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Recently, as we have all seen devastating horrific picture of little boy swept in shore picked by turkish officals, world is now stepping up to act accepting refuges. Anyway, as they say pictures speaks thousands words. So better late than ever: Couple of points: 1. EU should honor geneva conventions without any reservations, but at the same time refugee don't get to pick and choose under settling for surival, most of them are passing hungary(first stop) to go to Germany for better life not for survival, this is careful distincation if they want to go to germany they should apply for immigration not refugee especially if they are passing hungary to get to germany. I am all up for equal rights for everyone. but at the same time preventing abusing system. 2. If EU union or Canada are worried about integration issues, they should make effort to integrate them not annihlate their culture but basic integration but careful, first accept them, provide them health care, isolate them to some island or county side, provide them subsidizing housing - launch integration programs for a year before they can be released to urban cities and rest of the country. 3. Canadian political parties should not play the blame game or numbers game it make them look like pity, if they claim they are genuine, lets together move fwd to this genuine cause, accept refugees without any reservations get them here- provide them basic food, shelter and health and worry about integration issues later by putting those checks once they are well and ready.

Traditionally Prakash of Dasam Granth Was Done at Sri Harmandar SahibSeptember 3, 2015 by Daily Sikh Updates Source: dailysikhupdates.com Giani Gurbachan Singh has revealed parkash of Dasam Granth was done at Sri Harmandar Sahib. 23 August, 2015: Giani Gurbachan Singh has revealed parkash of Dasam Granth was done at Sri Harmandar Sahib. He said: ” In puratan samme (olden times), there was also an Attari at that place where a Nishan Sahib was placed and towards it was the Darshani Deori. In puratan times, inside where the Palki Sahib (Guru's throne) was, only shastars (weapons) were placed there and Sangat would pay respects to Shastars. After the SGPC took over operations, Sant Sundar Singh Bhindranwale after talks with the Mahants he was able to gave operations to SGPC officials of Sri Harmandar Sahib. Instead of Shastars in the Palki Sahib during the those times, the Parkash of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji started to be done. During 1984 explosions, The Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Dasam Granth were agan bhet (burned). However in Puratan times, 3 Parkash were done: 1) Guru Granth Sahib Ji 2) Faridkot Teeka (which is a very close) 3) Dasam Granth Parkash of Dasam Granth was done at Kalgidhar Diwan Asthan I had performed seva and have done parkash there also. After my continous seva of for many years, I am blessed to be where I am now. Before the 1984 massacre, respected Sant Harbans Singh Delhi Wale had started seva of Sri Darbar Sahib. However, the seva wasn’t completed as the 1984 massacre occurred causing tremendous damage. The explosives were lit with fire causing even the pillars of the Attari to bend. The Pawan Saroop of Dasam Granth was present there where I use to do seva, but in 1984 it was agan bhet (burned). Katha of Dasam Granth wasn’t done but sangat was able to read Dasam Granth there. I have taken Hukamnama several times of Dasam Granth at Takht Sri Damdama Sahib Ji.”

I know there are valid interpretations out there of amrit being school, taking amrit is just a admission to the school first take admission -amrit and start journey. But other interpretation of being readiness is just as valid as panj pyares were already all ready, full empty space was already created in them beyond five senses so that amrit/naam can penetrate deeply. So with that kept mind- We should also explore an option of having a one year spiritual meditation/abhyaas along with seva, sadh sangat/have strong inner bibek- before one can take amrit. I will explain my reasoning why. Sanaskar amrit is a big physical transformation if caution is not paid towards physical transformation inter connected with inner transformation, physical transformation becomes an subtle ego trap as one has gone from one certain look into another chivalrous respected unique look but still attached to body-five elemental body, five senses. I am looking at some of pictures on facebook, before and after pictures how after picture made it into gurmukh..only if life/sikhi was that easy. I am thinking how exactly are they different or free when it comes to attachment to five elemental body. Our parcharikhs keep harping around same lines (as it sells), failing to provide any sikhi depth, their main target is to get people take amrit and thats it..its like student coordinators their main job is to get as many students in the program and thats it and rest is not their headache. In real schools, they have teacher/professors to help out with real studies-text and in sikhi we meant to have active sants in form of panj pyares to help us out but current times are really bad, you will know its so bad when singhs who do panj pyares di seva are taking more symbolic role in the panth rather than fluid/lucid active panj pyares of khalsa panth. So where are we heading really? Yes, more singhs/singhanis will take amrit bring about physical transformation which is great news but is that it? physical transformation without inner changes is like can of worms/many faces of ego/subtle/evident ones just waiting to sneak up on one still trapping one to five elemental body and five senses, even promise of sachkhand express directly by following few basic rules of body, hell even once and while wacked out spiritual experience, blissed out..!! But is that it? where are great tales of devotion, bhagti, and gyan of previous sants in young generation of today?

