Nightingale and the Snake Short story

Said a nightingale to a snake: "There is a little poison in my heart too. When its pain stings sharp, I sing and feel light as a feather. Why do you never sing?"

A cuckoo heard the nightingale, smiled and said, "Snakes have no ears and he can't hear your words."

The nightingale became pensive and said to herself,"How sad he can't hear my songs. There is no music in his life." And she wondered if that was why the snake had to live with so much poison in his soul. "I must find some way to help him sing," she found herself mumbling, and the melancholy strain in her song filled the valley.

The snake slithered into a dark hole. This saddened the nightingale even more. The valley reverberated with her pain all night. In the morning, the sun searched every branch, but the nightingale was nowhere to be found. Said a little flower to the sun," She has gone to the valleys unknown  to get some music for the snake who lives here."

"Amen !" said the sun, and went about his work, too sad deep within his heart as he had seen something that looked like a nightingale's body lying, peaceful and still,  close to where the snake lived. But the sun did not want to violate the innocence of the little flower, and remained quiet.

A pilgrim, who had just finished his daily ritual of offering water to the sun, stood on the banks of the river, absolutely still on one leg, his eyes closed, his lips murmuring a prayer, "Let her last wish be fulfilled, O Lord of Light. Fill the snake's hole and his heart with light."
   The Sun shone hotter but not brighter. This saddened the Brahmin because he had always known that wherever the Nightingale might be, anger would hurt her gentle soul. He kept praying and sent his thoughts across the Sun to the Sky.  The Sun saw it but only growled to himself, "The Sky never listens. Like the snake, the sky has no ears."
  The pilgrim kept praying and hoping. Finally, as the Sun started to roll his sheets back preparing to leave for some other zones in the sky, it began to turn dark. "Soon, night hummed its velvet melody. "The snake loves the night and the dark. Soon he will be out, and resume his act, pretending to dance to the song of the night,"   said the Brahmin to the stars.

    Venus was listening to the Brahmin's heartbeat. The star could also see that there was a massive load on the Brahmin's heart as it was still heavy with the thoughts of the nightingale's disappearance. The temptress Venus pulled closer to the devotee and spoke in his ear. "Do not grieve for your friend, noble soul. She is with us and shines over everything in the valley."
"Can she see the snake now? Would she be careful at least now, at least in the dark of the night?"  the Brahmin asked. 
"No," said, Venus, " But why do you forget, Holy One, that her name is nightingale, and she is of the night born. "

" Why couldn't she see the snake last night?"

"Why could she not ..how could she not? " echoed Venus, and carried on, " She had seen and known everything since the day she had befriended the snake. "

"Then why did she not .....,"   interrupted the Brahmin, more out of anxiety and sadness than anger.

  "Nightingale is no priest. She knows not virtue form vice, piety from sin,"

"Oh, is she ignorant?"

"Innocent. She knows but this: that one either sings or one doesn't. And that a Song is the language love speaks. Song dies when love deserts you. And when love deserts you, pain deserts you too. The loveless snakes know no pain because they are loveless. There is no place for pain in their hearts because all the place is taken by poison, by hatred. The poor snake was suffering a loveless existence. There was no music in his life because there was no pain in his heart, only misery. And misery is not pain. He was miserable. "

"But.."

"But Nightingale wanted to bring some music into his life. She could not bear to see anyone songless, loveless, miserable.  Nightingales are like that." The snakes don't weep because there is no pain in their hearts. She wanted to teach the snake how to wash misery with tears. And she wanted tears to be lyrics and to she wanted to sing these for him. The song she thought would bring pain into his life, and therefore happiness."

 "Then..?"

"She was innocent as God is, like lovers. There is no place for a song in a heart already overflowing with poison and hatred."

"She didn't know? But she was wise.."

"Wisdom gave her innocence, or perhaps the other way round. She didn't want wisdom except the wisdom to love and liberate, and she wanted to liberate everyone, especially the Snakes of poison and misery."

    As Venus and Brahmin talked, the sky lowered his soul and listened in. There was a dewdrop in the corner of his eye. It sparkled and mirrored its lover, the Sun,  to let him know how it was aching in wait. Nightingale had often sung to the sky to celebrate the tear's ache for the Sun. Will there be no song now?


The Sky knew how the nightingale had disappeared. The sky always knows, and always knows how to keep a secret.  The snake had asked her over to his hole at night to teach to sing. And nightingale never knew how to refuse a request, especially if it meant a song, and even more especially if the song meant liberation. The valley was full of tales of how nightingales get invited over at night to sing and to melt away with their songs. This nightingale had known those tales. But every bird, animal, plant, vine and flower in the valley knew that between a tale and a song, every nightingale always chooses a song. And by every song of a nightingale hangs a tale.

Three years have passed since the nightingale was last seen in the branches. But every four weeks,  when the moon is full, pregnant with virgin glow, the valley reverberates with a fresh yet familiar song. As the song melts away into moonshine, the valley overflows with reptiles suddenly getting submerged in soil, and in their place sprout and grow lovely flower plants from whose branches and lush and thick foliage emerge winged songs resembling angels whose throats are blue from drinking poison. And as the valley watches, the angels bow to the arrival of a bird whose only care is to sing to children songs of forgotten innocence.

