Hair and General Sikh Philosophy Study

Guru Gobind Singh Sahib ji made two orders that day one for the Sikh and the other for the Khalsa. The one for the Sikh said Hukam: A Sikh must keep hair and not smoke tobacco. A Sikh must not have sexual relationship outside the marital bond and cannot eat the flesh of an animal killed slowly in the Muslim way or in any sacrificial ceremony.

 
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Jios,

What I have found very deep and in my humble opinion very helpful in understanding the spiritual importance of "kesh" and other practices and rituals are statements here and there is the posts of jeetijohal ji.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-youth/22759-hair-and-general-sikh-philosophy-study.html
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=22759

Real flashes of insight - putting things together. Would that some others would comment on these.

But humbel thanks to jeetijohal ji.

Let me help you out.

cus·tom·ar·y /ˈkʌstəˌmɛri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuhs-tuh-mer-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, noun, plural -ar·ies. –adjective 1.according to or depending on custom; usual; habitual. 2.of or established by custom rather than law. 3.Law. defined by long-continued practices: the customary service due from land in a manor.

Who said the Amrit Sanskar was established by customs? There is nothing in the Amrit Sanskar that was established by customs. You got it all wrong my friend tell me by which custom was the Amrit Sansakr established on?

ya... who said?
It wasn't established on customs but its a custom now.
Custom is
-accepted or habitual practice
-a specific practice of long standing

someone needs a dictionary...

get some rest... I never said it is established on customs; stop accusing me of things i never said!!!

By this definition every religion is a ritual and even spirituality is a ritual by this definition because all of them have been practiced for a long time.

Bhagat ji the Amrit Ceremony is not done by habit or established by customs or done because of tradition. It is done because the Sikh can get on the right path. Khalsa Panth meaning way of the pure. So then they can live a pure and poius life.

Here's another explaination why it is not a ritual:

Does Amrit Sanskar constitute ritualism?
One who performs this external gesture without inner commitment to the ideas being expressed under philosophy of Amrit, is performing ritual. Without practice of the teachings in life and without cleaning inside and outside, such like initiation will be termed as ritualism. The Amrit Sanskar ritual is not external. The cleansing of the soul can only be done internally by the subject himself.
Amrit Sanskar is not ritualism, when novice promises and submits to the will of , leads clean, pure and pious life according to concepts and philosophy of the Guru and emerges from the ordeal endowed with a totally different being from that which he possessed before his initiation.

Ok that's a more general definition, I agree.
Yes it is and we assign the following meaning to it:
Actually that would be a hollow or a blind ritual. We know amrit sanchar is a ritual because of its definition: Ritual - the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies (which you seemed to have missed somehow )

No even then its still a ritual. Ritual without meaning is a different category.
Another definition of a ritual:
-A ritual is a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions



You just said its a ritual. And in fact, it is external. The ceremony is not performed internally!

This line on its own is great! This is exactly what the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is.

See above. It seems as if you do not understand what rituals are. You confuse the terms "blind ritual" with "ritual".

BTW enough discussion on Amrit Sanchar; make a new thread if you wish to discuss just that.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=22759
Let's continue our discussion on Hair and General SIkh Philosophy.

That is not my definition of the Amrit Sanskar and also they are only calling it a ritual if the the teachings are not pracitced.

See that is a really vague definition of a ritual they have done it so that every religious ceremony is called a ritual. The same thing could be said about laws made by governments. or the way a science experiment is done all i have to change at the end of this definition is conducted in a science experiment and then every science experiment will be called a ritual. The prescribed procedure for conducting science experiment and there you have it science experiment are rituals with no meanings.