Does Maharaaj need blankets, fans, A/C, etc

[paapiman]

Please listen to Gyani Kulwant Singh jee, explaining the importance of doing seva of Satguru Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee Maharaaj.

Please start listening after 31:20 min:

http://www.gianikulwantsingh.com/audio/BaarahMaahaaTukhaari_ChantMahla-1/5%20-%20Thukaree%20Raag%20Baraa%20Maha%20Katha%20-%20Giani%20Kulwant%20Singh%20Ji%20(Ludhiana%20Vaalay).mp3

 

Bhul chuk maaf

[amardeep]

Always find it weird when Gurdware do that.

[Ragmaala]

9 hours ago, paapiman said:

Please listen to Gyani Kulwant Singh jee, explaining the importance of doing seva of Satguru Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee Maharaaj.

Please start listening after 31:20 min:

http://www.gianikulwantsingh.com/audio/BaarahMaahaaTukhaari_ChantMahla-1/5%20-%20Thukaree%20Raag%20Baraa%20Maha%20Katha%20-%20Giani%20Kulwant%20Singh%20Ji%20(Ludhiana%20Vaalay).mp3

 

Bhul chuk maaf

Hanji, its a matter of one's bhavna.

[Guest guest]

i didnt listen to the link, but i think its a beautiful thing.  people are offering Him the luxuries that are meaningful to them.  Its a sweet way of showing respect. 

[CdnSikhGirl]

It is obviously being done for respect... however if it comes to a point of blankets for SGGSJ or blankets for a person in need who is suffering in the cold... then what do we do? What would Guru Nanak Dev Ji do? I'm not saying not to do these things. But what I am asking is, do we do these things at a higher importance than helping someone in need of those same things? 

[IJJSingh]

I bow to those who are truly in love with the Guru, and are doing these things spontaneously as an outpouring of love.  However, its a terrible slippery slope for many people like me who start feeling smug by just copying the ritual but are not listening to the Guru.

 

Humans always look for shortcuts.  It is very difficult to follow the Guru and work on controlling our mind.  Its relatively easy to buy trinkets.  Quite often these trinkets are bought with ill-gotten money, and come with strings attached with expectations of quid pro quo from the Guru.

 

I remember a story of a mother whose only son who was a soldier had gone to war.  In agony of separation, the mother would hold her son's shirt tight to her chest and cry for hours.  A servant in the household who had no worries or love for the soldier, started copying the ritual with the shirt.  Its quite possible that when idle worship started in Hinduism, its focus was to love and imitate the virtues of the deity.  Over time, with most it devolved to simply copying the actions of other followers with no connection to the path laid out by the deity.

 

Any type of interaction which leads us to listen to the Guru is a good thing.  We should make these offerings to SGGS if it motivates us in doing Guru's seva, but let’s not forget what Guru tells us his true seva is:

ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥ Guru's service is reflection upon the Shabad (SGGS 223)

ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਕਰਿ ਪਿਰਾ ਜੀਉ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਏ ॥ Serve the Guru, O my dear soul; meditate on the Lord's Name. (SGGS 246)

ਸਤਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਗਾਖੜੀ ਸਿਰੁ ਦੀਜੈ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਇ ॥ It is very difficult to serve the True Guru. Surrender your head; give up your selfishness. (SGGS 27).

 

Even when Guru refers to physical actions as seva, he still keeps focus on naam:

ਪੀਅਹਿ ਤ ਪਾਣੀ ਆਣੀ ਮੀਰਾ ਖਾਹਿ ਤ ਪੀਸਣ ਜਾਉ ॥ ਪਖਾ ਫੇਰੀ ਪੈਰ ਮਲੋਵਾ ਜਪਤ ਰਹਾ ਤੇਰਾ ਨਾਉ ॥ If You wish to drink, then I shall fetch water; if You wish to eat, I shall grind the corn for You.  I wave the fan over You, and wash Your feet, and continue to chant Your Name. (SGGS 991)

If we are not listening to the Guru and devising our own forms of “seva”, then we are wasting our life:

          ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸੇਵ ਨ ਕੀਨੀ ਬਿਰਥਾ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥ They do not serve the Perfect Guru; they waste away their lives in vain. (SGGS 32).

 

Waheguru ji ki Fateh, Waheguru ji ki Fateh

[Koi]

Does the Guru/Waheguru need our bhagti / seva etc? 

This is all prem / shradhaa for our own kalyaan

[Guest guest]

Guru Nanak spoke very highly of true bhagats, sants.  So i think there is some deeper meaning, it is not just for a person's own kalyan.  Such things, if done sincerely, make God happy.  Remember that acts of bhagti /shradha can be done without personal desire for gain.

[Guest guest]

On 19/03/2016 at 2:19 PM, CdnSikhGirl said:

It is obviously being done for respect... however if it comes to a point of blankets for SGGSJ or blankets for a person in need who is suffering in the cold... then what do we do? What would Guru Nanak Dev Ji do? I'm not saying not to do these things. But what I am asking is, do we do these things at a higher importance than helping someone in need of those same things? 

Yes they are not mutually exclusive, and helping people in cold is not only important, but also an act of worship that reaches God also. Because he also feels everyones's suffing.  It's written somewhere 'a hungry man's mouth is the Guru's cashbox'  So we/Gurdwaras should do both,

[Guest SIKH KHOJ]

maharaaj ji needs ishnaan too.

[Guest guest]

Khoj ji, how?

[paapiman]

ਤਿਸੁ ਗੁਰ ਕਉ ਛਾਦਨ ਭੋਜਨ ਪਾਟ ਪਟੰਬਰ ਬਹੁ ਬਿਧਿ ਸਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਮੁਖਿ ਸੰਚਹੁ ਤਿਸੁ ਪੁੰਨ ਕੀ ਫਿਰਿ ਤੋਟਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ॥੪॥

Offer the Guru sacred foods, clothes, silk and satin robes of all sorts; know that He is True. The merits of this shall never leave you lacking. ||4||

 

Bhul chuk maaf