Kaljug

Fateh! There's an article on langarhall.com (by someone called Jodha) that has an interesting perspective on why it is not in the best interest of the political elite and the ruling majority in India (and in Punjab) for the Dalits to join the ranks of Sikhi: http://thelangarhall.com/archives/3358 I feel that, once the chaos and bad feelings have died down, there should be parchaar done to try to reach out to these Ravidasi Sikhs and bring them into the fold of mainstream Sikhi, with pyaar and understanding not by picking off their leaders one by one. After all, their practices are not too different to those that you can see in any mainstream gurdwara, and their spirituality will only be enriched by placing as much emphasis on the bani of the Gurus and the other Bhagats in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib as they do on the words of Sri Ravidas Ji. Of course, their acceptance into the Panth may mean that we may have to broaden the definition of Sikh (or at least tolerate their traditional practices like Ravidas murti puja in their homes for a while), and unfortunately the trend is the last century or so has been to increasingly restrict the usage of the word Sikh to a relatively small population of people. Their presence in the Panth will certainly enrich it, but there will be some already in the Panth who will not be able to tolerate the loss of their privileged position. K.

Fateh! It is available to download here: http://www.ik13.com/sri_gur_partap_suraj_garanth.htm Regards, K.

Fateh, Veer ji! The 3 dead Singhs were reported in punjabnewsonline.com. It's the only source for it so far that I have seen. I will relay your message though. K.

Fateh! Akal Takht Jathedar appeals for peace: http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/16831/38/ Post 130 on the sikhsangat.com thread about this situation has some information on this dead Ravidasi Sant from SunnySinghDoad: http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showto...4491&st=120 Scroll down to post 130. There are uncomfirmed rumours of a saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib being set alight in Jalandhar. If true, and the crime was committed by one of this Sant's followers, it is likely to create a permanent rift between mainstream Sikhs and Ravidasi Sikhs. I hope it's not the case. Perhaps I am being a paranoid fool, but I can't help but think that this was planned by some nefarious people to draw attention away from commemorating 1984. Regards, K,

Fateh! By the by, not all of the people at rediff.com who are accusing the Congress party of playing an underhand role in the roubles are Sikhs. Whether the accusations are true are not, no one knows yet. There is an interesting perspective on sikhsangat.com by a poster called ghorandar who I believe is posting from Punjab. Regards, K.

Babbar Khalsa Condemns killing of Sant Rama Nand: http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/16830/38/ Neo, I believe that the head of a Ravidas dera (Gaddi-Nishan) is considered a guru, but on their websites and such they are always referred to as Sant. Some European papers have confused the issue by referring to the dead Ravidasi Sant as Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha. The rumour is that this guy sat level with the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and asked people to matha tek to him. If that's the case, I'm not sure why the Sikhs could not sit this guy down and explain that this is disrespectful. I suppose we will just have to wait for things to calm down and for the full facts to come out. If you read many of the discussion forums from Indian newspapers (e.g., rediff.com), many people believe that the violence is being fomented by Congress-paid goondas to solidify their rule in Punjab. Regards, K.

Fateh! I would be very surprised if these Sikhs turn out to be educated chardikala Amritdhari Sikhs. How ignorant do you have to be to do this kind of thing so close to the 25th year anniversary of operation bluestar? So far I've heard claims that the ones responsible are "high caste fundamentalist Sikhs", chardikala Sikhs who are avenging some beadbi, that this is a family matter gone wrong, and that they are Indian government agents. It's going to be interesting to hear what they have to say when the smoke has cleared. Well done to the Ravidasis in Punjab who are going round waving swords and setting fire to cars before anyone has figured out what is actually going on. Blowing stuff up is a great way to solve crimes. Regards, K.

Jailed Islamic Extremists Want Ban on Women Prison Officers: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2...15875-21384258/ They also want prison authorities to build a mosque in there so they don't have to pray with unbelievers in the multifath chapel. The arrogance and gall of these Muslims never ceases to amaze me. Edit: More anti-dhimmitude, this time from the US: Restaurant to sell alcohol despite Muslim efforts to stop this: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/may/08/h...mosque-concern/ Regards, K.

Muito boa. Still not as good as the real thing though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmkpDZV9t84...feature=related K.

That is not a sacrifice he was prepared to make, even for his sibling, as the daughter of the Pandit looks like a cross between Kali Mata and well-fed holy cow. K.

I don't support it, but I understand their actions which are rooted in Punjabi notions of izzat rather than in the example of Sikhi. And yes, if the gyani conducted the wedding in secret in the full knowledge that the parents were unaware of the marriage, I would not be surprised if the same thing happened to his house. The family doesn't live too far away from me, and the telegraph does not explain how the situation has developed over a period of time, nor does it explain the role played by the girl's so-called friends. I feel that the Canadian sangat does not have the problem of grooming of young girls, usually by predatory Muslim males and sometimes facilitated through Muslim women, that we have in the UK, so it may be hard for some of you to understand the outrage and frustration that young Sikh brothers feel when one of their Sikh sisters leaves her family and abandons her religion. I'm not saying that this is the case in this particular situation, but it's common enough here to cause suspicion and anger in many. Regards, K.

Fateh, Veer ji. It's not about understating anything, Veer ji, the etymology was provided in the hopes that people may understand that 'teaching' here is more profound than the English word may be able express. This only adds to the depth of meaning when we say 'Gurus teaching'. But yeah, I agree with your message. :-) K.

