The Life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Part 1 & 2

The life of Guru Nanak, in a unique animation style.
Part 1...



Part 2...

Leading by example

I've been reading a few issues about people wondering what's more important: following their faith, or following their family. Gurbani tells us both that:

jin kae janae baddeerae thum ho thin sio jhagarath paap ||1|| rehaao ||
It is a sin to argue with the one who fathered you and raised you. ||1||Pause||

and of course:

charaneh gobi(n)dh maarag suhaavaa ||
The most beautiful path for the feet is to follow the Lord of the Universe.

So which is it? If one has to choose, what is that choice?

It's a good thing our Gurus led by example. You must respect your parents. But that doesn't mean that you have to do something thats wrong because they tell you to. We only need to look at Guru Nanak's life.

Guru Nanak was born into a hindu family... with hindu culture, hindu rituals, and hindu tradition. His father was proud, and moderately wealthy compared to most. But there are many recorded incidents where Guru Nanak actively disobeys what he's told and leads by example.

For example, when he grew up, his father told him to buy some goods to make some money, and instead he uses it to give food to the homeless. Other cases such as when his father took him to perform the hindu thread ceremony, Guru Nanak refused saying that a thread can be burnt, dirtied, destroyed, and that it won't bring him any closer to God. Certainly, Guru Nanak respected his father. But GOD was his first priority, and so should it be ours.

Language and Guru

Regarding our Guru Granth Sahib:

Many say that it is imperative that we learn Gurmukhi, and ONLY Gurmukhi for understanding Gurbani. While it may be true that the essence of what our Guru said is best understood in Gurmukhi, it is important to consider the meaning of language.

Look at the spread of Christianity for example. I hardly see anyone fluently conversing in Latin, but rather English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, ...

The Gurus went from place to place preaching in the language of the place they went. Our Gurus not only wrote in Punjabi, but Sanskrit, Persian, and others. In that respect, as our 11th Guru, wouldn't Guru Granth Sahib also preach to us in the language that the people of the place speak?

Just a thought.

Youtube: Creation Of Universe

Sikh Youtube-creation Of Universe, Planets ..... - DiscoverSikhi.Com

I found this posted on W!N Forums. Truly inspiring!

Podcasts

Recently, I've gotten into podcasting (listening anyways). There are a couple that are directly relavent to Sikhi:

1. Sikhwithin Podcast - A biweekly podcast in ENGLISH that discusses several aspects of sikhi including shabads, history, etc. Listened to the latest one, and its really good!

2. W!N Podcast - A new podcast, that is supposed to be meant for the youth and cover a wide variety of topics including chapter by chapter reviews of books written by Gursikhs. Promising in theory, if you understand punjabi (although it is supposed to be in english...)

Do you have any good Sikhi related podcasts? Please let me know!

Bhai Amolak Singh on Google Video

On the front page of Google Video, I swear this is an unaltered screenshot!

(The actual video is here)

Samagam!

Just to let anyone who might be reading this, if you are in the Edmonton Area, please come by to the Samagam!

It started today (Friday) and will continue for this weekend (until Sunday at noon). Program details will be:

5:00am - noon (Simran, nitnem, Asa di Vaar, Akhand Keertan)
3:30pm - 9:00pm (Simran, Gurbani Vichaar, Rehraas, Akhand Keertan)

please come if you can!

Google map link (its were it says "Michaels Park")

The cell... and the universe

See any similarities?
(click the image to see the full picture)

Wow. Just Wow.

That was the only thing I could think of when I watched this video. It describes someone taking amrit, and it is incredible.

Please take a look!

From: Akaal Media Blog.

Leadership by Turban

This is an amazing ebook written by Ravi Singh... in a truly non-traditional .exe file type! I read through bits of it, and it an absolute must read! Take a look.

Religious fanatics

Even 300 years ago, its sad to see certain faiths going exclusively towards the destruction of others. From the mouth of your Guru:

rojw DrY mnwvY Alhu suAwdiq jIA sMGwrY ]
rojaa dhurai munaavai aluhu suaadhath jeea sunghaarai
You keep your fasts to please Allah, while you murder other beings for pleasure.

