Sikh - A Saint Soldier

Sikh Gurus introduced Sikhs as a Saint Soldier. This in turn teaches us the purpose of life. Sikhs should lead their life playing the roles of both the Saints and Soldiers. Here, soldier doesn't really mean that you have to fight in wars, battles or fight with other humans. The Sikh soldiers were, basically, assigned the task to protect humanity and fought for the exploited humans.

The concept of Soldier in a broader prospective could be thought of as a person who fights this battle of life which has been bestowed upon him by the Almighty. It means that a person should be successful in his worldly affairs. He should be a leader wherever he goes. For that, we got a unique identity, which we maintain by keeping our Kesh (hair) and wearing a turban. Sikhs should stand out in the crowd and be a winner in this battle of life.

A Sikh should also be a Saint. He should remember God with every brath of his life. He should always lead a life which should be full of honesty and integrity. He should never harm any other human. A person doesn't becomes a Saint by self-declaration but is considered one by good moral practices, which are expected by every human being.

Thus, a true Gursikh is the one who is 'A Saint Soldier'. He should have both saintly qualities and should be able to defend himself in this battle of life. Now, how can you defend yourself in this battle of life? Surely, by doing good deeds and remembering the name of the Creator Lord, who Himself blesses us the gift of His Name.

The concept of Saint-Soldier was first started by Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji who wore two swords of Miri - n - Piri. Miri is the worldly sword (sword worn by a king, commander etc) and Piri signifies spirituality. The existence of both swords together signifies the importance of the dual roles of a human being in this invaluable gift of life.

Another example which signifies the concept of a Saint-Soldier is the coexistence of both Sri Akal-Takhat Sahib and Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) together in the same complex. Harmandir Sahib is the centre of Sikh spirituality, while Akal Takhat Sahib is the temporal throne of the Sikhs. A point worth noting, here, is that when you look at Sri Harmandir Sahib from Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, you can clearly view Harmandir Sahib. While, if you try to view the Akal Takhat from Golden Temple, you won't be able to view it. This signifies that the search for spiritual grace should always lead. When you are trying to remember God you should forget all worldly aspects, but when you are fulfilling your temporal needs always keep the True Lord's Name in your mind. Never ever forget the Name of the One Lord from your mind.

Further, Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave us the title of a Singh. Singh, which literary means a Lion, signifies the the lion as the King of the jungle. It emphasizes that a Singh is born as a King and should be a leader in whatever he does. A Singh should be a role-model for this human race and should always protect the dignity of his fellow humans.

A Sikh should consider God as the supreme commander of this world and always accept His will as the Supreme. Lets pray to Lord that he always helps us to be on the right path and blesses us to always remember His Name.

P.S.: Most thoughts depicted in this article are my own interpretation of the message given by the Gurus. As it is said, to err is human, my interpretation may be a bit incorrect. Your suggestions and criticisms are most welcome.
Please do correct me if I'm wrong. I would appreciate if someone could validate (invalidate too, if they are wrong) these thoughts by referring to Gurbani.

Meditate on the Lord

GAUREE, FIFTH MEHL:

Those who have You on their side, O All-powerful Lord — no black stain can stick to them. || 1 ||

O Lord of wealth, those who place their hopes in You — nothing of the world can touch them at all. || 1 || Pause ||

Those whose hearts are filled with their Lord and Master — no anxiety can affect them. || 2 ||

Those, unto whom You give Your consolation, God — pain does not even approach them. || 3 ||

Says Nanak, I have found that Guru, who has shown me the Perfect, Supreme Lord God. || 4 || 41 || 110 ||

SGGS - pg 188


So, meditate on the Lord 24x7 and you will find your self away from all troubles and anxiety.

Power of Meditating on the Lord's Name

bYrwVI mhlw 4 ] (720-6)
bairaarhee mehlaa 4.
Bairaaree, Fourth Mehl:

jip mn hir inrMjnu inrMkwrw ] (720-7, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
jap man har niranjan nirankaaraa.
Meditate, O mind, on the immaculate, formless Lord.

sdw sdw hir iDAweIAY suKdwqw jw kw AMqu n pwrwvwrw ]1] rhwau ] (720-7, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
sadaa sadaa har Dhi-aa-ee-ai sukh-daata jaa kaa ant na paaraavaaraa. ||1|| rahaa-o.
Forever and ever, meditate on the Lord, the Giver of peace; He has no end or limitation. ||1||Pause||

Agin kuMt mih aurD ilv lwgw hir rwKY audr mMJwrw ] (720-8, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
agan kunt meh uraDh liv laagaa har raakhai udar manjhaaraa.
In the fiery pit of the womb, when you were hanging upside-down, the Lord absorbed You in His Love, and preserved You.

so AYsw hir syvhu myry mn hir AMiq Cfwvxhwrw ]1] (720-8, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
so aisaa har sayvhu mayray man har ant chhadaavanhaaraa. ||1||
So serve such a Lord, O my mind; the Lord shall deliver you in the end. ||1||

jw kY ihrdY bisAw myrw hir hir iqsu jn kau krhu nmskwrw ] (720-9, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
jaa kai hirdai basi-aa mayraa har har tis jan ka-o karahu namaskaaraa.
Bow down in reverence to that humble being, within whose heart the Lord, Har, Har, abides.

