Love

[Mehtab Singh]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

I am gonna feed on your brains again (6) . Sorry if this is boring or flies over your head. Wrote this down some days back, actually wrote my mind on paper. If its confusing, then it just shows that I am dum. :

Love and its relation to Sikhi

A lot has been said about love over the period of human existence. What I am going to say is nothing new or refreshing. Rather, my attempt at trying to write something on love is merely my own experience, which justifies some, if not all of what has been previously said by others.

There is not one single standard definition of love. Since there are around six billion human lives on this planet, you may very well expect six billion varying definitions of love. Again, these definitions differ from culture to culture and country to country. In the eastern world, love has a more spiritual touch to it. It is also referred to as one of the forms of the Divine Almighty by some. The West, however seems to associate it with minor bits of materialism which again is only my presumed perception.

But today, there is one thing I wish to stress upon. Again, this may have been stated before also. Love has no opposite. It has no opponent and no foe. Why do I say this? Simply because there is no emotion like love! Since there cannot be an equivalent and opposing force to match the Divine Almighty, I doubt if there can be an equivalent and opposing emotion to counter love.

What we call as hate or hatred and often believe it to be the opposite of love is nothing more than an unpleasant impulse arising out of fear. When someone says they hate someone or something, it is just a hidden way to express their fear about this particular person or thing. Most of the time this fear arises out of ignorance. Once a person is well acquainted with someone or something, the level of knowledge attained or experience acquired removes most of the possibilities that may give rise to fear.

So is fear and not hate the opposite of love? Definitely not! Fear is the absence of love. Just like darkness is the absence of light and death is the absence of life, fear is a condition where surprisingly no love exists.

So we see how important love is in our lives. No one should live their life with hate breeding within their minds. Therefore, no one should let any kind of fear dwell within themselves. The question now arises that sometimes fear is needed, like fear of the police, fear of parents, fear of God etc. These fears are not genuinely fears. Fear of police is not fear but a kind of bondage on oneself to live within the limits of law and order. Fear of parents is not fear but a mental block on oneself to regard them at all times. Fear of God is also in some sense one's way to surrender before the Divine Almighty and know oneself to be powerless before the One Infinite Creator.

So what does it mean to fear God, and/or to love God? Can these two stages be simultaneous? Maybe, maybe not! Almost every other person who is not an atheist or a hardcore agnostic fears God. Many people don't commit sins due to fear of God. But how many are those who stay away from evil because they love God? How many are those who live spiritual lives not because they expect rewards from God and don't want any kind of penalties imposed on themselves? How many people are driven away from sin just because they love God rather than the fact that they believe God will punish them?

I sit here writing all this, and surprisingly for a long time I myself wasn't aware as to what it meant to have love for God rather than fear. The feeling that "O Lord! You are All-Merciful and All-Forgiving. No matter what I do, You will always forgive me and still accept me as Your own. No matter how much I fall, You will still pick me up. No matter how much I dirty myself with the filth of all possible sins, You will still wash me and make me perfectly clean. And no matter how many times I fail, You are always there to give me another chance". Once this wave starts within someone, that person will feel ashamed to do anything wrong.

Imagine a child who scored bad grades on a test. Rather than scolding him/her, if the father of this child smiles and encourages this child to do better next time, what will be the mental state of this child. He/she won't dare to repeat the same mistake. Even though the father may repeatedly forgive the child's failures, but the love for the father will prevent him/her from doing anything that disappoints his/her father. He/she knows that he/she won't be punished, but it's the love that makes the child not repeat the same mistakes. Even if one is shameless enough to not learn from one's mistakes, the guilt of disappointing someone you love deeply is strong enough to give you the power to make efforts towards improvement. We fail to learn and never try to improve, and when things go wrong, or don't go as expected, we name the situation as a punishment from God.

God never punishes. It is we who waver and punish ourselves. The Divine Almighty gives us innumerable chances to improve ourselves and complete our journey to the Supreme Abode, but it is we who keep slipping. We fear God as if God was out there to wreck vengeance on us, but the Divine Almighty, our Creator is only there to take care of us. It is this sense of not wanting to disappoint our Father, although He never gets disappointed, it is this sense of not wanting to feel ashamed before Him, although we are not even worth looking Him in the eye, it is this sense of wanting to be His most beloved children that stops His lovers from all wrong doings. Dear reader(s), here it is not fear, but pure love that does the trick!

