Ideal Singh

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes".The professor then produced two glass of water from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar - effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff."If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out strolling. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the tap. Take care of the rocks first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

Oh! Reading this stuff makes me feel really delighted... SinghMunda your articles, questions and queries on this forum are really commendable... Just keep it...

The dinine JOT is in the Shabads of the Guru not in the copies of SGGS. The Guru is in Shabads... words of the Guru... not in the copies...

By mocking I meant was that we should better stick to the Topic... my question about God being egoistic was just a little query not a blaming game... We should not be so congested in our thinking. You did not like that question then just ignore it... No need to drag it on and on... I am a very lowly person with low level of intillectual... so i apologise if I hurt your sentiments... I still believe the True Gurudwara can only be in our Hearts... Becasue if even in the company of sadh sangat you are always worried about the wordly materilistic objects... and thinking ill will about fellow people then this sangat would be useless... we need to clean our heart and mind from such thoughts before we can enjoy the company of Sadh Sangat... Mere gathering of people in Gurudwara does not necessarily make a Sadh Sangat... A cool and calm Heart would give us a state of mind which would have enough space for the Almighty as well as Sadh Sangat ... Open your Heart to the Almighty and we would find the Sadh Sangat automatically...

Whatz the use of such Sangat which can only mock???

Manchester City at the Top ???

Bhuddam Sharnam Gachaameh... What does this mean ?

The Buddhist teachings are described as consisting of 84,000 different types of presentation, which are all varying remedies to varying types of mental afflictions. If all of these are summed up, they consist of what are called the three vehicles. The three vehicles can also be summed up further as just two. The Two Main Vehicles Of Buddhism The two vehicles consist of what Is called the Hinayana (the lesser or the basic vehicle) and the Mahayana (the great vehicle). There is a fairly common misunderstanding of the term Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. The term "lesser" (actually "little") does not mean "inferior." People often hearing the term think this must be an inferior form of Buddhism so obviously it won't be of any help and I'd better go for the better kind. It is not the case that the result of it is in any way inferior or that the teachings are in any way inferior. The term "little" or "lesser" is comparative only in the sense of the gradation of progress through the path. It's the first vehicle that is practiced, like entering the first grade. It is the basic vehicle or the fundamental vehicle, and it is called lower in the same way that one would call the foundation of a house lower than the walls or the roof. But just as the first thing that has to be established if one wants to build a house is the foundation, in the same way, the Hinayana is the only possible foundation for the Mahayana and Vajrayana presentations and practices. It may be more helpful to think of it as the basic vehicle rather than as the lower or lesser vehicle. What the Buddha taught in the basic vehicle or the Hinayana is fundamentally the cause and result of samsara and the cause and result of nirvana. He showed that the cause of samsara is the false imputation of a truly existent self and the resultant three poisons or the three root mental afflictions and that the result of the presence of this imputation of the self and the mental affliction is all the varying sufferings of samsara, the pain and fear of the six realms. He also presented the Cause of nirvana, the cause of liberation from this suffering, which is the method one uses to free oneself from this, the path, which consists of the application of the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence. And he taught the result of this path which is the cessation of suffering or the transcendence of misery, nirvana. This presentation is essentially the presentation of the four noble truths, two of which present the cause and result of samsara, and the latter two which present the cause and result of nirvana. All the Hinayana teachings can basically be included in the four noble truths. The main practice in the Hinayana is the discipline of renunciation. This depends entirely upon the recognition that samsara is suffering and the resultant disgust. If you want to have genuine renunciation, you must recognize the presence and pervasiveness of suffering. Obviously, if you do not recognize the presence of suffering, you will have no reason to earnestly seek liberation. So the basic practice first of all is to recognize the nature of samsara to be the three sufferings, which produces genuine renunciation. It is for this reason that the Buddha's first teaching, the first truth presented among the four noble truths, is a clear presentation of the presence of suffering. Generally speaking, we all know that there's lots of suffering in samsara, but it's hard sometimes to recognize appearances of pleasure as being essentially suffering as well. As I said yesterday, essentially suffering is fear. Even when we are enjoying something, experiencing pleasure or happiness, we are filled with fear because when we possess or enjoy something pleasurable, we fear losing it. If we have a position or wealth, we live in fear of losing it. It doesn't matter how much you have or how little you have, fear is fundamentally the same. If you are the ruler of a country, you fear losing that position, if you are a homeless beggar on the street, you fear losing that position. The fear of suffering, the fear not only of losing what you enjoy, but of encountering what you especially do not enjoy, is the same for a king or for a beggar. So if you clearly understand the pervasiveness of fear, then you understand how the basic nature of samsara is suffering. If therefore you understand the truth of suffering (the first noble truth) and you recognize the presence of suffering, you will have genuine renunciation. This is basically the recognition that wherever you are born, whatever your circumstances are, in samsara, it's basically an experience of suffering. This renunciation is an absolutely necessary basis as well for the practice of the Mahayana, the great vehicle. Without genuine renunciation, genuine compassion is impossible. Compassion fundamentally consists of recognizing the suffering of others and as a result generating the intense desire that they be free from that suffering. If you do not see your own suffering and thereby do not recognize the pervasiveness of suffering, it is impossible for you to see or to empathize with the suffering of others. So if you do not have some degree of genuine renunciation, you cannot have a genuine or stable compassion. For that reason, renunciation is very important for Mahayana practice. Genuine renunciation leads to genuine compassion, which becomes the genuine aspiration to bring all beings to full awakening. So the main practice in the Hinayana is the cultivation of renunciation and the study of the four noble truths, leading to one's individual liberation. The practice of Mahayana has two aspects to it. These are the general Mahayana and the special Mahayana. The general Mahayana is the practice of the six perfections, therefore it is called the paramitayana or vehicle of the perfections. The special Mahayana is the practice of mantra or Tantra or Vajrayana. Vajrayana is not considered a vehicle separate from Mahayana, but a variety of Mahayana. The Mahayana path starts when you generate genuine bodhicitta. Bodhicitta here is fundamentally altruism, the genuine desire for the benefit and welfare of others. On the basis of bodhicitta, one can practice the general path of Mahayana, which is the cultivation of the 6 paramitas or the six perfections. To practice the special Mahayana or the Vajrayana, two things are necessary: first, genuine bodhicitta, as in general Mahayana, and second, receiving abhisheka (empowerment), on the basis of which one cultivates the main body of the path, working with the iconography of deities, mantras, and wisdom.