This is where all of us human come together regardless of race, creed, beleif, religion, terrorist, sex and whether one is good , or bad - murder, terrorist, rapist etc etc regardless of state of human, we all come together to one profound natural desire which is sleep, we all like sleep, in deep sleep every action/folds/drama of day folds into it . So why everyone have this intrinsic pull towards sleep? deep resting? in many ways- deep sleep state (pragya) is much closier to meditation- as there are no thoughts but in ignorance one is not aware...real perfect meditation of bhramgyani is combination of stillness of sleep and awareness of waking state. Many bhramgyanis after enlightenment never slept showing practically where gurbani talks about jagat mind, as they were merged in their pure awareness being state while their senses are lay(merged) into deep sleep/meditation. Here one of great maharishi of century- ramana maharishi describe this state as: The state of a jnani is neither sleep nor waking but intermediate between the two. There is the awareness of the waking state and the stillness of sleep. It is the state of perfect awareness and of perfect stillness combined. It lies between sleep and waking; it is also the interval between two successive thoughts. It is not dullness but it is bliss. It is not transitory but it is eternal

I don't agree with their decision of banning anand karaj of interfaith couple marriage at all as they haven't even take the first step which is parchar, if they can spend all the energy to do parchar, 1 hr seminar of anand karaj one month before wedding of couple and one hour introduction to anand karaj in the day of marriage that would itself go long way itself, at this point their decision is very short sighted, knee jerk reaction of banning individuals, having singh and kaur name with their name superficially, if they would have spent that energy towards explaining sikh theology on atma-paratma unity within in anand karaj (Which is essence of anand karaj itself) they would drawn lot more people in sikhi because remember anand karaj ceremony its more of a spiritual discourse and life long contemplation on spiritual discourse in anand karaj than affirmation - convert or else- no wedding its not over night transformation...for vahiguru sake- we are unique dharam than abhramic dharam/sharia dharam like islam.

Yeah no worries, we (wife and i) took a flight to calgary and took a rental from calgary- first stop at golden, bc- stayed 2 nights there, 2 nights at valemount, bc 3 nights at hinton, alberta. So basically, if you want to see lot of wild life with mountain/lake back drop i would suggest the following with group of atleast three people to reduce the cost: - Take a early flight to calgary, get a car rental of drop off option to same location for cheaper price, Day 1 - take it easy and relax just stay at canmore(cheaper stay than banff- based on trip advisor) for a night about 1 hr drive from calgary- explore canmore and minewanka lake (loop) near banff (loads of wildlife there) you will get good shots with mountain backdrop. Day 2 and 3- drive to scenic radium hot spring highway towards golden - we saw pack of wolves back in 2013, loads of wildlife and mountain ranges there as well. stay at golden two nights, 2nd day- explore yoho national park- emerald lake, lake o'hara, waterfall-wapta/takkawa falls- pick small a lodge outside of golden for cheaper price Day 4- check out from golden, visit lake lousie, moraine lake, peyto lake bow lake (highly rated) take icefield parkway hightway, drive to valemount- stay a night there Day 5- take 1 hr trip to blue river, this town is home for black bears, loads of black bears sighting around this area due to large vegetation, drive towards jasper- explore mount robson/ kinney lake- you need 6 hrs for that - stay near jasper- you can find cheaper accommodation if you look hard book multiple nights in advance.- stay 3 nights at jasper to explore Day 6/7/8- explore columbia icefield glaciers/sunwpta/athabasca falls loads of wildlife in icefield area- mountain goats, then take highway back towards jasper make a slight right towards hinton take a highway in jasper towards hinton- we saw 70 percent of wildlife there in this highway- stay 3 nights in jasper atleast there to explore jasper,

