Sikh News Thousands Of Sikhs Visit Vancouver Temple For 'miracle' Holy Book

[satnamr46]

Thousands of Sikhs visit Vancouver temple for 'miracle' Holy Book

Dear Friends,
Gur Fateh

The salvation of SGGS from the fire to be presented as miracle and a double miracle and people flocking to see this miracle points to the fact that we are steeped in superstitions and are reluctant to understand that the real miracle of SGGS is not its form but its message and it would really be a miracle if we could read it with love and respect and follow it to transfom our lives.Must I point out that there have been other incidents involving fire or water where SGGS birs have been damaged or destroyed.
Guru's Word is never damaged or destroyed.

gur kw bcnu bsY jIA nwly ]
gur kaa bachan basai jeea naalae |
The Guru's Word abides with my soul.

jil nhI fUbY qskru nhI lyvY Bwih n swkY jwly ]1] rhwau ]
jal nehee ddoobai thasakar nehee laevai bhaahi n saakai jaalae |1| rehaao |
It does not sink in water; thieves cannot steal it, and fire cannot burn it. ||1||Pause||

inrDn kau Dnu AMDuly kau itk mwq dUDu jYsy bwly ]
niradhan ko dhan andhulae ko ttik maath dhoodh jaisae baalae |
It is like wealth to the poor, a cane for the blind, and mother's milk for the infant.

swgr mih boihQu pwieE hir nwnk krI ik®pw ikrpwly ]2]1]32]
saagar mehi bohith paaeiou har naanak karee kirapaa kirapaalae |2|1|32|
In the ocean of the world, I have found the boat of the Lord; the Merciful Lord has bestowed His Mercy upon Nanak. ||2||1||32||
SGGS Page 679


May Akal Purkh bless us that we are able to understand that:
gurbwxI iesu jg mih cwnxu krim vsY min Awey ]1]
gurabaanee eis jag mehi chaanan karam vasai man aaeae |1|
Gurbani is the Light to illuminate this world; by His Grace, it comes to abide within the mind. ||1||

Respectfully,
Satnam Singh Randhawa

VANCOUVER — Sikhs from around British Columbia are flocking to a Vancouver temple to see the "miraculous" Holy Book saved from the Khalsa Elementary School fire.

Many in the 125,000-strong community have visited the Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Darbar to see the ornate, 1,430-page Siri Guru Granth Sahib, which survived the July 30 arson blaze that destroyed eight of 10 portable classrooms as well as the temple, causing an estimated $1 million in damage.

Despite the carnage, fire crews were able to pluck the Holy Book from one of the burnt-out, smoke-filled portables virtually untouched.

"Some people are saying it is a miracle," said Jasbir Singh Bhatia, principal of all four of the Khalsa schools. "It wasn't touched at all. The firefighters are heroes. A lot of people are going to see it — especially on weekends."
The Holy Book was usually kept overnight in a small, unlocked room in the portable. Each day, a Sikh priest would take it to the temple altar for prayer — but the fire occurred at approximately 7:45 a.m., before the priest arrived.

After the fire was doused, the book of sacred scripture, in poetry form, was carried on the head of a priest to the temple — in keeping with tradition — to safeguard it.

The Holy Book also survived a 2004 fire at the Punjabi private school operated by the Satnam Society. No arrests have been made in connection with the previous blaze.

"This is something very good that has happened to the community — why it happened, nobody knows," said Harinder Singh Sohi, chair of the B.C. Khalsa Darbar Society. "This is the most valuable thing to our community. It is like a living guru."

As priest Bhai Singh Kultar pulled back the book's pristine protective cloth on Wednesday, Khalsa graduate Jasmin Kaur Bassi, 15, called its salvation "a double miracle.

"The sheets weren't even burned and everything else around it was, so it was a miracle," said Bassi, now in Grade 10 at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School.

"A lot of people have come to see it — it is a double miracle."
Police are still looking for witnesses.

 

[Astroboy]

The truth is that we are spiritual beings living in a physical body. Gurbani speaks directly to the soul. It is amazing how rare such writings are like SGGS in this entire universe which connect us with the Shabad from which we all originate.

The saints have repeatedly said that Amrit is something real and solid. It is the Water of Immortality, which lies hidden and buried within the depths of the soul.