Moving from Cravng to Contentment

Santokh (or Santosh) means contentment, satisfaction or happiness. Let us try and understand what it really is. It is generally understood that a contented person is one who is satisfied with what he (or she) has, or has achieved in life. It may be argued that if one is satisfied with what one has there […]

Saturday, 23 January 2010 14:26 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

The Sikh and other Religions – Comparative Study

The Sikh religion is the youngest of the organized religions, its origin dating to the 15th century coinciding with the advent of its founder Guru Nanak (1469- 1539). At this time considerable progress in the educational, scientific and industrial fields was being made. Communications had also improved making interaction between geographically separated people. The religion […]

Sunday, 10 January 2010 02:35 Written by Rawel Singh 1 Comment

The Game of Chaupar and Human Life

Gurbani makes generous use of metaphors for facilitating easy understanding of many phenomena. A fairly often used metaphor is of the game of ‘Chaupar’ to represent how roles of all living beings are allotted by God. It also shows how deeds of the creatures affect them. All this is set in the context that the […]

Saturday, 02 January 2010 14:54 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Sikh Approach to War and Peace.

Sikh philosophy looks at peace and war from three angles. First against evil within the mind, second defense against attacks, including preemptive strikes, and third in aid of the weak or oppressed. There is a continuous battle raging in the mind. On the one hand temptations try to entice the mind and largely succeed in […]

Sunday, 27 December 2009 02:54 Written by Rawel Singh 1 Comment

Dasam Granth – An Overview

Sangat Ji, Apropos the discussion on primacy of Sri Guru Granth sahib, a short overview of Dasam Granth is presented below. A brief overview of whether the compositions forming part of Dasam Granth are those of the tenth Guru is presented below. The contents of Dasam Granth may be broadly divided into the following six […]

Friday, 18 December 2009 22:17 Written by Rawel Singh 2 Comments

Dasam Granth/ Bachitar Natak

There is an ongoing discussion about Dasam Granth. Some people feel that all of what it contains is not the Bani of the tenth Guru. We have Nitnem Banis which have never been questioned. There are also a number of other compositions that stand the test of Gurmat i.e. compatibility with what is contained […]

Saturday, 12 December 2009 15:10 Written by Rawel Singh 8 Comments

Guru Gobind Singh – His Multifaceted Personality

Guru Gobind Singh – His Multifaceted Personality Some time back a number of people including Hindu and Muslim scholars participated in a seminar on Jaap Sahib, a composition of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. The Muslim Maulana said he was at home with the composition for the large number of expressions in […]

Sunday, 06 December 2009 22:47 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

SERVICE – SEVA

In the spiritual context, service refers to voluntary work done for the good of humanity. It also includes service of parents and elders in one’s family and help that may be given to siblings and other relatives. Service should not be taken as something to be always done deliberately or planned in advance. Small and […]

Sunday, 22 November 2009 02:45 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 37 – 38 and Slok

We are in the process of discussing the five Khands in Japji. The first three namely Dharam Khand, the Realm of Duty, Giaan Khand the Realm of Knowledge and Saram Khand the Realm of effort were sequentially discussed in Pauris 34 to 36. These three lie in human domain in that they are to be […]

Sunday, 15 November 2009 15:27 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 34 to 36

Japji now proceeds to describe the stages of spiritual development that could lead to achievement of the ultimate goal of human life namely merger with the Divine Spirit from which the soul emanated. These stages are called Khans or Realms and denote the progressive development of state of human mind .For this purpose there is […]

Sunday, 08 November 2009 23:33 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Guru Nanak Unites

A Tribute on the Gurpurab Sometime ago during a discussion with a Hindu Brahmin and a Muslim Maulvi I gave a synopsis of Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib, the first composition in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. As soon as I finished, the Maulvi exclaimed “But this is Islam”. Such is the universal appeal of Guru Nanak’s […]

Saturday, 31 October 2009 21:22 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 32 to 33

All the preceding Paurris of Japji preceding Paurri 32 may be taken as conditioning the mind to make efforts to be one with the Creator. Pauris 32 and 33 now provide guidance for the preparation for that union. A common perception about God is IT’s being somewhere up beyond human reach. To be able to […]

Saturday, 24 October 2009 14:14 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 28 to 31

After having somewhat described the indescribable Creator’s virtues, the creation and the relationship between them Japji now brings us near the ultimate in spirituality – to be one with the Creator even though the latter is formless. Union with the Creator is the opportunity provided to the human birth and should be availed of. However […]

Saturday, 17 October 2009 23:01 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauri 27

The preceding Pauris of Japji have described the virtues of the Creator, the creation with its diverse nature and the inability of the mortal to figure out all that. The 27th Pauri brings out the harmony in all that exists with all components of the universe performing their function in a mutually supporting manner. The […]

Thursday, 08 October 2009 21:13 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 24 to 26

Pauri 16 had stated: ਜੇ ਕੋ ਕਹੈ ਕਰੈ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥ ਕਰਤੇ ਕੈ ਕਰਣੈ ਨਾਹੀ ਸੁਮਾਰੁ ॥ Some one who tries to describe or contemplate, would find that it is not possible to count or measure what the Creator does. Similarly in Pauris 17 to 19 had mentioned the countless phenomena in the universe. Pauris 24 […]

Sunday, 04 October 2009 02:35 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Japji Pauris 20 to 23

Japji has 38 Pauris and the second half starts with Pauri 20. In this Guru Nanak elaborates the subjects discussed in the first half. The theme of an unlimited and diverse universe with the human’s place in it continues. Pauri 2 said: ਇਕਨਾ ਹੁਕਮੀ ਬਖਸੀਸ ਇਕਿ ਹੁਕਮੀ ਸਦਾ ਭਵਾਈਅਹਿ ॥ In accordance with the laws […]

Monday, 28 September 2009 02:24 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Comparison of two faiths – Sikh and Christian

Comparison of two faiths – Sikh and Christian 1. Introduction Considerable efforts are being put in by Christian Missionaries these days to obtain conversions to Christianity from amongst the Sikhs particularly the youth. These missionaries have an agenda first to mislead the Sikh youth by telling them the assumed shortcomings of Sikhi (Sikh faith) […]

Monday, 21 September 2009 00:43 Written by Rawel Singh 1 Comment

Japji Pauris 16 to 19

Japji has 38 Pauris (stanzas). Pauris 16 to 19 describe the process of creation and diversity in nature. All people are the creation of one God. Different people act differently but the Creator maintains IT’s eternal virtues unchanged. Five types of actions for spiritual advancement were mentioned in Pauri 5: ਜਿਨਿ ਸੇਵਿਆ ਤਿਨਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਮਾਨੁ […]

Monday, 14 September 2009 22:18 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

Compilation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), the holy scripture and eternal Guru of the Sikhs has a standard layout totaling 1430 pages. The numbering system of the hymns called Shabads is such as to obviate the possibility of insertions or deletions. Its compilation was accomplished in two stages. The first version, called Pothi Sahib containing the […]

Saturday, 05 September 2009 20:40 Written by Rawel Singh 3 Comments

Japji Pauris 5 to 7

Japji Pauri 5. Note: The first four Pauris of Japji have covered the following in the order shown: To be considered (sachiaar = truthful) as genuine and acceptable for union with the Almighty, one needs to understand and live by (hukam) Divine commands, or laws of nature. Every one and everything is […]

Monday, 31 August 2009 13:33 Written by Rawel Singh 0 Comments

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