Words glow only under the light of sincerity AND Solitude

Words glow only under the light of sincerity and feeling. Otherwise, these are mere dry work tools

Solitude has no meaning in the phsyical sense of the word. You always have the option of surrounding yourself with people. Byron's Prometheus had developed kinship even with ants and chains during his incarceration. Solitude is essentailly a mental phenomenon, and it can strike you even amidst a crowd. The swarms of thoughts and ideas and feelings that jostle against one another in one's head often serve only to heighten the acute sense of solitude, when you are passing through that lonely "feeling" -- as I often do. It tugs and gnaws at one's heart, and no crowd of giggling friends or talkative darlings can reduce that piercing feeling. In fact, the lonelier you feel, the more oppressive you are likely to find enforced company, even of friends who may believe they are trying to help you out of your loneliness. But solitude can also be a bliss -- as it was for Wordsworth, or is for those who want to reflect on sweet memories about their loved ones. (As the songgoes: yaad tu aaye, mann ho jaaye, bheerh ke beech akela ..!) or as daffodils flashed across Wordsworth's "inward eye/ which is a bliss of solitude)

Words glow only under the light of sincerity AND Solitude

Words glow only under the light of sincerity and feeling. Otherwise, these are nothing more than dry work tools

Solitude has no meaning in the phsyical sense of the word. You always have the option of surrounding yourself with people. Byron's Prometheus had developed kinship even with ants and chains during his incarceration. Solitude is essentailly a mental phenomenon, and it can strike you even amidst a crowd. The swarms of thoughts and ideas and feelings that jostle against one another in one's head often serve only to heighten the acute sense of solitude, when you are passing through that lonely "feeling" -- as I often do. It tugs and gnaws at one's heart, and no crowd of giggling friends or talkative darlings can reduce that piercing feeling. In fact, the lonelier you feel, the more oppressive you are likely to find enforced company, even of friends who may believe they are trying to help you out of your loneliness. But solitude can also be a bliss -- as it was for Wordsworth, or is for those who want to reflect on sweet memories about their loved ones. (As the songgoes: yaad tu aaye, mann ho jaaye, bheerh ke beech akela ..!) or as daffodils flashed across Wordsworth's "inward eye/ which is a bliss of solitude)

Gorgeous individual and the little rustic baby, happy to cover her hair and hands in dust

Gorgeous individual; Jay S: Quite when did the little rustic baby, happy to cover her hair and hands in dust, running after butterflies annoyed with them for not yeilding to her palm, talking to little bushes and even to those little stray... pups who mistook her for a long-lost but just-found-again first cousin, flashing the most divinely innocent smiles at the merest excuse for a joke, breaking into a music whose notes only she could decipher, create and sing , going into a daughterly sulk at the slightest hint of perceived neglect and happy to be won back into her father's arms with no more than an excuse as an explanatin form him --- quite when did this little imp from paradise become "a gorgeous indivdual"? She was always the most fascinating, most lovable little daughter of God , who, like Wordsworht's Lucy, bounded from hil- top to hil-top in playfulness and in ecstasy -- but Gorgeous ?? And individual ?? Somehow, the expression seems to de-personalise the irrepressible bundle of energy and life that you are.
And about distances .......I don't know much about the place that kilometers have in human relations, but I can think of some bonding that lasts decade after decade after decade between people divided by the equator and with no communication between them at all . Come to think of it, even my relationship with my mother, now no longer in my world, remains more "alive and strong" than my relationship with many who live and stay and move and function within yards of me every day.

An idea is in danger of extinction only when it is outripped by a newer and better idea.

Every religion and every ideology eventually falls a prey to the petty idiosyncracies of its own followers. Every prophet or relgious icon suffers the ignomiy of being forced into a narrow wooden frame which his followers manufacture for him. Every great idea suffers this tragedy that it is measured not by the stature ...of its progenitor but by the petty conduct of his followers. "
An idea is an danger of defeat or extintion only when it is outstripped by a newer and better idea. Nothing else can erase it from human list of preferences. And when a better idea does arrive, the best course open to the follwoers of the old idea is either to benefit by it by updating their knopwledge and understanding or retire gracefully. No amount of clinging or breast beating will ever revive the corpse of an idea whose time is already gone."