- Good and or bad is relative. From Absolute point of view everything is divine expression there is no good or bad as Ik - Vaheguru is expressing itself via (Ong) creation, preservation destruction/Ong- rajo, tamo, sato... Ik which is ongkar. Kar (always aware, pure consciousness-turiya), the reason one is responsible for their karma because person performs action (good or bad) with identity separate I-ego/attached with actions/seperate I - I did this or that- that creates separation from true knowledge- not perform action with realized divine realized knowledge- Bhramgyan- Ikongkar true expression. From relative point of view there are layers and layers of explanation regarding this, previous karma etc etc but from absolute everything comes together, whatever seen is expression of divine, seer is real seen is divine expression appear and disappear so in that regard- everything seen is illusory divine expression like. God created five evils its part of maharaj leela - illusory dice is rolled and put in endless maceless of thoughts, complexities, relax world is game in it divine resides, playing hide and seek game with its creation.

Not sure namdhari guru is also teacher of gurmat sangeet, as senior to bhai balbir singh ji so perhaps from that context/perspective bhai sahib matha taik to him with that perception? I guess bhai sahib will explain further.

Most puratan samparda's such as nirmale-hotimardan/rara sahib/ratwara sahib, some nihang jathebandiyas, had good relations with namdharis and their saints so thats nothing new so if bhai sahib is at namdhari dera he is simply following foot steps of previous predecessors and besides both naamdharis and bhai sahib balbir singh ji share very close common vidya such as gurmat sangeet vidya, its not unusual for bhai sahib ji to be at namdhari place due to common gurmat sangeet vidya shared by both.

Nikon d750 with NIKON AFS-VR 70-300 F4-5.6 TELEZOOM LENS

We got back thursday night from canadian rockies..it was awesome experience..we saw so many wildlifes including amazing stand off between coyote and deers, i am putting all the pictures on to my computer, as we speak but here are some of resized samples of elks, mule deer, black bear, grizzy bear, goat, deers and coyote

These days anyone can take a clip out of any video and blow it out of proportions on social media. Lets wait for full unedited contextualize video of this and also wait clarification from bhai sahib ji himself. At this point, explanation provided by ragmala seems more plausible. In anycase, personally speaking- I am neither disappointed nor pleased by this video as for me personally, i tend to see parcharikhs, raagis, saints as pointers which point towards essence. I more concerned whats pointer pointing towards and if it point towards essence or not. For me at my depressed times, gurbani kirtan sung by bhai sahib ji provided me solace and thats all it matters for me at personal experiential level..I couldn't care less what bhai sahib ji does in his spare time, its really none of my business nor i care too much about it, all pointers (good /bad, polarity in life) once their purpose is fulfilled once they have pointed towards bigger message- essence cease to exist with name and form - 2 of parpanch are fallible anyway but what remains ? Sat chit anand underpinning of all pointers of name and shape and thats all there is to it. Life is less complicated for me with that kind perception.

Thanks for reporting this link, it looks like outdated link and it was streamlined to link below during our forum upgrade: http://www.sikhawareness.com/topic/14814-learning-to-read-write-gurmukhipanjabi-tips-on-getting-started/ In future if this happens again, simply do a quick search on topic heading on google as our website is now fully indexed on google search engine. I.e - in this case i searched for - learning-to-read-write-gurmukhipanjabi-tips-on-getting-started sikhawareness or sikhawareness.com

In my personal view based on my understanding, from absolute view yes women can be part of panj pyares as amrit received from essence directly from soul- gyan saroop guru- pure consciousness/bhram via body but from relative point as far as five takths-pillars of sikhi are concerned such as akaal takth, patna sahib, hazoor sahib, damdama sahib, anandpur sahib women should refrain from doing panj pyares di seva as traditionally/historically it was five beloved - panj pyares- male. And thats all there is to it. Both sides should not be rigid in their beliefs as both sides tends to missed the essence.

Sikhawareness forum isn't right place to post fueds between people or groups.. Please resolve this within community in real life.

