Questions, Questions, Questions!

[justme]

WaheGuru ji ka Khalsa WaheGuru ji ka Fateh
Hi, just popped in to ask a few questions.Some of these are probably very basic to some of you but please pardon my ignorance.I have just started to keep my hair and am trying to be as good a sikh as I am able. To cut to the chase I have a few questions:
1, some people say even tea is prohibited- is this true? if so why is it served at our Gurdwaras?
2, Has our bathwater in the mornings got to be cold?
3 Is investing in stocks and shares prohibited or allowed
May I add I have full faith in our Gurujis teaching and I am trying to align my life to their instruction. If they have given instructions regarding these matters I have no problems in keeping with them- although no2 has me shivering already just thinking about it!

 

[vijaydeep Singh]

Gurfateh

For Yogis Tea could be prohitbited so also they need cold water to tkae Bath.

As per SGPC Maryada we as Sikh have no restrction to take bath or not to ttake Bath.Or to take tea or not to take tea.

In Islam's some interpetation perhaps commission or interest is prohibited but for Sikhs that is not the case.

Das was also put into such doubts by those people who pose as Sikh but hardly know faith.

Lastly Akal helped Das in the form of Gyani Jarnail Singh Ji and Amarpal Singh Ji.

Das request them also to put thier views.

 

[mannii]

I had also wanted answers to the first two questions.....confusing.:interestedkudi:

 

[spnadmin]

mannii ji

The questions about tea and cold water baths have been answered correctly by Vijaydeep Singh ji.

There is no restriction regarding tea or any other caffeinated beverage like coffee or pepsi.

I am not sure where the question regarding tea came from to begin with. It could be that some individuals or splinter groups generalized from the restriction against intoxicants (narcotic drugs, alcohol) and tobacco.

There is no requirement that Sikhs bathe in cold water. Some sects like 3HO recommend this as an early morning practice, by choice and not by regulation. On this one I did do some research.

The original idea that Sikhs must bathe in cold water goes all the way back to the 18th Century and a document call the Rehitnama by Bhai Nand Lal.

t(h)a(n)ddae paanee jo nehi nhaavai bin jap parrhae prasaadh j khaavai ||
Those who do not take their morning bath in cold water and those who eat before their Nitnem infringe the Rehat.

Rehatnama Bhai Nand Laal Jee


Bhai ji was a close associate of Guru Gobind Singh, and he did write lengthy sets of rules and regulations - many of which are not an issue today. There is no requirement to take a cold bath. None.

Having said this I am myself perplexed why these questions come up. They have been answered. Of course there is no reason why you should take my word for it, or believe vijaydeep singh ji either. So the question that remains unanswered is "Whose word should you take seriously?"

Please read the Sikh Rehat Maryada which covers the code of individual and corporate conduct for Sikhs in the 20th and 21rst Centuries.

http://www.searchsikhism.com/rehat.html

And do be careful not to confuse mention of "bathing" in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to mean a literal bath. Nearly always it is the mind that is to be purified not the body when reference to bathing is made in Guru Granth.

eisaan karehi parabhaath sudhh man gur poojaa bidhh sehith kara(n) ||
After their cleansing bath in the hours before the dawn, they worship the Guru with their minds pure and clear. Ang 1402

 

[mannii]

Thanks for those answers... I believe both yourself and vijaydeep singh ji. I now understand and just got confused by the sikhitothemax 101 REHATS OF A DISCIPLINED SIKH. Thank you for your answers.
:happykaur:

 

[spnadmin]

mannii ji

Thanks for telling us of the 101 Rehats, which then lead to your question. For me it was bewilderment that anyone would actually be promoting the idea that a cold bath was required -- except in the earliest days of the Sikh panth when several Bhaijis were indeed writing their own rehats.

You know they did this because the Sikh Rehat Maryada had not been written. Nearlly 200 years would pass before the time of the SRM. And the panth was in great disarray -- from continued persecution by Muslims. Things settled with the raj of Ranjit Singh, yet before that there was a need for discipline in order to survive as a people. That is the reason for several different rehats that still survive.

One final note on this point. Some of the rehats or rehatnamas are doubtful, their authorship is in dispute. The Sikh Rehat Maryada is well documented and we know its history. Therefore, one needs to be a bit of an historian and a bit of a detective when trying to understand the collection of older rehatnamas.