SAadmin

Above bachan is true but its not from any katha. I initially heard this from this singh whose father were close sanjhi of sant maharaj ji and jathedar maharaj ji jarg sahib.

great thoughtful reply tsingh veer ji.

Yes it was automatic before. I just changed the registration to be approved by admin. That should take care of the spam for now.

I know this a growing problem. I actioned the post you reported right away. Thanks for reporting spam and your continuing effort to report these items. I am not sure how they are getting through. Can we appeal anyone who is good at invision board to help us these spam bots or spam post ?

Until we find permanent solution into this, can we please request all the members to be vigilant and report any spam post by using report feature? Once you report any topic or post, it sends all the moderators alert and send me email which is pushed into my mobile right away and i ll try action these spam post or bots right away but this is temporary solution. Spam is becoming an trend now on this forum, we are desperately looking for techies/professional in invision board to help us to stop spam bots/spam posts.

This is ridiculous as gsingh pointed out, listen to the whole katha, one will see this portion which is taken out purposely, put back in its context. Misinterpretation is very grave thing, two countries can go to war because of misinterpretation. This reminds me of new technique that panthic.org uses audio guerrilla journalism, they are already famous for photo guerrilla journalism.

I must request main author of this topic to post the whole katha where this portion is mentioned.

Also veer singh2, nothing wrong what he said. He is talking about higher stages of simran where one does not need to actually make an effort or have forna that lets do simran, its happening automatically.. he just happen to put in very blunt terms. Obviously, it will irked maryada purushutam singhs on a panthic level who themselves haven't heard of higher stages of simran.

I understand singh2 veer is very passionate about maintaining respect of sri dasam granth. We all appreciate his passion towards sri dasam granth being bani. But with that being said, we must ask him also to stick to this topic. I can split the topic in to new topic if he wishes so? Please advise the title of new thread singh2 veer?

Any off-topics will be deleted...!

I wanted to get more information on sri sarbloh granth. I know its believed by nihangs and by many sikhs sants that its written by sri guroo gobind singh ji. I just wanted to start this thread to discuss sri sarbloh granth bit more in detail.

1. When was sri sarbloh granth was written?

2. Is there any puratan bir of sri sarbloh granth found at any of the takths?

3. Those who have steek of sri sarbloh granth by jathedar maharaj baba santa singh ji, can we request to get table of contents scanned to put up on this forum?

4. Is there any well know quotes which are usually sung or reciten in the panth which is from sri sarbloh granth?

5. Can we get specific quotes from sri sarbloh granth talking about vahiguroo gurmantar?

6. There is a bit research done on methodology framework behind sri dasam granth sahib, is there any anyalsis done on sri sarbloh granth ji framework too? If so, where can we read more about it?

7. Why people doubt its authenticity?

Thats it for now.

Please discuss and share..!

Hello,

I just like to open discussion how sangat feels about group running sting operations in the Gurdwara to tackle abuse of sangat's money and to expose other abuse of power by sevadars or committee members in the Gurdwara.

To do this- one probably needs 4 or 5 in a group, but most importantly an clear understanding whats beadhi and whats not? http://www.sikhawareness.com//index.php?showtopic=10312 and also to avoid guerrilla type of photo journalism that websites famous panthic.org adhere to.

Any ideas? This is real people, real life, real people, real consequences, real infiltration, real string operations, real journalism, real activism, real awareness to the sangat and real POSITIVE RESULTS...!!!!!!!!

Here invoking an momentum for debate on legal issues:

http://www.spygadgetonline.ca/index.php?cP...0dce04388faac58

how's this one for starters? let alone legal issues one have to do deal with after wrong doing of powerful people/panth da thakedars are exposed after sting operations.

Please discuss...!

I just like to find our members thoughts on whats happening in Iran lately?

State Gov't are guilty of killing so many protesters recently. They banned forgein journalist, here is the chilling news of state gov't officials killing iranian protester - An unintentional martyr/shahid: Neda becomes 'symbol of goodness'-

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/22/f-neda-iran.html

I would like to invite ishraqi veer to put his insight on this forum and what he thinks about the recent mischievous elections.