Beware! The path of true love is far from easy. One poet calls it as "a river of fire in which one has to drown in order to swim across". And what is even more terrifying is that you go into it all alone. The only consolation you have is that the one you truly love is with you at any cost. Other than that, you may very well expect the entire world to turn against you. That is the real test of true love. Love also means giving. There is just one road in one direction without any tracks. You give, you surrender, you give up, you offer, you submit, you lay down, and you do all this without expecting anything in return! You don't see your own loss or gain, but just do whatever it takes for the one you love.

A mother once took her only son to the doctor. The son had a tumor on his arm and was getting worse. The doctor started cutting the tumor in front of the mom to get the puss out. The little child screamed in agony, the mother was in tears, but she let the doctor do his job. The child may have hated the mother for not helping him, but little did he know about the truth behind this pain. Little did he know that all this was to cure him. He couldn't see the big picture and may have hated his mother for watching him cry and do nothing about it.

God is our Supreme Mother. At times in life we go through immense pain and feel that there is no God. One's faith breaks easily during hardships which are actually the true test of faith. But we fail to look at the bigger picture. We fail to accept the fact that this pain is similar to the child's pain felt as the tumor was being removed. If He puts us through fire, it is meant to turn us into gold and not burn us.

~ Mehtab Singh

This isn't the complete write up. The actual one can't be posted for personal reasons :wub:

Thanks for reading

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

[Inder 84]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

Wow that is really something it makes you think more,

It wakens your emotions and stimulates the mind.

I must say that was very beautiful and inspiring Veer ji

I'd love to read the rest of it but as you said it's personal so I won't bug you about it.

Inder Kaur

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

[Guest lowest of the low singhni]

m...nice. thanks jio :wub:

~l~

[immortalsingh]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

kwnVw mhlw 5 Gru 7

<> siqgur pRswid ]

iqK bUiJ geI geI imil swD jnw ]

pMc Bwgy cor shjy suKYno hry gun gwvqI gwvqI gwvqI drs ipAwir ]1] rhwau ]

jYsI krI pRB mo isau mo isau AYsI hau kYsy krau ]

hIau qum@wry bil bly bil bly bil geI ]1]

pihly pY sMq pwie iDAwie iDAwie pRIiq lwie ]

pRB Qwnu qyro kyhro ijqu jMqn kir bIcwru ]

Aink dws kIriq krih quhwrI ]

soeI imilE jo Bwvqo jn nwnk Twkur rihE smwie ]

eyk qUhI qUhI qUhI ]2]1]37]

kaanarraa mehalaa 5 ghar 7

ik oa(n)kaar sathigur prasaadh ||

thikh boojh gee gee mil saadhh janaa ||

pa(n)ch bhaagae chor sehajae sukhaino harae gun gaavathee gaavathee gaavathee dharas piaar ||1|| rehaao ||

jaisee karee prabh mo sio mo sio aisee ho kaisae karo ||

heeo thumhaarae bal balae bal balae bal gee ||1||

pehilae pai sa(n)th paae dhhiaae dhhiaae preeth laae ||

prabh thhaan thaero kaeharo jith ja(n)than kar beechaar ||

anik dhaas keerath karehi thuhaaree ||

soee miliou jo bhaavatho jan naanak t(h)aakur rehiou samaae ||

eaek thoohee thoohee thoohee ||2||1||37||

Kaanraa, Fifth Mehl, Seventh House:

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

My thirst has been quenched, meeting with the Holy.

The five thieves have run away, an

d I am in peace and poise; singing, singing, singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, I obtain the Blessed Vision of my Beloved. ||1||Pause||

That which God has done for me - how can I do that for Him in return?

I make my heart a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a sacrifice to You. ||1||

First, I fall at the feet of the Saints; I meditate, meditate, lovingly attuned to You.

O God, where is that Place, where You contemplate all Your beings?

Countless slaves sing Your Praises.

He alone meets You, who is pleasing to Your Will. Servant Nanak remains absorbed in his Lord and Master.

thanks to Maharaj jee for giving veer jee such idea

i needed this desperately

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[H4RPAL]

Great. Thanks for posting Veer Ji

[sher_panjabi]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Paaji I am gob smacked!!!!!