Great article by Kamalroop Singh on this issue- source: http://akalinihang.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/some-ad-hoc-comments-about-recent.html Some ad hoc comments about the recent events surrounding Sikh Marriages The message of Guru Nanak is to accept all religions and that the Divine is one and the same for all. The Gurdwara is open for all to come and visit, and partake in the Guru's free kitchen and meditation/prayer. The Sikh scripture is not prescriptive, and to find information about marriage rites you have to look at the Rahit-name, i.e. codes of conduct. The primary scripture of the Sikh canon is the Guru Granth Sahib which is devotional, it does not describe in detail how a Sikh should conduct oneself in social life. Therefore, secondary scripture, the Rahit-name were composed in the times of Guru Gobind Singh to fulfil the needs for the emerging community, some three hundred years after Guru Nanak. We need to consider why these injunctions were not bound with the Guru Granth Sahib? I would argue that any code of conduct, like any law, is open to interpretation based on the circumstances. Therefore, these laws related to the Sikhs temporal life, were not fit to be bound with the spiritual content found in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Rahit-name are mostly referred to by Khalsa Sikhs, most Sehajdhari Sikhs will know very little about them, and generally will only accept what is written in Guru Granth Sahib. The practices of prima noctas by the Moghuls and foeticide by some sections of Indian Society, as well as no widow remarriage, and Sati, led to the chivalrous codes, one of which was to protect women. The community was small and thus had to ensure its survival. The Rahit-name clearly state a Sikh should marry a Sikh, and if someone wishes to marry a Sikh they should embrace Sikhism. A Sikh is defined as someone who believes and practices the teachings of all Ten Gurus, and the Guru Granth Sahib. Some would argue that as Sikhism is against empty ritualism, for a non-Sikh to be married before Guru Granth Sahib when she/he has no intent to follow it, is an empty ritual. The Prem Sumarag Granth circa 1700 clearly states a Sikh should marry his son or daughter within the Sikh community, after taking amrit. So, in actual fact the Sikh marriage rite of Anand Karaj was only prescribed for Khalsa Sikhs (which is still the practice at Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded), while Sehajdhari Sikhs would have had some sort of marriage blessing in the Gurdwara. We must also bare in mind that to mingle with killers of daughters (female infanticide) and of wives is a serious kurehat, or major break from the Khalsa code, but those who marry their daughters to a non Sikh is a minor transgression or tankha. Nowadays, we can see young Sikh males dressing up as a Singh and keeping their beard for the day and carrying a sword, and then later on shave their beard. It was probably for this reason that this injunction of being amritdhari for marriage was made. Some Khalsa Sikhs argue that Sehajdhari Sikhs should not be allowed to have an Anand Karaj. This change in tradition occurred the time of British with the introduction of the Anand Marriage Act in 1909, which was adopted by the Singh Sabha. It states: ‘3. Exemption of certain marriages from Act: Nothing in this Act shall apply to -- (a) any marriage between persons not professing the Sikh religion, or’ Since then the position of women has changed worldwide and in the West women are economically independent and have much more freedom. In our secular societies, religion plays a very little role in most peoples lives, and in the West there have been increasing numbers of mixed marriages. Which led to the Akal Takht Sahib issuing a ‘Sandesh’ or advice, which some may argue is different from a ‘Hukam’ or encyclic edict. This ‘Sandesh’ states that to be a Sikh the person must have Singh or Kaur in their name. Sikhs do this at birth, but in reality this title is only officially given to Amritdhari Sikhs. The Sikh Rahit Maryada (1955) states: Article XVIII - Anand Sanskar (Lit. Joyful Ceremony) a. A Sikh man and woman should enter wedlock without giving thought to the prospective spouse’s caste and descent. b. A Sikh’s daughter must be married to a Sikh. c. A Sikh’s marriage should be solemnized by Anand marriage rites. k. Persons professing faiths other than the Sikh faith cannot be joined in wedlock by the Anand Karaj ceremony. Point A is not adhered to as many Sikhs marry within their caste. Point B is interesting to note that it is about a daughter rather than a son. Point C is also interesting as this deviates away from traditional Rahitname. The issue behind the protests is that those individuals, who are predominantly male, see these marriages as the loss of a member of the Sikh community, to another. It would be interesting to find out if they have protested at the weddings of Sikh males, with non-Sikh females. This group has employed the Rahitname to support their protests, and seem to have coaching on tactics to employ against the police also. One of the Committee members discussed the issues with the group who said ‘ We are only following the maryada (injunctions) of Guru Gobind Singh, to which the committee member replied you know your Pita ji, but not your Baba, Guru Nanak then.’. An interesting debate was between the Hundal brothers, Jagraj Hundal and Sunny Hundal. Jagraj Singh is a Khalsa Sikh and runs ‘Basics Of Sikhi,’ and Sunny is a Sehajdhari Sikh and is a journalist. Sunny labelled this emerging group protesting at mixed marriages as the Khaliban, or the Sikh Taliban, which Jagraj Singh considers unfair, as they haven’t committed any act on level with the Taliban to date. However, Sunny’s argument is that if left unchecked, this type of ideology could one day lead to more dangerous forms of extremism. Perhaps, a good way of reaching common ground is perhaps to introduce a Sikh Marriage Blessing or prayer for any couple. Kamalroop Singh Sikh Marriage Act 1909 Prem Sumarag Granth (Circa 1700), see JPS 15 for the dating of this manuscript. Sikh Rehit Marayada SGPC. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wedding-between-sikh-bride-and-nonsikh-groom-stopped-by-thugs-at-london-temple-10450476.html

