Let The Battle Commence - Part 2

Photo Credit: Oskay

Slotting all that Cyber-Sikhee together isn't always easy


Up for discussion all the time, somewhere or other: meat or no meat, which are the 5 K’s, how to dress, can I have a partner before marriage, can I drink alcohol, should Sikhs do Yoga, is Raagmalaa (a verse) part of GurbaaNee???? The poor newcomer swings this way and that, trying to make sense amongst the mishmash of viewpoints, regarding what is and isn’t The Satguroo’s Teachings.

Many who were once newcomers have now cut their hair. Many consume alcohol. Many have sex outside marriage. Many have completely rejected The Satguroo. It becomes obvious that as they tried to grapple with all the different perspectives and opinions, they were overcome and it’s easy to see why.

Often, a charismatic individual who seemed to offer them a well-constructed bridge of understanding to The Satguroo turned-out to be anything but, and with the bathwater of deception, the baby of Sikhee gets thrown out. Back to the wilderness then – well, at least I didn’t mention soup!

Seriously though, how can we sum-up the root issue? First, we must accept that everyone aside from The Satguroo can only offer an opinion based on their understanding. So why not place the Satguroo’s Perfect Understanding above all others’ opinions by connecting directly with GurbaaNee:

ਜਾਮਿਗੁਰੂਹੋਇਵਲਿਗਿਆਨਅਰੁਧਿਆਨਅਨਨਪਰਿ ॥
jaam guroo hoe val giaan ar dhiaan anan par
One who has the Guroo on his side, does not depend on anyone else for spiritual wisdom and meditation.

ਜਾਮਿਗੁਰੂਹੋਇਵਲਿਸਬਦੁਸਾਖੀਸੁਸਚਹਘਰਿ ॥
jaam guroo hoe val sabadh saakhee s sacheh ghar
One who has the Guroo on his side contemplates the Shabad and the Teachings, and abides in the Home of Truth.
(Ang/Page 1399)

The cyber-sources are an exciting nursery of discovery, of lego-blocks waiting to be fused into your personal understanding. They aren't bad in themselves. Yes, there comes a day when we will all want to know the ins and outs of things which GurbaaNee does not feel the need to directly spell out and address for us. Case-in-point: which brand of hair-oil should you use on your beard? Personally, I use mustard oil because...anyway, GurbaaNee is not a liturgy which aims to tell you how to please Vaheguroo through every miniscule decision your mind requests of you. GurbaaNee deals with the root cause, it addresses the wandering mind instead of all its minions; it goes for the mother-ship - think Independence Day and you're there.

The Satguroo turns you into someone who can make informed decisions, someone who can separate truth from fiction and nonsense from common-sense. By becoming The Satguroo’s Sikh, by immersing yourself in GurbaaNee, and meditating upon Naam, you'll naturally come to know what is good and bad for you:

ਗਾਫਲਗਿਆਨਵਿਹੂਣਿਆਗੁਰਬਿਨੁਗਿਆਨੁਨਭਾਲਿਜੀਉ ॥
gaafal giaan vihooniaa gur bin giaan n bhaal jeeo
O careless one, you are totally lacking any wisdom; do not seek wisdom without the Guroo.

ਖਿੰਚੋਤਾਣਿਵਿਗੁਚੀਐਬੁਰਾਭਲਾਦੁਇਨਾਲਿਜੀਉ ॥
khinchothaan vigucheeai buraa bhalaa dhue naal jeeo
By indecision and inner conflict, you shall come to ruin. Good and bad both pull at you.

ਬਿਨੁਸਬਦੈਭੈਰਤਿਆਸਭਜੋਹੀਜਮਕਾਲਿਜੀਉ ॥੭॥
bin sabadhai bhai rathiaa sabh johee jamakaal jeeo 7
Without being absorbed in the Satguroo’s Word, through devotional fear, all come under the gaze of the Messenger of Death. 7
(Ang/Page 751)

Positive and negative – features of the dualistic reality we are constantly subject to, cannot be overcome unless we harmonise with Vaheguroo. In fact, a spiritual death will eventually result from the inner battle between light and dark. Only the Gu–Roo can takes us from Gu (darkness) to Roo (light). The Satguroo tells us before concluding GurbaaNee:

ਥਾਲਵਿਚਿਤਿੰਨਿਵਸਤੂਪਈਓਸਤੁਸੰਤੋਖੁਵੀਚਾਰੋ ॥
thaal vich thinn vasathoo peeou sath santhokh veechaaro
Upon this Plate, three things have been placed: Truth, Contentment and Contemplation/Wisdom.

ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਨਾਮੁਠਾਕੁਰਕਾਪਇਓਜਿਸਕਾਸਭਸੁਅਧਾਰੋ ॥
anmrith naam thaakur kaa paeiou jis kaa sabhas adhaaro
The Ambrosial Nectarian Naam, the Naam of The Master, the support of all, has been placed upon it.

I interpret the above as meaning that through meditative loving immersion in Naam, our mind is stilled. Because the still mind focuses lovingly upon Vaheguroo, it’s true origin, Truth enters it. Truth leads to Contentment, and as a result of experiencing such Perfect Genuine Contentment, Wisdom arises. We will only experience Contentment once we experience Truth. Being fully content via the Truth leads to the welling-up of Inner Wisdom.

It’s up to you – do you wish to potentially never leave the merry-go-round of indecision, or do you wish to consult The Source that all those cyber-voices claim to represent and then, using this Touchstone of Truth, make truly wise decisions for yourself in the crazy jungle nursery full of lego???

( ( ( :-) >>>

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Let The Battle Commence - Part 1

Sometimes, I feel really sorry for those who begin their Sikhee journey.

Most often, these people can be split into two groups – non-Panjabees, and Panjabee youth whose family aren't committed Sikhs. As a result, these bright, enthusiastic and spiritually thirsty people naturally wish to soak up as much information and inspiration as possible from external sources. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve been stuck in the wilderness for far too long and are only now coming in from the cold.

Wide-eyed, they turn to the www in their zealous hunger for information. However, they soon realise that trying to learn about Sikhee via various sources, like most things in life, isn’t straightforward. Things don’t seem so warm inside after all.

It’s saturated with a plethora of websites, forums, blogs, social networking groups and e-groups, all of which to varying degrees promote a different Sikhee soup. "What does he mean by soup"? Schools of thought, schools within those schools and the most fascinating and perhaps most powerful phenomenon in recent times, the ‘charismatic individual’. The latter can often be found in the frontline amongst some of these vying perspectives.

Caustic debates, vicious flame-wars, accusations, slander – it’s a jungle! And all the newcomer wanted was some soup for their soul. Ok, I’ll stop the whole ‘cold wilderness’, ‘warm log-cabin’ and ‘campbells soup’ thing right now!

One fresh example, which makes me a feel a bit sorry for the author and anyone who reads the material, is a blog which barely having taken birth has begun by brazenly attacking a major well-respected Jathebandee (Sikh organisation). The reason? The blogger argues in his profile that he has been maligned by ‘members’ of the said Jathebandee, and so felt the need to prove how this Jathabandee is fundamentally opposed to The Satguroo’s teachings. Question: Do we really need to expose the whole Sikhee-seeking cyber population to such personal spats?

Look, my concern isn’t the truth behind the matter - which probably could have been discussed, dissected and decided over a telephone line between certain parties. I'm more concerned about the thirsty and wide-eyed newcomers, and the impressionable youth, who are constantly subject to these all too often occurrences. After-all, amongst the cyber-battlefield, it is they who suffer the paralysing aftermath, as they seek out 'The Satguroo's Teachings'.

...to be continued...
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So what's this blog about?

GurbaaNee, The Satguroo’s Form, is such a thing that its ultimate spiritual beauty and meaning cannot truly be conveyed by one human to another.

Like water, The Satguroo's subtleties shift and change the more you try to capture them. Our words are heavy-handed gestures which only serve to squeeze GurbaaNee away from us and the people we hope to engage, as we try to clutch it as though our words will solidify it.

This is because to explain is not necessarily to know - the Truth of GurbaaNee will only seem solid and tangible to us and others when we personally live it:

ਕੇਤੇਬੰਧਨਜੀਅਕੇਗੁਰਮੁਖਿਮੋਖਦੁਆਰ ॥
kaethae bandhan jeea kae guramukh mokh dhuaar
There are so many entanglements for the soul, only as Gurmukh [The Satguroo’s Accomplished Students] do we find the Door of Liberation.