That was a beautifully written article!!!

lost for words

It would be great if you could allow permission to be able to post this article on some e-groups.

:TH:

[Mehtab Singh]

It would be great if you could allow permission to be able to post this article on some e-groups.

veerjee, u dont need to ask me...ur thoughts and posts are a million times better than what i blabber :T: ...it would be an honor for me if u think this write up is worth posting...feel free to go ahead :T:

[Nidhi]

Virji its a good description of love and its relation towards Sikhi! I see a form of a intertextuality in ur writing, 2+2=4!! Well done! I enjoyed reading it... and sent it to mAny otha ppl.

It's just soo difficult (but possible)... to be aware of every little thing that ur doing... coz there might be some little thing that makes u do those "wrong" things. Everything is competion, copmii compii here, especially but of all the expectations u have... is this the fear ur talking about!! But guess, the answer can be found in ur own conscience of whats right or whats wrong, rite... but in my mind then competing is wrong as well... coz if u wont compete than how can u accomplish to do what u want to doo... =>Fear?!!

I see ur point!!!

But it's a good p***** (lol forgot the word, treatment,cure,whateva:)) to become a better person...

Its true as that poet says about love: “a river of fire in which one has to drown in order to swim across”!!

By reading this, I (might) have gotton a better understanding of what/why things happened in South East Asia.

So what if u have this other case... wheneva my brother goes to get a hair cut, I tell him the story of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji comparing with him getting his hair cut by a muslim, etc (Manvir virji's lines). Next time/now Ill tell him not to get a hair cut... and keep on encouraging him like that!! Its pretty obvious that it might work, but a child can get aggressive/irritated in that way as well (from experience). Is that the best way, suggestions? I'll try... hope it'll work. It's really nice to get ideas from u talented ppl.

Just

wanted to share that sum ppl are actually reading and Using what ur writing... its not a waste, its inspiration and it works!! Thanks a lot

[smartsingh24]

But it's a good p***** (lol forgot the word, treatment,cure,whateva:)) to become a better person...

Its true as that poet says about love: “a river of fire in which one has to drown in order to swim across”!! By reading this, I (might) have gotton a better understanding of what/why things happened in South East Asia.

The word you're thinking of is Panacea :TH:

[sukhnidhaan]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

Are u guys feeling OK?

I think I need to prescribe u some duaa.

: used 'I' twice in one sentence! Wat an ego maniac this DAAS is.

NEway:

soriT mhlw 5 ]

sorat(h) mehalaa 5 ||

Sorat'h, Fifth Mehl:

jnm jnm ky dUK invwrY sUkw mnu swDwrY ]

janam janam kae dhookh nivaarai sookaa man saadhhaarai ||

He dispels the pains of countless incarnations, and lends support to the dry and shrivelled mind.

drsnu Bytq hoq inhwlw hir kw nwmu bIcwrY ]1]

dharasan bhaet

tath hoth nihaalaa har kaa naam beechaarai ||1||

Beholding the Blessed Vision of His Darshan, one is enraptured, contemplating the Name of the Lord. ||1||

myrw bYdu gurU goivMdw ]

maeraa baidh guroo govi(n)dhaa ||

My physician is the Guru, the Lord of the Universe.

hir hir nwmu AauKDu muiK dyvY kwtY jm kI PMDw ]1] rhwau ]

har har naam aoukhadhh mukh dhaevai kaattai jam kee fa(n)dhhaa ||1|| rehaao ||

He places the medicine of the Naam into my mouth, and cuts away the noose of Death. ||1||Pause||

smrQ purK pUrn ibDwqy Awpy krxYhwrw ]

samarathh purakh pooran bidhhaathae aapae karanaihaaraa ||

He is the all-powerful, Perfect Lord, the Architect of Destiny; He Himself is the Doer of deeds.

Apunw dwsu hir Awip aubwirAw nwnk nwm ADwrw ]2]6]34]

apunaa dhaas har aap oubaariaa naanak naam adhhaaraa ||2||6||34||

The Lord Himself saves His slave; Nanak takes the Support of the Naam. ||2||6

||34||

singing sister!

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!