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God transcends dualities like gender:

ਸੁੰਨ ਮੰਡਲ ਇਕੁ ਜੋਗੀ ਬੈਸੇ ॥ ਨਾਰਿ ਨ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਕਹਹੁ ਕੋਊ ਕੈਸੇ ॥ ਤ੍ਰਿਭਵਣ ਜੋਤਿ ਰਹੇ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥ ਸੁਰਿ ਨਰ ਨਾਥ ਸਚੇ ਸਰਣਾਈ ॥: Sunn mandal ik Yogi baise. Naar na purakh kahahu kou kaise. Tribhavan joti rahe liv laaee. Sur nar naath sache saranaaee: The Yogi, the Primal Lord, sits in the Realm of Absolute Stillness (state free of mind's wanderings or Phurne). (Since God) is neither male nor female; how can anyone describe Him? The three worlds center their attention on His Light. The godly beings and the Yogic masters seek the Sanctuary of this True Lord (sggs 685).

# ਆਪੇ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਆਪੇ ਹੀ ਨਾਰੀ ॥: Aape purakh aape hee naaree: You Yourself are the male, and You Yourself are the female (sggs 1020).
# ਆਪੇ ਨਰੁ ਆਪੇ ਫੁਨਿ ਨਾਰੀ ਆਪੇ ਸਾਰਿ ਆਪ ਹੀ ਪਾਸਾ ॥: Aapae nar aape fun naaree aape saar aap hee paasaa: He Himself is male, and He Himself is female; He Himself is the chessman, and He Himself is the board (sggs 1403).

These shabads prove that God has both masculine and feminine attributes, they do not preclude calling God by a feminine name. Additionally, regarding God's roop, the last shabad shows that he is in all forms, and not just bound to one.

I take this to mean that we shouldn't start and then stop for periods of time. If we take a long break from simran than the churn (that shaanti, that focused surti, that anand from Naam) could be lost. This is why so many don't make it anywhere. When we are motivated we push ourselves, when motivation wanes we start indulging  in the world and fail this test repeatedly.  This is what happens to me. Then we have to make efforts to rebuild that shaanti, that focus, that anand...

Shaheed Singhs are pleased by those who do jap and keep rahit. Basically live the ucha sucha life of gursikhs. A sadhu told me that we all get a shaheedi pehra around us when we take Amrit, but if a person fails to keep rahit than after some period of time (several weeks I think) the pehra is lost. If we live this lifestyle they can be around us, but we may not see or feel them. They often help in subtle ways, for example, if some people wish us harm they may change those peoples' thinking using their power. So the help can be subtle, not dramatic or visible at all, but still very significant. 

i find it harder to focus sitting in the back of the gurdwara even on normal days and easier to focus sitting in the front. i feel that the vibes of people at the back are different from the more dedicated people sitting up front. 

anyone do sangat of sant manjit singh ji? what are they like?

Does anybody know of any sants who go to this area? I don't. 
 
Generally when you regularly go to the larger Sikh temples once in a while a sant will come to visit. You can then ask them for help. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't worry and just keep doing bhagti in the meantime. 

I think it's mostly a waste of time to read tons of websites. The best is to learn directly from the immensely spiritually elevated people of our own dharm b/c sometimes those of other dharms will do things differently. This can cause dubida (doubts) and confusion. 
Ojas rises when we do sangat bhagti sangat seva and sangat. Avoid vikaars nindya backbiting etc. As we tyag (internally let go of ) kaamic thoughts only then will it rise. Otherwise that sexual energy stays as kaam. In a nutshell, it's a simple matter of doing the right thing long enough and avoiding the wrong thing long enough and lots of satsangat. 
I emphasize satsangat so much b/c their energy helps an incredible amount, speaking from my experience. In comparing my rate of advancement before I started doing regular satsangat vs. back when I did more bhagti at home it is a truly immense eye-opening difference. And it's owed all to satsangat.

When he says that He shall resurrect the khalsa, it doesn't necessarily mean in Guru Avtar form. there are many nit avtaars who have served the panth in time of need, such as Baba Attar Singh ji Mastauna wale.

I don't know how or when exactly... but bhramgiani has confirmed that it will be in my lifetime. That is why so many shaheed singhs and singhnis are taking birth now. That is why the younger generation is so much more devoout than their parents.

Could someone (who actually knows) please educate us further on the maryada for those following grihast jeevan as well as the maryada for bihingams?

btw, W Bol, all of the original punj pyare were bihangam.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was ensnared by the wiles of a courtesan and fell for her. Her influence over him enabled traitors to enter the raj and reach very high levels. Consequently, at a key period in Sikh history these traitors conspired with the British and betrayed the raj. The raj fell. As a result every single Sikh man, woman, and child was affected, not just for that generation, but for all generations to come. Besides oppressing the people, the British destroyed the Sikh school system which was one of the best in the world and promoted independent though. That school system has never been recovered, as can be seen by the pendu mentality of many of our people. The British also spread propaganda and worked at creating divisions within our panth, including divisions regarding our Guru Granth Sahib ji and other scriptures and historically important writings. The consequences of one man not have read and understood the Charitropakhyan continue to affect the worldwide panth to this day.