This thread is dedicated towards mastane raj yogi sadhu of the panth- Sant Balwant Singh Ji Maharaj Sidhsar Sihoora Sahib Wale. Please share jevan sakhiya and more information about him. I heard his name on and off many times by other sadhus of the panth. He has done amazing seva, one of them being priceless compliation of sikh sants where all sants from purushutam maryadawale to mastanie sants, udasi sants are included close to 800 pages long. I will post the exact title of book tom. I was given that book as a gift.

I ll share some of the stuff premis have posted on him in to response to guerilla type of article written by - http://www.panthic.org/news/125/ARTICLE/5047/2009-06-12.html

Benti to sangat please do not slander the only true gem left in sikhi today. The applying of tilak is a maryada done at Hazoor sahib. Has been done since you lot were even born. Please don’t comment on things you don’t understand.

Babaji has been doing kirtan for the last 60+ years. They spend 12 years doing gupt jaap, before being found by sangat (Predicted by Sant Isher Singh ji) Before babaji was even born Sant Attar Singh Ji went to sidhsar and predicated that Sant balwant singh ji would be born and would be a nectar of knowledge. And if you guys have ever heard babajis bachan or diwaan you would understand. Even when Sant balwant singh jis mother passed away Baba Sant Jarnail Singhji Khalsa Bhindranwale was sent a letter and said that she was my mother too while holding the letter next to their heart.

And also babaji hasn’t got their own DERA. They stay at Mata Gujri sirra. The Place where the 300years was celebrated was the asthan of Baba Beeram Dass ji where Dashmash ji themselves sent a hand written saroop of maharaj.

source: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/12/a...nthaler598.html

Woman dies in car crash days after missing doomed Air France flight

An Italian woman who missed the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic on May 31 has died in a car accident in Austria, according to an Italian media report.

Johanna Ganthaler, an Italian senior citizen, had been vacationing in Brazil with her husband, Kurt. They were due to take Air France Flight 447 from Rio De Janeiro to Paris on May 31, but missed it after arriving late at the airport.

The plane crashed into the Atlantic four hours after takeoff. All 228 aboard lost their lives.

The Ganthalers flew to Germany the next day. Upon landing in Munich, the two rented a vehicle and decided to drive home, Italy's ANSA news agency reported Thursday. While driving through Kufstein, Austria, their vehicle swerved into the opposite lane, hitting a truck.

Ganthaler died at a local hospital, while her husband remains in critical condition, ANSA reported. It was not immediately clear when she died.

After going through his post carefully and offensive remarks he used against sri dasam granth (thanks to singh2 for pointing it out). We have decided too put him under moderation for quality purposes until he improve his post, does not go -off-topics despite of dedicated threads for specific topics, until he starts posting full quotes from scriptures ie- full charitars instead of taking one or two line and taking cheap shots at them, until he stops making bold statements against compositions.

If he feels that somebody attacked his character personally, he should use a report function of this forum instead of retaliate back. We do acknowledge that there are some personal insults made towards him by other members, will edit them and action them accordingly. We asked others to show full restrain since he is been put under moderation.

Once all these recommendations are met then we will take him off from moderation. Normal turn around time to approve moderated message is 24 hrs as sevadars of this website have social life and families/job, if messages does not get approved within 24 hrs. He is urged to sent us a pm. We will action those posts as soon as possible.

Also just a reminder to everyone, please discuss the message/mindset not the messenger to avoid personal attacks.

We are seeing growing posts regarding bachitar natak in different threads. Here is the thread dedicated towards bachitar natak of sri dasam granth sahib. This thread is dedicated for debate and discussion with the group who does not believe that Bachitar Natak is written by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj.

I just wanted to remind the rules- one liner bold statements are not allowed against bachitar natak. One must back up the claims with one puratan source or at least logical reasoning for debate to continue. Everyone who wishes to participate in this thread, must stick to the topic on hand, any off-topics will be edited without any warnings and warnings will be given to members in effort to maintain quality of this forum. Also if we can request all members to refrain from personal attacks which we have seen in previous threads. Everyone please re-read their own post before submitting it and be moderator for your own post.

