this is false and transitory. And focus our objective , as a goal, only on Satnam, who is Akal, Ajoonee, Nirbhav and Nirvair, and by doing so, putting our attention, linking our souls with Him, we too shall one day merge in Him, becoming one with Him, having cut previously our roots in this mayavee mahabhavsagar, phenomenal creation, where only pain and misery exist and are the true nature of this triloki creation.

We have to go from this braham, to Paarbraham. From transient, transitory and perishable planes to Sach Khand, our Nijh Ghar, where only, truth, love and bliss pervades. Such is the majesty of our true Father Satnam. Just let us see, the beauty which is contained in the Aarti we recite, how great is He.... They tell us that only love and devotion are needed as something compulsory, for our entry in His court. Nobody is there going to ask us, what is your graduation, which country do you come from, how much wealth have you gathered, which comunity do you belong, how many children have you left, what is your bank balance, what is your mother tongue.... nothing of that sort, all that is only on this physicall level. As it is said : Sahib ke darbar main kewal Bhakti aur pyar, aur kewal bhakti aur pyaar main Sahib razee. So we have to look, and take care if we have sincere love for Him or not, or is it matlabee...He is a boundless ocean of love, and we by only being a drop of love, can merge ourselves in Him.

One more thing, they teach us the bhakti maarg of devotion , of Nam Abhyaas, which is mentioned in almost each line and page. This is very important for us to keep in mind at all times. Because without it, we shall be drown, in the chaurasee lakh ka chakar.... This Nam abhyas, is a menas to purify ourselves and is also a vehicle in which we may get in and reach our true home. That is why it is said : Nanak, Nam, jahaaz hae . Nam is so important, that without it, howsoever much and hard we may try, that even Wahiguru may bless us, by coming and being born in our house as our father or brother, but if we do not take this very Nam to our heart and hirdey, we shall be dry and empty.

Let us look in the times of Guru Ram Das and Panchvee Patshahee Guru Arjun Dev. Prithvi Chand was one´s son and other`s brother, who were the Nij Roop of Akal Purukh, staying under one roof and having their permanent outward darshan, was not enough, even then, he was wicked, he did all sort of nonsense. Why? Because he neither had that faith, nor love, nor based Nam in his mind and heart. This is something to make us think. If by being so near (phisicall nearness) these Satgurus, can not make us pure, then what to say of us, moorakhs, manmukhs and agyanis....Let us read and see with our own eyes, that on each page of the bani, only mahima of Wahiguru and his Nam, His Shabad is described, only these are really important for us.

Let us look at for example, Anand Sahib., the beautifull and easy and clear way, in which is described the bliss and real happiness one gets by getting in the touch with this Anhad Shabad, and letting it go deep in our very beings.

Nam jiske man vaseh, vaaje Shabad ganere.... Ananad bahaya meree maeee.... Truly, only our Gurus can say things like these.....may God bless us all, with love and devotion for His lotus feet.

[SunSingh]

