Kaljug

108 has been an important number from ancient times in India. Many of the devatas have 108 names, there are 108 Upnishts, and so on. Here's some more interesting info about the number: http://shrifreedom.org/yoga108.shtml The malay one gets from puratan samparday all have 108 beads, and many Mahapurush recommend doing various numbers of 108 bead malay of certian paaths for different reasons. K.

I was at a gurdwara some time back on Soho Road, Birmingham where they have small support groups for women where they can discuss these kind of issues with an Indian counsellor or psychologist. It is a great idea and by all accounts pretty successful in getting bibiyaan to adopt a more rational point of view where it concerns mental health issues and in getting them to be more open about their problems with their family and peers. Ideally, there would be something like this in every gurdwara. Given that sometimes cases of spiritual disturbance to sometimes (very rarely) occur, it would also be pretty cool to have attached to every major gurdwara someone who was conversant with such things. That way, bibiyan would be less inclined to visit those charlatan mantra-yantra-tantra conmen who advertise in Des Pardes. Women are naturally more intuitive and psychic than most men, but also sometimes - at least in the previous generation of Punjabis who migrated to the UK - less well educated. Both of these are reasons that explain your observations. K.

It helps you to fall asleep? The point was to illustrate how to complete a mala of 108 of whatever paath you are doing using your hands. K.

Hmm. I was actually trying to make a serious point. SE Asian women of our mothers' generation have a relatively high incidence of mental illness, especially if they came from India after their teenage years and especially if they do not speak English fluently. This is partly due to the experience of a clash of cultures, partly due to living a sheltered upbringing and not having achieved a degree of individuation and self-reliance, partly due to neglecting their own emotional and mental development, and to a small degree due to not getting out into nature and letting their skin absorb as much sunlight as they need. Many women of that generation will end up in a doctor's surgery complaining of physical problems that are rooted in mental health issues, and some of them end up in the clutches of some witchdoctor baba because, due to a lack of basic psychology, they believe that someone is practising kala jadu on them. From personal experience, I've met an auntie ji who began visiting some idiot pandit because she started having dreams of being attacked by a snake (she would have been better off visiting a Freudian analyst who would have explained the serpent symbolism in a few hours), another who had a psychotic break after intense mental turmoil due to her children leaving home (children who had been her only interest in life), and dozens more who had some sort of underlying mental condition they were trying to cure through paath or superstitions. It's sad, because much of these problems could have been avoided had these auntie jis taken care of their own health and diet and had access to information on mental health and psychology. See here for some information on health issues amnong the SE asian communities: http://www.sawnet.org/health/ K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! In a series of seven videos, this goofy looking kid does an admirable job of explaining the process of sharpening and polishing a katana, but the same methodology can be used to sharpen any kind of sword or knife. Though Japanese waterstones are the best material for sharpening, they are quite expensive, so he uses sandpaper of increasing grit to achieve the same result. Note that antique swords sould only be sharpened professionally (if at all), because any damage will greatly decrease the value of the sword and, should you muck the job up, you will be committing the unpardonable sin of destroying a piece of history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOofugPm1Ck&feature=related The following video describes how to use a leather strop and a honing compound (jewelers' rouge in this case) to polish an already sharp blade so that its edge becomes razor-sharp edge and there is a mirror-like shine to your blade. You can use a barber's leather strop, but the cheapest and easiest way is to use an old leather belt coated with honing compound. The following video shows you how to take a blade with a secondary bevel and blend into into a convex zero edge in order to improve blade geometry and cutting power. He uses a belt grinder, but it's possible to achieve the same effect with stones or sandpaper - it just takes a godawful amount of time to do it that way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR6xf8byLZs Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! I would suggest that y'all recommend vitamin D supplementation (if neccesary) to all your female relations. I firmly believe that the relatively high incidence of mental illness in Indian women living in the West is partly due to lack of sun (and hence vitamin D). ug is micrograms, IU is international units. In the case of vitamin D, 1ug = 40 IUs, according to this book: http://www.scribd.com/doc/323417/Vitamin-D Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! For when you do not have a mala to hand. 1. The palms of both hands should face you. The 3 segments of each finger on each hand are used to keep count while the thumbs of each hand are used as pointers. 2. Starting with your left hand, place the (left) thumb on the uppermost segment of your (left) index finger and count 1. 3. Working down the segments of your left index finger count 2 then 3. 4. Working to the right, repeat the counting procedure on the (left) middle finger (still using the left thumb as a pointer) and proceed until you reach the lowest segment of your (left) pinky finger. By now you should have counted to 12. 5. Repeat the same on the left hand, this time starting at the uppermost segment of the right pinky finger, counting down each finger and continuing to the next finger (the ring finger) and so proceeding towards the right. By the time your (right) thumb is pointing to lowest segment of your index finger, you will have counted to 24. 6. Now fold down the finger that is furthest to your right (the right index finger in this case), and repeat the procedure outlined in (1), but ignoring the finger that is folded. When your right thumb is pointing eventually to the lowest segment of the last upright finger (the right middle finger in this case), fold this finger and repeat the procedure in (1), again not counting the folded fingers. 7. Continue this way until only the left index finger remains upright, and when you have counted the three segments of this finger, you will have counted to 108. Let me know if this is not clear enough, Singho. Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Remember this Shaheed Singh and is family in your ardasa today, killed today by Punjab police, and pray for those Singhs who have been harmed in confronting the fake scum baba Ashutosh. May Ashutosh roast in the hell of boiling oil, may the cops who fired into the congregation of Singhs be destroyed by the Khalsa Panth and may they be torn limb from limb in the narak they will enter after their miserable deaths. K.

