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!!! 

More nagar keertan

 
 
 
  

Edmonton - Nagar Keertan

 
 
 
  

God - Interesting read

This link leads to a christian-sort of site... but it never ceases to amaze me the similarities of beliefs among various faiths.

I just found this article today, and it is nearly IDENTICAL to my thoughts in my previous blog post. (A couple references to the bible, but still a good read).

God - The Sum Total of Universal Energy

What is God?

This is a sort of thought experiment. Actually I've done this before and come up with a very similar sort of reasoning that is present in "God's Debris". A free ebook copy is available here.

---

So what is God? This is a question that has plagued millions of people for centuries. Our Gurus have written so much about Vaheguroo, but still when we read it, we still find difficulty in understanding exactly what Vaheguroo is.

Our Guru Granth Sahib states that Vaheguroo is bigger than anything, but within everything. Vaheguroo is nowhere, but everywhere. This, to me, is facinating. The following are my personal views... so please bear with me if I have mis-spoken.

Many fundamentalists like to see God as a person... a guy in a cloud somewhere? or a stone? or something physical. But I think what we forget is that God is sooo great, that God is above 'physical'. If this is true, then God can be anything.

So lets start with some facts.

1. Our Gurus say that in the beginning there was only God. Science says that in the beginning there was the big bang... pure energy.
   
   
2. Our Gurus say that now God is everywhere, in everything. Science says that our current universe consists of matter, energy, and forces.
   
   
3. Our Gurus say that at the end of time, there will again be only God. Science says that at the end of time, everything will either pan out to infinity or come back together in a big crunch.. so everything will be energy again.

Whenever we refer to God, we think of light. It's God's light.. his blessings that we recieve. People, when they reach wisdom, become enlightened. Is this terminology mere coincidence? (Blessed persons are drawn with a halo of light around their head).

So what if GOD was energy? God would perimiate between each one of us. God makes up every atom, every electron, every molecule in our bodies. Every particle in our world. The energy that exists... Power... the forces of gravity, magnitism, all with Vaheguroo... In the beginning there was only Vaheguroo. Now, Vaheguroo is still omnipitant, we just don't see anything. And when the universe comes to an end, Vaheguroo, the energy will still remain. The law of conservation of energy says that energy cannot be created, nor destroyed: but it can be converted from one form to another. Is this what we are seeing? The one thing that unites every person, every particle in the universe is the one Vaheguroo... the same energy that connects us all?

I donno. But it sounds neat :)

Bhul chuk maph.

The Sikh Religion (II)

The Sikh Religion, part two - Google Video

The Sikh Religion (I)

The Sikh Religion, part one - Google Video

Meditate like...

This is a line of gurbani that I sing a lot, but I have only recently tried to look at its meaning:

rwm jpau jIA AYsy AYsy ] DR¨ pRihlwd jipE hir jYsy ]1]
raam jupo jeea aisae aisae, dru prahlad japio har jaisai
Just as Dhroo and Prahlaad meditated on the Lord, so should you meditate on the Lord, O my soul. ||1||

In this line, Bhagat Kabeer Jee says that we should meditate as Bhagat Prahlaad and Bhagat Dhroo (Druva) have done. Understanding the stories of these individuals is important if we want to understand how we should go about this as well.

Here are some Wikipedia links:

Bhagat Prahlad Jee
Bhagat Dhroo Jee

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.