i personally feel that just like there are some degrees which are not achieved just by doing study for hours for eg. say if you study for 8 hours a day it still doesn't guarantee that you would be a doctor. Similarly numbers of Jaap cannot guarantee that you would be a sidh. It is still considered as a abhyas. 
The Kathakaars give those examples since they want to inspire the sangat to be engrossed in Naam. Someone who does Jaap abhyaas would be lost in meditation and would lose the count. Naam Ras gives you peace and tranquil, you stop worrying about things happening around. Who will count for you ? The Jaap is nirantar inside...you will want to lose count. 
Siddhis come and are a blessing of Akaal. However i personally feel that energy will only reside in that body that can hold it. There are peoople who may start seeing things and predicting future but then along with these capabilities comes haume, arrogance. This arrogance kills abhyas with time. 
 
So rather than focussing on magic , i personally want to request you to focus on abhyaas. Let Parmatma be the decision maker, He always is , but as for now we feel we would do so and so and we would become so and so. 
 
My 2 cents bro, Waheguru Ang Sang Sahaai.  

I spoke to a WW2 vet once who told me that he had immense respect for Sikhs b/c they never drank, while all the other soldier would drink a great deal of liqour to calm themselves before battle. 

I've heard that Baba Nand Singh ji gave bachan that those who remain awake the amritvela of pooranmashi will gain the merit equivalent to 1 year worth of amritvela. This is for the pooranmashi of Guru Nanak Sahib's prakash diharra. For other pooranmashi's the laaha is equal to the merit of one month of amritvela.

I would like details and elaboration from anyone who can provide any info.

Exactly, all are welcome. However, people are not welcome to try to change the dharam that the Guru ji's started, or the practices which they expected Sikhs to follow. 
Nobody ever said  "If your names not Singh your not coming in".
 
 

Gyani Thakur Singh once mentioned in his katha that SOME pirs might appear in different roops to sikhs who go for their darshan in order to confuse them off the path.

He also mentioned that on Gurmat marg we get darshan of various devis before we get darshan of God, as they come to do satkaar of a singh who does kamai.

Almost the entire missionary movement falls within the definition of Agnostic or limited Theist (believeing in an extremely limited God). They interpret sikhi within the framework of current scientific knowledge and put limits on what God can or can't do. Their views of dharm are generally limited to the spere of psychology and ethical behaviour, no mysticism exists for them and they categorically deny that such things can ever occur. The hilarious (and sad) thing is that these people almost always lack any decent grasp of science and scientific method themselves!!

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

I think it's mostly a waste of time to read tons of websites. The best is to learn directly from the immensely spiritually elevated people of our own dharm b/c sometimes those of other dharms will do things differently. This can cause dubida (doubts) and confusion. 
Ojas rises when we do sangat bhagti sangat seva and sangat. Avoid vikaars nindya backbiting etc. As we tyag (internally let go of ) kaamic thoughts only then will it rise. Otherwise that sexual energy stays as kaam. In a nutshell, it's a simple matter of doing the right thing long enough and avoiding the wrong thing long enough and lots of satsangat. 
I emphasize satsangat so much b/c their energy helps an incredible amount, speaking from my experience. In comparing my rate of advancement before I started doing regular satsangat vs. back when I did more bhagti at home it is a truly immense eye-opening difference. And it's owed all to satsangat.

From my own experience I have revealed some slight element of my spiritual state to a class of youth. I originally told them in a roundabout way about parkash they can receive when doing simran without mentioning my own name. They asked me if I saw it as well. I avoided the question b/c I didn't want to disclose it... they asked again and I said yes. And after that I felt that I lost much of the prakash. 
The moral of the story is never ever reveal your spiritual kirpa to anyone who is skeptical of you. If they won't believe you you can suffer a loss. However, if they will believe you it can be a big punn. When in doubt, don't reveal it. This is my own very bitter experience. 
To reveal it to someone more advanced is fine if we need to discuss to ask them questions. But the danger comes when we reveal it to nastik people, or people who have doubts.

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days. 

Some posters have such burning anger in your replies to each other!! Instead of trying to understand each other some posters just pour gasoline on the fire! It is possible to disagree while still being civil with each other.

If you are trying to make a mantar sidh that is from certain sukt Banis such as Bhram Kavich or Chandi di Var, please see the warning from Sant Jagjit Singh ji here: 
 
 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
 

A friend of mine just met with Sant Jagjit Singh ji Harkhowalwale. He said it's okay to do paath of these kinds of Banis but don't do lots of repetitions without the appropriate viddhi. There is special viddhi for Brahm Kavach or Chandi di Var if your going to be doing tons of abhyaas of these. It's not for everyone. So speak to proper Mahapurkh before you start doing lots. These Banian are different than our regular nitnem Banis, the maryada for doing lots of abhyaas is much more sukt. 
He mentioned, for example, that a singh came to him who had done chalisa of Chandi di Vaar without the appropriate viddhi. After about 20 days he came to see Baba ji b/c blood had started coming out of his stool, his nose, his mouth... There is a right way to go about doing these things so you should speak to a mahapurkh before beginning. 
Baba ji is currently in Surrey BC and will be in Toronto in a few days.