Awpw dyiK Avr nhI dyKY kwhy kau JK mwrY ]1]
aapaa dhaekh avur nehee dhaekhai kaahae ko jhukh maarai
You look after your own interests, and so not see the interests of others. What good is your word? ||1||

kwjI swihbu eyku qohI mih qyrw soic ibcwir n dyKY ]
kaajee saahib eaek thohee mehi thaeraa soch bichaar n dhaekhai
O Qazi, the One Lord is within you, but you do not behold Him by thought or contemplation.

Kbir n krih dIn ky baury qw qy jnmu AlyKY ]1] rhwau ]
khubar n kurehi dheen kae bourae thaa thae junum alaekhai
You do not care for others, you are a religious fanatic, and your life is of no account at all. ||1||Pause||

swcu kqyb bKwnY Alhu nwir purKu nhI koeI ]
saach kuthaeb bukhaanai aluhu naar purukh nehee koee
Your holy scriptures say that Allah is True, and that he is neither male nor female.

pFy guny nwhI kCu baury jau idl mih Kbir n hoeI ]2]
putae gunae naahee kush bourae jo dhil mehi khubar n hoee
But you gain nothing by reading and studying, O mad-man, if you do not gain the understanding in your heart. ||2||

Alhu gYbu sgl Gt BIqir ihrdY lyhu ibcwrI ]
aluhu gaib sugul ghutt bheethar hirudhai laehu bichaaree
Allah is hidden in every heart; reflect upon this in your mind.

ihMdU qurk duhUM mih eykY khY kbIr pukwrI ]3]7]29]
hindhoo thuruk dhuhoon mehi eaekai kehai kubeer pukaaree
The One Lord is within both Hindu and Muslim; Kabeer proclaims this out loud. ||3||7||29||

STTM 2 Preview?

Sikhi To The Max 2!

I'm not sure if this is an official release, but this preview seems to be very full featured. The interface is much cleaner and easier to use. There are also other cool features such as being able to make the Bani Navigator transparent (which can be now in Gurmukhi and English), as well as choosing backgrounds for the slides. All in all, waaay cool!

Victorinox India

The Swiss Army Kirpaan

I just thought I'd let everyone know that this IS available from the Victorinox india website. Now it isn't cheap (the big one comes to about $125 with shipping).. and when I got it, I was happily ripped off (the "hologram" that was supposed to be written on one side wasn't present).

Even then, it is an amazingly high quality item, with a rich handle and super fine blade.

Victorinox India

Religions in Canada: Sikhism

This is a surprisingly thorough (and from what I can tell, accurate) explination about sikhism, posted on the Canadian Forces Web Site about religions.

Impressive.

(I did note one mistake in the 3rd paragraph which I emailed them to correct... try to find what it is!)

Religions in Canada: Sikhism

Delhi 1993 - Part 2 of 2 - Tejinderpal Singh Dulla

OMG! Bhai Tejinderpal Singh (Dulla) from 1993 in Delhi.

I haven't posted in a while, so this is a good start!!

Samagam! Now!

For anyone in the Edmonton area, there is a samagam this weekend (actually it started on Friday) at the Blue Quill Community Center (25th Ave and 113 Street)

If you are in the area, swing by!!

Big bang, and the crunch

From Chopai Sahib

"ਜਬ ਉਦਕਰਖ ਕਰਾ ਕਰਤਾਰਾ ॥ ਪ੍ਰਜਾ ਧਰਤ ਤਬ ਦੇਹ ਅਪਾਰਾ ॥
When the Creator projected Himself, His creation manifested itself in innumerable forms;

ਜਬ ਆਕਰਖ ਕਰਤ ਹੋ ਕਬਹੂੰ ॥ ਤੁਮ ਮੈ ਮਿਲਤ ਦੇਹ ਧਰ ਸਭਹੂੰ ॥੩੮੯॥
When at any time He withdraws His creation, all the physical forms are merged in Him.13."

and more Nagar Keertan

 
 
 

Go oilers!!! 

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Edmonton - Nagar Keertan