Xylitol

You cannot beat the mind; best way is to work along with him. Controlling the mind does not mean stopping the thought process. Control of the mind means using it properly, and knowing the method of using the forces of the mind. It is necessary that we learn to observe, understand, and train the functions of mind at the various levels of consciousness.
Techniques to make Mind one-pointed
Do not try to stop Mind from thinking something. Do not play wrestling with your mind. Just try to see what kind of thoughts mind is thinking and where it is going. Do not give Mind the permission to run, but do not stop it from going there - instead give it full control by saying "Mind if you want to go there, you can go; but I am not coming with you.". After some time, the Mind will become steady and would not run. This is the most commonly used technique.

During meditation build your determination, and tell your mind, “At this time my mind is only for meditation. I have to meditate and learn to go beyond this mire of delusion and confusion created by my mind. I am not going to identify with the thought patterns going on in my mind. No matter what happens during these moments I will be not disturbed, no matter what happens. Let my preoccupations come forward later. I do not want to be disturbed.” This way, we will build our sankalpa shakti. Sankalpa shakti (determination).
  This technique for those who has somewhat better control on their bhuddhi. In this technique, student divides his mind into 2 parts: One the owner, and other the servant. Being the owner of Mind, it instructs the other part (servant) not to run and eventually Mind gets trained.
  This technique is for advanced. Under this technique sit down for dhana and stop thinking. Empty your whole mind and watch from where the thoughts are coming. You will notice that thoughts come from outside. Throw these thoughts before entering the mind and destroy the thought. It would be interesting to know the Mind in terms of Bird. Mind is a bird. Greed and Honor are its 2 wings; Attachment and Hatred are its mouth (chuanj) and it resides on tree named as body. Good (Shubh) and Bad (Ashubh) are its food. The technique to control this mind in terms of Bird: Prepare a cage of Vichar and put this mind inside this cage. (i.e always think about what is not-changable). Cut the wings of greed by using scisor of Veerag and Santokh. Give him the food of rememberance of Atama.
 

What you've said is ultimate reality but that kind of vision is possible ONLY when one has already won the war on Maya and have removed all the veils of Illusion (Mal/Vikshape/Avaran). This stage is called Gyan and comes only after the "Purity of Mind" and "Upsana of Guru". Till Gyan stage is not reached, all of what you've said is purely theory and Mind canNOT be controlled that way. Give it a try and you'll see. What we're doing is pretending/faking this theory by thinking (mind is already involved in thinking).
These days majority of Sikhs (and other religions) have gone astray and is following the black-and-white theory, e.g Sikhs claims
We believe in Nirgun and worship Nirgun only. Problem is we don't know the Nirgun, and if Nirgun is not known, then how to worship him? Just concentrate on Shabad and no need to put dhayan on any sakar/physical thing. They don't even acknolwdge the concentration on Sri Guru Granth sahib Ji, even though we all bow to GuruJi. It's saying like I want to hang the clothes on the wall but don't want to put a nail on wall to hold the clothes. i.e we need something to put the dhayan on, in the later stages, that dhayan will be switched to Nirgun but that stage is very far. We see God in all etc., but then we go to Gurdwara to judge the kathakars/kirtinas. The problem is we fail to understand the reality behind the core concepts and just take the facts on face-value. Most people in every religion (ours included i.e Sikhs) believes in Boxed God (God in a box which satisfies certain pre-conceived notions). May be its the way Kalyug works, otherwise there will be Peace, Calm, and Love everywhere!

Baba Thakur Singh ji Bhindrenvale also told me that a huge portion of the world's population will die from war and disaster/famine etc. It will be a terrible time. It cannot be avoided no matter what, the time for that has passed. But it can be pushed back by the collective prayers of humanity. The more it gets pushed back, the less severe the tamasha will be.

Bhramgyani Jathedar Kulwant Singh ji said that a time will come when Sikhs will have to have a gutka sahib in one hand and a kirpan in the other at all times just to survive.

I have also heard that coastal cities will be underwater at some point. Vancouver Island in B.C. will sink underwater at some point.

Gyani Thakur Singh ji told me that things will likely begin around 2012. But again, can be pushed back or may even begin earlier.

Dalsingh, the concept of Aquarian age etc is used to define the spirit of the times. We need to focus on things we can control. The main thing we need is strong jeevans. More abhyaas, more rahit, longer amritvela.

Kathakars commonly describe jog ras as something that is experienced only while the jogi is in deep meditation, but which disappears when the jogi leaves deep meditation. Naam ras, on the other hand, is experienced continuously b/c you can meditate as you do your worldly tasks. Although the degree of anand may change depending on how deeply you are able to focus on Naam. The higher up spiritually someone is, the more detached they are from the world, and therefore the greater their focus on Naam will be even while engaging in worlldly tasks. 

www.gursevak.com you'll find a slowed down Japji paath on there that is designed for santhya 

https://khojee.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/sarab-rog-ka-aukhad-naam/
 

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. 

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. 