hir ikrpw qy pweIAY hir jpu nwnk nwmu ADwrw ]2]5] (720-10, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
har kirpaa tay paa-ee-ai har jap naanak naam aDhaaraa. ||2||5||
By the Lord's Kind Mercy, O Nanak, one obtains the Lord's meditation, and the support of the Naam. ||2||5||

bYrwVI mhlw 4 ] (720-10)
bairaarhee mehlaa 4.
Bairaaree, Fourth Mehl:

jip mn hir hir nwmu inq iDAwie ] (720-11, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
jap man har har naam nit Dhi-aa-ay.
O my mind, chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har; meditate on it continually.

jo ieCih soeI Plu pwvih iPir dUKu n lwgY Awie ]1] rhwau ] (720-11, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
jo ichheh so-ee fal paavahi fir dookh na laagai aa-ay. ||1|| rahaa-o.
You shall obtain the fruits of your heart's desires, and pain shall never touch you again. ||1||Pause||

so jpu so qpu sw bRq pUjw ijqu hir isau pRIiq lgwie ] (720-12, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
so jap so tap saa barat poojaa jit har si-o pareet lagaa-ay.
That is chanting, that is deep meditation and austerity, that is fasting and worship, which inspires love for the Lord.

ibnu hir pRIiq hor pRIiq sB JUTI iek iKn mih ibsir sB jwie ]1] (720-12, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
bin har pareet hor pareet sabh jhoothee ik khin meh bisar sabh jaa-ay. ||1||
Without the Lord's Love, every other love is false; in an instant, it is all forgotten. ||1||

qU byAMqu srb kl pUrw ikCu kImiq khI n jwie ] (720-13, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
too bay-ant sarab kal pooraa kichh keemat kahee na jaa-ay.
You are infinite, the Master of all power; Your value cannot be described at all.

nwnk srix qum@wrI hir jIau BwvY iqvY Cfwie ]2]6] (720-14, bYrwVI, mÚ 4)
naanak saran tum^Haaree har jee-o bhaavai tivai chhadaa-ay. ||2||6||
Nanak has come to Your Sanctuary, O Dear Lord; as it pleases You, save him. ||2||6||

rwgu bYrwVI mhlw 5 Gru 1 (720-15)
raag bairaarhee mehlaa 5 ghar 1
Raag Bairaaree, Fifth Mehl, First House:

<> siqgur pRswid ] (720-15)
ik-o^Nkaar satgur parsaad.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

sMq jnw imil hir jsu gwieE ] (720-16, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
sant janaa mil har jas gaa-i-o.
Meeting with the humble Saints, sing the Praises of the Lord.

koit jnm ky dUK gvwieE ]1] rhwau ] (720-16, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
kot janam kay dookh gavaa-i-o. ||1|| rahaa-o.
The pains of millions of incarnations shall be eradicated. ||1||Pause||

jo cwhq soeI min pwieE ] (720-16, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
jo chaahat so-ee man paa-i-o.
Whatever your mind desires, that you shall obtain.

kir ikrpw hir nwmu idvwieE ]1] (720-17, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
kar kirpaa har naam divaa-i-o. ||1||
By His Kind Mercy, the Lord blesses us with His Name. ||1||

srb sUK hir nwim vfweI ] (720-17, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
sarab sookh har naam vadaa-ee.
All happiness and greatness are in the Lord's Name.

gur pRswid nwnk miq pweI ]2]1]7] (720-17, bYrwVI, mÚ 5)
gur parsaad naanak mat paa-ee. ||2||1||7||
By Guru's Grace, Nanak has gained this understanding. ||2||1||7||

What am I doing...

My current state:

BHAIRAO, THIRD MEHL: Lost in egotism, Maya and attachment, the mortal earns pain, and eats pain. The great disease, the rabid disease of greed, is deep within him; he wanders around indiscriminately. || 1 || The life of the self-willed manmukh in this world is cursed. He does not remember the Lord’s Name, even in his dreams. He is never in love with the Lord’s Name. || 1 || Pause || He acts like a beast, and does not understand anything. Practicing falsehood, he becomes false. But when the mortal meets the True Guru, his way of looking at the world changes. How rare are those humble beings who seek and find the Lord. || 2 ||

What I want (or rather I should want) to achieve:

That person, whose heart is forever filled with the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, obtains the Lord, the Treasure of Virtue. By Guru’s Grace, he finds the Perfect Lord; the egotistical pride of his mind is eradicated. || 3 || The Creator Himself acts, and causes all to act. He Himself places us on the path. He Himself blesses the Gurmukh with glorious greatness; O Nanak, he merges in the Naam. || 4 || 9 || 19 ||

- page 1132-33 SGGS

I am really in a bad state of affairs. Forgetting the Lord's name from my heart. My mind has been captured with unnecessary worldly virtues. Trying to achieve the Lord's name. I want to (or again, rather should want to) remember Him all the time.

