Mithr

I think these are very beautiful ancient paintings done about Prophet Mohammad. http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_a...slamic_mo_full/

Where is Raqba? and do you know when the Nihang Taksal will be completed?

Brother Ragmaala, I am inclined to agree with you. Sometimes I think we take these concepts a little too seriously. If the likes of Badal, Kala Afghana are a part of the Panth, and if a large portion of the Panth agrees with these types of men, then how can Panth be literally Guru? I think that the concept of Panth being Guru is for us to have nimrata. If the Panth was being led by Brahmgianis or just Rehetvaan Singhs who have firm faith in the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth, then I would be inclined to think the panth is literally Guru BUT we all know that's not the case right now in our Panth.

In India, getting a legal gun license is a very hard thing to do. Many times you need connections to hook you up. But if Nihangs can get it so easily simply for being Nihangs, that is something. Although I wish Nihangs would sort of update their knowledge about modern military skills. I think that a small Nihang Jatha should be as trained as a SWAT team. Just curious, but alot of Nihangs in India learn from Damdami Taksal in Mehta. Do Nihangs have their own Taksal by any chance?

Thanks for the reply TSingh Jee

Silence as I've always thought of it that Gurmat is close to Madhva's Dvait Vedant as opposed to Shankara's Advait Vedant. I don't think that the Atmaa was ever created, nor can it be destroyed, that is what Bhai Randhir Singh said to Bhagat Singh wasn't it? In my understanding, Atmaa is not Vaheguru, but it is of the same substance(for lack of a better word) as Parmatma.

Good point n30 Singh. We need to see God in all. Respect the goodness in all. Although i don't agree with Silence, but he did have a good point on his last post. But Silence Jee needs to understand that not everyone has had the good Bhaag to taste of bliss of Guru Maharaaj. But with guru Maharaaj's kripaa we will get Laha of his Gurbani. Not all of us are in the same spiritual level. People like me have a very very very low spiritual level, probably because I don't wake up everyday for Amritvela. Guru Saab Kirpaa karn

I agree with you Shaheediya. Baba Raam Singh Jee Namdhari is a true hero and social reformer. I wish people could just have simple weddings. Sikhs Sikh sects and Jathas perform simple weddings like Taksal, AKJ. The Taksal that existed during Sant Jarnail Singh Jee's period was amazing in this respect. Back then so many Singhs in Taksal did inter caste marriages, and simple weddings. For me, simple wedding does not have to mean we discard our culture such as the ceremonies, songs and dances, that women in the family get togather to do. But the amount of money Punjabi people spend is just outright wrong. Poor Jats in Punjab have to literally sell some of their Jameen to perform the wedding of their daughter which also includes Dhaaj worth atleast 10 lakhs of rupees now days if they want a good home for their daughter. That is just wrong! wrong! wrong! Most NRIs are especially bastards because when they come to Punjab for marriage, then actually take Dhaaj. how pathetic is that! Some who don't take Dhaaj, accept Len-Dhen. Len Dhen is when the girl's family has to give expensive gifts to the family members of the boy's family. In my opinion Len Dhen is just another form of Dhaaj, which doesn't sound as negative as Dhaaj. But if some people who refuse to take Dhaaj, but accept Len Dhen are just deceiving themselves into thinking they are not part of the problem. It's almost like in India, the new word for bribery is "donation". They use terms like Donation because words like Rishwat sounds too negative. Similarly have no doubt about it, Len Dhen IS PART OF DHAAJ, so please don't do Len Dhen when you marry your wife.

Personally speaking, if I come to know that a relative of mine in India has murdered his/her unborn child, I and my family completely break our relationship with that sinful person. I think people who murder their child like this, are the most pathetic people on the face of this world. They are bigger sinners than the likes of KPS Gill in my opinion, and deserve to be tried for murder in court.