This thread is dedicated for debate and discussion with the group who does not believe in Bhai Gurdas Ji Varan being key to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. I just wanted to remind the rules- one liner bold statements are not allowed against Bhai Gurdas Ji Varan. One must back up the claims with one puratan source or at least logical reasoning for debate to continue.

This thread is dedicated for debate and discussion with the group who does not believe that Charitopakhyan is part of Sri Dasam Granth. I just wanted to remind the rules- one liner bold statements are not allowed especially against sri dasam granth. One must back up the claims with one puratan source or at least logical reasoning for debate to continue.

This topic is been moved to approval topic to clean up all the personal insults along with direct insults made to Muslim prophet.

It will take few days to clean up stuff from this thread.

I be recalling an moderator meeting where decision of all the other religious sections of this forum be locked until further notice would be discussed. We are seeing a growing trend of posts diverting into different religious section where other dharams and their prophets are bluntly insulted were questioned. This will not be tolerated on sikhawareness at all.

Hello, may be this news is old just came across with this new recently, it's disgusting man, more sickening to see responses by youths on sikhsangat. Anyway here is the link :

Sikh Revenges hindu preist's secret wedding.

To those who support this action, lets turns table around if hindu guy revenges Sikh priest's secret wedding and petrol bombed thi sikh gyani house with kids, would you have supported this action? And please don't tell me this does not happen in the panth. It's time to people get off this attitude, how everyone is ought to get poor Sikhs. Get a broom and do some house cleaning before beating priest and petrol bombing houses of other religions...totally sickening.

and in another note, whats with youths and their obsession with petrol bombs in UK? Here in Canada, if someone's even talks about petrol bomb let alone searching online to make it, you get choppers and swat team at your door ready to take you out...Mi-5 intelligence should be alarmed at this...rage has been cause for many senseless violence costing innocent people's life, fire didn't destroy the house but clearly intent was to burn the whole house down regardless if there is any civilian causalities or not living in the house.

Am i the only one outrage by this?

Source: http://thepanthicotpreka.blogspot.com/2006...01_archive.html

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

Daas has seen that Kaljug is very powerful and tries to entice us with maya in many forms including through Bibian. Daas has seen many people fall into this trap. Recently daas has cut off talking to bibian when possible because they were not acting as Singhni's should and daas does not want to fall into the traps of maya set for him by Kaljug. Daas does not want to fall into the traps of kaljug as many people before me have. So daas thinks its better to be safe than sorry. We must be aware of and avoid the traps off kaljug. Kaljug is very powerful and it only takes a second to slip up and to lose all the kamayee we have done. It is better that we protect our jeevans and the kamayee we have done and make sure we preserve the honor of our great Guru's and Khalsa Panth. Guru Sahib sometimes tests us to see how committed we are to them. When we pass these tests we are able to progress in our jeevans, but if we stumble with these tests we make it harder on ourselves. Daas believes it is better to stay away from Bibian and maya. This stuff is just taking us away from what we are here to do in this life.

By now a bunch of people must be up in arms and calling for my head because I have written that we should keep a cautious separation between Bibian and Singhs, especially in the age where they are most susceptible to fall and do something they will regret later on. If you do not agree with this, that is your own prerogative, but please read on with an open mind.

Tria Chritar was written for a reason, even though people doubt it. I believe tria chritrar is an amazing piece of work because it shows the ways of women, and how they can try to seduce men to get their way. Daas has seen and heard of many situations where a Bibi comes after a Singh, the Singh refuses, but than Bibi tries to seduce Singh so that Singh will fall in their spell and Bibi will get the Singh. Tria Chritar warns us of these situations and prepares us to deal with them more effectively when they come up, because we already know the methods of women. This is a very dangerous situation even if we have read Tria Chritar because kaam is very powerful, and even great Sikhs have fallen victim to Kaam.

