Caste = bad

Right from the mouth of your guru:

jwxhu joiq n pUChu jwqI AwgY jwiq n hy ]1] rhwau ]
jaanahu joth n pooshhahu jaathee aagai jaath n hae ||1|| rehaao ||
Recognize the Lord's Light within all, and do not consider social class or status; there are no classes or castes in the world hereafter. ||1||Pause||

vrnw vrn n BwvnI Kih Kih jln bWs AMgXwrw]
varanaa varan n bhaavanee khehi khehi jalan baa(n)s a(n)gayaaraa||
Different sections(castes) of society develop hatred for one another and finish themselves through squabbles as the bamboos, due to their mutual friction, producing fire burn themselves as well as others.


gurmuK vrn Avrn hoie rMg surMg qMbol prcY]
guramukh varan avaran hoe ra(n)g sura(n)g tha(n)bol parachai||
Gurmukhs go beyond the castes, colours and go about in equanimity like the red colour of betel leaf.

Time for us to listen!!

Us the ignorant

Unfortunately, many people exist in this world that blind themselves with Ignorance. These people exist in all faiths, all religions, and bind themselves so tightly to doctrine that they fail to see the obvious inconsistancies that they perpetuate upon everyone of their faith.

The most recent high profile example is the case of teaching evolution vs. "Intelligent design" in schools. One is a scientific theory, the other something made up under the guise of religion. One has proof, the other does not. Yet somehow, many people follow the second one blindly, without realizing the pointlessness of it.

Recently, I had to reply to someone who said that God created the world and evolution was therefore wrong:

ALL of the evidence has shown that an evolution like process exists. This includes DNA evidence, analysis of changing proteins, the current development of new species, as well as existing evolutionary mechanisms that have been recorded WITHIN the last 100 years.

And here is your problem. Why believe that GOD can't use an evolutionary mechanism to create us? Having God and evolution aren't mutually exclusive. GOD gave us DNA. GOD gave us RNA. GOD created all the mechanisms by which our biology and evolution are currently functioning by. Just because "you say so" doesn't make this false.

That's the beauty of science. It looks at the evidence that GOD has given us, using HIS mechanisms to discover HIS rules. By your definition, the world is flat, the universe revolves around the earth, and evolution does not occur. Time to open your eyes and see the world that GOD created for you. He did not create a world of ignorance. YOU choose to be that way.

I now admit that I wrote a little angrily. But the argument still stands. Why bask ourselves in ignorance when God himself gave us such knowledge within our world?

Khalsa

Sikher - beta

Sikher :: The Open Source Gurbani Searcher

The Sikher beta version is out! It's still under development (and I have yet to try it out), but it promises to be good!

Download it here!

Vaisakhi!!!

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!
Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

Today is the day we remember the sacrifice that all of our Gurus and countless Khalsai have made... for us, and for our panth. Today is the day we ask ourselves, they gave their lives, so what can we give?

In a way, think of it as a new year's resolution. What is on your list? Seva? Simran? Learn Gurbani? Learn Keertan? Anything you do is a step not only for your Guru, its a benefit to yourself.

Happy Vaisakhi to all!

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!
Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

Star Wars: Return of the Sikh

jw kau hir rMgu lwgo iesu jug mih so khIAq hY sUrw ]
jaa ko har rang laago eis jug mehi so keheeath hai sooraa ||
He alone is called a warrior, who is attached to the Lord's Love in this age.

On my last post someone commented that a sikh sounds a lot like a Jedi.

I laughed for a bit, but then I got thinking, its true!!

As sikhs, we are supposed to believe in a saint-soldier system, to unite what would seem to be two opposites into one being. The Jedi are described to be strong spiritual leaders (led by their council) that take up arms to defend the right of those weaker than them, like a police force of sorts.

This is exactly how Guru Gobind Singh raised us as Khalsa. First we must be pure mentally, and only then (led by our Panj Pyarai), can we defend the rights of the innocent. This irony of sorts of balancing of a sant-sapai or saint-soldier is an important one, as our Guru Granth Sahib shows in many places that only those who follow the path to Waheguroo can then be good warriors for him:

soeI cquru isAwxw pMifqu so sUrw so dwnW ]
soee chathur siaanaa panddith so sooraa so dhaanaan ||
He alone is clever and wise and a religious scholar, he alone is a brave warrior, and he alone is intelligent,

swDsMig ijin hir hir jipE nwnk so prvwnw ]2]67]90]
saadhhasang jin har har japiou naanak so paravaanaa ||2||67||90||
who chants the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. O Nanak, he alone is approved. ||2||67||90||

What I gather from this is that while martial training is important, its too easy to forget that we need spiritual backing first. Its only with Waheguroo's kirpa that we may understand the value of the sword, and fight without fear or hate.

Ingredients of a Sikh

From "Confused Khalsa Rambles" blog:

Ingredients of a Sikh

One part saint, one part soldier,
One part that's always learning
As one grows older.

One part service, one part sword,
One part that's ever-evolving
On life's drawing-board.

One part spiritual, one part political,
One part that aims to expose
All that's hypocritical.

One part fearless, one part unthreatening,
One part that continues to hear
When the din is deafening.

One part meditative, one part martial,
One part that's eyes remain open
Yet is completely impartial.

One part kettle, one part kirpan,
One part that keeps collecting knowledge
As the clock ticks on.

One part kirtan, one part prayer,
One part that sheds light on it all
So the whole sangat can share.

One part devotion, one part action,
One part that speaks the truth
Regardless of sanction.

One part candle, one part flame,
One part literal translation
Of our famed 'Sikh' name.

One part Nanak, nine parts thereafter,
Blessed by Guru Granth Sahib,
Our eternal chapter."

Open source gurbani

That last post has got me thinking: I've noticed that although the seva that has been done to translate Gurbani into English has been great, I feel that in many cases such translations go beyond that and ruin the beauty of Gurbani.

I feel that much of the beauty of gurbani lies in the fact that you can read such a small simple line and then take hours contemplating those words, to understand its meaning. To do that requires that the translation be direct and literal, and do not do too much explaining.

For example in Jaap Sahib:

AjY ] AlY ] ABY ] AbY ] 189]
Ajai || Alai || Abhai || Abai || 189 ||
O Unconquerable Lord! O Indestructible Lord! O Fearless Lord! O Immortal Lord! 189.

...might be better translated as:

Invicible. Indestructable. Fearless. Immortal.

This fits better with the overall pattern and poetic style of the Gurbani, and reads like the Gurbani would have.

Anyways, the point of the post is that I'm wondering if anyone knows if it would be possible to start some kind of open source Gurbani translation project to help to simplify and improve upon the Gurbani translations. This would not only provide better understanding of Gurbani, but could provide a source for SikhiToTheMax or Sikher (previous post) for up to date translations.

Any ideas??

Sikher

Sikher :: The Open Source Gurbani Searcher

This is going to be the next generation equivilent to SikhiToTheMax. Currently, its being rewritten in Java (multi-platform compatability) and is scheduled to be released this Vaisakhi!! (April 14, 2006).



I can't wait!