Unfortunately most of the Sikh youth have forgotten about the battles our people had with the National Front, either because they were not even born then or, as is the case with the majority of people I know, their parents have kept quiet about the fights in which they were engaged when the NF was becoming popular in the UK. The problem is that the BNP are the first British party to articulate the feelings of many "Asian" communities who are furious that they have been tarred with the same brush as Muslim terrorists in the mainstream media who make no distinction between Muslim and other faiths in the Asian community when they are describing Muslim atrocities but do not hesitate to name Sikhs or Hindus whe it the other way around. Take the recent case of the Punjabi guy who murdered his wife and removed her hand. The media didn't refer to him as Asian, they called him a Sikh, and in today's news they have even stuck a big picture of a Khanda above the story - as if his crime had any connection whatseoever with Sikhi. I think we will find that more and more "Asian" people will begin to actively sympathise with the views of the BNP, which will be unfortunate because they are most certainly not our friends. We need older members of our communities to speak up and remind youth of the brutality they faced at the hands of the NF and also a strong political lobby in the Asian community to pressure the media to make distinctions between Islamic fundamentalism, crimes committed by Asians which have no connection to any religion (i.e., not every murder committed by an apna is an honour killing), and to separate completely issues of culture and religion. K.

Fordcapri: Are you the Rajinder Singh who is in the news today for becoming a member of the BNP? Personally, I hope it's not the case. Regards, K.

I'm not sure what Westerm medicine would have to say about this, but in Ayurvedic terms ghee is considered beneficial for anyone doing intense sadhanas. It's not uncommon for disciples to put melted ghee in the nostrils of their Gurdev when he is in samadhi for a long period of time. Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Harkhowale mentions such a practice in his autobiography also. Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Yes, that was Baba Santa Singh, though I'm not sure when the film was made. Chatka extends to an animal being killed with one shot or one arrow also. Animals that are hunted are killed this way. Bit unusual to see a goat being shot though. K.

For the most part, it's diet (and maybe some genetics). A lot of apnay in the UK eat way too much fat and carbs and not enough protein. They also eat like they still do farmwork for 12 hours a day and fight wars on their days off. K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! LOL, he looks intoxicated, but I know people who have never done any kind of drugs who talk like that (I can't make out what the Nihang is saying eiother). It's impossible to say whether he is intoxicated without having a video of him when he is not grinding Sukha to compare. That boli is great! K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Yes, I'll ask Giani Thakur Singh about this when he is next here. I don't feel there should be any problem with killing vermin because Sikhs lay down mouse traps, kill spiders, poison roaches, murder headlice, etc etc. Sikhi, IMO, is practical - that is why we don't walk around with our mouths covered all the time like Jains. This is not true. Our Gurus advised their Sikhs to practice wrestling, shastar vidiya, and shikaar in preparation for war. They did not magically acquire these abilities during jung, and to rely on Divine Providence to teach one these skills is impractical, and in my opinion, is not in line with Sikh thought. In fact, it kind of reminds me of accounts recorded in V. S. Naipul's travel journals of Hindus relying on mantras to win India's brief war with China. On a more mundane level, getting in a ring without any experience and fighting someone who is trained for that sport will get you mauled. It would be exactly the same in war. K. K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! It's fine to recite as long as you recite it before sunset. Even when one is not in jung, a Sikh is always at war with the 5 theives. If you read Anand Sahib after Chandi di Var, it prevents bir ras from becoming too powerful for everyday life (and from turning into anger). I believe every Sikh should recite Chandi di Var with their nitnem to maintain at least the spirit of the Sipahi part of Sikhi alive even if they are never going to become proficient in anky kind of shastar vidiya. K.

