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Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
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Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
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Partaal (1153)
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Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
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Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
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Gurbani (1294-96)
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Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
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Fasting: Penance, Blessing, Hypocrisy Or Me-ism?
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<blockquote data-quote="spnadmin" data-source="post: 188274" data-attributes="member: 35"><p>`</p><p>angrisha ji</p><p></p><p>This part of your earlier comment was addressed to me. I will do my best in reply because it is a powerful insight into a complex set of issues.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To start I am not altogether certain what "connection" you mean in the last sentence. Without knowing that I can only rely on my own inference about it. The "tool" other than a "cultural tool"... what would that be? What tool that is better than Turban Day?</p><p></p><p>Leaving Turban Day aside for the moment, let me talk about the connection that I believe needs to be made for those who tie dastar and those who do not, Sikh and non-Sikh alike. Going back to the time of Guru Nanak, wearing a turban, keeping a beard and riding a horse were privileges reserved for the wealthy. Turban then symbolized affluence and status; it was itself a cultural tool for preserving consciousness of who was high and who was low in a very status conscious society. Then our Gurus uttered several of their many subversive suggestions which ultimately had the effect of undermining time-hardened adherence to caste and rank, and general kowtowing to it. </p><p></p><p>Today the turban symbolizes, according to those who know, spirituality, humility and respect for hair. How turban comes to stand for these qualities is an open question. The Sikh Rehat Maryada requires it for men as a way to protect the hair. If anyone wants to argue that these are arbitrary meanings, poorly explained, dependent on folklore and mindless following of tradition, I won't argue. As a symbol of culture, it even endows its wearer with social respectability. At one time among Sikhs of rural Punjab, a man who kept hair but did not wear a turban was considered perhaps a bandit of some kind, a "badmash." Back then we turn the clock -- first forbidden to most, dastar creeps back into imagination a "must" for the pious Sikh.</p><p></p><p>That is not the connection that needs to be made at Turban Day, and it is not the connection that comes with turban as part of Akaal Purak ki Fauj. How many did Guru Arjan Dev shock into awareness of the emptiness of the turban when he said in the context of a shabad which questions the hypocrisy of the Qazi </p><p></p><p>ਨਾਪਾਕ ਪਾਕੁ ਕਰਿ ਹਦੂਰਿ ਹਦੀਸਾ ਸਾਬਤ ਸੂਰਤਿ ਦਸਤਾਰ ਸਿਰਾ ॥੧ <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"></li> </ul><p>੨॥</p><p>Nāpāk pāk kar haḏūr haḏīsā sābaṯ sūraṯ ḏasṯār sirā. ||12||</p><p>Purify what is impure, and let the Lord's Presence be your religious tradition. Let your total awareness be the turban on your head. ||12||</p><p></p><p>Or </p><p></p><p></p><p>ਹਉ ਗੋਸਾਈ ਦਾ ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨੜਾ ॥</p><p>Ha▫o gosā▫ī ḏā pahilvānṛā.</p><p>I am a wrestler; I belong to the Lord of the World.</p><p></p><p>॥</p><p>Mai gur mil ucẖ ḏumālṛā.</p><p>I met with the Guru, and I have tied a tall, plumed turban.</p><p></p><p>ਸਭ ਹੋਈ ਛਿੰਝ ਇਕਠੀਆ ਦਯੁ ਬੈਠਾ ਵੇਖੈ ਆਪਿ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੭॥</p><p>Sabẖ ho▫ī cẖẖinjẖ ikṯẖī▫ā ḏa▫yu baiṯẖā vekẖai āp jī▫o. ||17||</p><p>All have gathered to watch the wrestling match, and the Merciful Lord Himself is seated to behold it.