Conversion?

[SkaBoss]

I have been seriously considering converting to Sikhism for almost three years now but have been intimidated and somewhat too embarrassed of myself to do so. Firstly, what I'm most ashamed of is my shorn and vainly styled hair and very typical American teenager's wardrobe. (I actually have been getting increasingly less vain over the years, thank goodness) I feel like if I were to walk into a Gurdwara I would be offend people and cause them to think that I am there to mock them. Also the language barrier, while I DO speak 3 languages, I'm afraid none of them consist of Punjabi and thus I do not know if I would even be able to understand what is going on enough to appreciate it. Would you encourage me to go to Gurdwara and try it out even with my attire and language barrier or just follow Sikhism to the best of my ability from the sidelines? Any help or comments would be appreciated more than you will know, Sikhism is actually of extreme importance to me, I just feel that I wouldn't measure up to the native Sikhs.

Thank you for taking your time to read this and I thank you in advance for any help!!

C.Nacol




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[Lionchild]

First off... Welcome to SPN! And welcome to sikhi!

We can sure help you get started on the path of sikhi. You don't have to learn Punjabi, you don't need to be Punjabi either to learn sikhi! What you will want to do is first get ahold of the basic principles of sikhi, do you have any books on this?

I will send you a PM!

Darcy Cardinal

 

[dalsingh]

Take your time, don't rush into anything.

Lionchild is right, first start by getting your knowledge up.

Remember the outward symbols are the outward expression of the inward belief of a Sikh, so concentrate on that first.

 

[Hukum Kaur]

you take one step towards God, and God takes ten steps to you!
The vibration felt in Gurmukhi is not sikh owned and is not unknown to people of all faiths. The naad (sound current) is from infinity and when recited and chanted, the ego subsides and we reach anahat (the unstruck sound). you become one with infinity. I am I am. The little me in fationable clothes becomes the big me without form. The vibration changes your destiny and mental state, God is the doer. Insicurity is the enemy. Love God and love yourself, all the old mama Jis will love to see a young face at Gudwara. Let your head bow to the dust left by the feet of those who came before you, and trail your blessings to those who surround you. Its between you and God. You and your higher conciousness. You are beautiful bountiful and bright, within you is God within you is light, go get that gurprashad!

 

[Dimitri]

WOW! Nicely Put Hukum Ji

Gurparshad is all we seek.

 

[Arvind]

you take one step towards God, and God takes ten steps to you!
The vibration felt in Gurmukhi is not sikh owned and is not unknown to people of all faiths. The naad (sound current) is from infinity and when recited and chanted, the ego subsides and we reach anahat (the unstruck sound). you become one with infinity. I am I am. The little me in fationable clothes becomes the big me without form. The vibration changes your destiny and mental state, God is the doer. Insicurity is the enemy. Love God and love yourself, all the old mama Jis will love to see a young face at Gudwara. Let your head bow to the dust left by the feet of those who came before you, and trail your blessings to those who surround you. Its between you and God. You and your higher conciousness. You are beautiful bountiful and bright, within you is God within you is light, go get that gurprashad!

Waho waho.. Dhan Guru de sikho

 

[gurkipreet kaur]

Thank you Hukum Kaur panji.
i actually had been feelin bit about sikhi and what i was doin...
aimlez stuff u knw. nd ur post gave me peace and reminded me again of the reality
amazez me how waheguru works!


"Bin BHgan sat sung na labhey bin sangat mal bharijai jio"

~vaheguru~

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Hukum Kaur;47809]

you take one step towards God, and God takes ten steps to you!

Could you pls give me the whole shabad so we can discuss it further?

Thanks

Tejwant

 

[Hukum Kaur]

It is an experiential shabad, not a quote from the sggs, yet still in line with it. It has been my experience, that the moment I opned up to God, I saw a million events and objects in life differently and events started to draw me closer to the saintly mental state. My one step was a willingness to accept and recieve, and in flooded the sequence of events that has led to my life changing. When we pray from our hearts, time serves us and God has no choice but to listen to our prayers. The chalenges that come are to elevate us, so it is not always easy...and sometimes it is!!!!!!!!!!
That is my understanding of it, and you....?