As long as you kill them in one shot (behind the ear like a rat or rabbit), I think it's probably fine. Like other vermin, I'd only hunt them to prevent them destroying crops on someone's farm. Guru willing, they will be born as a higher life form, perhaps even human, in their next janam. Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Would hunting animals have any kind of detrimental effects on one's bhagti? I'm talking here about hunting vermin (rats, rabbits, chavs) to kill them, not to eat them. I'd be interested to know if any Mahapurush have mentioned hunting specifically and not as something that is used to obtain animal flesh for food. Thanks, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Just wanted to thank y'all for sharing your wisdom and to share what worked for me. I found reciting or listening to Asa Di Var in the mornings helped a lot, also doing Ardas in the mornings and evenings to give peace and liberation to any wandering lost soul with whom I might come into contact. Doing joray di seva every time one goes to the gurdwara alsa. I firmly believe that these kind of things are there to give one impetus to further one's bhagti, but there are a couple of simple things you can do to get rid of these things if you feel they are causing more trouble than you can handle. First is to take a bath (western bath, not desi bath) in heavily salted water. Lie in the water for around 20 mins. This is also good for getting rid of obsessive thoughts. Second is to burn incence on coals with your windows open. Dragons blood resin is traditional in some circles, but you can also burn a tiny quantity of asafoetida (hing in punjabi) on coals over the course of a week or so in your home. A tiny amount because it stinks and will likely banish all of your friends as well as bhootpret. It's a good idea to burn regular dhoop and jyot for a week afterwards in your house because hing can pretty much destroy any pleasant aura you house might have accumulated over the years also (can make your house uncomfortable to live in - even after the smell has departed). Regards, K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! Also might be worth taking a look at the sharia texts in use at that period of time which describe the rules of jihad, etc. Some of these are collected in Andrew G Bostom's The Legacy of Jihad. If you want, I'll see if I can photocopy the parts which might be relevant to your essay and mail them to you. Same with the Persian Sources book if you don't already have it. By the way, messages were sent from Qazi to Qazi either by rider or messenger bird. The ones attached to the Mughal governer of a province would have been the ones to receive and send messages, and these in turn would be fed to the local Mullahs and from them the local Muslim populace. That's why the Jungee Khalsa in the times of Sikh Raj were always suspicious of the Qazis. Regards, K.

Technically, any war declared on a non-Muslim state or people by a Muslim state is jihad. The fact that the Mughals considered it a holy war is evidenced from their journals of these battles where they talk of "holy Muslim warriors fighting the infidels". I think there are some translations of these journals in Sikh History from Persian Sources. K.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru JI Ki Fateh! I seriously think the mods need to grow up and realise that allowing people like Bandar Ali, Kala Afghana Ki Fauj, and now this Hariharikrishna "Kaur" to come here and spread there propaganda does more harm than good. If you honestly think that these matters are important enough to consider, then I don't see why the Gursikhs here cannot simply examine what these people are saying on their websites and books, dissect them, and provide point by point refutation - and then put these things in a sticky. All that "debate" does with these kind of people is to allow them a platform for their views and, in Harji's case, allow her to live out her martyr fantasies about big bad Khalsay oppressing her Hindu ass. K.

Go and give your Hindu friends the same message of unity and peace. Your attempts at spreading your Hindutva propaganda here - and it is propaganda as evidenced by your resorting to claiming to be harrassed when you enter a SIKH forum and tell us that we are actually Hindus and when every single pone of your points is proven incorrect - will not work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdQzhGeVHu4&feature=related Go away, K.

She's not a Sikh, and until I have evidence to support the fact, I am not convinced that she is a woman. If you actually read through the thread, you will understand that that she/he/it has insulted Dasmesh Pita's bania by spreading lies about it being altered when the tuks do not support her idiotic arguments. HSD has done a great job so far to make Harjas "Kaur" look like the bandri that she/he/it is. I commend him and hope that he will continue to demolish her/his/its pathetic logic with sound arguments. K.

[quote name='N30 S!NGH' date='26 October 2009 - 01:42 PM' timestamp='1256564572' post='106004' Nothing will go with us, all these forums, arguements, counter arguments will vanish with the body, only thing will come with us is this: