Xylitol

iF any of you are interested, the movie 'ghost dog' features a modern day samurai who lives according to the tenets set out in hagakure. It's an increadibly immersive hiphop/gangster/samurai movie with a high degree of authenticity and great acting as well.

Thanks. Could you all help me by vichaaring some of these steps?

In particular, step 3. Sam; 6. Bibek; 7. Titikhsa?; 8. Moksh Ichha; 11. Nidhiasan (?); and 12. Tat Pad?

I understand it's a big request, but it looks like it would be a gold mine of information!

Thanks for the link N3O, I've read it

http://www.shinzen.org/

Here are a lot of interesting articles on meditition applied to daily life. very informative.

I've been looking at the http://www.atammarg.com/ website and it contains some fantastic articles. I was wondering, what are the different steps on the stairway that appears on their homepage? Could somebody please vichaar them?

Thanks. So am I right in assuming it is a positive pro-panthic organization? It seemed like that to me, but it has been getting a LOT of hate from the tapoban web forum. But then, maybe it's b/c a lot of those guys are anti-sant anyways.

Could somebody please give me a detailed explanation of the Sant Samaj?

From what I've gathered, it's a society of saints who attempt to direct the panth according to their ideas of proper maryada (not saying that they're wrong or anything). Who are the big name sants who are part of it now?

"well u kno the rehit maryada was made by the top leaders of all the jathebandis including taksal, Sant Gurbachan Singh Ji Khalsa. "

look up the videos in gursikhijeevan.com for an explanation on DDT's stance on the rehit maryada. They did not agree to shortened banis.

'Can a non AmritDhari Sikh become a Gurdwara priest'

There is no priestly class in Sikhism. Anyone qualified may do the duties.

The purpose of Gurdwaras is to bring people closer to God and Guru. I feel that the persons conducting services should themselves be far enough along in their paths that they at least follow the Guru's hukum enough to get Amrit chuk. Numeruous times in Gurbani the importance of giving our head to the Guru is mentioned. Those who haven't even followed this basic rehit of getting Amrit chuk and abstaining from tobacco/alcohol, extramarital sexual relations, kes cutting, and mas should not be up on stage lecturing to us about how to be better sikhs.

If you want to do this then I suggest you get amrit chuk, abstain from kurhaits, do your paat and simran, and become educated. Reform yourself along the lines that our all-knowing Gurus set out for us, and then become a giani so you can help others do the same.

Much of your questioning seems to based on a lack of understanding on what Amrit is. Amrit joins us with the Guru. Without Amrit, we have no Guru. This is written in Bhai Gurdass Ji's Vaars. Those are also Gurbani and were called the 'keys to the Guru Granth Sahib' by the Guru himself! Without a Guru, we cannot become one with God.

I hope I have not offended you. That was not my intention at all.

A sant told me to only recite it in Amrit Vela b/c I wasn't strong enough to recite it during the day time. Could I get your comments on this?

check out http://www.mkhalsa.com/lit/fightingkaam.html than click on the link to the articles

It sounds like you're doing somewhat better. Glad to hear it.

In my case I mostly ignore the things around me. Seems better than freaking out about it. They can't do anything to you, so don't worry.

From http://www.akj.org/forum/read.php?f=3&i=19068&t=19068:

From my own experience , one very important fact to remember is that

you are a Sikh of Guruji. Guru never leaves His Sikh in the lurch or alone.Gurbani says ' Guru mere sang sedha heh nale' , i.e, Guru is always present with us. Guru protects and watches over you. When this problem happens, don't focus on the ghost,and don't talk to it. Instead focus completely on the presence of God and guruji .They are with you. Focussing on God will help you to feel protected,calm and peaceful, and you will be able to ignore anything else and these things then dissappear in an instant never to return.

There are posts on this issue on gursikhijeevan.com and tapoban.org. read them all.

If you wake up and are paralyzed there are 2 explanations I can think of. 1: There`s something physically wrong with you and you need to go see a doctor.

2: It`s a ghost or other, for lack of a better word, thing.

Look at it like a test. It doesn`t like to hear simran. It`s trying to get you to stop. But it can`t hurt you. SO........do lots and lots of naamjap and bani. Do it in sangat to maximise benefits. It may be trying to scare you from reaching a higher spiritual stage.

Importent points: It IS a test. Don`t leave the Guru`s rehat. Wear a Sarbloh kara and kirpan at all times. ALL TIMES.

They make all sorts of weird noises to try to scare me and also touch me and stuff to distract me from simran. keep your mind focused on simran and they can`t hurt you. Eventually they will start to be scared of you (if they are not already. they may just be pretending to not be afraid).

A person with kamai is a powerful thing.

They back away from my kara and kirpan. When I pull my kirpan out I can feel them draw back It`s makes me grin.

Keep up. Ifyou want you can do ardass for them to get a human life.

I like to keep bani playing in my room nonstop and have upped the paat to defeat them. Sorry for the rambling. I`m interested in hearing how your situation turns out.

if you want to know more about ghosts, read this:

http://www.tapoban.org/phorum/read.php?f=1&i=15026&t=15026

it's not allways sleep paralysis

consider it a test. you want to do paat. it doesn't want you to. keep it up. check out similar thread on akj.org and gursikhijeevan.org.

That was an amazing post!!!

One more reason for kesh:

To become one with the Waheguru is the goal of Sikhism. To achieve this goal we need to have a Guru. Without a Guru one CANNOT achieve oneness with God/Guru. Getting Amrit Chuk is the initiation that joins us with the Guru. Part of the discipline that comes with Amrit is not removing kesh in any way. A violation of this discipline is a kurhait (cardinal sin) which makes a person an apostate (ie. a non-Sikh with no Guru).

I've noticed that people sometimes get offended at this simple truth. I don't mean to offend, only to inform. Apologies if I've hurt any feelings.

Beast, the site has provided links so that you may decide for yourself what the truth is. I for one believe that this is a valuable seva. In the past a lot of groups had pretended to be sikh and mislead people from true sikhi.

Example:

Just look at the Singh Sabha movement. In the early period of the movement Singh Sabha in Amritsar promoted belief in Sikhi as a sect of Hinduism, worship of the descendants of Guru Nanak (at least one of the leaders was descended from Guru Nanak), and tolerated idol worship as a part of Sikhi (among other things). However, Singh Sabha Lahore promoted Sikhi in the truer sense with all being equal, no idol worship, and a distinct Sikh identity. They helped get rid of the dross and bring Sikhi to a far purer state.

IMPORTANT! Candlelight Vigil in Vancouver

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Dear Sangat ji,

I humbly request that you please forward this information to everyone you know and that you please come to the vigil yourselves.

[flash width=100 height=100]

This vigil is in memory of the 1984 attack on Harmandir Sahib.The vigil is taking place on Saturday June 5th, @ 7pm.

Location: Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street

Vancouver, British Columbia

Again, I urge you all to please forward this information to those you know and hope that you will come to this 20 year memorial of the attack - let's work together and make this vigil a success. Thank you very much.

(COPIED FROM ANOTHER FORUM. PLEASE SHOW UP)

The fifth takht is Dumdama Sahib. Not the buddha dal.

Thanks for replying. I'm actually referring to the entire movement - so both. Although I intend to focus more on the Lahore Singh Sabha.

Sadh Sangat Ji,

I'm working on a paper on the Singh Sabha movement. Can anybody please recommend some good reliable books, websites, essays etc to use as references??

Thank you very much.

There's this homeless person near where I live who's allways asking for money. Do I have to give $? what are your thoughts?

This website has streaming Bani to listen to. I was told that 'listening to Paat' / 'reciting it yourself' will give you the same benefit as long as your attention is focused on it.

http://www.proudtobesikh.com/khalsa/default.aspx

www.sikhnet.com also has lots of stuff.

you can also download Bani from this website: http://www.sikhstudent.org/

Possibly an inaccurate translation? A mistake repeated again and again?

A biography of his life called 'Se Kinehiya' has been written by Sant Sewa Singh. There's an english translation available, although I'm not sure where you would get it.

Divine Mystic Reflections on Gurmat by Sant Narunjan Singh. He gives a very thorough explanation of Gurmat and covers a wide range of questions that one might have on Sikhi. Actually, it's one of the best books I've ever read on Sikhi.