Gurmukh

Just want to let the sangat know that the Gurmat Studies Foundation will be doing English Katha at the following locations in the coming weeks: Sat/Sun, March 6 & 7 - Seattle, Washington Wed, March 10 - Khalsa School Surrey (11:50 - 12:20) Friday - Thursday, March 12 - March 18 - Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh (Sabha Malton) - Toronto, Ontario (Hola Mahala Youth Camp & English Katha in the Evenings) Fri - Sun, March 19 - 21 - Calgary, Alberta Sat/Sun, March 27 & 28 - Victoria, BC (including a Gatka Show by Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji Gatka Akhara) Fri - Sun, April 2 - 4 - Edmonton, Alberta - Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha (tentative - may be changed to a later date) Sat., April 10 & 11 - Gurdwara Saheb Dasmesh Darbar - Surrey, BC (during the Vaisakhi celebrations and the Nagar Kirtan) Fri - Sun, April 16 - 18 - International Gurmat Speech Competition - Various locations across BC For more info visit http://www.gurmatstudies.com

The reason the event was not mass promoted is because the SSA was only able to obtain a room that can seat 250. It was a full house. All the seats were taken, so even if they did promote more there would have been no where to sit. I think you are judging the event by just the few pictures on the site. In reality about 40% of the people attending were non-gursikh youth. The entire event was geared towards youth that are not familiar with their religion.

The UBC SSA Saint Soldier Conference videos and pictures are up at www.gurmatstudies.com under English Katha in the multimedia section

As next year is the 20th Anniversary of the Attack on Harmandir Saheb, the Gurmat Studies Foundation (www.gurmatstudies.com) & sevadars of www.saintsoldiers.net have teamed up to make a documentary movie of the 1984 operation Bluestar & a powerpoint presentation on 1984. This documentary movie and slide show will be shown during the Gurmat Studies Winter Youth camps taking place in Fresno (Dec. 21-27) & Freemont (Dec. 28 & 29), California. The sangat is urged to come out and watch the movie and slide show to remember those Gursikhs who sacrificed their lives for the Panth. We are hoping that these projects will help the new generation of Sikhs understand the history behind the attack and realize all of the hardships that our Gursikh brothers & sisters had to go through. We request all the sangat to come out and let others know about these programs. The movie & slide show sill be shown at other Gurdwaras all around the world during 2004.

New recordings of English Katha have been added to the site in the last month. SO Check them out!! http://www.gurmatstudies.com/katha.htm and http://www.gurmatstudies.com/multimedia.htm Also, we have another 40 hours or so of English Katha that we still have to put up. (Just been too lazy to do it). Hopefully they will all be up in the next month or two.

The pictures from the conference are also up at www.gurmatstudies.com under the image gallery.

I just wanted to inform the sangat that audio speeches from the 14th Annual World Religions conference (University of B.C) which took place on October 7, 2003 are now onlineat the following link http://www.gurmatstudies.com/kathact/oct2003.htm The conference featuered speakers from 6 different religions including Sikhism.

I just wanted to inform the sangat that audio speeches from the 14th Annual World Religions conference (University of B.C) which took place on October 7, 2003 are now onlineat the following link http://www.gurmatstudies.com/kathact/oct2003.htm The conference featuered speakers from 6 different religions including Sikhism.

Sohila Saheb Ji?

We are looking for any video clips or pictures. Also looking to interview people who went through the attack. We are trying to get a hold of some of the BBC reporters who covered the attack to get their accounts, but have been unsuccessful so far. If anyone can get us the contact numbers of these reporters we would appreciate it. I heard that there was a demonstration on the anniversary of 1984 in London this year and one of the reporters who covered the story also came and spoke at the demonstration. Maybe if you know the person who organized the demonstration they might have the contact numbers for the reporters. Any help you can give will be appreciated. We just wish to get as much clips and information possible to make this movie.