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. 

human beings, even sevadars in the punj pyare, are not perfect. But they are supposed to be a representation of perfection, that is why they are considered Guru ji's Roop. One should be humble in front of them even if they are from different jathabandye with beliefs different from our own. This is the attitude that I have taken on this matter towards those doing seva with views of other jathebandye. 
Congrats on taking that step to take Amrit.

Yup. Lots of evidence on dangers of wireless radiation. This is why cellphones all come with earpieces and small print that says to use the ear piece. They are getting ready to protect themselves for when the inevitable wave of lawsuits begin over brain tumours etc caused by excessive cell phone use. 

almond oil is best imo

Just from personal experience. It seems to be much better at preventing excess dryness than coconut oil or mustard oil.

let it be. do simran same time. after some time, maybe months, maybe years, maybe less, it will move on to next stage. 

Terrible who would put up such a video, how am i supposed to eat my beef burgers listening to this!!!!

Just wanted to add, please do let online sangat know that it's back. Dhanvad

would you really want to get married into such an adharmic family in the first place? There are plenty of girls interested in Gursikh guys, but in turn the guys need to be interested in getting themselves as Singhni and not just any punjabi girl. It helps if your family is more networked b/c I think finding such a match is much easier in the real world than online. 

That sounds good. Keep going. It seems your getting very close to full rom rom jap. This will be felt in auto mode all over and everywhere in your body.
It may be a good idea to occasionally practice with dhyian on navel as well as dhun, rising upwards to heart. Becomes easier when it automatically synchronises. Once you maximize the energy flow here, then sukhmana channel begins to open up.
NOTE- if your sensation settles on the physical heart towards the left of your chest, then try and bring it central. This is where the spiritual hirda is in terms of chakra.
 

This is to add to the vibrations - as of last night, it's begun to happen in my heart. I was just observing my breath last night and it synchronized with my in and out breath. Feels very pleasant. 
 
Lately I've learnt that a huge booster is the ability to express positive emotions. The more loving and compassionate you become as a person, the more fruitful your meditation becomes. 

it's funny how if any right wing Brit makes fun of pakistanis for this practice, they can just point at the royal family

While I think #1 is mostly correct, I don't believe in self-annhilition. The being remains, but the ego, the sense of separateness from God, disappears. Also, I've heard in Baba Kartar Singh ji's katha that when a singh gets Shaheedi, the Singh is given the option of going to Sachkhand or of continuing to do seva in Maharaj's shaheed fauj. Baba ji met with some shaheeds in Karm khand who explained this to him.
Sorry, i forget which katha this is from.

As for other dharms, what i believe and have come to understand from reading bani is that, for the most part, they get what they aim for. Buddhists aim for mukti and nirvana, annhilation of the self, a state of no-being-ness, which is outside chaurassi lakh joon. There are also numerous buddhist and 'hindu' heavens. people live and die and get reincarnated from and into the heavens and hells, imu.

All of these stages are below Sach Khand, and when Waheguru wraps up the creation, all these things, including nirvana, will be destroyed, only sach khand will remain.

I asked Baba Takhur Singh ji Bhindren, when the journey of the soul ends, at what stage is the game finished? He replied that it never ends, which is why I believe that our being is not finished in Sach Khand and that our spiritual growth just keeps on going and going.

btw, don't know about ddt gurdwaras outside of BC, but there are at least two in BC that have nothing to do with Federation. I think the lack of prakash of Dasam Bani is simply a manpower thing.

Having asked Baba Thakur Singh ji Bhindren about Dasam Bani, he has told me that Dasam Bani is supposed to be prakash at Amrit Sanchaars.

Most of the stuff you seem worried about isn’t going to affect your day to day life as Gursikh. And yes, you get tested.Everyone does. But I feel you are in the same mindset that a lot of people are in when they enter the dharm, focusing more on the outer stuff. All fired up about the political and social revolutionary aspects. Nothing wrong with that. But, the relative importance of the outer things to the inner spiritual life is akin to the skin of the almond to the almond itself. 
There are variations between Gurdwaras as well. Some places are more restrictive while others are not. Some places the sangat is very spiritual minded while other places they are not so far along in the path. 
You seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater over a few things that, for the most part, are unlikely to majorly affect your life much unless you let them. They usually do not directly affect you. 
Going to sangat everyday is  hugely important for one’s jeevan. But the difference is I go there for my jeevan, not to critique things or look for faults. The ones who go to fight fights usually lose out, while the ones who focus on Naam gain. I’m not saying there aren’t fights worth fighting. But how will you accomplish anything if you fight every fight? 
 
btw, when I called those things bunk I meant that most of them are not legitimate Sikhi. The majority also happen to not believe in them. 
 
 

A lot of that stuff is bunk. Some of it isn't. So what? It's about you and the Guru. Same thing I tell people who get upset at Gurdwara politics. You will be tested. They learn to ignore it and focus on their own spirituality. There are people at all spiritual levels walking this path, some are naturally more ignorant than others, some feel a need to lord it over others. The gandh in the world might get you down. But these people are dealing with their own issues and karmas. Our job is to develop our relationship with Guru ji. partly, it's a matter of picking and choosing our battles.

thanks for the post. makes me wish i didn't have school coming up so soon so i could do more paath...