converting

hey all

my future wife is Sikh.

I decided to convert from Buddhism.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/new-to-sikhism/16527-converting.html

This line from the Guru Granth Sahib speaks to me:

Make contentment your ear-rings, humility your begging bowl, and meditation the ashes you apply to your body.
Let the remembrance of death be the patched coat you wear, let the purity of virginity be your way in the world, and let faith in the Lord be your walking stick.
See the brotherhood of all mankind as the highest order of Yogis; conquer your own mind, and conquer the world.

However, formerly being a practioner of Tantra, i am very much into "rituals" and so on - bani, etc.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527

Also, i would like to keep using a mala.

Please, advise me so i can make the easiest transition and still keep my interest.

thank you all.

PS. what prayers should I do every day?

PSS. Where can i buy a book of daily prayers, aka nitnem gutka?

 
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Gurfateh
Dear Brother,

Das himself if a convert from Hinduism so das thinks to add a few things over here.

In our Faith unlike the Shrammanist faith things are a bit differeant.

We do not have to do anything to get the salvation.

But sometime to prove the futility of the ritualism we are told to keep some rituals.

first rituals are described.

There is a small bangle with the beads called the Simrana.With each beads we can say Wahi Guru(Wonder full Lord),which is singing the glory to the Lord.Wa stands for Wasudev or one who lives in all.He for Hari ,the Same God who is sustainer,Gu for the Gobind,who is conferter of the sense and Ru for Ram,who is absorbed in all.

Other wise the Mala is there in us and we can use Mala to remember Wahiguru.Beads could be of whole or of anything.

Then about prayers.

inthe morning

we have
1. Japu Ji Sahib
2.Japu Sahib
2. Swayye Sahib.
In the evening

Rahirass Sahib.

Before sleeping

Sohila Sahib.

In case you can not do prayer rembering Wahiguru and saying name for minutes or two is also OK.

Das could recomend you the shop once you tell the place your in or else das can send you the Nitnem the language you want in.


Das gives the website address soon in case you want it from there.


Welcome to B.Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh - Online Sikh Resource Centre

thank you.
howveer the search fnction on the site is not allowing me to pull up anything in order tio purchase a Nitnem Gutka.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527

i'll look elsewhere for a Gurmukhi-English nitnem.

Gurfateh
If yourself Want das can send you one.Give you address wide personal message.

for free?

and also, sorry to be ignorant, but who is "das"?

Sorry i am a westerner.

Gurfateh

In band of Brothers no coste so for free.

Das means writer vijaydeep Singh.As per Sikh tradition we think using first person brings in ego of I and Me and that makes us away from God.As we all are nothing but manifestations or tools or images of God and das any way means slave or servent of humanity/universe.

In Sikhism Universe is form of God and egoless servise without any intention of return is worship and can be done only if Akal or God wants us to do so.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527

So thats why das is used and no me or I.

Sehrab ji

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527
i have a few question for you


if you go to china and wear what chinese wear...do you become chinese?



another nonsensical question....


when does a person become gay?

i might sound heretical to a few...pls be patient...

does he become gay when he says..."i am gay"

or is there something deeper?

please contemplate.....

then let us discuss from there....

Hi there Sherab...

Now, you say you would like to know about daily prayers...etc...and "Das" has kindly replied you with somewhat of an obscure reply.

Daily Prayers - I.e. Nitnem is not prescribed for Sikhs to recite daily by the Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book; Guru of the day).

Instead, we have been advised to read such texts daily in order for us to gain a better knowledge on reading and reciting gurbani (the Guru's teachings) and understanding its message better.

LET ME WARN YOU IF I MAY: THERE IS NO USE WHATSOEVER IN READING GURBANI TEXT IN LITERAL TRANSLATION AND READING GURBANI IN ITS GURMUKHI (the language used in the Guru Granth) FORM; IF YOU READ IN GURMUKHI AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE THEN YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME, BUT, IF YOU ARE READING FROM LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION (available at Gurbanifiles.org, a source for Sri Guru Granth Sahib files and more) THEN YOU NEED TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE LITERAL TRANSLATION DEEPLY MEANS.

The way is simple in understanding better what Gurbani means: Apply a Logical, Scientific, Common-sense and Practical approach to Gurbani.

Gurbani is designed not to just recited over and over in blind faith, THAT WILL NOT MAKE YOU A SIKH, being a Sikh is a state of mind, which you attain if you study the Guru ji and apply fully in one's life.

And in general, the message is simple, Meditation on One of the Name's of GOD and One of the Attributes; e.g. O GOD! THOU ART GRACIOUS! or in punjabi "WAH-I-GURU! TUN MEHARVAN HAIN!". Thus this is the way in which we are told to live, practical and simplistic without the need to follow a religious way of life, because SIKHI is not a religion; rather a way of life. GURU means "teacher" and Sikh means "learner, student" so if you think about it in the following way, a lecturer in a university teaches the students how to do certain things, but you do not worship the lecturer, you do not make a house for the lecturer and go and pray and follow rituals for the lecturer, ITS ALL FOR GOD AT THE END OF THE DAY! So just bare such thoughts in mind, you can reach me by email to give you a better understanding of what I meant here (gs_chana@msn.com).
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527

Thanks
Gurdip Singh Chana

sat sri akal sherab!

you can order nitnem gutkas from Singhbrothers - Publisher, BookSeller, Exporter, Quality Printer. be sure to get one with english and punjabi and roman transliteration so you can learn the prayers in punjabi (written in english alphabet), but also get the meanings.

the gutka should be arranged in the proper order of prayers.

i try to do 5 banis in the morning, japji sahib, jap sahib, tav prassad swayee, benti chaupai, then finally anand sahib. but at the minimum i will do japji sahib and listen to recordings of the others.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527

in the evening time i do rehras sahib, ardas (the prayer of supplication) and at night kirtan sohila.

these will be in any nitnem gutka in the order i have described.

it's ok if you don't do all the prayers every day, just try your best.

you can listen to them online at Gurbani Music, Shabd Kirtan, Sikh stories and videos, MP3 files and more, just click on "banis" at the bottom and you can choose which one to listen to. i prefer to listen to them recited by Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen, as he does not recite them too quickly and his pronunciation is very precise.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=16527
listening to the banis as you learn to recite them is great because it will help you to pronounce the unfamiliar words and get the "rhythm" down.

don't worry too much about rituals. gurbani tells us rituals are not going to help us reach God, but we won't be punished if we have some personal rituals we follow.

as someone else said, gurbani isn't a list of "do" and "don't". it's a guide for meeting Waheguru. we follow it as best we can.