Many youth these days play it off as we are all brothers and sisters, but the same people when you see them at raansabayees they wont go out of their way to say Fateh to their brothers, but will be looking for excuses and chances to say Fateh to their 'sisters'. Some of these people even end up marrying their 'sisters'. The false use of the words 'brother' and 'sister' when you don't really mean it very misleading and people must be aware of the dangers of this. Those gurmukhs are rare who can control their mind in this play of maya and really see their brothers and sisters as just that. Many people just abuse this word and don't really mean it.

Singhs use to be trusted with the prettiest women, use to save women from the clutches of the Moghuls. Singhs were known as the most honest and trustworthy people. There are still many Singhs like this, but it saddens me to hear of how many Singhs go astray and are not living up to the ideals of their ancestors. We are losing our way, we are reducing the amount of bhagti we do and becoming more susceptible to the plays of maya. The path of Sikhi is very thin, like the sharpest part of a sword. We must leave our own mat and follow Guru's mat.

Look around us at how many Singhs and Bibian are slipping, how many have lost their way by falling prey to Kaam. We have given our head, our lives to Guru Sahib, we must also act like it. It is very sad to see so many people slipping up. It's hard to stay on this path, we must take precautions to make sure we don't fall victim to Kaljug.

At raansaabayees these days, Singh's and Singhni's sit in sangat and 'check' each other out. Impure thoughts come into their minds. Not all people are like this, but we can not deny that it does exist. Some youth also use youth events as an excuse for genders to mix for impure intentions.

Singhs and Singhni's add each other to MSN to 'talk about Sikhi', or to 'help each other out'. Many of these cases end up with one or even both of the parties having feelings for each other, and instead of helping each others Sikhi, they just hold each other back on this path of love. Yes this is a path of love 'prema bhagti', but we must be clear, our love is LOVE FOR GURU SAHIB, LOVE FOR GOD. But youth end up following in love with each other instead.

I am not anti Bibian or anti Singhs, I am just pro Gur-Mat and anti Man-Mat. People will object to this post, but please put your own personal beliefs and bias's aside and look at this objectively, look at the actions of past mahapursh's, look at those who achieved brahmgyaan and how they did it.

Like I said in a previous post, it is up to us if we want to get to sachkhand by crossing that ocean. It is up to us to cross that ocean, float in that ocean, or drown in that ocean. Kaljug is very powerful, has done lots of bhagti, can over power us if we aren't careful. Don't get to high on yourself that you can stay protected, many great gursikhs have fallen. Beware.

Most people get married in their 20's those years before marriage are the most dangerous, just hold on tight to Guru sahib and don't let go. Don't let your mind wander. So many have drown at this age and regret it for ever, don't be one of them.

It is better to follow advice of Gurmukhs, they are very wise and teach us properly. To much mixing of genders is against our Sikh culture. We need to look no further than to Bhrahmgyani's Sant Baba Nand Singh Ji and Sant Harnaam Singh and their take on Bibian and Singh's interaction. When Sant Harnaam Singh would see 'maya' aka women they would look down at the ground instead of looking at the women. They said the key to controlling your mind is by controlling your eyes.

Par Tria Roop Na Dekhey Nethr. Saadh Ki Tehl Sant Sangh Heth.

(Not cast eyes on another female's beauty and remain in

Guru Ji's service through the Saadh Sangat).

Now we can look at Sant Baba Nand Singh Ji's take on it;

At the Holy Place of Baba Nand Singh Ji Maharaj, woman was not permitted inside nor she could stay there. She could only come to attend congregations along with her husband or other elderly male member of her family and immediately leave hereafter. Thus His Holy Place was totally free from the presence of Kamini and Kanchan. Babaji never talked to any woman alone.

Where we will get married is already decided by Waheguru. Who we are seperated from is also decided by Waheguru. We do not need to take this stress on our heads and feel that we must find who we will marry. This is manmat. "Sanjog Vijog, doye Kar Chalaave". Who we meet and seperated from is all in the will of god.