 

[drkhalsa]

I think Hukum Kaur is refering to this shabad by Bhai Gurdass ji



crn srin gur eyk pYfw jwie cl
churun suran gur eaek paiddaa jaae chulu


siq gur koit pYfw Awgy hoie lyq hY ]
sath gur kott paiddaa aagae hoe laeth hai


eyk bwr siqgur mMqR ismrn mwqR
eaek baar sathigur munthr simurun maathru


ismrn qwih bwrMbwr gur hyq hY ]
simurun thaahi baarunbaar gur haeth hai


BwvnI Bgiq Bwie kaufI AgRBwig rwKY
bhaavunee bhugath bhaae kouddee agrubhaag raakhai


qwih gur srb inDwn dwn dyq hY ]
thaahi gur surub nidhaan dhaan dhaeth hai


siqgur dieAw iniD mihmw AgwiD boiD
sathigur dhaeiaa nidh mehimaa agaadh bodhi


nmo nmo nmo nyq nyq nyq hY ]ñññ]
numo numo numo naeth naeth naeth hai




Jatinder Singh

 

[Tejwant Singh]

crn srin gur eyk pYfw jwie cl
churun suran gur eaek paiddaa jaae chulu


siq gur koit pYfw Awgy hoie lyq hY ]
sath gur kott paiddaa aagae hoe laeth hai

Thanks Veer ji for the verse from Bhai Gurdas ji, which is not in SGGS. No Gurbani of Bhai Gurdas ji was added to SGGS. No second guessing there.

Hukum Kaur;47809]

you take one step towards God, and God takes ten steps to you!

Lets analyse this from Gurmat point of view in a scientific way.

If a follower has to walk only one step and God (Ik ONG KAAR is formless, hence doesnot walk) has to walk 100 steps, it shows God is much farther from the target than the follower. This is arithmatic 101. Now the question arises whats the target God has to walk 100 steps towards as IK ONG KAAR is omnipresent. Hence the literal translation is not only confusing but also misleading.

Now if we see the verse from Gurmat view point then it means that if we do one act of goodness in our lives that multiplies into 100 steps of goodness.In other words when we do good as sikhs to someone, then those someones will do good to others hence GOODNESS- IK ONG KAAR- is spread all around.

Hukum Kaur ji, Pls donot take me wrong, I am not doubting your devotion towards IK ONG KAAR. Many people interpret the verse like this and put a lot of credence in Bhai Gurdas ji's varaans when our Gurus knowingly did not add them to SGGS because most of them donot pass the Gurbani benchmark set by our Gurus rather offer more hindu mythology than Gurmat. We can not second guess our Gurus and should give them the credit of what they did is right without questioning them.

Tejwant

 

[Hukum Kaur]

english translation of Gurdas' poem? Please...or link.

I have not yet heard his varaans yet. The quote being discused, i heard at somepoint along life and it stuck. Thankfully it did, because now it has led to Bhai Gurdas.

Dear Tejwant, steps are not literal, a pauree is a step and jap ji sahib is not a 40 step starecase. By step I refer to the concious act to live in ones divinity. And yes, I do suppose that a 100 steps + 1 step, does make= "arithmatic 101" !

 

[aCe]

Whatever puts your soul at peace and if that happens to be Sikhism go for it! At my gurdwara in Toronto, I have seen African-American pple and white pple come and pay their respects to Guru Granth Sahin Ji. Everyone was very welcoming and pleasant. That is the great thing about Sikh pple we do not judge pple especially when it comes to religion. Remember when it comes to God there are no barriers and no fear, welcome!

aCe

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

random thought..why are SIKHS found all over the world ? My third grade student replied.maybe as Guru nanak ji once said..People of a "Good Village" must spread out and spread their goodness...while the bad people of a bad village must stay put so that their badness is contained. Thus you see SIKHS migrating from punjab to all corners of the world >> wonderful ?? something to ponder on..in this discussion on walking thousand steps !!
Gyani jarnail Singh

 

[riceboy89]

ska,

first of all, sikhi preaches equality among ALL people. saying this, dont feel as though people in gurdwara are looking at/mocking you. if they are doing this, they are not obiding by one of the most important main beliefs of sikhism. and anyways, if i saw you making an effort to come to gurdwara to learn and on the other hand i saw someone trying to mock you, my respect for you would outweigh my respect for the other tenfold.

i think you should start off by doing more and more research. you can never get enough god information. there are many sites online, alot of them im sure you have already visited.

there are many english translation gutkas out there too. me being a 17 y/o male being born in america with a renewed interest in sikhism, i have used these alot and the information i get is amazing. the ones i have have the gurmukhi/english pronunciation on the left side and the meaning on the right. im pretty sure my family bought these online, seeing i was a bit young and dont remember.

before i get too long in verse, i just wanted to tell you these few points. hope this helps.

