Martin Holland

This perhaps tells us why hinduism is different from sikhism. In sikhism we can communicate and invoke God directly. Hindus on the other hand have to go through lesser gods and goddesses to speak with God. This is what I had to do as an exchristian. http://hinduism.about.com/cs/basics/a/aa072103a.htm

Thank you DSG. It is the responsibility of the individual state to enforce stricter immigration policies and let the Gurdwaras carry out theirs'. Places of worship don't pass laws, it is not their role to do so.

The Guru's teachings are above discrimination and here where I live I have never seen any sort of discrimination against anyone. The sikh sangat is most welcoming and pleasant to talk to. I don't involve myself with Gurdwara's policiies on its daily activities.

Sikh Gurdwaras have never ever discriminated anyone on the basis of race, caste or color. They welcome anyone and everyone. Langar sewa is a blessing of the Guru and everyone is welcome whether one is a hindu illegal/legal, christain illegal/legal or sikh illegal/legal for that matter. The Guru's teachings are above discrimination.

It is not a role that should be assigned to sewaadaars at the Gurdwaras to ask each and everyone if they are legal or illegal before serving the Langar. They are doing sewa and besides everyone is considered equal before the Guru.

http://sikhsiyasat.net/2014/10/22/belgium-gurdwara-sahib-asked-to-close-for-one-month-down-by-authorities/ This Gurdwara has been told to close down for a month because they have been offering food to illegal immigrants. Let's face it, everyone needs food to survive whether one is legal or illegal. At the end of the day we are all human and it's our spiritual/religious/moral duty to help and look after the disadvantaged and those in need of help. All they were doing was reaching out and helping those that needed help that is all. It is so disappointing to see this happening in a country which is a member of the EU.

Just because it cannot be stopped altogether does not mean we are going to make fun of it. Your tone so is alarmingly insulting. You are turning this so very serious matter into a mockery. You need to grow up and learn this world is not full of people like you who insult and mock everyone and everything they cannot handle or understand. Thank goodness for that, we still have some good people left in this world. I am very astonished.

Your attitude is very offensive. Is there a competition in progress to see which country is the 'Rape Capital of the World?' If there is one no one is aware of it. In India there have also been rape incidents involving western tourists and it is not a nice to thing to say lets have a competiton to find out which country is the capital in this crime. Instead of showing sympathy towards the victims you have chosen to be insulting and derogatory in all your comments. Your bad attitude can be sensed by reading your posts. Your comments are enough to tell me what kind of a horrible person you must be in real life. You have no decency to treat the whole matter with sensitivity or kind words. The reason rape incidents are so common in India against those poor helpless women is because of people like you who lack sympathy and insight into what a serious crime this is. You are suppose to accept this problem first then do something to stop it from happening so regularly in India. If you keep making fun and ignoring it you are not doing anything towards stopping it. For this you need strength of character and courage. You don't seem to have either. Why do you need to blow your trumpet about your great history whether it is authentic or not if you can't even sit down and think about the seriousness of this crime? What is the point of having knowledge about your past history if you have not learnt anything from it? Education is suppose to teach us how to deal with our problems and not brush them under the carpet. India needs to sort its problems out and there is no need to show off and compare it with the world's number one country whether it is in terms of its economy or social mobility. I do think India is not what you claim it to be.

There are some in India and the feeling is totally uplifting. It is difficult to get to them but if you have any friends that can help you it is easy.

I am really struggling to understand you.

Thanks, but my post was in response to satpalM and not in response to the origininale poster. The problems at the airports are not the same all over. I think it depends where you are travelling, but travelling in Europe is not a problem.

