A Few Questions About Sikhi!

[chazSingh]

I agree, I used to place images in my head but it just makes it difficult for me to feel the simran, so the only thing i do is just put "Ik Onkar" image in my head and me reciting the simran to Waheguru.

Ah quick question, does anyone feel the hair on their body stand up when getting lost in to simran???

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

When you go deeper into your simran, when body is completely relaxed, and mind has come under control, you'll feel many things

don't think i have felt my hairs standing up, but i often feel energy flowing throughout my body...in bursts, then i tingle afterwards.

apparently this is the amrit/Chi/Prana cleaning your astral body, allowing the energy to flow more freely.

If i expect experiences, they never happen....if i just 'let go' and imerse myself in "satnaam" or "waheguru" and say "i'm happy if you show me something, i'm happy if you show me nothing" then progress is made.

God bless


god bless.

 

[BlazinSikh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

yeah sometimes i feel a tingling sensation around my body, especially on my face, but i do also feel my hair on my body stand, like when you have a little electric shock, but it feels good not shocky.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!animatedkhanda1

 

[spnadmin]

ChazSingh ji

I do not accept the idea of "asral body" however your concluding sentence --- with that I completely agree. It is Guru's kirpa.

 

[BlazinSikh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

OMG!!!!! I just realised that i was talking about Simran when i was meant to say Kirtan.

Forgive me guy's, i'm just happy. :grinningsingh:

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

 

[chazSingh]

ChazSingh ji

I do not accept the idea of "asral body" however your concluding sentence --- with that I completely agree. Guru's kirpa.

Thanks Ji,

I'm not to sure of it also. Gurbani describes the Sat Sarovars (seven Seas), dasam duar, and many other things within our human body.

In one shabad it says:
http://www.sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=6136
bhavajal a(n)dhar maanasar sath samu(n)dhee gehir ga(n)bheeraa||
Deeper than the seven seas of the world is the mental world ocean known as Manasarovar

naa pathan naa paathanee paaraavaar n a(n)th n cheeraa||
which has no wharf no boatman and no end or bound.

naa baerree naa thuleharraa va(n)jhee haathh n dhheerak dhheeraa||
To go across it there is neither vessel nor raft, neither barge pole nor any one to console.

Describing 2 possibloe 'layers' beyond the physical. The layer of the 'sat sarovars - seven seas' and then the 'mental' layer from which all things are created in the universal mind.
I guess we all find out what they all are along this journey we take within


God bless all on their journey.

 

[chazSingh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

OMG!!!!! I just realised that i was talking about Simran when i was meant to say Kirtan.

Forgive me guy's, i'm just happy. :grinningsingh:

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

Don't worry ji,

apparently when we enjoy something so much like beautiful shabad kirtan, our mind stops wandering in a thousand directions and becomes focussed 'single mindedly - Ek man' into God. We then feel this amrit/chi/prana flowing inside us...and yes it can make your hair stand on end.
sometimes when we hear great emotional speaches, and they strike us deep within the heart...we feel this energy then also.

This is the same as in Simran, focussing single mindedly on god and feeling/listening/seeing what is within us.

God bless.

 

[BlazinSikh]

Don't worry ji,

apparently when we enjoy something so much like beautiful shabad kirtan, our mind stops wandering in a thousand directions and becomes focussed 'single mindedly - Ek man' into God. We then feel this amrit/chi/prana flowing inside us...and yes it can make your hair stand on end.
sometimes when we hear great emotional speaches, and they strike us deep within the heart...we feel this energy then also.

This is the same as in Simran, focussing single mindedly on god and feeling/listening/seeing what is within us.

God bless.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

So basically, whatever makes one feel feel the connection to Waheguru Sahib, i've also noticed that when your mind is concentrated on a Simran/Kirtan pains easily go away, for example last night i had a headache so i decided to listen to some kirtan and all of a sudden my headache just disappeared, even though i had the kirtan on loud blast.

One Love Ji

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

 

[Aisha]

Thank you to everyone who replied!! I haven't posted in a bit because you cleared up every question I had, thank you Sangat Ji

One last thing, and this only entered my mind today while I was watching a slideshow at the Gurdwara, in some of the old pictures there are people praying to the Gurus. There was one where a man was kneeling in front of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and he had his hands folded and head lowered in respect.

I know that Sikhs only worship one God and that doing that in front of Guru Ji was for the same reason Sikhs bow to Guru Granth Sahib Ji today, and has nothing to do with idolatry, but what I am wondering is, is it wrong to bow to or fold your hands and pray in front of a picture of any of the once-living Sikh Gurus? I realize that Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave the status of eternal Guru to Guru Granth Sahib Ji, so is it "against the rules" to ask anything from pictures of a Guru?

WJKK WJKF!

 

[spnadmin]

Take a look, interesting answers in this thread, regarding praying before pictures of Gurus.

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/38774-place-of-idol-worship-pictures-sikhi.html

 

[Aisha]

Take a look, interesting answers in this thread, regarding praying before pictures of Gurus.

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/38774-place-of-idol-worship-pictures-sikhi.html

Thank you, that helped a lot! I too think that pictures are fine to hang up, they serve as a reminder that you should connect to the lord, brings your attention back to where it should be like Lucky Singh Ji said. I was just a bit confused because in the past I have seen Punjabi men and women praying to and asking Guru's pictures for favours and forgiveness. But obviously that is against Sikhi.

