shaheediyan

It's common knowledge to those who read/take tution n Dasam Bani that it is made up of 3 elements - Spiritual, War Orientated and Secular. Dasmesh Pita has provided a complete education for his sons (Singhs).

Dairy products have always made up a large part of the Indian (and Sikh diet). A mother gives her child (flesh and blood) her milk - this is seen as one of the most beautiful acts in preservation and creating a bond known to man. The cow gives its precious milk to us, in our beauiful Indian tradition, we give the animals due respect for this. I am not talking about worshipping, but appreciating and respecting. As was common in Punjab, my mothers family had their own cow, it was treated with more love than anyone else in the house. It was always given the freshest kanak, grass, herbs.. always given medicine when not well etc, taken care of like a person. This was common in the Punjab. My mother had 5 siblings, the cow provided for the whole family. Looking at Indian traditions with western goggles and no experience/understanding of the historic importance of these animals is foolish. As has been said, all our traditional sampryadai have maintained respect for the cow - we should not dismiss this fact.

Vaheguru. There truly is no limit to the depths that man can fall...

Excellent read, thanks for sharing.

http://www.shasterkhajana.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=80

I think JSingh96 is Jvala Singh.

"I wonder how the VAtican management/restoration of its history, records, treasures etc compare to that of the SGPC looking after Sikh historical records and the like?" Are you having a laugh? One spares absolutely no cost on its vast 1500 year old library of over 1m books documenting nearly all history in that period and religious movements - using the latest technology and employong the best professionals on Earth, whilst the other doesn't even provide as much care to preserving its history as an average person does preserving their family photo album. You couldn't have provided a more extreme comparison - totally poles apart!!

Beautifully written (highly detailed in terms of arth and knowledge/roots of words etc) by the highly intelligent Giani Rajinder Singh Gill (student of Prof Sahib Singh). I have acquired a limited number of Hardbacks from Baba Ji and have told them I will share them amongst sangat. Anyone interested, please PM. I only ask for postage to be covered - otherwise any sangat is welcome to collect from me in South London. Thanks.

Why does the video section only have videos of Inder Ghagga?

Naastik website.

That is amazing. A real portrayal of the lives and diversity of the Sikh Diaspora - no bias or flowering. Thanks for sharing this wonderful collection of stories.

Well if you read a little further you will see that the 2 tudor roses on the passport do not represent the 'seal of Satan'. The symbology exercise done on the passport is ridiculous, Dan Browns rubbish novels have more credibility. With all due respect.

Have you ever heard of the War of the Roses?

Page 148 to 164. Excellent book, amazing research.

Do you still need this, I will get you the reference later today if so.

Jattboot, which morning sessions have you been to...? Not the ones this week? Good points Dal Singh. In Prema Bhakti Marg, we do not seek to push interjecting thoughts out, we simply acknowledge them and let them pass. The key is to not have a reaction to them, positive or negative. We should simply seek to understand that they are part of our sansaari experience - and ultimtely not important. Bhau certainly needs to be present. This is the role of aids such as kirtan, jap, seva, ithihaas, kathaa, khoj etc. These things are very important and necessary in order to create and maintain love. Simran without love is futile. If when doing simran, one feels sleepy and is nodding off then shaking themself back awake again, you are better off just stopping and getting a good rest (satisfying your body). The sleep will only disappear with focus and prem. The breath, the jaap (audible sound), posture, music (kirtan), sargun focus etc etc are all a means to an end, they should not be our central focus - we should ultimately focus on nirankaar - the above helps increase our focus, stop distractions, increase prem etc - but in finality - we will be left without anything except Vaheguru experience.

Silence, give it a rest. I know 'plenty' off lost/egocentric AKJrs - now this either means your theory has holes or that the Panj Pyare who do this seva are incompetant - either way - it is your conclusive comments which point to either of these options. There is a lot more to the path of bhagti - and it is not only relevant to Sikhs - which is where Sants like Swami Ji come in. Sants see past religious bounderies, they are jagat teachers. Sort out your football tribe mentality. Maybe you should go to the Mandhir where Swami Ji will give bachan, and see for yourself how much they unapologetically say Vaheguru is the most powerful mantar and regularly quote from Gurbani. Grow up.