 

[Astroboy]

This Shabad is by Guru Raam Daas Ji in Raag Gauree on Pannaa 309

pauVI ]
pourree ||
Pauree:

kwieAw kotu Apwru hY AMdir htnwly ]
kaaeiaa kott apaar hai a(n)dhar hattanaalae ||
The human body is a great fortress, with its shops and streets within.

gurmuiK saudw jo kry hir vsqu smwly ]
guramukh soudhaa jo karae har vasath samaalae ||
The Gurmukh who comes to trade gathers the cargo of the Lord's Name.

nwmu inDwnu hir vxjIAY hIry prvwly ]
naam nidhhaan har vanajeeai heerae paravaalae ||
He deals in the treasure of the Lord's Name, the jewels and the diamonds.

ivxu kwieAw ij hor QY Dnu Kojdy sy mUV byqwly ]
vin kaaeiaa j hor thhai dhhan khojadhae sae moorr baethaalae ||
Those who search for this treasure outside of the body, in other places, are foolish demons.

sy auJiV Brim BvweIAih ijau JwV imrgu Bwly ]15]
sae oujharr bharam bhavaaeeahi jio jhaarr mirag bhaalae ||15||
They wander around in the wilderness of doubt, like the deer who searches for the musk in the bushes. ||15||

 

[aristotle]

My Friend,
It shows you have extreme love for the Sikh way of life. Living as a Sikh does not mean living the life of a hermit. Of course, Sikhism encourages keeping unshorn hair but you can manage with the stylish clothing at the same time keeping in mind that your attire is not too vulgar. I would personally request you to keep in touch with the Sikh community, and especially those who have converted to Sikhism from other faiths so that you may have inspiration and support from them.
Keep praying and dont compare yourself with others coz you should not be 'like' other Sikhs or measure yourself up to some yardstick. You are a unique person with unique talents and aspirations. Evolve your own personal understanding of Sikhism, and remember that the Guru loves you always, even while you sin or turn away from him.
Blessings be on You!

 

[Harry Haller]

I have been seriously considering converting to Sikhism for almost three years now but have been intimidated and somewhat too embarrassed of myself to do so. Firstly, what I'm most ashamed of is my shorn and vainly styled hair and very typical American teenager's wardrobe. (I actually have been getting increasingly less vain over the years, thank goodness) I feel like if I were to walk into a Gurdwara I would be offend people and cause them to think that I am there to mock them. Also the language barrier, while I DO speak 3 languages, I'm afraid none of them consist of Punjabi and thus I do not know if I would even be able to understand what is going on enough to appreciate it. Would you encourage me to go to Gurdwara and try it out even with my attire and language barrier or just follow Sikhism to the best of my ability from the sidelines? Any help or comments would be appreciated more than you will know, Sikhism is actually of extreme importance to me, I just feel that I wouldn't measure up to the native Sikhs.

Thank you for taking your time to read this and I thank you in advance for any help!!

C.Nacol




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Wonderful you feel this way, the only advice I would offer, and it is completely my own perspective, is try not to confuse the social side of sikhi with the spiritual. If you believe in the timeless one, then you are already a sikh, you just need to hone your understanding of what is expected of you to fulfill your destiny.

Don't worry too much about what you look like, as long as you are clean and respectfully dressed (dress as you would to see your grandparents!), and show the signs of clean living (ie, not a good idea turning up stinking of booze) , you cannot really go wrong.

I am aware that I am wrong in my lack of appreciation for sangat, but do try and remember that you do not have to go to Gurdwara to be a sikh, or learn about sikhi, my house is my Gurdwara, my shop is my Gurdwara, these are both places where I spend time enriching my mind with the powerful messages from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Of course a day at the Gurdwara is an extremely pleasant experience, but the study and the learning can be done in your own way anywhere.

 

[Batman]

I have to give the Sikhs credit: by far they are the most welcoming people I've ever come across.

Thank you for your acceptance.