FAQs What Should Be My Purpose Of Life?

[gursikh4321]

Sat shree akal!!

First of all i am not a sikh so please forgive me if i say something wrong....

i am doing engineering and now wondering my purpose of life....
I have read a lot about various religions on the web and to attain god all points towards meditating and reciting the name of god.....leaving all the materialistic world and becoming a sadhu or sanyasi .......

Now if i really want to attain god .... do i have to leave everything , my family , my relatives.......and become a sanyasi....or i should work very hard ....earn a lot of money and donate money for mankind....for people who need them....

what should be my purpose of life? What shri guru granth sahib ji says about it.....please tell since i havent read or may be not in a position to read .......can i attain god by serving the mankind?????

Sat shri akal!!!

 

[Navdeep88]

your purpose can be w/e you define it to be...

even within sikhism there's a lot of variation. different people are remembered for different things. some for their seva, others for their truth, adherence t

Gursikhs will tell u there's the three things. kirt karni, vand chakna & simran
You can have them in different proportions I think.

& to try to pin point One purpose but not live it, to aim for som perfect life without actually going through the Imperfect motions is not very smart. I think it's the efort that counts.

Plus ur asked to balance your household & stuff, maybe work's demanding. i don't think this religion reprimands 1 for it. i think good company is what matters, wherever u are in thworld.

 

[ActsOfGod]

i am doing engineering and now wondering my purpose of life....
I have read a lot about various religions on the web and to attain god all points towards meditating and reciting the name of god.....leaving all the materialistic world and becoming a sadhu or sanyasi .......

Now if i really want to attain god .... do i have to leave everything , my family , my relatives.......and become a sanyasi....or i should work very hard ....earn a lot of money and donate money for mankind....for people who need them....

That is not the Sikh way. The Sikh lifestyle is about engaging with the world, not renouncing it. Even the sadhu's sitting up in the mountains or the hermits in the forests have not realized God. The Sikh way of life is to engage with the world and to realize God while you are fulfilling your worldly duties. Since you are an engineering student, you must complete your studies to the best of your abilities. You must also fulfill your obligations to your family and relatives. We have roles in life (son, brother, father, uncle, daughter, mother, etc.) It is not required to abandon those roles in order to achieve God.

what should be my purpose of life? What shri guru granth sahib ji says about it.....please tell since i havent read or may be not in a position to read .......can i attain god by serving the mankind?????

Personally I think you can definitely attain God by serving mankind. This is one the pillars of Sikhism, do perform seva. So this is something you can begin immediately. As in, right now, today. And if you want to make this your life purpose, it is a very worthy one.

As far as what Guru Sahib says, you will have to get the answer from Guru Sahib yourself. Since you are not able to read, but you do have Internet access, you can start by asking Guru Sahib from your heart, and taking a Hukamnama.

Here are some sources for that: http://fateh.sikhnet.com//Sikhnet/Register.nsf/CyberHukamnama!OpenForm

http://www.simran.info/hukamnama/cyber.html

Please observe respect when taking the Hukamnama (i.e. remove shoes and cover your head while reading Gurbani).

Hope this helps!
AoG

 

[aristotle]

@gursikh4321 Ji,

Forgive me for not expanding much on this post, actually I don't want to confuse you quotes from the Gurbani and Sikh philosophy, since you say you haven't haven't been reading the Guru Granth Sahib. So, I'll start simply.

There is no place for renunciation in Sikhism. The Gurus encouraged family life and were living examples of that. Guru Nanak Sahib himself, after returning from his Udasis, led the life of a family man, living with his wife and two children in the sleepy town of Kartarpur, doing farming to earn his living and singing the praises of the Lord. That is prrecisely what a Sikh aspires to be. Rather than running away from the harsh realities of one's life and hiding away on mountains or batcaves, or learning esoteric black-magic, the Sikh way of life is that of a normal person, boldly facing the life it comes to pass, and keeping the flagpole of truthful living high in one's life.

Siddh Gosht, Guru Nanak's discourses with the renunciate sages, is one of the pieces of Gurbani that have affected me the most, and I shall leave you some to ponder upon.

ਕਵਨ ਤੁਮੇ ਕਿਆ ਨਾਉ ਤੁਮਾਰਾ ਕਉਨੁ ਮਾਰਗੁ ਕਉਨੁ ਸੁਆਓ ॥
(Ask the Yogis) Q. 1: "Who art thou? Q. 2: What is thy Name? Q. 3: What is thy sect? Q. 4: What is thine life-object?

ਸਾਚੁ ਕਹਉ ਅਰਦਾਸਿ ਹਮਾਰੀ ਹਉ ਸੰਤ ਜਨਾ ਬਲਿ ਜਾਓ ॥
Our prayer is that thou tell us the truth. We are a sacrifice unto the pious persons.

ਕਹ ਬੈਸਹੁ ਕਹ ਰਹੀਐ ਬਾਲੇ ਕਹ ਆਵਹੁ ਕਹ ਜਾਹੋ ॥
Q. 5: Where is thy seat? Q. 6: Where abidest thou, O boy?