To survive any onslaught, real or perceived, all that an ideology or religion or culture has to do is ensure its own relevance and worth to the world in which it aims to survive. This is true of all ideologies, including secularism, and all relgions,including Sikhism. The only threat that any religion or ideology or culture should ever dread is the one posed by its own irrelevance and stagnation. Ideologies and cultures are essentially an intellectual infrastructure on which the moral, spiritual or intellectual growth of mankind is founded. The word "growth" itself implies ceaseless and cojnstant renewal. Therefore, they must keep pace with this this constant updating of human knwoledge and understanding. Any religion that refuses to do so will fall by the wayside. We have seen that happening to all religious beliefs ( like that the earth is the center of this universe ) or ideolgies ( Marxian thought). Once they closed their doors to new ideas and new developments, they wrote their own epitaph. Sikhs have nothing to fear from any one because as a religious class, they are among the most modernising and intellectually enterprising people, capable of taking changes around them in their strides. Sikhism is also an outcry of the human spirit against fundamentalism and jingoisitic narrow mindedness. An angry Sikh or a fundamentalist Siikh is a contradiction in terms, and an affront to the "sehaj marg" taught by our Gurus. All those who swear by the name of the Gurus must steer clear of the evils that they themselves criticise in others. And the best course open to a Sikh is to avoid criticising others anyway, because Guru Granth Sahib declares all paths as worthy of our repsect; "Jit duaare ubhre, titte le ho ubhaar." Unfortunately, however, we suffer from the same weaknesses that our brethern from other faiths do. This must be accepted with grace, so that an honest effort may begin towards getting back to the goal of love and human brotherhood preached by oru Gurus, saints and seers.
"Ghat ghat main har jeo vasse / Santan kahio pukaar!"
Comment ·LikeUnlike · Share

S.s. Khurana, Gurdarshan Singh, Rajesh Kumar Bhatia and 17 others like this.

Harcharan Bains
An angry Sikh or a fundamentalist Siikh is a contradiction in terms, and an affront to the "sehaj marg" taught by our Gurus. All those who swear by the name of the Gurus must steer clear of the evils that they themselves criticise in other...s. And the best course open to a Sikh is to avoid criticising others anyway, because Guru Granth Sahib declares all paths as worthy of our repsect; "Jit duaare ubhre, titte le ho ubhaar." Unfortunately, however, we suffer from the same weaknesses that our brethern from other faiths do.See More
November 1 at 3:36pm · LikeUnlike · 3 peopleLoading...

DrNirmal S Dhallu ‎"Sikhs have nothing to fear from any one because as a religious class, they are among the most modernising and intellectually enterprising people, capable of taking changes around them in their strides."
November 1 at 3:53pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Jugraj Dhillon Sohi Yes, tolerance...especially religious tolerance is the need of the hour...to the goal of love and human brotherhood preached by oruGurus, saints and seers. And yet, u answer all ur querries
November 1 at 4:04pm · LikeUnlike

Harcharan Bains Jugra: I didn't quite follow the last line!!
November 1 at 4:40pm · LikeUnlike

Jugraj Dhillon Sohi u start with querries and then answer them better than all of us put together
November 1 at 4:50pm · LikeUnlike

Birinder Dhillon
tis new experience for me.on face book. All my North American andEuropean friends,except very few ones, are always writing positive thoughts on their walls and talk about present only, moreover about themselves.They never blame others for ......their miseries.They try to fight with the odds like Hemingway novels. B...ut ...my Punjabi friend...sare living in the past and weeping on the past and they often remainabsent from present.Also blame others for their miseries.More over are showing fear of loss for everything they have and complaining about supposed conspiracies.Instead of fighting they hope on miracles..Punjabi poets,writers etc all write about past.Perhaps this is cultural differences between east and westSee More
November 1 at 4:51pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Bindu Singh Danger -in what sense .No,religion or culture can come under danger zone till its followers or believers are strong and optimistic.In addition to it ,as we all know no religion teaches hatred , communalism and division.All the religions ultimate put their faith in Almighty (Only).But ,we humans sometimes hamper situations for petty interests and try to mould religious preachings. whereas , every religion utilimately says' Humanity' is the elementary feature of 'Dharma' 'Karma' aur 'Samaj'.
November 1 at 5:13pm · LikeUnlike

Baljit Dhillon What's the relevance of religion I.e sikhism to Present day Punjab or Sikhs ????? If you look at the daily life in any town or village and the overall social fabric of society and behavior of our leadership ,one can find the Clear and present danger to the Sikh religion in it's organized form. On an personal and individual level there can never be a Danger to the teachings of Gurus or there relevance to anyone who choose to read the Holy Guru Grunth Shaib....
November 1 at 5:23pm · UnlikeLike · 3 peopleYou, Surjit Sangha and Sacha Baba like this.

Baljit Dhillon
My village has 6 Gurdwaras , each armed with it's own stereo sound system which starts the daily prayers at 0400 in the morning with 10 mins difference to each other . By 0430 one can not work out who is broadcasting what??Then we have not ...have single working Ambulance or Doctor on duty , 30% of the population must be an addict of one sort or the other...Then what Sikhism as religion relevant to and in danger from..See More
November 1 at 5:47pm · UnlikeLike · 3 peopleLoading...

Harcharan Bains Jugraj: I am tempted to accept this high praise but should I when so many gems of wisdom and brilliant writings glow on every page of fb? (And was it meant to be praise in the first place!!!)Look at yourself alone, my eternal friendly critic. I find it tough to get past you, you stand there keeping vigil on any possible weakness in my thought and feelings. And thanks for that, it keeps me on my toes.
November 1 at 5:50pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Jugraj Dhillon Sohi I guess I know you, and hence sometimes find meanings in the unwritten...but thanks for the beautifully stringed words..
November 1 at 9:06pm · LikeUnlike

Karminder Singh Aulakh But Mr. Bains..why isn't the present regime not receptive of idea of sehejdharis being given vote to right in SGPC elections, that shows fundamentalists or say people who practice religion more in rituals than principle are true sikhs. It seems utterly wrong to me..!! The reason seems that most moderate sikhs are educated & vice-versa & accepting the practice or allowing amendment will certainly bring troubles & ultimately they will lose control of Gurudwaras..Anybody agrees to my viewpoint..?
November 1 at 9:09pm · LikeUnlike · 4 peopleLoading...

