Losing Faith In Being Religious

[Abhineet Kaur]

i am persuaing an engineering degree and most of the time i just have to devote time to my studies and family only. i get so stressed with work that being a strict follower of my religion becomes almost not possible. i do talk to God on my own, thank him on every good occasion and do pray him in bad times. but it is just not regular.
when i was small i used to think that why people are so selfish and devote their time only when in need but now its just the same happening to me. not only this, most of the times when i m too stressed i just dun want to talk to god, rather i must say that time i think no god exists. now i m getting worried that i might not completely loose faith in Him with time. plz suggest something.

 

[Archived_Member16]

Letting Waheguru take the Lead

by Harminder Kaur - Source: sikhsangat.org


"If I surrender to You what is already Yours, what does it cost me?" Is a tuk from Guru Granth Sahib Ji that every Sikh should ask themselves when they start on the Sikhi Path.

The path of Sikhs is not an easy path and this path is going to cost you your kam, krodh, lobh, mau and haankar. Guru Granth Sahib Ji guides his Sikhs that have established faith in him through the battle with the five evils. Once a Sikh has established faith, Guru Granth Sahib Ji will send signals, guidance and remove obstacles helping you find place at the feet of Waheguru.

With faith and love for Waheguru you see him everywhere and in everything you see his signals guiding you in the right direction. When I mention faith in him, I always like to share an incident that happened with me. I always had faith that Waheguru didn’t like me eating meat, so I didn’t eat it. Even before I went to Guru Granth Sahib Ji with my questions on meat, I believed Waheguru didn’t want me eating it. My heart was full of faith when I made the mistake and ate some meat with my friends while out at lunch. After eating meat my tongue started bleeding and I wasn’t even aware of it. All I knew was my tongue felt weird since I ate; when I finally looked in the mirror my tongue was bloody. I immediately connected it to Waheguru reminding me that I had faith that eating meat was wrong. Apologizing to Waheguru I made the promise not to eat meat anymore. The next morning my tongue didn’t even look like it had ever bled. My faith in Waheguru made my tongue bleed and made me understand it to be his signal to me. Anyone that can develop faith in Waheguru that he will show the right way will be able to read his signals. Waheguru is constantly trying to help all his children get on the right path and when we start trusting him we will see his signals.

The first step is to see the signals and the second to use them to let Waheguru guide us. When we see a signal by him that is stopping us from going on the wrong path (like doing drugs, or wrong deeds) we need to stop and listen. The five evils in us well want us to continue on the wrong path because they thrive on it. To overcome those five evils, we need to go to Guru Granth Sahib Ji, do ardass and take a hukamnama asking him to explain the signal. An ardass done with a pure heart never goes empty. Guru Granth Sahib Ji well help you understand the signal and even give you the Gurbani needed to overcome the evil that is stopping you from following that signal. Don’t just look for signs, let them guide you too.

The hardest part of letting Waheguru guide you is allowing him to remove the obstacles. Often times the five evils don’t let us tell the difference between an obstacles and advantages that help us reach Waheguru. So it really hurts when Waheguru comes in and removes the obstacles that our keeping us from him. We tend to think Waheguru has hurt us or pushed us away from him by taking this thing we loved away. No, he is just keeping his promise to us that he well clear all obstacles that keep us away from him. With all obstacles gone the signals and guidance become harder and harder to miss.

Let us bow to Guru Granth Sahib Ji and ask him to help us develop faith so we can allow him to remove obstacles, show us signals and guide us. It is only with through firm faith, this path is going to become easy and we’re going to win the battle against the five evils within us.

Close your eyes and ask yourself, "If I surrender to You what is already Yours, what does it cost me?" With that take the first step of building a relationship based on faith and trust with Waheguru.

______________________________________________​

We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them !​

THE SIKH WAY = SEVA + SIMRAN + SANGAT !

Abhineet Kaur Ji : This is an opportunity to define your "life purpose" - please seize it!

​

 

[skeptic.freethinker1]

i do talk to God on my own, thank him on every good occasion and do pray him in bad times.
but it is just not regular.

And why is this a bad thing?? If you are spending your time doing constructive work instead of praying, I don't think the God you mentioned would have any problem with that. In fact He would prefer that you spend your life doing constructive work and helping your fellow beings.

As you said, you do keep Him in your thought during good and bad times. So you shouldn't be worried about anything.

 

[Ambarsaria]

Abhineet your emotions are a healthy sign of an inner deep roots of goodness. I don't believe there would be many people who never question or doubt some of their inner beliefs. I myself have been going through the same over the last few months due to a very sad event in our family.

Work, study, family and social pressures sometimes bear all at once. You probably should share and talk with your close friends and family that you feel comfortable with.

What allowed me to level set at sometimes is to count one's blessings (what one has versus what many don't!). There are millions of people in this world who cannot even see where the next meal is going to come from.

One needs to resist equally the temptation to compare one to others in jealousy as to what they have and we don't.

Our religion at a level is very practical with emphasis on kirat kamai. It is basically an encouragement for one to work, study and do what is planned to earn an honest living.

I know giving advice is easy but I did sense from your post that you have great mind and a deeper intellect. Try to tackle the problems and issues in an Engineering fashion. Put the small stuff away and prioritize the key items and address these one at a time in the order of priority.

I wish you very well and do communicate here and with your friends. There is no one in this world who needs no help. We all do at different times.

May happiness come your way.

Sat Sri Akal.

 

[passingby]

When I was young my mind was passionate. I used to think I am going to spend my time diving deep into my self and things I love. I had what they say 'high expectations' from life. Expectation not in terms of job, wealth, power or prestige, but expectations of creativity, spirituality, love and similar things.
Well, something happened to me when I grew in years, something which happens to everyone....life.
Now I am struggling to find a bearing in life, I am struggling to keep myself anxiety free, struggling to do something, something that perhaps is meant to be to be done by me, if you get what I mean.
Now I realize I that I am not all that special, not all that creative, not all that persevering, not all that strong, not all that intelligent, not all that calm, not all that unattached, not all that desire-free, not all that beautiful, not all that simple, not all that free....

I have realized that I have entered into a contract with nature, this contract is known as life and it has a lot of conditions that apply.

Now I have accepted my position.
The passion of youth,
the fever of lofty ideals,
the youthful confidence,
the strength of ego,
the faith in my karma,
the expectations from life,
they have all left my side,
I walk small steps, alone,
it does not matter if I reach,
its enough that I walk.

My story might not sound encouraging to you, but you might find some solace in the fact that you perhaps are still better off than many more in world. Keep going, when you feel tired take a break, don't worry about losing the feeling, the pull. Let me hack a popular American saying and say unto you:

'Once a spiritual hungry, always a spiritual hungry'

Go on in your life, ups and downs are learning experiences, gold becomes gold only after bearing the hot fires.

 

[spnadmin]

Thanks for speaking the truth for many of us, the blessed find sukh, contentment, in what they have. Blessings!

 

[Abhineet Kaur]

thankyou everyone for your kind devotion on my problem. i have focused each and every person's thought in the right perspective. i am much relaxed now and i will look in positive direction.