Jump to content

How And Why Are Sikhs Killing Sikhi?


JSinghnz
 Share

Recommended Posts

One way to overcome, is to read carefully each and every single word from the Bani, (not like parrots)and let it go deep within us, by His Simran, then only shall we see the difference within us, we shall come to know by ourselves, if we are true sikhs or just by lips.

There is no match to Gurbani, neither in taste, neither in the goodness... Gurbani is unique and supreme.

Completely agree. It is a disservice to SGGS when we just get people to parrot the words, when we don't share it with others.

A Sikh's root is SGGS. Without the Guru, what are we?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree with some of the points made in this video. The issues "killing" Sikhi are far deeper and serious than these "problems".

Sikh names.

What is a Sikh name? Is Ishar, Gobind, Ram, Krishan, Kiran, Deep, Inder, along with many other formulaic names, Sikh names? Our Gurus had names from other traditions, Ram (the sovereign), Gobind (master of the Universe), Arjun (pure) all these names have roots in Sanskrit, Hindu traditions.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji's sons, two had Punjabi names Ajit (victorious, unbeaten) and Jujhar (warrior). While the other Sahibzade had Persian names Zorawar (mighty, brave) and Fateh (victory). Are these "Sikh" names? How about Iqbal Singh? There are SIkh Iqbals, but you'll find more Muslim Iqbals. The "Sikh" names Jarnail and Karnail, they come from French words for general and colonel. They came with French soldiers who came to Punjab to fight in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. Are these valid "Sikh" names?

Obviously there are some names which have a Sikh root. Any name with "Gur" can be said to be name inspired by Sikhi. There is a subset of authentic "Sikh" names, meaning Punjabi names that popped up in the genesis of Sikhi that relate to concepts in Sikhi. For example, any name with the prefix “Gur” (Gurbaksh, Gurpreet) relates to Guru. Obviously, for the vast majority of Sikhs, not everyone used these names. One notable Sikh that had such a name didn’t even go by it; Gurbaksh Singh being colloquially known as “Banda Singh Bahadur”. Some Muslims chose to change their names when they took Amrit like Ajmer Singh, but that was optional and done out of their own will.

There are two "Sikh" names that every Sikh should use. Singh and Kaur are the only names mandated by our Guru, as long as a Sikh uses these names, what does it matter what their first name is?

You can have an Arabic name like Kabir (great One) and be called Kabir Singh. You can have a Sanskrit name like Simran (rememberance) and be called Simran Kaur.

Never heard anyone say the story of Chotte Sahibzade is scary. Why was the Chotte Sahibzade movie so successful? Many children went to watch the movie. Also, we don't mourn deaths. We celebrate death, we celebrate shaheedi. The shaheedis are celebrated in Punjab with fun fairs. It is not a sad thing that these brave souls did such inspiring things.

Yes, we should remember our shaheeds. At Christmas, remind the children of the Sahibzade, give them a gift (if you give gifts for Christmas) but remind them of our Guru's sacrifice.

The fact that some people don't remember our shaheeds points to a much bigger problem than "they will be scared".

Sikhs don't know their own history. Many don't know how the sahibzade were Shaheed, many don't know why they were shaheed. Many don't even know HOW they were able to do the things they did.

Lack of parchar among Sikhs, how many times is Kirtan just sung in our Gurdwaras without translations or a katha on the words? How much discussion happens in our Gurdwaras?

Veer ji I think she is talking about the pronunciation of names. I've gone through most of my life with people not pronouncing my name right, I was worried my white friends would laugh at me. But its only been recently that I realised my name was given from Guru Ji and tell new people I meet the proper pronunciation.

But I do agree this issue is not whats "killing" Sikhi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Veer ji I think she is talking about the pronunciation of names. I've gone through most of my life with people not pronouncing my name right, I was worried my white friends would laugh at me. But its only been recently that I realised my name was given from Guru Ji and tell new people I meet the proper pronunciation.

But I do agree this issue is not whats "killing" Sikhi.

Fair enough, but compared to the actual problems killing Sikhi, "no parchar, not following SGGS, drugs, alcohol", it is an incredibly small problem.

If we're talking about pronunciation and Sikh terms, I'd like our parcharks and fellow Sikhs to pronounce Sikh properly. I'd like us to use our own terminology. I'd like more accurate English translations, than the Abrahmic and Vedic influenced translations we have.

My point was that there are no "Sikh" names. The only name given from Guru Ji was Singh and Kaur.

I do have a problem with people getting westernised names for their Punjabi names. Like Harjot calling themselves Harry. Being worried about people laughing or changing your name points to insecurites about your culture. This again is a sign of a bigger problem.

People not knowing anything about Sikhi. If you don't know about Sikhi, if you dont understand your root, then obviously you will want to fit into your wider society and blend in. If you have that strength from Sikhi, you will stand out in the world. Even if you have a different name, you will be secure about yourself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two "Sikh" names that every Sikh should use. Singh and Kaur are the only names mandated by our Guru, as long as a Sikh uses these names, what does it matter what their first name is?

Very valid point but is it happening?

So many so called Sikhs use their tribal, tail names rather than SINGH and KAUR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sikhs don't know their own history. Many don't know how the sahibzade were Shaheed, many don't know why they were shaheed. Many don't even know HOW they were able to do the things they did.

Lack of parchar among Sikhs, how many times is Kirtan just sung in our Gurdwaras without translations or a katha on the words? How much discussion happens in our Gurdwaras?

Spot on, but we all know these are huge issues affecting our religion.

Parents do not have time to teach their children their mother language nor the glorious history of Sikhism.

What can be done to find urgent solutions and answers to these problems?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two "Sikh" names that every Sikh should use. Singh and Kaur are the only names mandated by our Guru, as long as a Sikh uses these names, what does it matter what their first name is?

Very valid point but is it happening?

So many so called Sikhs use their tribal, tail names rather than SINGH and KAUR.

It's the third names that's the problem I can perceive. I don't know if Guru Sahib allowed us to keep them or not, but I've always felt that adding a third name after Singh is sort of in a way building and dividing the Khalsa. The Singh and Kaur made us seem like a massive family, the addition of a third name makes me feel like we're purposely dividing ourselves even while within the Khalsa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's the third names that's the problem I can perceive. I don't know if Guru Sahib allowed us to keep them or not, but I've always felt that adding a third name after Singh is sort of in a way building and dividing the Khalsa. The Singh and Kaur made us seem like a massive family, the addition of a third name makes me feel like we're purposely dividing ourselves even while within the Khalsa.

Guru Sahib took a revolutionary step by removing us from centuries old tribalism, casteism by giving us SINGH and KAUR as our last names.

Our enemies could not digest that and especially the British encouraged and promoted casteism to grow in our religion to divide and weaken us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use