Jugraj Dhillon Sohi yes, but its the thekedaars who r in danger of losing,....
November 1 at 9:17pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Karminder Singh Aulakh sorry..read "right to vote"
November 1 at 9:21pm · LikeUnlike

Badish Jindal bains ji the problem is kay "awam say zyada khuda ho gaye hain, is liye hum khud say zuda ho gaye hay,
November 1 at 9:45pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Aneet Randhawa
‎@HB Fundamentalism is contradictory to the tenets of every religion not only Sikhism and spells doom for it. Off course there is no external danger to Sikhism , whatever little there is , I feel is internal. As JDS has said from the 'theke...dars'. They are responsible for whatever little hostility that exists. As Iqbal puts it:ajab vaa_iz kii diin-daarii hai yaa rabadaavat hai ise saare jahaa.N seI think Mr KS Aulakh has stirred up a hornet's nest. Voting rights for Sehajdharis in SGPC is too emotive an issue. It was raised earlier also in your forum in response to which u maintained a dignified silence which is quite understandable.SGPC elections are due shortly and when many like me will not be able to exercise their franchise they will surely spite venom at all those who are at the helm of our religious affairs. Will surely like to hear something on this from u , but off course , at your convenience. Apologize for raising a politico-religious issue.ISee More
November 1 at 9:48pm · LikeUnlike

Harcharan Bains
Karminder and Jugraj: As you can see, I do not carry the normal sym outer symbols of the relgion I was born into but am a devout lover of the esseence of my Gurus. ANd yet, when I go to a Gurdwara, -- especially, say the Akal Takhat or ...Sri harmandar Sahib -- I would prefer to see someone who does carry these ourter symbols to perform the service. Any contradiction here? Perhaps yes. To me, its like the army. I admire the army too, without being a soldier myself. And when I have to be in the army or when I go to report for duty there, I would like to see my officers dressed in full military uniform.Deep down however, I am agaisnt the outer form becoming the defining characteristic of any religion.My being clean shaven has never come in the way of my love for Gurbani and the Gurus, and nor has my love for them ever come in the way of my loving the icons and ideals of other religions.See More
November 1 at 9:50pm · LikeUnlike · 7 peopleLoading...

Aneet Randhawa
For the fundamentalists again by Iqbal:nayaa shivaalaasach kah duu.N ai brahman gar tuu buraa na maanetere sanam kado.n ke but ho gaye puraane...apano.n se bair rakhanaa tuu ne buto.n se siikhaajang-o-jadal sikhaayaa vaa_iz ko bhii Khudaa netang aake aaKhir mai.n ne dair-o-haram ko chho.Daavaa_iz kaa vaaz chho.Daa, chho.De tere fasaanepatthar kii muurato.n me.n samajhaa hai tuu Khudaa haiKhaak-e-vatan kaa mujh ko har zarraa devataa haiaa Gairat ke parde ik baar phir uThaa de.nbichha.Do.n ko phir milaa de.n naqsh-e-du_ii miTaa de.nsuunii pa.Dii hu_ii hai muddat se dil kii bastiiaa ik nayaa shivaalaa is des me.n banaa de.nduniyaa ke tiiratho.n se uu.Nchaa ho apanaa tiirathdaamaan-e-aasmaa.N se is kaa kalas milaa de.nhar subah mil ke gaaye.n mantar vo miiThe miiThesaare pujaariyo.n ko mai piit kii pilaa de.nshaktii bhii shaantii bhii bhakto.n ke giit me.n haidharatii ke baasiyo.n kii muktii priit me.n haiSee More
November 1 at 9:51pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Aneet Randhawa ‎@HB I think u have conveyed youself well, Thanks.
November 1 at 10:04pm · LikeUnlike

Pawan Gulati
Despite born in a 'Hindu' family, I don't relate myself with outer Hindu religious symbols.Deep down I relate more with Sikh intrinsic values especially Guru Nanak Devji's 'life-oriented nature-immersed outlook and 'out of the box' appro...ach. Yes. even secularism has to reinvent itself or it will turn fanatical and linear as we sometimes witness in the assertions of some of the western thinkers and leaders. Punjab nurses a nice love for the Gurus and Sikhism not only among Clean shaven Sikhs like you but also Hindus like us who feel more at home listening to soft Kirtan than Loud Hallagula at temples.See More
November 1 at 10:11pm · LikeUnlike · 5 peopleLoading...

Mannat Gill ssa bains saab nothing wrong wid Sikhism -- or anyother faith or culture,,,,,,none of them is n danger ,,,only thing is in danger is HUMANITY ,,,,,,,,,,,,
November 1 at 11:24pm · UnlikeLike · 4 peopleLoading...