ਸਚਹੁਓਰੈਸਭੁਕੋਉਪਰਿਸਚੁਆਚਾਰੁ ॥੫॥
sachahu ourai sabh ko oupar sach aachaar 5
Truth is higher than everything; but higher still is truthful living. 5

Yes - books, websites, forums, blogs and conversations can help, but no – the experienced reality of GurbaaNee won't hang around long enough for such blunt symbols as words. GurbaaNee has got other things on it’s mind like emancipation and enlightenment – it certainly doesn’t have time for language games.

Of course we should discuss GurbaaNee, but let’s never kid ourselves that we are deft enough to do The Satguroo’s job. The Satguroo is not only the conduit between us and Vaheguroo; the Satguroo is the the very form of The Directly Experienced Vaheguroo. Hence, Satguroo and Vaheguroo are One:

ਦੂਜਾਨਹੀਜਾਨੈਕੋਇ ॥
dhoojaa nehee jaanai koe
Let no one think of some seperate second or other.

ਸਤਗੁਰੁਨਿਰੰਜਨੁਸੋਇ ॥
suthugur nirunjun soe
The True Guroo is The Immaculate.
(Ang/Page 895)

So what place is there for middle-men/women? Well, those truly blessed souls who earn deepest insights and traverse lofty spiritual heights, they give us hints regarding The Immaculate - through their words and their lives. Yet these hints are not answers – they are pointers and the greatest and most experienced souls, the Gurmukhs, always point away from themselves and towards their Satguroo, GurbaaNee.

This blogger certainly doesn’t want the inexperienced to become so reliant on the seemingly experienced to the point that the inexperienced don’t directly connect with GurbaaNee. Did that make sense? Lol.

I definitely can't define the indefinable, or comment on the unspeakable. I simply hope to encourage you, whoever you are, to connect with GurbaaNee and thereby start experiencing The Satguroo, through your experiences – through your everyday sikhee.

( ( ( :-) >>> Atma Singh 

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Baby P

Zor Singh opening his eyes for the first time ever
(Copyright Atma Singh 2007)



I guess nowadays, not knowing shields us somewhat from certain newsworthy incidents, the glaring reminders, that humans very often have the capacity to act like demons.

Despite being a member of my local authority's social services team, only several days ago did I make an effort to actually read about Baby P and his short sad life. Poor little thing, he's better-off where he's gone, away from a deluded, cowardly 'mother' and sadistic stepfather under whose control he suffered unspeakable pain.

But what positives could I take from such a horrid reality, from this unwanted post-it I hadn't placed upon the desk of my concern, let alone wished to address? Well I hugged and kissed our 1 year old toddler Zor Singh, who shares his birthday with Guroo Nanak Jee, even more than usual the other night after his evening bath. I hoped that these renewed gestures let him feel my thoughts...

That no matter what he does, whatever lifestyle choices he will make and whether I like them or not, that this man holding him will love him dearly. He is Vaheguroo's child, given to his mother and me, to look over him for a period. He is as dear and as equal to Guroo Gobind Singh Jee as his biological sons. The Satguroo for whom every white sheet is as worthy of being placed as the other, upon the precious bodies of his many children.

We, the transient parents, can only love and advise him - we do not own him nor do we have any power over him. We cannot become attached to him for that will lead to an urge to control him. That to which we become attached directs us, pulling us this way and that. So naturally, we wish to control that which directs us. Would the mind not subconsciously seek to control that which constantly leads us towards happiness, sadness, joy or pain - one minute this, the next minute that? Such 'dangerous things' are better controlled than left to run loose are they not? This deep-rooted fear gives rise to attachment - and in turn, fear is also the fuel that attachment greedily consumes in order to sustain itself.

So I questioned what it is to be attached to and what it is to love Zor Singh and in doing so, the words 'if you love somebody, set them free' came to mind. Let's ponder over what it is to be the transient parents of Satguroo's children - to love them in such a way, that they come to understand the liberty and burden that freedom affords them and in doing so, they make their own choices.

( ( ( :-) >>>

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