Daas would like to make clear once again that I am not in any way against Bibian. If it has come across that way I apologize. I have just been deeply saddened with the amount of people slipping up which is both the fault of Singhs and Kaurs. But we must be aware of the advice of Mahapursh's, and the lessons given in Tria Chritar, this is my only intent. Once again I hope no one will take offence to this post, if anyone has a different view, perhaps we can have a healthy discussion.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Hellow peeps,

I am looking for High definition Camcorder, my budget is limited between $300-$500 CDN max.. any suggestions?

Ok this thread goes to all the social-activist out there.. !

As everyone is aware of sad situation in Sri Lanka where human rights abuse is being committed every step of the way from government officials. Human rights watch group calling this genocide. This reminds of human rights abuses in Punjab back in 1980's. There is huge protest in toronto where i live, where yesterday close to 2000 tamils blocked the main freeway/highway going to toronto downtown.

Here is the new story: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/05/11/...ront051109.html

So far responses from public is extremely negative, some of them accuse them using children on strollers as human shield to do protest. It just show normal joe blow mid western people living in Canada really don't give two hoots against human right abuse(typical selfish human reaction), they will never understand how is it living in third war countries where you don't know if you be seeing your loved ones when you come back home from work. The responses has been extremely negative(quite expected from mid western ignorant people( since its not their cause, or cause little inconvenience when they are pursue their daily chores and get stuck in traffic.

Now just because response is quite negative from public, neutral response from govt, you think this should still continue on? I think we can learn quite a bit from them for any kind future protest sikhs may need to hold?

I don't think tamil protesters is there to please any public or impress Canadian govt for their cause, their tactic is to cause so much nuisance and inconvenience in regular joe blow Canadian every day living in Toronto that gov't is forced to do something, truly not positive way to impress people for their cause but this method is turning to be quite effective...think about it, Canadian govt officials or any gov't abroad really don't care about minorities and give few millions in aid just to keep their status high in world democracy and for minority votes in next election so there is no point begging people to show them they are victimized where no one really truly cares, everyone cares for their own self interest. But when you cause soo nuisance and inconveince people's daily life and @$%^ really hits the fan.

what you guys think?

source: sikhsangat.com

VaheguruJiKaKhalsaVaheguruJiKiFateh!

Re: Saturday 19.45 9 May, a naamdhari is doing live katha on the Sikh Channel.

If Akal Takht Sahib have issued Hukumnamas forbidding followers of dehdhari gurus to sit on our Gurdwara stages, shouldn't the Sikh Channel be responsible enough to NOT put an obvious naamdhari on the prime time live tv slot allowing him to do katha???

No offence to the naamdhari, but the Sikh Channel must take responsiblity of who they allow on the TV channel or expect a reaction from the sangat!!

VaheguruJiKaKhalsaVaheguruJiKiFateh!

Reponse from Sikh Channel representative

Vaheguru jee ka Khalsa. Vaheguru jee kee Fateh.

We are aware of the issues and Sikh Channel panel decided to give the speaker a chance.

We had conditions which he adhered to. If anyone wants more information, they can send us a PM on this forum and we can provide you with more information.

His parchaar, his speech was actually quite good and having personally sat there and listened to it all, i learnt a lot from it myself.

To summarise a few points, the speaker was willing to say the Guru's fateh (beginning and end) and we vetted his entire speech before he went on - the producers were sitting with their fingers on the cut button ready to cut in case anything wrong was said at all. He even changed his appearance there and then for us.

He is on youtube :

Part 1 :

Part 2 :

If anyone can find him doing parchaar which is pro-naamdhari or anti-Sikhi, then please let us know.

If not, lets look beyond the looks and take away something positive from the parchaar.

There are a lot of friction between organisations and individuals in the panth. Its our policy to give people chances. Yes, there are certain groups which are blatently ex communicated from the panth and as such, we do not allow them on despite them attempting to get on air.

Forgive our mistakes and please continue to keep helping us. We do value your input and all suggestions and comments in this thread and others are taken on board.

