Introducing Myself

davinderdhanjal · #**2116** (**permalink**) 07-Dec-2010, 15:34 PM

Dear rbamrha,
The word 'convert' seems dry and unthankful I think it should be 'refreshers of faith'. I enjoyed your journey to Sikhism - you are an asset.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/announcements/5626-introducing-myself.html
Hope you find all you need in life - Sikhi is the best route I know.
*

prakash.s.bagga · #**2117** (**permalink**) 08-Dec-2010, 14:55 PM

The remarks of Davinerdhanjal ji on "CONVRT are appreciable. As a matter of fact SIKHISM ia way for adoption in real life. The relationship between a SIKH and GURU is deep rooted right from the time of inception of Birth.So anybody coming under the fold of SIKHISM is like coming HOME BACK to realise ones true place.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626
Prakash.S.Bagga

sue · #**2118** (**permalink**) 09-Dec-2010, 08:25 AM

hi, i am sue from oregon. i am new to the site. i read english and don't understand everything i read, but i am curious. can you tell me more briefly?
thanks, sue

spnadmin · #**2119** (**permalink**) 09-Dec-2010, 09:17 AM

Sue ji

Welcome to SPN welcomekaur

Please keep reading. And write too! If something seems dense it may be that you just need to take one small part and ask a question. Or even better, state you own understanding and invite others to respond to you. Remember that sometimes when you do not understand something, the fault may not be you.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626

Welcome again.

Siri Kamala · #**2120** (**permalink**) 09-Dec-2010, 11:13 AM

Sat Sri Akal rbamrah!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbamrah

Let me try to start writing my Sikhi journey but first with what made me stray from Christianity. I think it's important to say where we were before what we became.

My parents are Christians, Baptist sect, and come from a line of Baptists that stretch back as long as any one of my relatives can recall. Baptists are a more simple line of Christianity, they believe in the submerging in water as a means to cleanse your sins. You do this once when you become Baptist and any time after that if you should stray and come back. I believe it's important to note that my brother as a child underwent this procedure whilst I did not. As a child church ceremonies were fun. Games, singing and snacks basically, what kid wouldn't like that? Everything else felt boring and I never took it seriously. Growing up I underwent a lot of grief and strife and, not feeling God's presence, turned my back on Christianity. The pastors' answers to my questions were shallow. I hated the belief that they felt Christianity was the one correct religion and anyone who is not Christian will 'burn in hell.'

Oh honey, I feel your pain. Was this Southern Baptist, by any chance?

One of my favorite jokes growing up in the South was "You know why Southern Baptists never make love standing up?"

"Somebody might see in the window and think they were dancing..."

(For those here who don't get the joke, the SB's have historically been very strongly opposed to dancing -- see the movie _Footloose_ with Kevin Bacon in it for details on the "why" of that nonsense...)

Quote:

I asked, "what of children living in countries who do not have access to the Bible or Christian churches? Will they burn in hell for not even knowing Him?" Their answer was a very roundabout, "yes."

Isn't that horrible? I had a Fundamentalist Christian friend in college who told me once, with a completely straight face, that God plants the knowledge of Christ in everyone's heart, and that if they are truly good people, they will somehow magically find their way to Christianity, even in the remotest regions of the Amazon rainforest... And I just remember thinking what a lie that was, and how sad that she believed it. (For the record, she does NOT believe it any longer, thank goodness, and is no longer a Fundamentalist Christian...)

Quote:

And then there's the Bible itself. I found myself reading it, trying to understand the core of Christianity because most Christians themselves don't know what all is included in it, and became more and more appalled. So many things that I just could not agree to. God is pictured as a cruel person; a child with a magnifying glass over an ant hill, if you will. I did not want to believe that God was like this.

Well, yes... much more true of the Old Testament God of Wrath than of the New Testament God of Grace, but it seems the more conservative Christians cling to the Old Testament God like a life raft in a stormy sea. My brother is this kind of Christian (which always puzzles me because we were raised in a liberal Episcopal church that preached only about God's grace and love and forgiveness and patience with us as God's beloved children -- why give that God up for the bitter, vengeful, angry God? I'll never understand it...)

Quote:

I wanted to believe that God was a kind person who truly loved his creation.

Indeed! To me this is only logical. Here is how I see it:

God is the ultimate Parent.
We are God's children.
God is perfect.
We are imperfect.
While God wants us to always grow and improve, God does not expect us to be perfect. It's simply not possible.
We were created with and because of Love.
That Love is given out of grace from the first breath we take, not because we have earned it or "deserve" it.
We are urged to live with kindness and to seek wisdom in the Guru's words, not because we fear Hell if we do not, but because it brings us closer to God.

Just as we do not disown our children when they make a mistake or violate the rules we have set for them, God does not reject or disown us when we make a mistake or violate God's laws. God loves us unconditionally just as we love our own children unconditionally.

If we can give that to our children despite our many human flaws and failings, how much MORE generous, kind, patient, and forgiving must God be?

Quote:

My parents sat me down with numerous pastors of their church to talk to me, answer my questions, reaffirm my faith but they could never convince me. The Christians I met in my life were hypocrites, sweet to your face and cruel to your back. If Christians practiced what Jesus preached than they wouldn't be such a bad people. Some might, but all whom I've met do not. Also, I found that their "converting" teaching is wrong. Any Christian who approaches a non Christian is supposed to 'show them the way' more or less. They have uptight views about the world and tend to have a superiority complex even though they themselves are flawed. And the church itself is flawed in so many ways but will never admit to it. My heart was never in it and truth be told I faced more grief being Christian than not.

Though I was raised an Episcopalian (Protestant Christian), I went to Catholic school and had to learn all the same things the Catholic kids had to learn. Your description of your experience reminds me a lot of what I saw with them. My own church experience as a child was happy and light of heart. Jesus was my savior but he was also my friend -- that kind of thing.