<br />I know a christian who speaks to god aon a regular basis and hears god speak back to her as clear as day, I also know chrsitians who are blessed by the <b>shaheed</b> Jesus Christ.<br /><br />The slanderer of the saint is punished in His court. Lets not make assumptions, we will probably never know if jesus gave naam to his <b>worthy </b> followers, only a brahmgyani or bhagat would be able to find out for sure. <br /><br />Many sikhs say the wrong naam anyway, we are told in mool mantar the name of god, his name is TRUTH i.e SAT or Satnaam. <br /><br />This is the naam most brahmgyanis will give. It is the Truth mantra, and is mentioned many times in Guru Granth Sahib Ji and in the other Granths but people seem to miss it. <br /><br />We live in near to total illusion- hence we are in Kalyug- the age of darkness- this darkness comes from living in illusion.<br /><br />As the illusion/Satan is wiped away bit by bit with TRUTH- HIM(The opposite to LIE/ILLUSION-SATAN) we will get back into SATYUG- i.e HIS(TRUTH/SAT)YUG/AGE.<br /><br />The key to getting back to Satyug is for the majority of the population to self realise enough for enough of the light of truth to shine the kal out.<br /><br />The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is none other than SACHKANDH. The HOLY SPIRIT is none other than THE TRUTH NAAM/AMRIT/SATNAM. <br /><br />The father, the son and the holy spirit, prob even shows the sikh saying, of the guru chela chela guru relationship- GURU, CHELA GOD, or the sameness of god, man and amrit. <br /><br />Whoever on here said religions are all corrupted is right, the sants preach truth and the disciples <font color="#FF0000"><edited></font> up the principles becuase they cannot understand the gyan or wish to twist it to their own meanings. <br /><br />Now if jesus was telling us about holy spirit, ie. naam and sachkandh, why do people diss him, look up jesus quotes, the same principles our gurus preach ie. love thy neighbour, seva etc have been preached by sants throughout time, but we thickos refuse to listen. The Truth is so simple, so easy and is so natural but we resist adn fight it and make things millions of times more complicated, we slander, we are greedy and lazy, jealous, envious, full of ego, attachment and pride. We have people who are satanists and try to corrupt the concepts, people who also change it to control people, the religions are manmade, the Truth principles are god made and last forever no matter how much people wish to make them into relgions. God cannot be confined to a religion as he is omnipresent, the principles are there so people should put them into practice intuitively instead of arguing over rubbish.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

actually, Bani clearly states Gurmantr is Waheguru, andn sikh tradition of ALL groups agrees.

[Guru_Da_Chella]

Any which way you feel comfortable. Religion is an english word, dharam is an hindustani word. We should not be confused with words, the objective behind it in our minds, that is important.

True religion has no ceremonies, rites or rituals, these are all man made, all due to his weaknesses, his childish attitude, his inmature behaviour; or due to rules and regulations in the society and community.

Yes I feel uncomfortable with the term "religion" nut not the term dharam. We should try and follow Guru Nanak Dev ji's path.

[harsharan000]

We should respect all dharmas, respect our fellow beings and their beleifs. Nobody should be forced to believe anything. We can explain our views in a gentle manner, but should not expect instant results, like a coffe maker machine.... we said it and it is done.... No, spirituality does not work in that way. Each one of us has a different level of consciousness, due to our past karmas, past sanskaras, we are brought up in different envoirments, different atmospheres... so you see, each one of us is different in that way. No two people are on the same level, even though travelling on the same path. A mother gives birth to several chilfren, each one has diiferent characters, behaviours, intelligence...etc. It is not like for example at a supermarket, where any packet of sliced bread we take, have the same weight, same packaging, same taste...etc.

At human and spiritual levels, these things do not work in this way. Even at school, the teacher teaches all the pupils, gives them the same lecture, not less or more, but then why do all, do not have the same passing marks ? Why do some fail? Because all do not have the same level of consciousness. All seeds are of a particular grain are same(truth for example), but not all the soils( chit, mind or souls) have the same fertility. Some are like a dry desert, some are like a garden, some like a valley, some have weeds.... all need a paricular time to fertilize, though the seeds are the same.... and for that nobody is to blame... each has his own lot of karmas, of sanskaras.

One thing is for sure, that all souls have a natural pull towards its own origin, Satnam. But due to mind, maya, and one`s past karmas, most of us are lost in outer ways, nobody is aware of the truth inside of us. We do things mechanically, read and talk about the bani like parrots, without ever giving a slight thought to what and where our Gurus are pointing our attention to be directed in a usefull and practical and sucessfull manner.

Our Gurus have given us the highest teachings, in a very simple and a clear manner, which is reachable to every mortal, independent of color, caste, creed, nationality or social status. Their words are eternal, always evergreen, they were same 700 years ago, 200 years ago, and ever hereafter. Inspite of the limited and manmukhs having twisted their real meaning, and are thus misleading us, having tapped our sense of discrimination of truth , handicuffed our freedom, with their limited vision, their agyanta. And we do blindly follow them, sometimes our behaviour is of fanatics, without we being consciouss of the situation.

Guru Nanak Jee, has said the following words in Japji Sahib :

Sabna Jeea Ka Iko Daata, so mai visar na jae: There is only One giver for all the beings, and I should never ever forget Him.