But what am I doing? Obsessed with the 5 desires in my mind, I've forgotten the Lord's name. May Waheguru bless us all that we always keep His name in our minds 24x7.

Misunderstanding in Relationships

I was on a verge of loosing a good friend of mine due to some unknown misunderstandings between us. I would refer this friend as D, as I don't want to reveal her identity in public.

D & I became good friends since we joined college. We used to spent a lot of time together. But from the past few months, something just went wrong between the two of us. I just could not understand what happened, but both of us just stopped talking all of a sudden. Reaon, I don't know and I believe that even she didn't knew. Both of us behaved like strangers even if we would come across each other, which happened quite often.

It all started a few months back. Due to some reasons, we saw less of each other. There were days when we didn't got a chance to talk once a day, inspite of being in the same class. It felt like both of us were ignoring each other, while thinking back the reality seems that both of us were under the influence of the same misunderstanding. I'm still not sure that this would have been the reason or not.

But, something unexpected happened today. Due to some reason I went to college today (our summer breaks are going on) and to my surprise, the first person I met while entering the college was D. She was coming out of the college, while I was entering. Suddenly, everything became normal like before. Both of us spent time together, though just 10 minutes, it seemed that our friendship is as good as it had ever been. We talked like we usually did before. It appeared like nothing happened between us in the last few months. Everything was just normal as it should be. I am really happy to get back a friend, whom I had almost lost.

You would have seen how I was just on the verge of losing a good friend due to some misunderstanding that prevailed between both of us. Please don't let your relationships die due to misunderstandings. I have learnt a lesson but it was a hard way out. So, do talk clearly to the person you love and care about.


P.S.: Those who would be getting all sorts of thoughts about D and me, I would like to clarify that D is just a good friend of mine and a really sweet one.

Sikhs: The Most Dynamic Community

There are many moments in your life when you feel proud to be a Sikh. Today, there was an event in my life which made me "extra" proud to be a Sikh. At my evening class, my instructor started a conversation on topics related to Kashmir (as there is a Kashmiri guy in my class). The conversation took a turn and came to religion.

Discussions ranged from terrorists misleading the concepts of Islam (my instructor is a Muslim), the Hindus believing in many Gods and horoscopes etc to the Christians not going to Church daily and still being the most successful. The discussion went on with very positive views on many topics. The Kashmiri guy was talking of 'Kundli'(horoscope made at the time of birth) and pointed that Sikhs also believe in Kundli. I just started explaining that he was wrong and my instructor interfered.

He started, among all communities that exist in this world, Sikhism is the most dynamic community in this world. The first example he cited was that, he had seen billionairs doing the cleaning service of the Gurdwara. This thing might not sound too exceptional for us, but for a Muslim it was like something very amazing. He added that he had not seen this in any other community. He expressed his regards for Sikhs as being the most trusted community. Then, I explained the concept of Sardar, a leader. I told him that Guru Gobind Singh Ji transformed us to lead. GuruJi's message was to help people at time of need.

After this short example, he has a whole lot of tales to explain how Sikhs were unique. He quoted an incident about his stay in Dubai, where his car broke down in the middle of the road. He asked for lifts but nobody stopped. He had started walking towards his destination and suddenly a Sikh trailor driver stopped his trailor in front of him and reached him for help.

He also told that a Sikh would never be a beggar. He said that, "a Sikh would die but would never beg for money. No doubts, Sikhs are the most hard working community. You would find them at top in almost every industry and every country."

Next, he added that there is Free Langar in the Gurdwaras at all times. He said that he was amazed to see the courtesy of the Sikhs. He quoted that if you go to Punjab and ask a route from a person sitting outside his house, he would definitely tell you the route and if possible take you to that place, but first, would ask you to have tea at his house. He emphasized that he is talking only about the 'Sikhs' in Punjab.

I was astonished to hear his views about the Sikh religion. A sense of being proud about my faith captured my mind for a few moments. But, then I thought, how much are we trying to follow the teachings of our beloved Gurus. Can we depict that we are the true disciples of our Guru?

Here's a message for all those who are bewildering from the path of Sikhism, read what others feel about Sikhs. Always, follow the teachings of the Gurus and be Proud to be a Sikh.

Introduction

I am yet another guy in this Universe. By faith, I am a Sikh and proud to be one. I am a very deep thinker. I wanted a medium to organize my thoughts. So, I thought of blogging them down.

My thoughts mainly focus on spirituality, Sikhism, relationships and some daily happenings. I want to know what other people think of these thoughts. Sometimes there are many questions in my mind which remain unanswered. I think people reading this blog could answer my queries.

I also read the English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the daily hukamnama from Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. Reading Gurbani helps me better understand the purpose of life. It also helps me to realize the importance of the 'Name of the Lord'. I truly believe:

'Bani Guru Guru Hai Bani'

The word of the Lord is our teacher