Yep. Pretty much every culture except the modern West has a belief in witchcraft. The real thing is quite rare though, and many take advantage of this belief in witchcraft for their own nefarious ends. In fact, in the last few days the Spanish authorities arrested a Nigerian people-trafficking gang who were using the threat of magical punishment to prevent the women they were selling into prostitution from escaping. See here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8063205.stm In the majority of cases, it's the belief in witchcraft which causes the victim to expire rather than any real power that the witch claims to have. One might run into a real witch one day, but one may also be struck by lightning - neither are really worth worrying about, and in the case of the former, one's disbelief in witchcraft may actually act as a form of protection. In the case of the real thing, there is the Baba Wadbhag Singh Dera (after you've ruled out organic and psychiatric causes). K.

Yes, that's the broad meaning of the term, but diksha in Indian religions refers specifically to a ritual of initiation during which a shishya (disciple) is empowered by his diksha guru with mantras, rituals and secrets specific to a particular deity or cult. In its ideal and perfect form, diksha invests the shishya with the full powers of his guru, and the guru takes on the karma of his shishya. That's why there is such respect for one's guru in Indian religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (and of course in Sikhi) - because shishya and diksha guru are considered inseparable. Deekhia holds much more meaning than the English translation to "teaching" can ever hope to convey. K.

Fateh! Then again, I've met Punjabis who blame black magic for everything from why their husbands can't stop drinking to not being as rich as the Singh down the road. (They, oddly enough, are the first one's to visit Tantric Babas to cast curses on people who cross them.) Indians are a superstitious lot, and it's probably for the best that mainstream Sikhi seems to promote the idea of the non-existence of the supernatural. Perhaps it will prevent an Aunty ji from getting fleeced by a spiritual conman. K.

By the way, Vishnu is believed to be another name for Nirguna Brahman in some schools of Indian philosophy (e.g., Dvait Vedanta) so the Udasis may be saying the same thing as the Nirmalas, depending upon what school of philosophy they follow. K.

Fateh! I think this is due to the fact that Sikhi places such a strong emphasis on worship of Nirgun Brahman and avoiding anything that smacks of superstition. Some Sikhs take this so far that they do not believe in avataars, bhoot-pret, miracles, mantra jantra and so on (despite the fact that they are mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib and in puraatan granths) because they are not "logical" or "scientific". In fact, when I talk to such Singhs, I'm never quite sure that they actually believe in God. Regards, K.

Fateh! Nirmalay still take charan amrit from their Vidya Gurdev. I'm sure the Udasis do the same. Not so sure of the Sevapanthis. K.

Amardeep Singh, Where did you find the English translation of Charitropakhyan? Is it in book form or is it online somewhere? I've got Surindar Singh Kohli's translation of Dasam Granth but it does not contain Charitropakhyan or the Hikayats, nor do any of the other English translations I've come across. Also, is the raja in the story supposed to be Guru Ji? Regards, K.

Yes, by channelling desire through conjugal union with your other half, not by trying to destroy the urge altogether. K.

Randip Singh, This is the part of the essay to which I was referring: I've read the essay again with a little more care and I believe what the author is saying (in the first paragraph) is that the practice of shastar-tilak is what the he wants stopped, not the tradition of jhatka, as I had originally thought. The annointing of weapons with blood may have been a traditional Kshtatriya practice but the author believes that this may be an anti-Sikh practice. The ambiguity is in the second paragraph where he compares this ritual to the celebration by Sikhs of traditionally auspicious occasions like Sangrand and Puranmashi. The message in this paragraph seems to be that if khoon da tilak is abandoned as a tradition, then so should these festivals. Given that there seems to be little controversy regarding celebrating sangraand and puranmashi (there are usually special programmes in many gurdwaras on these these dates), I'm not sure whether the author seriously believes that all of these things are wrong, or whether he is suggesting the acceptance of khoon da tilak as a tradition much like sangraand and puranmashi. Regards, K.

Personally I'm just waiting for some jatha to declare the use of the number zero by Sikhs (introduced by early Hindus to the rest of the world) as being bamanvaad. K.

Fateh jio! Anyone here planning to go this event? K.

Fateh, Veer ji. I don't think it is advisable to try to apply a brahmachari mahapurush's practice of mental continence unless one is committed to lifelong celibacy. If you harbour even the smallest hope of being married (in which case you will still have need of a healthy libido), the attempt to negate the sexual urge this way will just make it all the more stronger because, at a subconscious level at least, you know that you do not really want it to disappear. K.

Why not make Bibian dress themselves in black from head to toe, with maybe a small hole or two from which to see, so that they don't fall over and accidentally touch a Singh? Of course, you would also have to make every non-Sikh woman dress in the same way because a Singh may experience impure thoughts by looking at them. Come to think of it, this problem wouldn't even exist if women were somehow just not allowed. Repression does not work, people, it just makes a very natural urge manifest in a very unnatural and much more powerful way. Have you ever read about the Victorian era in England? These people spent so much time and effort trying to hide from the sexual urge that eventually they would have to wrap cloth around the legs of their grand pianos because they resembled the uncovered legs of a woman. Yes, you read that right: grown men were reduced to paroxysms of pure prurience by the sight of well-curved furniture. It's no accident that Freud developed his theories of sexual neuroses at this time in history. The only thing you can really do is teach your kids that sex is a normal human function and to stop making it such a big deal. There's nothing particularly mysterious about it - it's just nature's way of making sure that we pass on our genes to the next generation. Sexual desire is a sign that it might be a good idea to get married some time soon as, in terms of Sikhi and grist jeevan, this is the institution in which it is safe to express and explore, and perhaps one day tame, these urges. Have you ever seen a National Geographic documentary on African or Amazonian tribes? If so, then you have probably seen topless or semi-clad tribeswomen walking around doing their chores with the tribesmen walking among them and not batting an eyelash at their practical nudity. The reason is that they realise gender differences are as natural as rain and sunshine and pay about as much attention to them. K.