ਨਾਨਕੁ ਬੋਲੈ ਸੁਣਿ ਬੈਰਾਗੀ ਕਿਆ ਤੁਮਾਰਾ ਰਾਹੋ ॥੨॥
Q. 7: Whence hast thou come? Q. 8: Whither goest thou? The detached Sidhs say, hear thou, O Nanak. Q. 9: What is the way?

ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਬੈਸਿ ਨਿਰੰਤਰਿ ਰਹੀਐ ਚਾਲਹਿ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਭਾਏ ॥
(Answers the Guru) The Lord is within all the hearts. A. 5: In Him is my seat. A. 6: In Him is my abode. A. 3: I walk in the True Guru's will and this alone is my sect.

ਸਹਜੇ ਆਏ ਹੁਕਮਿ ਸਿਧਾਏ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਦਾ ਰਜਾਏ ॥
A. 7: I have proceeded from God. A. 8: I shall go whither He shall direct me in His will. A. 2: My Name is Nanak. A. 1: I am ever an obeyer of God's order.

ਆਸਣਿ ਬੈਸਣਿ ਥਿਰੁ ਨਾਰਾਇਣੁ ਐਸੀ ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਪਾਏ ॥
A. 9: To be seated in the Imperishable Lord's contemplate mood is my way. A. 4: The attainment of such a transcendent comprehension is my life object.

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝੈ ਆਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ਸਚੇ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੩॥
Knowing and recognising myself by Guru's grace, I have merged in the Trust of the True.

ਦੁਨੀਆ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਦੁਤਰੁ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਪਾਈਐ ਪਾਰੋ ॥
(The Yogis say) "The world-ocean is said to be impassable. Q. 10: How can one cross it?

ਚਰਪਟੁ ਬੋਲੈ ਅਉਧੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਹੁ ਸਚਾ ਬੀਚਾਰੋ ॥
Charpat says: "O Nanak, the detached, give thou a true reply after due deliberation".

ਆਪੇ ਆਖੈ ਆਪੇ ਸਮਝੈ ਤਿਸੁ ਕਿਆ ਉਤਰੁ ਦੀਜੈ ॥
He who says that he himself understands; what answer can I give him?

ਸਾਚੁ ਕਹਹੁ ਤੁਮ ਪਾਰਗਰਾਮੀ ਤੁਝੁ ਕਿਆ ਬੈਸਣੁ ਦੀਜੈ ॥੪॥
Truly speak I unto thee, that how can I argue with thee, when thou deemest that thou hast reached the yonder shore". (Says Guru Nanak).

ਜੈਸੇ ਜਲ ਮਹਿ ਕਮਲੁ ਨਿਰਾਲਮੁ ਮੁਰਗਾਈ ਨੈ ਸਾਣੇ ॥
A. 10: As a lotus-flower remains unaffected in water, as also a duck swims and becomes not wet,

ਸੁਰਤਿ ਸਬਦਿ ਭਵ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰੀਐ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮੁ ਵਖਾਣੇ ॥
so with fixed intent on the Guru's word and uttering the Name, O Nanak, the dreadful world-ocean is crossed.

ਰਹਹਿ ਇਕਾਂਤਿ ਏਕੋ ਮਨਿ ਵਸਿਆ ਆਸਾ ਮਾਹਿ ਨਿਰਾਸੋ ॥
He who lives in an aloneness, enshrining the one Lord in his mind, living without desire in the midst of desires,

ਅਗਮੁ ਅਗੋਚਰੁ ਦੇਖਿ ਦਿਖਾਏ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਤਾ ਕਾ ਦਾਸੋ ॥੫॥
and sees and shows to others the Inaccessible and Incomprehensible Lord; of him Nanak is a slave.

(Guru Granth Sahib, Page 938)

 

[Harry Haller]

can i attain god by serving the mankind?????

depends on what you mean by God, can you attain a meeting? a conversation maybe? a vision of the Virgin Mary when you open a grape?

Or perhaps heaven where God lives and depending on what you believe, either makes you eat Amrosia rice pudding washed down with nectar all day whilst racing clouds, or perhaps showers you with women and servants and tends to your every need, ahh paradise,

what is your expectation of God?
describe the feeling of attaining God? being fed, sexually sated, drunk?, on drugs?

I believe as a Sikh there is no mystery to meeting God, I meet and talk to God evey day, God is in the eyes of my lab/boxer in the eyes of Virgil the mad cat, Bran and Rory the twin puppies half german shephard, half golden retriever, in my wife, my customers, the rubbish man who grunts at me whilst I wish him morning and who has never ever returned the compliment or looked at me, except once, in the pouring rain, not even a growl, just a glare,

God is everywhere, it is our choice, on a daily basis whether we wish to connect with God, or connect with ourselves, one leads to heaven, one to hell, but on this earth and right here and now, The resuts are instant, and the consequences either furnish our cell in hell, or decorate our freedom in heaven.