Vaheguru jee ka Khalsa. Vaheguru jee kee Fateh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQpd7PUFY2o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYNFtI2CkVw

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2416624.ece

By STAFF REPORTER

Published: Today

BOFFINS are making BULLETPROOF TURBANS so Sikh officers can become gun cops.

Scientists are developing the sturdy turbans made from Kevlar-like material to act as a shield – because the Sikh religion prevents adult males from removing their headpieces.

With more than 2,000 Sikh police officers and staff in the UK, the newly-formed British Police Sikh Association (BPSA), has made the headpiece one of its priorities.

Inspector Gian Singh Chahal, from Kent Police and vice chairman of the BPSA, told respected industry magazine Police Review today: “Sikh officers have been prohibited from becoming firearms officers because our religion does not allow us to remove the turban.

“Nor can we wear the NATO helmet for public order policing."

He added: “There has been some research done into producing a ballistic material for turbans and we would like to follow any opportunity where we could manufacture a ballistic product - made out of something like Kevlar - that would ensure a certain degree of protection so Sikh police officers could take part in these roles.

“We need to approach the Home Office and police forces and to gain their acceptance so that Sikh officers could become firearms and public order officers whilst wearing turbans.

“I think there needs to be a recognition from the Home Office that would allow Sikh officers to carry out these roles. I think the will is there from chief constables but perhaps not yet from the Home Office.”

One Sikh PC, who did not want to be named, said: “It would be incredible if they developed a bulletproof turban.

Discrimination

“It would make life a lot easier for us and would mean we could go for jobs as firearms and public order officers – which a lot of Sikh officers would like to do, but are currently not allowed to go for.”

Last year West Midlands Police spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to find protective headgear to fit over a turban after a Sikh officer applied to join the counter-terrorist Operational Support Unit.

The force spent 18 months looking for a solution, but failed to find any suitable equipment and returned the officer to his job as a beat bobby.

The unnamed officer is reported to have claimed to have been discriminated against and was on long-term sick leave suffering from stress.

Dr Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, said Sikhism is the only religion in the world in which wearing a turban is mandatory for all adult males.

He said: “It is mandatory for adult Sikh men to wear the turban.”

Turbans consist of around 15ft of cloth wound around the head.

Sikh men wear them to cover their hair, which they leave uncut in accordance with their religion. They often wear their long beards rolled up.

As well as being a sign of spirituality, the turban is also a symbol of Sikh identity and of courage.

There are more than 750,000 Sikhs, the only religion allowed to ride motorbikes without crash helmets, in the UK.

Sikh soldiers serving in the British Army refused to wear helmets during the First and Second World Wars.

They fought with their turbans on, several receiving the Victoria Cross for acts of gallantry.

A Home Office spokesman said today: “The Government wants a police service that reflects the diverse communities it serves.

“It is down to individual forces to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the religion or beliefs of individual officers, as far as operational requirements permit.”

Finding Sikhism on St. Patrick’s day

Dinesh Singh lived in India as a Hindu for 22 years before embracing Sikhism in Ireland.(Photo: Mirjam Donath)

By Maria Tirmizi

DUBLIN- Dinesh Singh listened to the drumbeat and soaked in the energy. He then steadied his wooden stick, slapped his thigh and struck at his opponent. Their sticks clacked. He stepped back, twirled his wooden weapon with one hand and hit again with sudden speed, left, right and center. Singh, 27, wearing a long white tunic and a saffron turban, was performing the gatka, an old battle-tested ritual that originated in India, at a temple in the heart of this capital city of Ireland.

Ireland’s history is almost synonymous with Catholicism, but for Singh, this is the land where he first discovered Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred Sikh scripture, on the very day the Irish celebrate for the advent of Christianity in Ireland.

Singh, a former Hindu who lived in India most of his life, embraced Sikhism in Ireland thanks to St. Patrick’s Day.

