Well, this is gr8 !! If you all feel comfortable, we can open a new section dedicated to this purpose right here. Dear Khalsa Starr, could you be kind enough to chalk out the preliminary requirements of lanching such a group and with the consent of all, we can do it at our website here, that would be wonderful and even if it is not possible to do it here even then SPN can be used as good promotional tool (1,500 like minded members here could be made aware of such an event with a single mouse click and then periodical reminders ). Please do not take me as a mean admin but if we could make make something really useful out of SPN that would be gr8 !!

Best Regards
Aman Singh

Dear friends

I would like to join in and help (if i can of any!!)
Just like Baljeet singh I am indian (punjab) born and raised but english is my working language so i may be of any help to you

Jatinder Singh

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PrIdw kwl^ØI ijnI n rwivAw DaulI rwvY koie ]

This is a very practical issue. And I admire author's good intentions about this. Aman veer has suggested a way out by keeping things on SPN. That s great. Discussions may take place here in the same manner as yahoo group would have done it. Just in case, people are not aware of chat functionality here, you may like to discuss your ideas online. I am a fluent speaker of Punjabi and English, and am willing to contribute to this wonderful cause. Please feel free to discuss more.

Warm Regards, Arvind.

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jau qau pRym Kylx kw cwau[[ isr Dir qlI glI myrI Awau[[ iequ mwrig pYru DrIjY [[ isr dIjY kwix n kIjY [[
..................................... gurU swihb (AMg 1412)

Veer ji,

Please keep us updated whichever way you like to proceed abt this issue. You may like to utilize my Punjabi and English communication skills towards this.

Thanks.

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jau qau pRym Kylx kw cwau[[ isr Dir qlI glI myrI Awau[[ iequ mwrig pYru DrIjY [[ isr dIjY kwix n kIjY [[
..................................... gurU swihb (AMg 1412)

SPN would be *perfect* for this. My apologies for not thinking of the obvious!!!!

I should/will do more publicity around promoting SPN anyway, wherever and whenever appropriate, including on my new geocache token.

What I feel is, it is more important that we get people who are self-driven to do the needful towards the cause. I had been involved in a few projects, but dumped those due to changes in priority. But well, those projects are always unconsciously in my mind, and I firmly believe, right set of committed people can do wonders.

I urge SPN members to use SPN chat regularly. It is sitting stagnant rt now. Personally, I prefer online chats, instead of forums. and then paste anything relevant in those chats in forums too, which cud hv been of use to other people with similar thoughts.

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jau qau pRym Kylx kw cwau[[ isr Dir qlI glI myrI Awau[[ iequ mwrig pYru DrIjY [[ isr dIjY kwix n kIjY [[
..................................... gurU swihb (AMg 1412)

What a great suggestion! Why start a group on yahoo or tribe, when you can do it on a Sikh website! Sikh resources and forum is just a page away! This is great, i hope we can work something out Aman (and all the users). I think this new group or "section" would be a good add-on or addition to SPN. I think it would be best if the admin and I talked over how this would actually work, seeing he does control SPN. I think thisn new group and SPN could both benifit if we worked together on this project.

As for the preliminary requirments, i'll get them ready for today and should be up in an hour or two. This will be an interestinf and exciting project!

I think i will do a little donating to help out the work

-Khalsa Starr

this addon should be just pasted as another reply in the original thread, seeing it's basically the same topic.

WJKK WJKF

i agree, i think that the youth don't want to go to the Gurdwara because they don't know what's going on. Why do we do Ardas? What's kirtan?, etc. We need to bring a language into the Gurdwara that all the youth can understand... English. I'm not saying that we should stop Punjabi, but when someone is doing Katha or something, use english so that the youth will be interested. I too, jsut like Khalsa_Starr ji look around and see the youth more interested in the Dhal stains in the Langar Hall, or when someone drops some Parshad and it dries up on the carpet that children are more interetsed in that then listening to Kirtan, etc. I think the Granthis should recite Gurbani in both English and Punjabi. Reading the Gurmukhi and then translating it so that both Punjabi speaking and English speaking and understanding youth can understand. This is just my idea.

WJKK WJKF

Sat Nam!

I am glad to see your concern about these things. I do not have any answers but wanted to share with you and others here, a bit of my own experience (as a non-punjabi) with Gurbani , because I think you might find it inspiring and refreshing.

I came to Sikhism only 15 months ago at the age of 55 and was brought in by a transformation that came about from hearing gurbani kirtan from a CD by Snatam Kaur. (Shanti). I had no idea what I was hearing at the time but my heart chakra was opened by just that one hearing of it and I have never been the same since. At the time I was not involved in any spiritual practice nor looking for a path.

By the Guru's Grace, when I then went to purchase that CD I found that Snatam Kaur lives in the same town I live in (Eugene, Oregon) and she does Kirtan on Sundays and Wednesdays when she is not on tour.


I find that my experiences are more intense and inspiring when the Hukham is taken in Gurbani. When the English translation follows that, it is interesting but less powerful for me. Listening to kirtan or the Hukham in Gurbani brings about kundalini energy surges, intense Anand and sometimes "visions" that help me to gain perspective on what is going on in my life. Many times tears still spontaneously fall from my eyes as I listen to the Gurbani while meditating - while not having any specific thoughts or memories of emotional events. I feel that hearing Gurbani continues to be transformational for me.

Because of all this I have taught myself to read Gurmukhi over the last four months. I want to be able to read the Guru directly myself. I can now read it but only very very slowly. My pronunciations are fairly good for a non-Indian but I do intend to get some help soon improving some of the kh and dh sorts of sounds that are never produced when speaking English.

At this point I know very little vocabulary -and mostly the words from JapJi - which has been my main practice tool for both pronunciation and reading the script because there are many tapes and CDs of JapJi to listen to and the obvious reason that JapJi is the essence or centerpiece of the Guru's Word. Vocabulary and understanding the meanings of what I am reading are my next goal but I have been very happy to just learn how to read and produce the correct sounds thus far. ohyeah:

I have concerns myself about Sikhism or the lifestyle of some who are Sikhs - especially 3HO Sikhism here in America and have begun to watch for others to connect with to brainstorm with about our various issues. I do not want to be specific here in this post but perhaps in another one if there is interest.

Gurumustuk's Singh Khalsa's Blog accesible through his www.sikhnet.com website mentioned some issues too (in the May or June postings) and I have written to him asking him to help connect me with others having concerns and am waiting to hear back from him.

Thought you might enjoy knowing that the Word of the Guru is alive and well - as evidenced by my own spiritual awakening and transformation.


I hope the smiley faces are not too distracting from my post!

Wahe Guru!

Nam Hari Kaur, Eugene, Oregon, USA