It is not my intension to insult any one here. I only say as I see it.
Thanks for sharing your good intentions but it is much more than it meets the eye. It seems you want to learn things that you do not know. Things that you may have little or no knowledge of. Thus, your observations are not based on any studies in depth because you have not done so but more for you to think aloud in order to find the answers. Well, you are at the right spot shall I say!
An idol is thing that is made from non living matter. Like Hindus make stone or clay or metal. There idols are not living thing As intelligent people knows that there were no shiva,brahma,vishnu. Yet people are worshiping those idols. Any thing that is not living is idol.
An idol may mean anything. If you studied the Abrahamical religions, then you would discover as the story goes that Abraham's father sold idols and idol worshipping was a common thing then in many cultures and religions.
Polytheism was the religion de jour then and still is in many parts of the world. Abraham changed that by smashing all the idols at his dad's store and started the Monotheistic school of thought in that part of the world which became the umbilical cord of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
All Derawalas, Swamis, Sants, Snakeoil Salesmen, The Pope etc. etc. are considered living idols(demi gods) by their followers.
Is granth living? For millions it is. But book can not talk book can not speak. Book can not move from one place to other. If people want to believe that book is living guru then that is there thing. But it is blind faith started by unknown being. We Sikhs just wanted to do what the Hindus were and are doing. Every day there is new thing being added in the ritual of worship. People tell me that their things are getting done by ardas so why you complaing? Have we lost sense that by getting bhai ji to do the ardas our problems will be solved? We created our own problem why bring god into it.
You seem a bit confused to say the least with your above claims most of which are baseless and lack any thought process. No offence intended.
As you have not explained what a Living Granth means to you, it shows that you do not know why it is called that and hence, you are looking for the answer.
Living Guru in Sikhi as Guru Granth is considered means that knowledge in it is not dead. It is not about mechanical rituals nor about do's and don'ts of life as many other religious books dictate to their followers and all these religions stopped in time, during that very time span when they were written unlike Sikhi which evolved in 200 some years.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a tool box, a recipe book for the soul, a manual for self improvement. It is full of messages that can make a difference in our lives and urges us to make a difference in others whom we come in contact with. It is for us to become proactive so we can leave this place better than how we found it.
The other interesting and unique part of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is that people from different religions have their writings in there which shows that Sikhi is idea based not personality based as can be said about most of the other religions.
So, all these skills that we hone with the help of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji make us better
living people rather than dead men walking. That is why we need to study it daily to sharpen our skills like a good playbook of life.
It seems you have not read the threads about Ardaas in this forum. When and if you read them you will find out that Sikhi Ardaas is nothing that you may have seen in your own household during your upbringing or at other places.
Ardaas in Sikhi is more an introspection, like talking to yourself in the mirror to do things that you had planned to do many times but have not started on or do something right the next time which was done wrongly. Ardaas is not a bribe as unfortunately is practiced in the Gurdwaras all over. That is why we have access to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, our living Guru to find the truth for ourselves. Sikhi is the journey of the individual and each of us carry our own spiritual torches. That is why there is no clergy in Sikhi. It is our duty as individuals to get better with the help of our living Guru,Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
None of the Guru said any where that he is guru. It is only people called them guru. Why?
You are right. None of our Gurus called themselves as such. They did not even state their names in the beginning but used nom de plume: Guru Nanak because Guru Nanak was the founder and he ended each Shabad with his name as was and still the custom in that part of the world for the poets.
All six Gurus who have Gurbani in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji gave themselves mere numbers. However, they did not take away the titles of the other writers who were known as Bhagats and Sheikh. All the Shabads-Saloks added in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji by these people have the titles on the top and their names at the bottom of each Shabad, unlike the numbers of our Gurus.
Unfortunately, you missed the point here. It seems you did not ask yourself the question.
Why did they give themselves mere numbers rather than names or titles?
The answer lies in their greatness because the poetry they wrote was not about them but an idea to share with others. It had the deliberate absence of Me-ism. We call them Gurus: Gu-darkness, Ru-Light. In other words, a Guru is the enlightener who helps us take away the darkness of ignorance and instills in us the light of wisdom. They never asked nor demanded that from us.