Like many South Asians looking towards the West for better opportunities, Singh, then known as Dinesh Kumar, arrived in Dublin five years ago from a small city in Haryana, India. He started working as a deputy manager at a supermarket. Two years later, a friend from India introduced him to the Sikh community at Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar, a temple in Sandymount, Dublin. The friend was a non-Sikh, but in awe of the gatka, and the shabads– hymns recited by the Sikhs. He often visited their temple to watch and participate. Kumar too developed an interest in the rituals and started accompanying his friend regularly. The temple also gave Kumar an opportunity to play a South Asian musical instrument he was good at, the tabla, which consists of a pair of small drums.

On 17th March, 2007, the Sikh Community of Dublin performed for the first time in St. Patrick’s Day parade. Kumar had been practicing the gatka with the Sikhs for a while now, so he also took part. He even grew a small beard for the role.

When the performance was over, he shaved his beard off. But this caused him a great deal of uneasiness.

“I felt really ashamed that I was just showing myself to be a Sikh for performing in the parade,” he said. “I felt like I was lying to myself.”

A couple of months later, there was a multicultural festival in Dunleary. The Sikh community performed again and so did Kumar. But this time when he kept a beard, he pondered deeply over its significance in Sikhism.

“The beard grows and you cut it and again it grows,” he thought. “So if it is going to grow, why cut it. Let it grow.”

This was his moment of epiphany. He converted to Sikhism, changed his last name to Singh and never shaved again.

Singh has been a Sikh for two years now. He visits the Sandymount temple twice a week, helps prepare food in its spacious kitchen and distributes it as a langar in a religious practice that promotes equality and hospitality.

“Now I feel like I have an aim in life,” he said. “I have to follow my gurus (spiritual guides). Following them gives me happiness. And when I do keertan (recitation of hymns), I get a feeling like I’m flying somewhere.”

He still practices the martial art, or gatka, that inspired him to embrace Sikhism. What he had demonstrated a short while ago, he explained, was a very small version of the real performance that took place on St. Patrick’s Day. Not only did the gatka entertain the crowd, accompanied by jubilant drumbeats, but also served as a sacred reenactment of the battles fought by the Sikhs in 17th century India.

Singh went back to India in July 2008 to meet his family after three and a half years. Not knowing that he had converted, they were shocked to see him in a turban and a beard.

He recalled their reaction and smiled. “I have the best parents in the world. They were taken aback, but they soon understood that this was what I wanted.”

His sister, however, said that she wouldn’t see his face again if he didn’t shave.

“I said ‘okay, whatever,’” he laughed. “After just one hour, she was okay. She’s my sister after all.”

The only aspect of his previous life stopping him from fully assimilating is his name, ‘Dinesh,’ which means ‘Lord of the Day’ in Hindu mythology. He was stopped twice by immigration officers in India for having a beard and turban, but a Hindu name. Upon returning to Ireland, he asked his Sikh friends to suggest a new first name. For now, he is leaning towards ‘Jarnail,’ the Punjabi translation for ‘General.’

For Singh, Ireland will always hold a special significance. This is where he found his true calling.

“I have sangat (company) here,” he said. “I learnt keertan here. I prefer to live here and serve my guru my whole life.”

Laughing at the wild prospect of finding Sikhism in Ireland through St. Patrick’s Day, he said, “It’s just destiny. I had to be a Sikh. It doesn’t matter if I spent 22 years in India being Hindu. I am a Sikh now. That’s destiny.”

Hello,

I need to find out if there is any difference baikhunt and sachkhand? I understand i may not get a clear cut answer is because gurbani supports meta reality. Lets start with what is baikhunt in context of Gurmat? I understand based on old traditional orders of hinduism an baikhunt is considered an adobe of bhrama where upasakhs of bhrama do simran/bhajans there. But when gurbani talks about baikhunt? what is it referring too in context of shabad? same as sachkhand? or some sort of place where all doing simran? is it naam simran on nirgun or sargun?

My searching skills on gurbani sites is really bad, can someone please post gurbani shabads talking about baikhunt? so deep vichar can be done on this?

Much thanks in advance.