Ofcourse besides Shri Darbar Sahib Ji...

Have you ever been to Dharashala in Himachal Pradesh the main base of Buddhism in India... one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on this earth and how could that be boring... But I still wonder why it was erased from the place of its Origin i.e. India... ?

I think we are already discussing this topic at the following thread already... http://www.sikhawareness.com/sikhawareness...t=1542&start=15

What do you mean by peaceful Gurudwars... Are now a days Gurudwars not peaceful? I think the most peaceful Gurudwara should be in our Hearts...

You can send me a PM

This is what Sant Singh Ji Maskeen has quoted from history books about that episode... which changed the Sikh History forever... Sayeen Miyan Meer once went to the Darbar of Shri Guru Arjan Dev Ji and requested Guru ji to help him out on one of Tuks in Adi Granth (SGGS)(as it was called at that time) at panna 757 which created some doubts in his mind. The Tukk goes like this... Tann Mann kaat kaat sab arpee, vich agni aap jlaayee || Panna 757 SGGS Miyaan Meer said "Patshah, this can only be the imagination of a poet, this just a poetic dilution, and not at all Truth. How can a man do it for the sake of Dharam, for the sake of Truth... could agree to be his body be cut into pieces or how could he burn himself in fire... How could a man be martyred in such a way, how is it possible ? Is it just a poetic dilution or there is any truth in this utterance... And History says that at that time Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj did not say anything in reply. And due to this silence the doubts of Miyaan Meer increased... But then a day came when Miyaan Meer heard that Guru Arjan Dev was to sit on tatti tawi (red hot iron plate)... The Haveli, where Guru Ji was kept, no body was allowed to visit that place... Miyaan Meer was a Raj Guru in jahangirz court and took permission and reached the Haveli... It is said that as soon as he entered the Haveli he cried unstoppably... Guru said to him... Saayeen ji ! Dont you want to say about that Tukk now... Now you see the culiminsation of that Tukk. I will not interprate that Tukk but my life will do it... And Miyaan ji cried even more... Guru Said "Sayeen Miyaan Meer !! don't look at my burnings outwards... look into my patient/cool/sahej Heart... And rest is all history... Bhul Chuk Maaf

Any documentory proof kae just all manmat... Are you not vindicating Miracles...? when you say such things...

ehem... postmortem.... it stincks... :? but Indian played a better Hockey... future is not so bleak...

If everything is pre destained then why our Gurus fought battles... They should have accepted this as a will of the God and should have submitted to the evil... Why did our Gurus not accept the Paana/Razaa/Will of the God?

:bow:

The real issue should be of understanding Gurbani... and not that how many of them to be read and how many times... if we don't understand the meaning, its all useless... mere reading is a karam kaand... :?

:shock: I was the match and it was really wonderful... 7-4 it was amazing... awesome... Waakiyae India dee hogayee wah bae wah !!!!

taken... Sat Sri Akal Ji, I, a Psychologist, work in the mental health field and often with migrant Sikhs who are suffering from much distress and harmful behaviours. In this distress I often hear and notice a spiritual disconnection and try and help in some way. This has got me wondering about (1) what 'Sikhism' says about what is mental distress / illness / problems and (2) what advice it offers in coping with it? (3) Perhaps discussants might wish to share how they use their sense of Sikhee to cope too? Any thoughts on this matter would be very appreciated. Thank you.

What is Sahari Ucharan ??? I learned that there was discussion on the subject at Shri Akal Takhat in the last few months. I will appreciate if somebody can provide me detailed information.

another forum... Je guru gyan hai…te Asa Ki Waar de vich ik shabad aanda hai “Kumbhe badha jal rahe, Jal bin Kumbh na hoye….Gyan ka Badha mann rahe, Gur Bin Gyan na Hoyeâ€â€¦ So I m in a state of dilemma ki je gyan guru hai te guru sahib Gur bin gyan na hoye kyon khende han???? Can anyone in this forum suggest me an answer to this confusion please….

SSA to All Well... I am in a depressed state of mind today... sometimes kind of hate my job... people I have to putup with... the red tapism... the helplessness under the circumstances... fellow collegues eating into your roots... mercilessly deploring any initiatives... I don't know but I am feeling sick of all this... but I also know that I have nowhere else to go... But one more thing : it is sure that I don't want to become like those jerks who go lower their dignity for some materialistic gains... Is Depression equivalent to Vairaagya...? What Gurbani has to say about Depression or Vairaagya... And how to recover from it? Help me to recover from lower sprits... this slumber...

from another forum... At times I wonder as to what prayer is ? Does it actually reach to God or it just disappears in the air. What is the significance. Isnt it at a kind of immotional extravagance or does it have some concrete rational behind it. How all of the sudden we tend to pray when we are in trouble. Where does this feeling come from. Why do we pray, for material prosperity/betterment or for spiritual well being/aatamak sukh. What does Gurubani say about it? What do you guys think?