When a person seeks something other than themselves, it is a dream state (identification with body or mind) in which a lot of worldly things is accumulated, physical things and non-physical things. Though, all that is accumulated is constrained by time, space and form. All that is accumulated is limited within the domain of time (Kal) and is considered illusion (Maya) based on the definition of Gurbani.
“The American Sikh community has been actively participating in Chicago Memorial Day ceremonies and parades since 2012. This year in 2022 the members of the American Sikh community from all over the area came together and participated in three separate events in Chicago Downtown, Villages of Schaumburg and Naperville.”
This is the type of experience that humans have always longed for. However, to gain a fraction of that grandeur many make use of intoxicants, drugs, herbs, medicines, exercise, yoga postures, and even prayers. But Guru Ji is saying that everyone can experience the feeling of awe, all we need to do is spend more time in nature with awareness. Those who are blessed, experience the awe, and get freed from attachment to the material world. Instead, they get attuned to the Creator, who is full of wonders:
Dr Khurana beautifully takes us through this period and the write-up includes biographies of important Afghan Sikhs who lead Khalsa Diwan Afghanistan and played an important part in Afghan society. Dr Saab had done a yeoman service by writing these books. I hope the younger Afghan Sikh and Hindu generations will utilize them to further research and obtain doctorates on their rich history and legacy. These books are for both casual and serious readers on the history of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan.
Failure to act now under the stubborn belief that any reform is an infringement on gun rights is not pragmatic. The notion that all reform efforts must stopped at all costs, is akin to helping the next shooter pull the trigger. May the wiser sense prevail, and we see some positive outcome of this blood bath.
It is heartwarming to witness someone from another culture would undertake and pay a brilliant tribute to the Sikh devotion chant and do an amazing rendition in her rich and reverberating voice respecting the styles and rhythms of established tradition, and with Indian instrumental music and several Sikh hallowed places as the backdrop.
This is the story of a larger-than-life man, who was a risk taker and lived life passionately. He predominantly wore blue and black turbans, but the colors of his life’s turban (pardon for using the term instead of the commonly used term hat) were – scientist, innovator, entrepreneur, manufacturer, sculpture artist, farmer, philanthropist, and avid Sikh Art Collector. His life’s story is a true inspiration worthy of emulation.
There is a tug of war between those who want to maintain the status quo and those who want to bring in drastic changes in its structure, theology and institutions. What is a paradigm shift?... proposed to carry out surgical strikes to reform the functioning of Gurdwaras. I believe it will cause more harm than good and cause schisms in Sikhi. A representative body of Sikhi, “Global Sikh Network Organisation” for coordinating activities of Gurdwaras all over the globe, is the need of the hour. The beginning can be made by reinterpretation of GGS using modern techniques of hermeneutics.
All religions provide a ray of hope for their followers. Hope has been a blessing in disguise. It is an inbuilt characteristic of human nature. Humanity evolved to the present stage based on hope despite the dictum: “survival of the fittest”. Hope is linked to desire and expectation. If desires are not fulfilled, one becomes pessimist. The difference between hope and desire is palpable.
The contents of the opening Chapter of Book One: “Ponderings that Make up My Credo” can prove to be eye-catching and mesmerizing for any reader who dares to ponder over it. It has many quotes worth its weight of gold: “Nature is God’s manifest might”. “Five senses (visual, audial, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile), which provide the necessary material to Mind, have been given to Man to enjoy Beauty”. “Man is a pain-avoiding, pleasure-seeking, myth-making animal who wanders life after life in the illimitable Desert of Existence”. “Beauty supplies the raw material for aesthetic experience without which the contemplation on the nature of Reality cannot come about”. “The four faculties of Reason, Emotion, Imagination, and Intuition are Man’s chief gifts bestowed on him by God”.