My wife started an organization where women could get together and organize a gurdwara with female impact and were successful. Although men participated too but it has more of a female impact on it. Both men and women are amritdarries and wear bana. Their children are also taught the importance of Amrit and Bana which they partake as they become more mature and sensible. They have a hall for the SGGS, a langar hall, an area allocated for children to play and also have gurmat classes and a wonderful separate room where they have a second SGGS with a notice outside the door ' Silence please,meditation/nam jap in progress.' It is the most peaceful place to go to and everyone there looks very civil. My wife was born in Kenya and her parents also were born there. They have managed to keep the sikh faith free of violence and dogma. They have managed to keep up with the true essence of sikhism and the teachings of the 10 Masters. Majority of the congregation and their offsprings are devout sikhs with firm belief in themselves as sikhs and in their sikh faith and they don't resemble any congretation one encounters in majority of the sikh temples around the world. They have managed to educate the women to advance levels of knowledge and are able to preach in three languages ie swahilli, english and poonjabi. One cannot fail to observe here in this place men behave like true gentlemen and the women behave like typical ladies! Their manners are sophisticated and their language is extremely polite. They follow a culture unique to their organization. It is neither Indian/ponjabi or western but has basis in the SGGS. Most of the women are also working in top positions in banks, hospitals, universities and so on. I have never witnessed any violence in this temple although there are men in the congregation too. Everyone is polite and considerate and most speak at least two languages fluently english and poonjabi with swahilli here and there. I sometimes wonder why are these people so entirely different from the rest of sikh people that one sees in other temples all over the world. This temple is actually situated in a building which used to belong to two families until they got together and decided to turn it into a place of worship. It is surrounded with open grounds with trees and shrubs for a walking nam jap practice. The congregation takes turns to keep everything clean and beautiful. You will also notice how well behaved the children are. They are all very proud of their sikh heritage and the sikh history. When you meet them they never fail to inform you of how their parents came to be born in Kenya and how they all visited Ponjab when they were children. Please don't get me wrong, they love visiting India even now to learn more about their own history and teach their children too. They are simply amazing bunch of nice good people who know exactly who they are and have firm and unshakeable confidence in themselves as sikhs. They are one very extremely proud bunch of sikh people I have ever met or known. Let me also say this that one notices everyone here free from the disease of 'egotitis' although they all live in a predominantly white, modern western, countries. They have managed to keep their sikh faith alive side by side with modernity, this in my view is highly laudable. They participate in the western world but also participate in their inner search for God and communion with him. The only identity they refer to is their sikh one, there is no mention of any other identity or identities in this wonderful little place. The SGGS says remove the filth from the surface of your mind and see your true identity, which is the only identity a true sikh should have. The rest are all made up by the filth of the mind. It is a work of corrupt and lost mind. I firmly believe women can organize and manage temples successfully by giving them a softer and more compassionate touch, which is a natural part of their female make up. Women also make vey good listeners so it reduces the element of violence and agression one encounters or reads about at sikh places of worship. They are also good with words so this gives chance to discussion rather than arguing and fighting which one finds has become the norm theses days.

I read this post and was compelled to say something without offending anyone. Before I became a sikh I had many friends that were sikhs. What I found very strange was that while the men were very talkative and high spirited their women were exactly the opposite. Wherever and whenever I visited my sikh friends I found the women were most submissive and the men controlled the scene. This pattern of attitudes I found very peculiar when this is not what Sikhism teaches. It has equality for both men and women so why would men still be so controlling? Slowly I started asking questions about this and I was told that it is not the religion that teaches Sikhs to behave like this but it is their culture. I was very confused and still am. My question is what is the Sikh culture? I was born in a Christian family learning about Sikhism and its precepts. From what I learnt I realised that the teachings of the Sikh Gurus stopped lots of bad practices that were prevalent during their times and that is why it became a unique religion from other well known religions. I was so impressed by the teachings of the 10th Master particularly when he bestows equality to both men and women in Bana and Bani. So where is this cruelity originating from? Why are the Sikh men so violent towards their women? One of my friends told me that only the boys are encouraged to take the Amrit while the girls are not, can this be correct? Also I was told that one will not find many sikh girls in full Bana because they are not allowed to wear it and if a sikh girl decides to wear a turban she is mocked at and bullied by everyone at home or outside! It is only the boys that are allowed to wear the full Bana by their parents, what is this all about? Why has this religion become so male dominated when it is not suppose to be? Obviously if this carries on we will see more violence towards women emerging within the Sikh community, won't we? The news is extremely appalling to say the least. There is no excuse for this kind of behaviour whether one is a sikh or not, man or a woman!

I agree totally with you on this one. Without motivation where would we be? I have mentioned that I come from a mixed background and am a profession person. I grew up in a family of four and were told to study and pass your examinations with high grades. Luckily our parents also taught us about our religion and what it meant to pray. They are very spiritual and god fearing. We were brought up to believe that man made education is not above your faith in God. God is above everything so therefore we must begin each day by thanking him and remembering him for all the gifts he bestowed upon us. It is not difficult to teach children about God. We learn very quickly when we are children. Our parents taught us to love God because that is what makes him happy. Their way of teaching us about God and Jesus was very effective so I am sure all parents can adop this method to make their children aware of the religions they are born in. Our parents always said never let anything underrate your faith in the Supreme One. Everything comes from him and be grateful to him each and everyday. Spiritual life is more important than materialistic life, because they can be obtained anytime in life; but once you are gone there is no second chance to develop that side of your being.

I think the reason for this is because neither of these groups mind their children ending up with the moslems. They don't have similar history as the sikhs do, I believe. It is not something that is forbidden so for them they are free to chose. Whereas, the sikhs have restrictions on who their children marry and probably the reason their children end up with the moslems is due to their rebellion against parental control. Which I strictly believe is wrong because if this continues without any halt it would be a very sad episode in the history of this wonderful religion. I pray that sikh parents and children will find a way through which they can reach a kind of compromise or understanding. Many sikh guys too are marrying the moslem girls . You can see what is happening. They will try any method to convert people into their religion. Girls have equal right to convert the man they marry into their religion, same as their boys. Sad, very sad indeed. This is in fact very common in Holland.