An He tells us the way, to know Him and realize Him, and also to get us purified of all our sins and burn to ashes our karmas, which bind us in this creation; to also vanquish the powerful enemies, like mind, kaam, krodh, lobh, moh and ahankar or haume, with the only possible way, and that is Nam or Shabad . This Nam or Bani, or Shabad, is the active aspect projection of Wahiguru , which can be contacted and heard and seen, that is why in the Bani is said: Anter Jot, Niranter Bani, Sache Sahib Siu Liv Lae. Inside this human body is the divine light, from it cometh the Holy Sound of the Shabad, which merges the soul in the true Lord. This is the essence of any true religion

That is why He says: Suniai jog jugat tan bhed. Which means: By hearing His Name, Nam or Shabad, the method of realising Him in the temple of this human form or body , becomes known to the listener. Moreover ,Suniai, Dukh Paap sabh naas, which means : listen to this Shabad, and all our pains(karmas) and sins shall be washed away. So simple, and so true. If taken these words into practice, our pùrpose of human life, shall be only then accomplished or fulfilled.

Our Gurus, take our attention inside us, where the truth can be contacted and realized. But we like to wander outside, in karam, kand, reet, rivaaz, poojas, sacrifices, pilgrimages, fasts... etc, which are futile in terms of results, in realizing the one universal truth Satnam, Wahiguru Akal Purukh.

[Guest Truth]

That is the best darned post I think I have ever read on here- God bless you, I bow at your feet!

I could not have said it better myself.

Why is it that Satguru nanak CLEARLY told us there is no Hindu or muslim ie. NO RELIGION, and yet the fools continue their religious pride, their rigid rituals, their egostistical ways, hypocrisy and snobbery? Where many amritdharis mirror the hindus and muslims who did not let others into their kitchen squares. What happened to nirvair, to god is in everyone, love all equally. How is it that the very first lines that Satguru Nanak Dev Ji wrote in gurbani are being ignored by the very people who claim to be his followers/ lovers. This is not Love, this is pretence, hypocrisy and blatant Disrespect.

We are told the clay is the same but moulded into different forms. Do these fools not realise that by excluding others and acting snobbishly towards others in ego, they are excluding the lord himself?

Do the fools not realise that a god of no garb or form is not pleased with any clothing or dress other than naam- his name which is Truth/Him? Gurbani says the naam is my clothing, my beauty(image), wealth and honour.

Where ego resides, one is not pure, and we all have ego or we would be god realised so those who claim to be pure may as well be eating dog droppings and rolling in mud. Our own gurus called themselves names like 'the slave of all slaves', the lowest of all and animals, so how can one person claim to be better than another? Are we putting ourselves above our gurus? And how can god claim to be better than himself, because that what we are, unrealised gods, drops of water in his ocean.

We cannot do anything on our own, anything we do is according to His Hukam, so ego should go out the window completely. If we are so lucky as to be able to do naam simran, we should not be proud and snobbish as we have done absolutely NOTHING on our own, we should give our thanks a trillion times to Him and help others who's karams are not as lucky.

And that is what he wants. He tests us continuously and every single time ego(mind) comes into play, we fail miserably. He does not call for exclusion, for segregation, for religious and self pride, he calls for unity, for us to love one another as we love Him, unconditionally, without judgement of image because everyone IS HIM, they are just at different stages of realising this fact according to His Hukam.

We are all capable of comitting the worst possible deeds but by His grace, we restrain ourselves. We are all capable of being tormented by the worst demons, how many in the world have stories that mirror parts of the exorcist or horror and violent films? But by his grace, we are protected and saved, or he gives us oppertunity to be saved by allowing us to practice Truth. When people wake up and Nirbhau and Nirviar are observed through Naam Simran which is the only bestower of these qualities- and Naam Simran is practiced bringing the Truth of God inside us, the pretence and bulls*it will disappear and we will realise the Truth which is Him- Chant his True name, 'Satnam' with love(it is the greatest mantra as it is Him Himself and pure light), Truth will set us free, only Truth(Him/Light) can eradicate the False(Maya/Illusion/Ignorance) which has sent the world into darkness.