Acharya Lalit Narayan exactly you are right mannat ji it was a big risk is that we are loosing our moral values and humanity because everybody was going to luv materialistic thing no one can think about moral values and religion so every thing is.....................?
Tuesday at 12:39am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Acharya Lalit Narayan bains saab no need to worry about anything each & everything was finalised by god allmighty and we are doing nothing
Tuesday at 12:41am · LikeUnlike

Surjit Sangha Sikhism has to eviolve and reinvent it self. Yesterday I went to Havelock Road Gurdwara.Out of thousand plus gathering only abt twenty percent were turbaned.Rresst were all clean shaven.
Tuesday at 2:08am · LikeUnlike

Karminder Singh Aulakh
M/s. Surjit Sangha, Avneet, Rajesh I appreciate you endorsing my views, at the same time would like to ask Mr. Bains (agreeing that persons doing the duty must wear assigned attire etc) but even if the army is uniformed, we do have every ri...ght to vote for the system of whcih army is an integral part. Same with Sikhism..when we say our faith is Sikhism or we are sikhs in principle besides being born ones, why don't we have the right to vote in our 'so called Sikh mini parliament' Lately I have realised that the sevadars in our holiest places are becoming rude to the devotees..special when they find that they are financially less previleged. Does our religion propages so..NO NOT AT ALL..only reason is that our religion has gone (or has been deliberately handed over to) religiously illiterate fellows who can just recite Guru Granth Sahib without understanding or accepting anything in principle.Having said that.. I appreciate or rather like Mr. Bains' intellect but do not endorse his political affiliation. I was born in a family where voting any other candidate than Akalis was Sinful..but with the things changed in last 2 decades since they tasted power.. I will be last person to endorse their dragging policies & vote for them. May I request all of you to see a video of pakhandi Baba Sachcha Sauda wala..who looks like an excellent joker. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvIWU_9Y7H4&feature=player_embedded) I wonder why Badals go to him with folded hands. Isn't it disgusting that our leaders (read Mis-leaders) go to such morons with folded hands & bow their head before him. Rightly said in one of above comments..that our religion is Danger from with-in.See More
Tuesday at 5:59am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Sandy Gill
well, for sure present system of hardcore Sikhism is in danger, as it has to be because it is based on false hood. I believe present hardcore religious system developed in last 50 years. This present Sikhism moved us totally separate from o...ther faiths, and from the rest of society, whereas,... Gurus concept was to mix in all and to mix others with in us. Gurus concept was based on social and religious tolerance, pluralism, multiculturalism, interfaith ism, while believing in one God. Due to some personal reasons, a class of people has played fundamentally wrong with Sikhism principles. I called it dirty politics. But I think some of our religious and political leaders narrowed their sight and has proved and always try to prove that Sikhism is the property of just Punjab or just Punjab own the Sikhism, and any political, economic, social, business or agricultural etc issue related with Punjab is a issue of Sikhism. We just made Sikhism a regional religion. Whatever we see Sikhism out in the World, its all by personal efforts of the Sikhs. The central authority on Sikhs even do not play substantial role in even in India.This is the only reason that Punjab, Punjabi, Sikhism and Sikhs in rest of India and World all suffered in past. This is the only reason that Sikhism and Punjab both has lot of divisions in the past, and even reputation of Sikhs were lost.If right measures are not taken in place by some good administrators, politicians, Sikh leaders, scholars and intellectuals, I am sure....there will for sure we can see further divisions and resulting loss in faith in mass.Only few, very few people, who are just in charge of all these are responsible, and they don't care...See More
Tuesday at 6:31am · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...

Sandy Gill
‎@Acharaya ji, there are two type of people have the theory and thinking the way your comments are.....First, those who are very satisfied in present and their business (religions is also a business for them) is running well in a bad syst...em, so that don't wanna take any risk and changes...and,Second type of those people....who either has fear or can not do any thing.....that's why they scare to talk truth....See More
Tuesday at 6:34am · LikeUnlike

Sarabjit Singh
yes it is indeed in danger not from outside but from its own followers,issue is not being fundamentalist but just to suit us we enter into such discussionsguru sahib has himself resolved the issue by saying so sikh sakha bandhap hai bhai jo... gur ke bhane vich rahesabat surat form is a way to submit oneself to the will of lord almightysikhism is complete submissionthose who understand and follow gurbani ultimately adopt sabat surat form ultimately as mark of full submission to will of lord almightySee More
Tuesday at 8:03am · LikeUnlike

