Say no to Guru's pictures

[singh245]

Benti - Stop showing respect to Gurus' photos

This is a highly anti gurmat act and cant be passed off as love or shardha as we are disobeying and therefore disrespecting jugo jug atal gurbani -

ਪਾਥਰੁ ਲੇ ਪੂਜਹਿ ਮੁਗਧ ਗਵਾਰ ॥

paathar lay poojeh mugaDh gavaar.

The ignorant fools pick up stones and worship them.

ਓਹਿ ਜਾ ਆਪਿ ਡੁਬੇ ਤੁਮ ਕਹਾ ਤਰਣਹਾਰੁ ॥੨॥

ohi jaa aap dubay tum kahaa taranhaar. ||2||

But when those stones themselves sink, who will carry you across? ||2||

Some may argue that these panktis are against idol worship (made of stone) - but we need to understand guru's shabad in spirit not in letter - this applies to anything that is symbolic of god - in case of pictures - an idol made of ink and paper instead of clay.

If gurus wanted to have portraits made of themselves , they could have done that through artists - but they categorically ordained against it - as they knew that instead of following the message , people will start bowing to the pictures (which is unfortunately what the sikh panth of today is copiously doing)

For those who don't know - these pictures are not even correct depictions of gurus - they are in fact all imagination of one man - Sobha Singh , in fact no one knows what gurus looked like and thats not a problem since in gurmat we are advised to focus on immortal shabad and not on mortal personalities.

So remove guru's pictures from your homes and instead hang tuks from guru granth sahib such as "Fareeda bure ka kar bhala, gussa man na handaye" , "Haq paraya nanaka us sooar us gai " , "mithat neevi nanaka , gun changiyaiya tat" - which will positively influence our day to day behaviour and make us better humans and gursikhs.

Finally exercise your own wisdom rather than blindly following others -

ਦੇਖਾ ਦੇਖੀ ਸਭ ਕਰੇ ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝ ਨ ਪਾਇ ॥

daykhaa daykhee sabh karay manmukh boojh na paa-ay.

They follow others, but the self-willed manmukhs do not understand.

Bhul chook maaf !

WJKK WJKF

Yo no one is worshiping pictures of gurus.... Art can be inspiring sometimes just reading something isnt enough and a good artist can visually show you something and it can leave you in awe. Ppl are showing respect to the idea and the thought behind it because it reminds them of the story they read or a verse of gurbani..... When i was a kid i used to imagine and visualize the stories in my head that my grandmother told me.. to this day i a draw on this in adult hood. is that idol worship. the pictures are in my head. no of course not visualizing it helps imprint it in my mind and makes the story more powerful. We are not all about to become saints people you forget culture art history are important in gristhi jeevan.

[N30S1NGH]

Those frescos you are referring to depict historical scenes. Nobody is saying they should be destroyed. The matter at hand are the portraits (mostly made by Sobha Singh) which people pray to.

That's the same argument given by Hindus for allowing idol worship, a practice which is not condoned in the Hindu scriptures. Initially they allowed it because they say it is a way for people with low spirituality to focus on God. They also believe that God is in all creation, therefore praying to a rock is not wrong. Guru Granth Sahib ji has elevated us above such thinking.

Again, this argument is used is Hinduism. They say that people will slowly graduate from worshipping idols, to realizing the Supreme Brahman, or "divine flow" as you have put it. Guru ji taught us that we can realize God by meditating on Naam and contemplating gurbani.

I wish we could stick to the crux of the debate. How do we get people to stop praying to pics of Guru Sahiban? If there is no logical solution, then the only thing that is left to do is remove these portraits, at least from our gurdwaras.

Not sure why would you bring hindus into this discussion. Nevertheless, if you must then what you think about Christians?? They got jesus christ pictures/idols everywhere in their church- does that make them idol worshipers by your standards?

[Sherdil]

Not sure why would you bring hindus into this discussion. Nevertheless, if you must then what you think about Christians?? They got jesus christ pictures/idols everywhere in their church- does that make them idol worshipers by your standards?

Bro, the points you made could be copied and pasted onto a Hindu forum, in support of murti pooja.

It says in the Bible not to make statues of gold and worship them. Catholics do it anyways.

[GuptUnknown]

Bro, the points you made could be copied and pasted onto a Hindu forum, in support of murti pooja.

It says in the Bible not to make statues of gold and worship them. Catholics do it anyways.

so catholics are idol worshippers? This missionary paranoia is just mind boggling. Waheguru.

[Singh559]

so catholics are idol worshippers? This missionary paranoia is just mind boggling. Waheguru.

Technically speaking they are idol worshipping since the idol isn't their shabad Guru.

This is a different subject though

[Sherdil]

so catholics are idol worshippers? This missionary paranoia is just mind boggling. Waheguru.

I'm not a missionary, as I believe in Dasam Granth.

What's with all these labels nowadays? What happened to just being a Sikh?

I don't follow any group or jathebandi.

[Sherdil]

Dasam Granth, pannaa 41

gaah haarae goran manaae haarae marrhee maatt leep haarae bheethan lagaae haarae shhaapasee ||

The grave visitors and the worshippers of the crematoria and the monasteries have got weary; those who plaster walls and make patterns of idols on the walls have accepted defeat.

[Singh559]

N30 how can you believe that they aren't idol worshipping?

Corruption has come into all modern religions, but the least in Sikhi.

Puritan Gurdwaras were known as dharmasalas and British travellers were surprised no pictures other than Sti GUru Granth Sahib Ji was there.

[N30S1NGH]

N30 how can you believe that they aren't idol worshipping? Corruption has come into all modern religions, but the least in Sikhi. Puritan Gurdwaras were known as dharmasalas and British travellers were surprised no pictures other than Sti GUru Granth Sahib Ji was there.

They may be idol worshippers or may not be idol worshippers. What defines if one is idol worshiper or not is one's perception surrounding the object/picture rather than object/picture itself near them...who am i to know state of individual/devotee? Only Vahiguroo Ji knows inner self of an individual!!!!!

[Sherdil]

They may be idol worshippers or may not be idol worshippers. What defines if one is idol worshiper or not is one's perception surrounding the object/picture rather than object/picture itself near them...who am i to know state of individual/devotee? Only Vahiguroo Ji knows inner self of an individual!!!!!

An idol worshipper is defined by the act of worshipping an idol (inanimate object). It has nothing to do with their inner-self.

Standing in front of a portrait of Guru Nanak, with hands folded, and saying a prayer / asking the pic for blessings is idol worship.