There are a couple of more things that should not be forgotten are that our Gurus neither hired any portrait painters to have their portraits painted nor any historians to have their history written, who were readily available in great numbers at that time in the Mughal era.
It shows once again that their actions were not about them getting any fame but to advance the idea to help us get better as human beings.
Example: There was a doctor who could cure any ailment. He died if we go to his grave and pray and show respect to that grave will he cure us?
Irrelevant to the post.
In the same way why are we prey to gurus who has been dead for long time?
Once again you have shown your lack of knowledge about Sikhi. We do not pray to any Gurus nor to any deity. I have already explained what Ardaas means above and the rest can be read in other threads in case you are interested in furthering your knowledge.
Some one wrote that he respect his mom/dad by touching their feet. Is it not true that insult mom/dad if we don’t do what mom/dad tells us to do and we don’t do that? The real respect is to do what the guru told us to do. Touching the feet of mom/dad is Hindu custom not Sikhs. I have not seen Sikhs touching their mom/dad feet. Those who are doing is because they have seen Hindus doing it.
Once again, the above has nothing to do with the thread nor does it have to do with how you started your post but I will respond to it anyway.
There are some traditions in each culture that people adhere to. One of these traditions in the Indian culture is to touch your elders' feet.
I have no idea where you got this from that it is only a Hindu custom/tradition which once again shows your lack of knowledge about your parents' culture. It is part of the Indian culture and has been since the time immemorial.
Allow me to share my own cultural habits. I touch feet of my elders but I do not let my son, nephews, nieces, their spouses do the same to me. I give them a hug instead. In fact my son Trimaan who is 16 has never touched anyone's feet. He was never forced to do it. He also hugs rather than touching feet of his elders. So, it depends on each family and their traditions.
Every religion claim that their holy book is written or spoke by god.
You are wrong again. These are just your false assumptions. Sikhi never claims that.
Yet no one of those religions try to feed food or put glass of water by the bed at night.
Once again, false assumptions about Sikhi.
No one put their holy books in AC room and put blanket on it. Only the Hindu and Sikhs are doing it.
Which religion has the holy book that is 1429 pages long, weighty and as big as Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji?
Holy books in all religions are preserved under the right temperature, climate and conditions so they can last. Having said that, one does not need a bed as is the custom in many Gurdwaras for the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to rest.
The bani in granth are written in gurmukhi. What if one can’t not read gurmukhi and he cant not hear he is def. Is that person is doomed?
I know it is becoming redundantly repetitive, but I am bewildered at your lack of knowledge about the questions you are asking. You can just Google and find translations in English and in Spanish. Following is one of the sites that many use which has interpretations in English by two authors and also interpretation in Punjabi by Prof. Sahib Singh, the best so far. It also has its own search engine.
http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?S=y
Enjoy the site.
You did not tell us that if this deaf person you are talking about knows how to read. But that is not the point anyway. You are just trying to find faults in things where none exist for the reasons only known to you.
God gave us logic for some reason. It is to use and make life better. Jut for one minute thing as a neutral person. Are we not doing the things what guru tsaid in granth not to do.
Pardon my ignorance, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Please express yourself a bit better so I can respond.
We are doing all those things what the Hindus are doing. But we call them but different name
What are we doing that is offensive to you? Please be specific in your questions so we can learn from each other.
Religion is teaching hatred not respect.
Once again, the same as above. Just a babble, nothing much.
I am all for respect but don’t force it on others and see if it makes sense.
Who is forcing whom here? Once again nothing specific, just rant.
There is only one rule of humanity; DO NO HARM TO ANY LIFE.
It seems that you do not know how the humans including yourself survive or you have never given it a thought. We, as organic material have to consume other organic material (life) in order to survive. There is no other way out. Gurbani says that every organic material even a leaf is beaming with life.
I will end this with a song by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes:
"It is the law of the land, whether you like it or you understand".