Roop Sidhu ‎...my apologies...I believe that a religion, a culture or an ideology is nothing in itself...its the people who create it...so those people who are making their religion a busines will be in danger in the end...another thing. ..every coin has two sides.. the goodness always walk side by side to the badness...why to be afraid then???
Tuesday at 12:33pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Garg Sanjay
we do not care for the preachings of the Guru Sahibs rather the only concern is that one should follow the rules created by fundamentalists. I give u an example. A few ears ago, i attended the marrriage ceremony( anand karaj) of a friend. a...fter the ceremony, when he and his friends wanted to capture some photographs outside the holy room, ofcourse in the premises of Gurudwara, the bhai sahib ji ( preacher of Shri Guru Granth Sahib) stopped them and instructed that while posing for photographs, their face not their back should be towards the holy room of 'Guru Granth Sahib'. Similarly there are another such instances also. Once my niece was stopped for entering 'Guru Dwara Sahib' because she was wearing Jeans. The most recent, I visited 'Shri Harmander Sahib' along with my old aged father. While he was sitting on the banks of holy srover with his face towards the golden shrine and his feet on the second step of the stairs leading to the srover, one sevadar came and not only misbehaved but abused him for not sitting with folded legs and for placing his feet on the steps of the holy srover, of course without any intimation or notice board regarding this rule and despite his requests that he was not aware of this rule and also was unable to fold his legs due to joint pains and old age. I again visited the holy shrine but this time i was pleased to note they have started making announcement that no body is allowed to sit on the banks of the holy srover with his feet on the stairs rather only with folded legs for the sanctity of the holy shrine. I was taught by my school teacher that once Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was lying with his feet towards the 'Masjid' and when pointed out by the priest that he should not lye with his feet towards the masjid for the sake of sanctity of the Masjid, then his greatness instructed the said priest to put his feet in a direction where the God is not present. I wondered if that was so! why it is not followed in Gurudwaras and what wrong that masjid preist had said when we see it in present context! I do not want to hurt any one and apologise if any word of mine is wrong or has hurted some one one.See More
Tuesday at 1:35pm · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Amardeep Singh Rai
I feel that danger to our religion is from our failure to practise the core tenets preached by our Gurus.The debate about external symbols is futile,for our Gurus stressed on inner transformation.Once the same is affected,outer symbols will... fall in place.Unfortunately,as with other things,external symbols have taken precedence,and the thinking behind them has been given a go by.I also have serious doubts about communitarian aspects,for I somehow believe that each one of us will be having a different perspective on life,and therefore,to lay down similiar rules,for all may be doing injustice to some.See More
Tuesday at 1:54pm · UnlikeLike · 3 peopleLoading...

Sandy Gill
‎@Sarabjit Singh ji, 'Guru ke Bhane' means having all the time good intentions and good deeds performing with love in favor of general society without any preferences to any particular class or region while remembering God's name. 'Guru ke ...bhane' does not mean to live in a particular besh bhusha or style.Regarding Sabat Sarup, I do agree we must be in Sabat Sarup as much as possible, but if we can abuse our mother nature for our own benefits by thousands of ways, and we enjoy and make our life more comfortable by abusing mother nature why you don't care about that same concept for the mother nature. Why don't all Sikhs live natural way of life and accept all other artificial things made by man by abusing mother nature. Guru Sahib never advocate to abuse mother nature. It is not our duty to keep mother nature as sabat as possible???Sarabjit ji, we our self contradict a lot. Even Gurus time, If I am not wrong, there were famous and well devoted sikhs who were not in Sabat Saroops.Sabat Saroop is a natural stage which develop with in us when we align our self completely with nature and Guru's wish, thats the reason most philosphers and spiritual personalities we found in sabat saroops it does not matter which religions they belongs too.So, importance must be given to internal alignment of our thoughts, desires and actions as per nature and Guru's wish, to uplift our soul and vision from above all to see all equal world, but sorry to say, with our actions and daily practices we are not doing justifications to the vision of Gurus which were same for all. Our actions (Sikhs), considered Guru's actions, and sad to say that Sikhism has lost the trust in last 50 years which were established by our Gurus with lot of sacrifices.See More
Tuesday at 4:09pm · LikeUnlike · 2 peopleLoading...

Sarabjit Singh
at least one should try to follow teachings of our guru sahibs and live a truthful life.if we become god oriented, our jouney from manmukh to gurmukh,things will change and our form will change automatically.sabat surat roop is god designed... so god desired and all god oriented humans ultimately will adopt this form.it comes naturallywe can not justify a thing ,giving an example that as we r not taking care of nature so sikh form is not essential.two wrongs do not justify either of them.See More
Tuesday at 10:49pm · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill
Sarabjit ji, Guru Granth Sahib ji never recommend any saroop, shape, dress, color, even any mantra, or any God name, they just guide us to go along with nature in sahaj and remain consciously in touch with God by any means or by any names....... like we have our mobile connected with its main signal tower...Guru Sahib never guide us any tithi, var, or any special occasion to perform God's ustat as 24/7/12/365 days are open for it, well they only recommend amrit vaila, as our mind, body, spirit is fresh and chances for concentration is much easier or satsangat to listen and discuss god's ustant, this way we will be humble and do nishkaam sewa....this is almost require in sikhism, but our people made it so complicated that now it is kind of fear to be religious...and that fear make us non-religious.....and most people don't care, as now most of people know the simplecity of sikhism, so they don't follow the strict ness as it teach by gyaanis.....See More
Wednesday at 10:59pm · LikeUnlike