Sorry I took so long to respond. You may check the English Katha schedule at the following link: http://www.gurmatstudies.com/schedule.htm

There is a line, I don't remember the exact one which states that amrit vela begins a suva-paher (3.75 hours) before the sun rises. I know that many Sants have also repeated this thought. Some sants like baba Ishar Singh Ji got up way earlier than that, but the official time of Amrit Vela begins 3.75 hours before sunrise. As per the question if it is O.K. to stay up all night. If you can stay up all night and keep your focus on meditation/Gurbani then it is a good thing, but if you are tired then it is not. Bhai Vir Singh Ji use to say that one should be rested before doing Simran in the morning or else they will not be able to concentrate on the shabad. They use to say that it is not our goal to just sit and do simran with our mouth, but to do it while keeping full concentration on the shabad. So start off getting up Amrit Vela and then as your concentration increases and tardiness decreases then start to get up earlier and earlier. I have found that to be the best method.

There are not many, but one I know of is Mata Jaswant Kaur Ji. She was Sant Variyam Singh's sister and was trully blessed with Sikhi. From a very young age she was towards Gurbani and met Sant Baba Uttar Singh Ji when she was just a child. She said that Sant Uttar Singh Ji put his hand on her head and from that very moment she started to hair Anihad Shabad inside of her. Sant Uttar Singh taught her kirtan and told her to spread the gift of kirtan to the world. She spent her entire life doing kirtan and today there are weekly kirtan divans that she started happening in countries like Canada, America, U.K., and India. All of the sangat that met her say that she was a great saint and had the same Awustha as her brother Baba Variyam Singh Ji. The two of them use to sit together discussing Gurbani for hours.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! This is a request to all of the Sangat that we are making a Documentary movie of the Attack of 1984. We are hoping to have it ready by June 2004 to commemerate the 20th Anniversary. This is quite a big project to collect all the information as possible. We would like the Sangat's help that if anyone out there has any video/audio clips, news clippings, books, or personal experiences that would help us in this great project PLEASE contact us. We can only complete this project with the Sangat's help. We do not wish to do injustice to the Shaheeds of 1984 by missing out on important information. Obviously we cannot fully explain the entire incident and all of the great sacrifices all those Sikhs made, but we wish to do the best we can to honour them. If anyone has any material or information that would help us then please e-mail us at comments@gurmatstudies.com. I know that it is a forum rule not to give out e-mail addresses on postings, but I hope the moderators will give us an exception for this one time since it is a valid cause. Also, since this is a big project for the Panth which will take us upto another year to complete we wish to ask the administrators of this forum if they can make this a Sticky Topic so that new members who might have material may also see this post. Thank You, With Satguru Ji's blessings we hope to complete this great seva. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

The Katha done on our gurmatstudies website is done by various members of our society. Veer Steele Bangle, while it is true that there is some Katha of Bhai Bikramjit Singh Ji on our website, the Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Chamkaur Saheb Kathas are not done by him. Bhai Saheb Bikramjit Singh Ji's Katha is "Life is too Short" The Guru Gobind Singh Ji Katha is done by Bhai Saheb Parminder Singh Ji who is also a member of our society. There are also a few kathas done by veer Harjinder Singh Ji from the U.K. I hope that helps everyone who was wodering what the names of the Singhs were. It is nice to know that the Sangat is enjoying these Kathas. Parminder Singh is out on a Katha tour right now and a lot of his Katha is being recorded and we will be adding it to our website in the near future.

