I am only suggesting that without evidence you cannot say whether such incidence occurred or not. You cannot call it pretence till you have evidence to say so.
Well I suppose we should start with miracles, do you believe in them? do you believe that our Gurus were capable of miracles?
At sea, all I have known is dictatorship.
Maybe that would have been good for me, I have been free most of my life, free to make some pretty bad mistakes, and cause quite a lot of pain for myself and others around me.
Democracy at sea is the surest and fastest way to sink a ship. Taking orders without question comes naturally to us sailors. To us, the Master or the Captain is all knowing, the one who puts self between harm and his crew/vessel. He knows and does best for his crew. Having lived in such a conditioned atmosphere for 24 years faith in Waheguru Ji is easy to sustain for us sailors.
We differ slightly on our outlook on Waheguruji, I have no faith whatsoever in such, the only faith I have is that Waheguruji will be constant. I ask nothing, I try and do instead. For me, it is a simple case that you have the basic skills to survive, here are the rules, off you go. I have faith in myself in being able to walk a path that is guided by Waheguruji, nothing more. That guidance comes through acting as per the SGGS, rather than candles, full moons, meditation, prayer or even faith. Is faith coming to a crisis and knowing you will be ok because of Waheguruji? You will have to define faith for me.
: I don't know how to quote selected parts of your message so I'll just try answering in order. I shall copy your questions.
Its very easy, outline the part of text you wish to reply to, you should then see a quote tab, click on it and the text will appear in your window with quote marks round it, reply underneath.
- A woman only grows more beautiful the more one loves her. If beauty is not just skin deep and she is truly loved then damn leprosy or cancer, nothing can stop the beauty radiating within her from growing.
I admire your outlook, but the truth is that no man escapes from life into this state completely, there is always doubt, anger, frustration, there will always be hard times, impossible times, always times when the question, 'Do I still look beautiful?' cannot be answered truthfully, for we are everything, not just the pure.
Not lying is an effort, the voyage.
Living truthfully is a way of life, the cumilation of the above.
so by not lying, does truthful living come naturally?
Trust me, I know how difficult it is to stand out in a crowd. Sikhi is not easy,but then no one said it is too. Yes, I am feeling isolated already. And I am still not an Amritdhari too. Believe me freinds avoid me like I have the plague.
Why do your friends avoid you? because you tell the truth?
I have no counter, he is my Master and I am his crew. He knows best. I have never questioned any Captain nor have I been questioned as a Captain. Some mysteries are better left unsolved.
I disagree, given that events happened many many years ago, all we have is the litmus test, the very foundations of Sikhism mean that in my mind, one has to assume the Gurus set an example to us by their actions, they did not strike me as 'do as I say, not as I do' type people. I don't like mysteries, my background is computers, things have to be logical, things have to add up. A man who lauds equal sexuality, is unlikely to write about the complete opposite, A man who lauds truthful living by way of complete and utter honesty to all, is unlikely to wish to deceive even his enemies, so I must accept that there is more to truthful living than just telling the truth.
A sailor has very few questions. You are the opposite of me and I like that. I hardly question things. You dig deep and yes, I love your approach. Meticulous, inquisitive, seeking the details. At sea you would have scared me seriously - with your hunger to probe for details. But here, it's refreshing and informative.
I scare people seriously outside of Sea, I question everything, yes, and I will tell you what is the inspiration behind that, the very first Amar Chittra Katha I read about Guru Nanakji, I loved it, why do we do this? why do we do that? Why do I have to wear this, or say that? He was my kind of guy, thank you for your kind compliments.
I swear I would rant about bikes endlessly if this were any other forum. You are the nth person to quote this book. Riders swear by this. I have yet to read it unfortunately.
Read it, you will love it, really, its your sort of book, and your writing is very similar to Pirsig's.
Oh yes, I hate cars. Why, because they are everything opposite of what a bike is. One must not feel the imperfections on the road. The temperature inside the car must remain static always, to hell with the weather outside. Feel the rain, sacrilege, close the moon roof. Hey Joe, we built an auto gear shifter for you too. Power this power that. Flick this switch. Remote access, omg, the lengths car makers go to make you feel you are doing anything but commuting is sickening. Massage seats, power windows, cruise control, power locks, sunroof, etc etc.. it's pathetic honestly.
I have always loved cars, but that was cars 20 years ago, when they had character, when they smelt and looked like a car, a MK1 Range Rover, or a 1979 450SE, I have some great memories of cars, but today, with speed cameras, speed limits, and the congestion on the roads, its not quite the same, I have very vivid memories of driving a young lady to paris for the weekend in an old XJ6, in those days you could drive round Paris, park where you wanted, right next to the tower, and then break all speed records driving back to London. Makes me feel old thinking about it!
Hop onto a bike. Kick start the monster. You can feel the piston rods knock under you. You are one with the bike now. The throttle is like an extension of your very being. Your wrist controls the fury of the beast. You can smell the love in the exhaust.
I am just sorting out my licence as we speak
, I did try and get fitted for leathers yesterday, but I ended up looking like a fat Batman...