Sarabjit Singh
we have no right to feel ourselves to be more intelligent than guru sahib. gurbani says "sabat surat rab di bhane beiman'.is it not the fact that tenth master gave the institution of khalsa and rehat maryada.it is wrong to justify things ju...st because we feel it convenient to be the other way .r we proving here that our gurus were wrong to be keshadharis.we want to be called sikhs dut dont want to look like one.kindly go through rehatnamas.we can not be more intelligent than lord almighty who has designed us like that-- keshadhari.See More
Yesterday at 4:49pm · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill
I think Sarabjit....you are turning comments in wrong directions, but if you have pointed some issues.....then I have no other options and need to clarify myself.......Do you want to say Sikhism will be fulfilled if we protect our all hairs..., and being with full hairs a person is complete sabat surat as per Guru and God's wish?? If its true, then sorry I am not sold to this. Not only me, millions of people sikhs are not sold to this. If you look at any gathering in any Gurudwara on any festive you can judge your self.Well as you said about Rehatnama, I am not any Sikh Gyaani or have in depth knowledge about Rehatnama etc, but I know that rehatnamah was designed, concieved and decided by SGPC. May I ask you some questions:1.Do you consider SGPC or any Sikh or a Group of sikhs are as par with Shri Guru Granth Sahib and they have any authority to change anything against SGGS wish?2. Just for your knowledge and understanding, If a house of 545 people chosen by democratic way, can not justify and serve their real and true purpose and have their own vested interest behind each and every motion, how you can expect true justification by five or a bunch of Sikh leaders...3. Do you think SGGS ji recommend to live in falseness. 4. Do you think Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji will be happy if their Sikh's live with a symbolic kirpan which is not real and will not serve any purpose in case of any need. If we use kirpan as a Gatra for the purpose of symbol and to just to show others, then how it is different than a "Janeu", which was condemned by Sat Guru Nanak on its false ground and he refused to accept to live with symbolic life.5. If we can accept 'kirpan' , underwear, kara as a symbolic signs, why we can not accept hairs as a symbolic sign as every one still have hairs somewhere on body, as it is almost impossible to remove all hairs from the body, but removing certain hairs as per need or as per convenience to live and work in daily life or even to make our self more attractive and beautify our look as we make our lawns, gardens beauty full and remove and cut unnecessary grass, plants leaves and branches of any trees etc...There are lot other questions I have to ask, but once you answer these I will move further.....See More
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sarabjit Singh
rehatnamas have not not come from sgpc,they are from dasam patshah guru gobind singh ji and puratan singhs.do you know something about bhai taru singh ji . what was the need to defend hair if they were not relevant.sikhs abroad have strugg...led to get rights for turban and are still fighting.religion and it's concepts are important,sikhism has nothing to do with numbers.if large number are not following what is right that does not justify anything , people think themselves smarter and intellligent than guru sahiban .SGGS (ref) 1 sabat surat dastar sira.2. sabat surat rab di bhane beiman..AMRIT CEREMONY AND FIVE KAKARS HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY DASAM PATSAH GURU GOBIND SINGH SAHIB WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO BELITTLE THEM.WHAT WAS NEED FOR HIM TO SACRIFICE HIS SONS,FATHER,MOTHER IF HIS TEACHINGS WERE TO MEET SUCH A FATE?OUR GENERATION CONSIDERS EVERYTHING FROM UTILITY POINT OF VIEW, THOUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE IS MEAGRE AND LITTLE,MAN IS A MACHINE DESIGNED BY GOD, HE KNOWS WHERE AND WHAT IS REQUIRED.WE NEED TO BE SABAT SURAT AS OUR GURU SAHIB DESIRES SO.LEAVE MANMAT AND ADOPT GURMATSee More
18 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill Sarabjit.....you did not answer even one of my question, please answer one by one....the I have some more questions from you.........You need to know Rahatnama is not come from Guru Granth Sahib, it is came from SGPC......you need to now little history....about rehatnama and still there is dispute regarding rehatnama as if Dasam Granth has to follow or not.....
17 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...

Sandy Gill Sarabjit I think you are unable to understand my questions, If you are unable to understand please say, so I will try to clarify my questions again. Do not judge me that I dont follow Guru Gobind Singh ji, there may be chances I am more strong to his true guidance and following them with utmost good faith, then yourself...
17 hours ago · LikeUnlike

DrNirmal S Dhallu
Is sikhism in danger? I am not sure. But look at the contributors to this discussion. One person appears to be fully sabat soorat. I am not sure if he is Amridhari or not. That is about 5%. If that is extrapolated across 30 million sik...h, you may find the same ratio. What does this show? The way modern trends are going, 5% is only likely to get less not more. I do not believe there is any danger to the philosophy of SGGS. But our future generations are unlikely to carry on listening to the minority.See More
16 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill Dr. Nirmal ji.......I never said Sikhism is in danger....please read my first comment in this discussions......I am expecting Sarabjit Singh ji after understanding my questions will answer all one by one....
11 hours ago · LikeUnlike

DrNirmal S Dhallu Sandy, i did not say that you said. I was just ref to Mr Bains heading.
10 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill oh ok......thanks...
10 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sarabjit Singh
sandy, sgpc has not given these guidelines they are prevaling right from times of guru sahib.teachings of SGGS never tell us to be without keshas.many rehatnamas are by guru sahib himself....distinct identity of sikhs was given by guru sahibs only.guru granth sahib bani tells that sabat surat given by god is broken by a beiman.in ardas we ask for kesh dan.we pray that sikhi keshan sawasan nal nibhe. r we re defining sikhism by stressing on numbers?if in a school the number of students who do not follow rules outnumber those who follow ,that does not belittle importance of RULES ,NEITHER IT HAS AN IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE OR LEARNING.See More
8 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill Sarab jit ji..........that all i know......but answer my questions......first.....which i asked....and let us move forward by discussing issue in proper way......pls answer all questions........
8 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill Sarabjit do not just write......pls answer as per questions......sequences......ok. and i think i will learn a lot from u.....
8 hours ago · LikeUnlike