Article from the Tribune News Service: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030516/punjab1.htm#30 Copies of Kala Afghana’s books burnt Amritsar, May 15 Sikh sangat today burnt copies of the books of Canada-based cop-turned Sikh scholar Gurbaksh Singh Kala Afghana, which had been banned by Akal Takht. In a fax message received here, Mr Rattanjit Singh Sherry, secretary, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, said the copies of the books of Kala Afghana would be burnt in other parts of the country in the coming days.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh! I have read all the posts, but what I see is that we are just stating what we have read from these modern books, instead we need to research these topics through old granths that are accepted by the Panth. Sikhs are not allowed to eat meat. There is a lot of historical evidence that backs this. Here is just some of the evidence: 1) The Hukamnama of Guru Hargobind Saheb Ji which has already been mentioned. 2) During the time of Guru Arjan Dev ji, it was brought to his notice that some of the Sikhs have started taking meat, despite the teachings of all the previous four Gurus prohibiting it. He issued a Hukamnama to all Sikhs reminding them about the vegetarian tradition of the Gurus and the Sikhs. He stated that all the Gurus have preached vegetarianism and strictly prohibited taking of meat, fish, chicken and eggs as well as sarab (liquor) and tobacco. This Hukumnama is still available in its original form. 3) An authentic letter written by Banda Singh Buhadur which stated Sikhs must not consume meat or alcohal. 4) A widely quoted Mugal historian, Mohsin Fani, who spent some time with the Guru has recorded in his book Dabistan-e-Mazahib (School of Religions) that Guru Arjan Dev made a special proclamation: "eating of meat is forbidden among those who follow Guru Nanak." 5) Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji's "UPDESH" to Bhai Daya Singh ji which is mentioned in "SUDHARAM MARAG GRANTH" : "One who does not Steal, Commit adultery , Slander anyone , Gamble , Eat meat or drink wine will be liberated in this very life (i.e. Jeewan Mukt)". 6) From the Janam Sakhi: Gou bheans ateh murgian hai haiwan garib,tin par shuri haram hai khavan tenah palit. Guru Nanak Saheb Ji is saying - killing of cows buffalos, hens, is considered haram. 7) All of these major Jathebandis in the Panth do not allow their members to eat meat: a) Damdami Taksal – Bhai Mani Singh Ji Damdami Taksal – Baba Deep Singh Ji c) Akhand Kirtan Jatha d) Baba Deep Singh Jatha – Nihangs e) Nanak Dal Jatha – Nihangs 8) Some hymns from Guru Granth Saheb Ji: a) They (the truest of the true) burn away the bonds of the world, And eat a simple diet of grain and water. (467) "Bed Kateb Kaho Mat Jhoothhay, jhoothhaa jo Na Bichaarey. Jo Sabh Meh Ek Khudai Kahat Ho, Tio Kio Murghi Maarey" (Panna 1350) Translation: Do not call various religious texts false. False is one who gives no thought to their contents. If you consider God is in all, then why do you slaughter the chicken (i.e. life?) c) Jey "Ratt" lageey kapra, jama hoi palit, Jey Ratt peevey manava, ta kyo nirmal cheet.†Translation: If blood touches a cloth, it becomes unfit for use; If blood (or meat) is consumed by a human being, how can his heart be pure. These are just a few examples, there are many more if one wishes to take the time out and research it. One more thing!!! I am pretty sure that someone is going to bring up the shabad: "Mass Mass kar Murakh Jhagarray" So I would just like to take a minute to speak about this shabad too. In that hymn, there is a line which reads: "AbhaKh(i) Bhakhay Bhakh Taj Chhoday Aandh Guru Jin Kera ||2||25||" Translation: Those whose Guru is blind, leave the truly edible (Bhakh) foods and eat the unedible/undesirable (Abhakh). (i)Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji Khalsa of the Bhindranwala Jatha, a well respected scholar of Gurbani interpreted "Abhakh" to mean “Meat/Eggs/ Alcohol / Drugs, etc.†To those who claim that the Guru did this or that, I humbly request that you do some more research before you make posts. I see most people just putting statements from modern books, instead you should take the time out and do your own research on these topics. Please!!! I request that you do not just start beleiving what these books are saying about our great father, the Guru. We should not have to rely on these books, we must put the time in to fully research these topics ourselves. I hope this helps. I am going to be away for the weekend, so I will not be able to respond if anyone has further questions. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

I do not agree with the opinion that we need to forget about the attack of 1984. By remembering the attack we are not stirring up hate against Hindus. Instead we are remembering the sacrifices of all of the great Gursikhs who gave their lives to protect their religion and the Panth. We cannot just eliminate that chapter from our Panth's history, that would be a great injustice to every single man, woman, and child who became a shaheed. In our Ardas we remember the sacrifices of many Gursikhs and we hear kathas of the sacrifices Sikhs had to make. This is done out of respect to those beloved Gursikhs and to make us realize what those Guru pyares had to go through so that we could have the freedom to follow our religion today.