Please see the thread below for sikh female saints:

So kps Gill/beant/phoola etc are going to heaven according to this.?

Find out real question- who is the dreamer?

No amardeep i request you to be permanent moderator..i can concentrate more on backend updates thanks for doing this seva ..hehe.

Guru gobind singh ji recited mentioned it as well in sarbloh granth quite a bit.

1. The way i understand anand karaj its anand karaj discourse given to couples in stages its not affirmation vow(like amrit sanchar) rather its discourse in four fold to couple so they walk towards one self reflection, towards unifying spirit- jot in stages(1,2,3,4 lavan), its discourse needs to be deeply contemplated on for couples for rest of life, its not overnight change process, its life long contemplation on it where couples with their own pace walk on it on whatever resonates with me in anand karaj. 2. It's live discourse going on between seeker and guru, even if its not a seeker not at this stage its a live discourse going on between couples and Shabad Guru. Shabad Guru has its own beauty mystery drawing in couples, Guru maharaj does NOT need bunch of one dimensional black and white, condescending obnoxious patronizing self righteous cactus jacks hot headed right wing fanatics who are hell bent on making our beautiful garden sikhi an hostile excuslive cult and these guys have absolutely no endorsement of crashing interfaith marriage from jewels scholars of panth such as gyani pinderpal singh and gyani kulwant singh. 3. Whats really beadhi-disprect being committed is beadhi committed by these fanatics by stopping the live discourse of anand karaj happening at Guru maharaj own darbar between Guru and rest of the congregation, so whats worst? Uninformed interfaith individual having sikh wedding , listening to live discourse in stages getting informed from our eternal Shabad guru on anand karaj- blissful union-drawning to whatever is resonating with their inner soul OR bunch of arrogrant individuals - BANNING OUR SHABAD GURU- SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI to speak or depriving Our Guru to speak its own darbar to congregation-couples so they can also one day grow spiritually and adapt Guru's way of life. Discourse is between Live Shabad Guru and individuals, others have no business banning it.

I believe Vahiguru mantar was recited by bhatts first and then guru's in sri guru granth sahib..i may be totally wrong? correct me?

Please join me and welcome our new moderator - amardeep, our veteran member on this forum. Amardeep is quite experienced and familiar with day to day operations of sikhawareness.com since 2006. He is great asset to our forum both as a member and as sevadar. We are quite honor to have him as part of our team. He will be responsible for approving guest post/members post who are under moderation in timely manner- email from system will be sent to him for approval, moderating discussion and ensure quality of our forum is maintained. I be taking a small vacation break from the forum and would have only limited access..I will use the forum from time to time just to peak and ti post new pictures with my new dslr of canadian mountain ranges for sangat feedback exploring my newbie camera skills. http://www.sikhawareness.com/topic/16507-getting-into-nature-photography-any-good-dslr/