Sandy Gill Sarabjit ji......please read this as it all about history of Rehat Maryaada..http://www.globalsikhstudies.net/pdf/Jasbir%20Singh%20Mann%20M.D.-Dasam%20Granth%20Evidence%20%20Resolution%20and%20Prosecution.pdf
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike

Harcharan Bains
Sandy Gill:Sarabjit Singh: Aneet Randhawa: Dr. Dhallu: A S Rai, Rup Sidhu, Garg , KaRMINDER aULAKH: aCHARYA lALIT nARAYAN and all friends: " Consider these gems from Gurbani: "Jat ki jata jog ko majan prem ke nakhan badhaavo/ Gian gur a...atam updeso/ naam vibhoot lagaavo / Re man aiso kar sanyasa..... " And : " Nanak jeevatiyaan mar rahiye, aisa jog kamaaiye/ Vaaje baajhon sinqgi baaje tau nirbhau pad paaiye/ Anjan maahe nirnajan rahiye, jog jugat iv paaiye " To me these gems are the essence of Sikhism. What place is there in these inspired words for formalism or ritualism or even for outer symbols!And did I really say Sikhism is in danger.? I humbly draw your kind attn once again to what I wrote. Consier this para: "The only threat that any religion or ideology or culture should ever dread is the one posed by its own irrelevance and stagnation. Ideologies and cultures are essentially an intellectual infrastructure on which the moral, spiritual or intellectual growth of mankind is founded. The word "growth" itself implies ceaseless and cojnstant renewal. Therefore, they must keep pace with this this constant updating of human knwoledge and understanding. Any religion that refuses to do so will fall by the wayside. We have seen that happening to all religious beliefs ( like that the earth is the center of this universe ) or ideolgies ( Marxian thought). Once they closed their doors to new ideas and new developments, they wrote their own epitaph. Sikhs have nothing to fear from any one because as a religious class, they are among the most modernising and intellectually enterprising people, capable of taking changes around them in their strides. Sikhism is also an outcry of the human spirit against fundamentalism and jingoisitic narrow mindedness.

For Hazel: Love involves our whole being like nothing else does -- except pain.

Harcharan Bains
Mintoo Mand: Said P B Shelley:"We look before and after /And pine for what is not?Our sincerest laughter/...With some pain is fraught.Our sweetest songs are thsoe/Tthat tell us of our saddest thought."There is also a song from an old Hindi movie rendered soulfully by the incomparable Ghazal singer, Talat Mehmood:"Hai sabh se madhur sangeet jisse/Hum dard ke svar main gaate hain."About your question on why love has to be so painful, I think Minto ji, this a a very profound question and not all the books in the world put together can answer this. But I think that it got to do something with the fact that love involves our whole being like nothing else does -- except pain. I might attempt an answer some other time, but thanks for posing the question. The key to understanding life really lies in asking the right questions -- and asking them with sincerity as you have done.

Sikhism , like any other religion, must guard agianst the demons of cultural irrelevance and stagnation

To survive any onslaught, real or perceived, all that an ideology or religion or culture has to do is its own relevance and worth to the world in which it aims to survive. This is true of all ideologies. including secularism, and all relgions, including Sikhism. The only demon that any religion or ideology or culture should ever dread is the of its own irrelevance and stagnation. Ideologies and cultures are essentially an intellectual infrastructure on which the moral, spiritual or intellectual growth of mankind is founded. The word "growth" itself implies ceaseless renewal. Therefore, they must keep pace with this constant and ceaseless updating of human knwoledge and understanding. Any religion that refuses to do so will fall by the wayside. We have seen that happening to all religious beliefs ( like that the earth is the center of this universe ) or ideolgies ( Marxian thought). Once they closed their doors to new ideas and new developments, they wrote their own epitaph. Sikhs have nothing to fear from any one because as a a reigious class, they are among the most modernising and intellectually enterprising people, capable of taking changes around them in their strides. Sikhism is also an oucry of the human spirit against fundamentalism and jigoisitic narrow mindedness. An angry Sikh or a fundamentalist Siikh is a contradiction in terms, and an affront to the "sehaj marg" taught by our Gurus. All those who swear by the name of the Gurus must steer clear of the evils that they themselves criticise in others. And the best course open to a Sikh is to avoid criticising others anyway, because Guru Granth Sahib declares all paths as worthy of our repsect; "Jit duaare ubhre, titte le ho ubhaar."Unfortunately, however, we suffer from the same weaknesses that our brethern from other faiths do. This must be accepted with grace, so that an honest effort may begin towards getting back to the goal of love and human brotherhood preached by oru Gurus, saints and seers."Ghat ghat main har jeo vasse / Santan kahio pukaar!"