But... yeah, your experience resonates with what I've seen happen to many other conservative Christians. I don't think I know a single person who was raised in a hard-core Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian household who recalls their childhood and their experience of God as being a happy one.

That is one of the things I so love about the Guru Granth Sahib ~ it is just one big wall-to-wall anthem to God's grace and love and the joy of being part of God and having God in each of us.

Quote:

When I stopped believing altogether my life actually got better. But I knew I wanted to believe in God, just not the Christian God, so my mind and heart were always open to find a religion that allowed me to. When I met my husband he told me a bit about Sikhism, the 5 K's, the main beliefs. I could morally agree to what was there. But it was when I bought a book, with which has translations to some Guru Granth Sahib ji verses, that my eyes began to open. The words of Guru Nanak dev ji refreshed me like water. I could not find a flaw or fault in any word I read. peacesignkaur

That God is One and the same whether Hindu or Muslim or otherwise, that women are equals to men, the kindness, peace and respect that is spoken of. Our Guru ji's words are too great! Everyday I read more passages and find myself so enraptured by them. What I had been searching for in Christianity I have found in Sikhism. And then reading the history of Sikhism, the martyrs and bloodshed that have taken place and more recently; Operation Blue Star. My eyes cried beholding all these things. I cannot describe it, my heart soars with the beauty of the words and breaks with the sacrifices and then again a sense of pride and wonder. Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, Baba Deep Singh ji, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur! Just a few, and I have such a deep respect and appreciation for all martyred Sikhs. l feel so much in my heart, but want to feel with a head full of knowledge. Not just drink the water but become replenished by it, if that makes sense. That is why I'm here.

I hope I've described myself well enough.

Yep. I barely know you, sister-friend, but I like you already, and as we say here in the States, I feel ya!

Hope we see each other around here more often. :-D

davinderdhanjal · #**2121** (**permalink**) 09-Dec-2010, 15:47 PM

Dear Sue,
I hope you can understand what we write.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626
Please tell what were you looking for when you came across the site.
It is for you as much as for anyone else to learn and contribute. Most of us are Sikhs - sikh means to learn - so we learn what you teach us and we may be able to help you to learn about the Sikh faith and our 10 human Gurus and our Granth Sahib 'Bible' if you like.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=5626
Please write more - do not be afraid of the language - someone will be able to understand.

sue · #**2122** (**permalink**) 09-Dec-2010, 23:02 PM

kudihughi thanks, it's the vocabulary, the rest i can put together. later

Quote:

Originally Posted by spnadmin

Sue ji

Welcome to SPN welcomekaur

Please keep reading. And write too! If something seems dense it may be that you just need to take one small part and ask a question. Or even better, state you own understanding and invite others to respond to you. Remember that sometimes when you do not understand something, the fault may not be you.

Welcome again.

Mai Harinder Kaur · #**2123** (**permalink**) 10-Dec-2010, 00:18 AM

Sue ji!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sue

kudihughi thanks, it's the vocabulary, the rest i can put together. later

I feel your pain!

I grew up in a family where we spoke three languages, English, French and Punjabi. (Quebec, you know) Then I had a major stroke which affected my language. The English was mostly OK, the French is slowly returning and the Punjabi is gone. Completely. Only someone who has experienced it can know how hard Sikhi is to understand without the vocabulary.

When I regained consciousness - I was in a coma for a time - the only Sikh word I could remember was Vaheguru/Waheguru. I did not even have the word Sikh. Yow! Thank God for the Internet. I googled on Waheguru and went from there.,

I have never regained my Punjabi, but I have regained my Sikhi. Just move at your own pace. When a word/concept comes up that you don't know, please ask. (Of course, you can always try googling on it, too, but I, for one, am in complete sympathy with you.)

Enjoy the journey. Ginger tea and ice cream help.icecreammundaicecreamkauricecreamkudi

Siri Kamala · #**2124** (**permalink**) 10-Dec-2010, 00:47 AM

SSA Mai Harinder ji,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mai Harinder Kaur

I grew up in a family where we spoke three languages, English, French and Punjabi. (Quebec, you know) Then I had a major stroke which affected my language. The English was mostly OK, the French is slowly returning and the Punjabi is gone. Completely. Only someone who has experienced it can know how hard Sikhi is to understand without the vocabulary.

How absolutely awful. I'm so very sorry you had to go through that, and that you've lost your Punjabi. It's bad enough for me that I've never *had* Punjabi in my memory banks, but oh how terrible to have had it and then to have it completely robbed from you. motherlylove

Have you read Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's book My Stroke of Insight?
http://mystrokeofinsight.com/

If not, I hope you will. It's an absolutely amazing look at the experience of a debilitating stroke through the eyes of a Harvard neuroanatomist whose studies focus on the human brain.

I loved her presentation at the TED conference in 2008:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_...f_insight.html

(WARNING: For those who have sensitive stomachs, at around the 2:25 mark, she discusses the way the brain and its two hemispheres work while holding an actual human brain. By 3:48 it's gone, so those who find that sort of thing unpleasant can maybe minimize the screen and listen for a minute and 23 seconds and avoid being icked out. ;-D )

Quote:

When I regained consciousness - I was in a coma for a time - the only Sikh word I could remember was Vaheguru/Waheguru. I did not even have the word Sikh. Yow! Thank God for the Internet. I googled on Waheguru and went from there.,

As we say Down South... *bless your heart*...

May you be blessed with the miraculous key that will make it possible for you to unlock and open the door that now separates your brain's language center from the storehouse where your Punjabi resides.

Btw, while I am originally from Georgia, at present I am your neighbor just to the south in Vermont. Bonjour, ma voisine!