One other thing I noticed, Harry Haller Ji said that:

this I consider to be a beautiful picture, which is worthy of hanging up, and acts as a reminder as to what we should be doing, interacting with Creation, forgiving, advising, helping, loving, and respecting the basic tenants of Sikhism, no rituals, no idol worship, no magic mantras, no Kundalini posturing, just plain old truthful living.

The reason I posted that was because (as I'm sure you know) there is actually quite a large group of people in the United States who came to Sikhi through the works of Yogi Bachan, who apparently was pretty big on the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Is there really something special about this particular form of Yoga or is it frowned upon as well?

 

[spnadmin]

You are welcome Aisha ji

Rarely do I express my opinion on this. Frankly I don't have any problem at all with the pictures of Gurus and have collections of them on my computer. I particularly like the ones done in the Persian style because of the historical details of clothing, plants, animals, gardens, and more. The more modern pics are too melodramatic for my taste, and that is all it is, personal taste.

More reactions in red:

Thank you, that helped a lot! I too think that pictures are fine to hang up,

I don't hang them up, but I do spend time really studying them and more time searching the net for historical examples. I think the pictures help us understand the Gurus as human beings and not as mythological beings living in a virtual reality of medieval India.

they serve as a reminder that you should connect to the lord, brings your attention back to where it should be like Lucky Singh Ji said.

They really don't remind me to connect to the Lord. Usually an argument with someone in my off line world reminds me to connect because I become irritated with myself for losing it, and connecting is the only way back.

I was just a bit confused because in the past I have seen Punjabi men and women praying to and asking Guru's pictures for favours and forgiveness. But obviously that is against Sikhi.

Praying and asking for favors in front of pictures is not consistent with Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji shabads and Guru Nanak spent a lot of time explaining why. But honetly, if he were visiting us today at SPN would he not take a calm approach? Guru Nanak preached gian over and over, not rejection. People of simple faith may need those pictures. I do not think their faith is any more or less honest than mine.

One other thing I noticed, Harry Haller Ji said that:

I am in agreement with Harry - do we make the effort to live according to the virtues of Sikhi?



The reason I posted that was because (as I'm sure you know) there is actually quite a large group of people in the United States who came to Sikhi through the works of Yogi Bachan, who apparently was pretty big on the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Is there really something special about this particular form of Yoga or is it frowned upon as well?

Here I can speak with some personal experience. I permanently damaged the vertebrae in my neck doing Kundalini yoga. One thing we should note is that 3HO practitioners always say "Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan." Which should clue us that there is at least one other form of Kundalini yoga, and in fact there is. Yogi ji's methods are not exactly like Kundalini as found in India. I always had the feeling that his asanas are more like military boot camp early in the morning practice, not yoga practice. Is it a good idea to go off in a direction where I or anyone else "frown upon" the 3HO version of yoga, or any other kind of yoga? It's the frowning part that concerns me. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji tells us that yoga is not useful. In spite of that many Sikhs say that it is useful, even necessary. Some members of 3HO also practice astrology, mantras based on vedic beliefs, prayers to Guru Ramdas and numerology, and some pilars of the community also practice arti at Hindu temple before Hindu images. The Sikh Rehat Maryada rejects such practices.

The 3HO organization states it is an educational organization not a religion. The lineage of believers brought up in Sikhi, now 3 generations, by Yogi Bhajan adheres to a Sikh identity. Many in the panth welcome "white sikhs" in sangat as sikhs. There are even sangats in the US made of both "white sikhs" and Punjabi-based sikhs. Pushed to the extreme we end up in a discussion of who is a Sikh and who is not a Sikh.... a real can of worms.

 

[chazSingh]

The reason I posted that was because (as I'm sure you know) there is actually quite a large group of people in the United States who came to Sikhi through the works of Yogi Bachan, who apparently was pretty big on the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Is there really something special about this particular form of Yoga or is it frowned upon as well?

Hi Aisha,

Many people have opinions on people like yogi bhajan, positive and negative. But generally if you look at what he achieved, bringing thousands of people into spirituality then it was a huge step in the right direction.

Yes, we can interact with nature, do good deeds, help people etc etc...but there is a deeper side to sikhi and all other religions that point us inwards towards our consciousness and asks us to go and explore it. This is where the kundalini yoga came into it. The spitiual energy experienced when one starts to journey 'within' can be quite overwhelming so this yoga taught people how to control that energy and focus it towards experiencing god.

Now, many of the kundalini followers fell in love with Sikhi also and combined the two...which is somewhat frowned upon by many other sikhs.

I ask you, should we judge, knock back, laugh at people who are making the effort to explore their true self. Surely any help towards the goal of god realisation is a good thing?

Me personaly i dont do any specific yoga postures when i mediate for 2.5 hours a day, apart from siting upright with back straight. It helps keep me awake and also when you start feeling the energy within you it somewhat helps. Others may feel a specific posture helps them more...

Who are we to tell them how they should be doing their mediation...we're all unique afterall

God bless you.

 

[cheema13]

This is a wonderful thread. It has answered some of my very deep questions about Sikhism. Answers that I was not aware of despite being born into a Sikh household. Thanks to all.