The foundation stages of simran should be done in isolation. Once focus has been achieved and dhuni is running, one can do simran anywhere. This is the exact subject Swami Parmanand Ji has been speaking about all week, the fine details, problems, myths and traps that one encounters during bhagti. I will try and post the recordings of the simran/parvacahan sessions I have attended this week, as well as some translations. As a quick note, one central concept is 'what we want'. This is a trap i.e. setting standards or an objective. This narrows our focus and causes mass distraction. The first thing to do is 'not want' i.e. peace, comfort, reward (darshan), especially at the outset. First we should just try and accept all that is around us and focus on mantra, ideally we should be using a tried/tested technique, of which there are many - techniques which involve sound, breathing, actions etc. If you are able to, try and have Swami Jis Darshan around London next week. They will be in the Slough Hindu Temple 5-7th Sep 6-7.15pm and Guru Nanak Gurdwara Hitvhin (Herts) 8/9th Sept 7-8pm.

Thanks for sharing that divine photo Veer Ji. It's made my month! Here is some research that was done on Almast Ji: http://gurmatsangeet.blogspot.com/2007/05/in-search-of-almast.html Here is a beautiful Dasam Bani composition of Almast Jis teacher sung by Gyani Dyal Singh Ji: http://gurmatsangeet.blogspot.com/2007/05/in-search-of-almast.html Here is one of Almast Jis sung by Gurmeet Singh ji Shant: http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/Recordings/GurmitSinghShant4/gurmeet%20singh%20shant%20-%20Bhairav%20gave.mp3

Mithar is correct. The physical expression of the composition is simply and only that. No code to decipher I'm afraid. What he is actually doing most of the time is raising and lowering his hands on line with going up and down a saptak. He wavers at one level when he is performing a murkhi (small varition on 3 or 4 notes) and when he is stuttering his hand going up or down, he is executing a gamak meend. His hands are simply drawing a graph in thin air so to say. If anyone wants to see the King of gestures, look up Bhai Amerjit Singh (Nanaksar Vale) who is based on London. You will most certainly have not ever seen anything like it (nor will you again)!

Tony, no one has claimed to be anything, stop going off on one again. This is simply a case of 'observers' trying to categorise sadhu lok.

Swami Parmanand is not really a Nirmala, but rather a Vedandist who recognises the same elements in Gurmat. Their Gurdev was Akhandanand Maharaj. They certainly do sangat with Nirmalai Sants and learn from them, but they are not part of the Nirmala Upsampryada. Swami Ji's pravachan on simran/bhagti/dhyaan are awesome, I would highly recommend coming and having his darshan for the remaining few days at Bhai Daljit Singh Nirmalas house in Tividale - 6am sharp. They will also be at Nanaksar Taath - Wolverhampton fro the 2nd to 4th Sep - 7.30pm to 8.30pm.

Nice recital. The style of the Pakavaj is near identical to Jori bol, which are used in traditional kirtan. The Jori is actually a Pakavaj which has been split in2, hence the difference in the drum shape,sound and playing style from the modern tabla. Here is a nice example by 'Pinki'.

Shaan is an opening instrumental piece traditionally played in the raag of the opening shabd of a kirtan performance. It is usually a simple composition and basically sets the mood for the kirtan that is going to follow. It also demonstrates the Raagis command of raag and saaj vidya.

Yes, rap has recently been used as a medium to promote positive messages i.e. Christian Worship etc, and socio-political issues as I have already pointed out, but that is only because it was already popular in promoting manmat. It is the manmat through this amazing popular medium that has shaped the global society of disenchanted youth today. It's not a big deal, I have already pointed out why the 2 aren't really comparable. Ifyou want to look at even more technically, than the actual style of music, singing and poetry is totally different/unique.