Nusrat, what a great singer. People of Jallandhar should especially feel proud since he is from there.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/06onkar.htm Praising PM led to Akal Takht top priest's removal Onkar Singh in New Delhi | August 06, 2008 What led to the sacking of Joginder Singh Vedanti as the head priest of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs? "I was sacked," said Vedanti, "because I supported Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [images] during the crucial trust vote." It is learnt that a top delegation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, including its president Avtar Singh Makkar, general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bahur and executive committee member Rajinder Singh Mehta rushed to Vedanti to collect his resignation letter. Though they deny that they were involved, Vedanti told rediff.com on Wednesday that he was forced to resign and Giani Gurbachan Singh was appointed in his place. "Some days ago, the three of them came to me and asked me to resign. They were very angry and told me that some of my remarks had upset their political partners. I told them that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, as a Sikh, has done the nation proud. If that has upset their political partners, then I don't have anything to say. I would say the same about Dr Singh again. He is honest and a true Sikh," Vedanti told rediff.com in a candid conversation. It is said Vedanti helped the prime minister in framing his speech during the trust vote, at least in the parts where he referred to Guru Gobind Singh. To pacify the agitated officials who reportedly asked for his resignation at the instance of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Vedanti wrote out the resignation letter and handed it over to Bahur. "The moment they got the letter, they left. Appointments are done and cancelled, I have no quarrels. But I was pained at the manner in which it was carried out," he said. Makkar, however, denied Vedanti's claim. "We are willing to distribute copies of the resignation letter to the media to prove that it was written in his own handw," Makkar told this correspondent. Eleven out of the 13 executive committee members voted in favour of Vedanti's resignation while Karnail Singh Panjoli and Gurwinder Singh alleged that the letter was written under duress. Vedanti has also been accused of supporting the demand for a separate homeland for Sikhs during his recent trip to the United States. "I never made such statements. You can browse newspapers in the US during that period. What I said was that wherever the Sikhs go, they carve out a separate state for themselves and our homeland has no boundaries. I still stand by that statement," Vedanti clarified. Vedanti also came under attack for his poor handling of the Akali-Dera row and the Sant Samaj had sought his resignation. With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, Badal did not want to take any chances but wanted to keep the Sant Samaj happy. Giani Gurbachan Singh, who has been appointed temporary head of the Akal Takht in Vedanti's place, has risen from being an ordinary sewadar to the religion's highest temporal post.

So Vedanti Ji resigned because he refused to exonerate Ram Rahim? if so I think that Vedanti is worthy of respect.

Unfortunately yes. Saddest part of this is, even Sant Samaj supports candidates that badal puts up during SGPC elections. Imagine if Panthic and Sant Samaj Singhs put up their own candidates and vote for them, SGPC can literally be different over night.

Now that he's resigned, I wish we get a Jathadar like the Khalsa of the olden times, maybe a Nihang Singh. But with Badal choosing who becomes a Jathadar, I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

Todays dhoops are not good. The dhoops from the olden days were hand made by people. The yogis who dwell in caves still hand make their dhoop. So do the Tibetin Lamas. Sikhs have lost this tradition.

WOW, such nice photos. Thanks for sharing these.

That's true. A Nihang gets to carry a gun without having a state or all India licence. Just being a member of Buddha dal is licence enough. A Nihang with a gun is such an inspiring sight. They look like real Khalsas.

The problem I think isn't even tribalistic nature of Punjabis. The problem is that Sikhs are not a missionary type groups which actively seeks converts. Although I wish we had some of the qualities that these Christians have when doing Parchar, but we as a community really suck when it comes to doing Parchar. We can't even keep our own house in order, most of our boys cut hair partly because of western influance, our girls only want clean shaven men as husbands which just further makes boys wanting to cut their hair if they want to get married to a "Sikh" girl. We are in a very sad situation.

Good rehet.

Those are some good question Shaheediya. I especially want to know the answer for question number 6: 6 - Which are the best Granths/Sikh Ithihaas/Sakhis (source documents) to learn frmo and what caveats they would advise when doing so.

I agree with you. I'm the kind of guy who likes jokes. But as a Sikhs we need to have enough Sharda and Dar to never make a joke which involves the Gurus or Sikhi. Sikhs now days not only lack Sharda but also Dar.

The first time I read Syad Latif's book a few years ago, I felt so angry that I threw the book across the room. I felt it was so obvious this guy had a bias against Sikhs. Any chance he could get to degrade Sikhs, he would do it. But I gathered my courage and self control and finally managed to read his book. Not once but a number of times! One thing I noticed is that he copied alot from Cunningham's book 'History of the Sikhs', yet he never gave Cunningham credit in his bibliography, as a mark of a honest historian.

True, you have a point. I'll never understand why some Nihangs wear these very very very large Dumalas. What purpose does it serve? 99% Nihangs wear normal sized Dumalas, but I'll never understand those few Nihangs who wear Dumalas size of their bodies like Nihang Major Singh Ji. Obviously it's not going to be very practicle in battle or a fight, it sort of defeats the Thiyaar bar Thiyaar lifestyle of a Nihang Singh doesn't it?

Syad Latif's book on Punjab or Sikh history should be read through a critical eye. His writing clearly show bias against Sikhs and in favour of the invading Muslims like the Afghans or the Mughals. He also tends to inflate the numbers in favour of the Muslims, and somehow he does this without any source to back it up like a good historian would do.

Thanks for this Shaheediya. All these books are worth reading.