</p><p></p><p> "I" is everyone. Everyone can freely choose to be a wrestler; everyone can tie that tall, plumed turban. There is no high and there is no low and the turban comes to symbolize a state of mind that does not bend to illegitimate power and represents the joyous way in we ourselves ਆਪਿ can chose to sit with the that one who is most worthy of our respect ਜੀਉ </p><p></p><p>OK! So now to Turban Days. If kids are being taught the dastar is a way to be humble and protect kesh, fine and good. It is not fine and good if kids are not being taught that dastar in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji symbolizes the end of inequality. Everyone is invited to sit in the bleachers at the wrestling match with the Guru. If Turban Day is a cultural tool, that is a good thing too. In the US over 60 percent of all reported incidents of school-bullying are of Sikh boys who keep hair and wear the pagri. The majority of revenge assaults and homicides following 9/11 were of Sikh men mistaken for Muslims. These attacks continue. If we ask our children to live as Sikhs in a risky world then the least we can do is provide a rational reason for doing so. Akaal Purkh di Fauj (in so many words the army of the timeless god) stands behind having a choice, stands against the capriciousness of power and class, stands for connecting with the Sat because when all wear that tall, plumed turban of awareness, then all are equal. That kind of thinking is what made our Gurus subversives in the eyes of Brahmins and Qazis. Tying dastar can be an irritating but culturally important morning ritual. To the religious rebel (we forget that is who we are), tying dastar is about making the free choice to connect, be aware, have a care for social justice. </p><p></p><p>I see no reason why a cultural tool cannot pry open a window on religious identity.</p><p></p><p>Now I have taken a lot of time thinking what to write. I would like to see others join me by writing responses to Tejwant ji's questions about fasting. If there are deep messages, what are they?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spnadmin, post: 188274, member: 35"] ` angrisha ji This part of your earlier comment was addressed to me. I will do my best in reply because it is a powerful insight into a complex set of issues. To start I am not altogether certain what "connection" you mean in the last sentence. Without knowing that I can only rely on my own inference about it. The "tool" other than a "cultural tool"... what would that be? What tool that is better than Turban Day? Leaving Turban Day aside for the moment, let me talk about the connection that I believe needs to be made for those who tie dastar and those who do not, Sikh and non-Sikh alike. Going back to the time of Guru Nanak, wearing a turban, keeping a beard and riding a horse were privileges reserved for the wealthy. Turban then symbolized affluence and status; it was itself a cultural tool for preserving consciousness of who was high and who was low in a very status conscious society. Then our Gurus uttered several of their many subversive suggestions which ultimately had the effect of undermining time-hardened adherence to caste and rank, and general kowtowing to it. Today the turban symbolizes, according to those who know, spirituality, humility and respect for hair. How turban comes to stand for these qualities is an open question. The Sikh Rehat Maryada requires it for men as a way to protect the hair. If anyone wants to argue that these are arbitrary meanings, poorly explained, dependent on folklore and mindless following of tradition, I won't argue. As a symbol of culture, it even endows its wearer with social respectability. At one time among Sikhs of rural Punjab, a man who kept hair but did not wear a turban was considered perhaps a bandit of some kind, a "badmash." Back then we turn the clock -- first forbidden to most, dastar creeps back into imagination a "must" for the pious Sikh. That is not the connection that needs to be made at Turban Day, and it is not the connection that comes with turban as part of Akaal Purak ki Fauj. How many did Guru Arjan Dev shock into awareness of the emptiness of the turban when he said in the context of a shabad which questions the hypocrisy of the Qazi ਨਾਪਾਕ ਪਾਕੁ ਕਰਿ ਹਦੂਰਿ ਹਦੀਸਾ ਸਾਬਤ ਸੂਰਤਿ ਦਸਤਾਰ ਸਿਰਾ ॥੧[LIST] [/LIST]੨॥ Nāpāk pāk kar haḏūr haḏīsā sābaṯ sūraṯ ḏasṯār sirā. ||12|| Purify what is impure, and let the Lord's Presence be your religious tradition. Let your total awareness be the turban on your head. ||12|| Or ਹਉ ਗੋਸਾਈ ਦਾ ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨੜਾ ॥ Ha▫o gosā▫ī ḏā pahilvānṛā. I am a wrestler; I belong to the Lord of the World. ॥ Mai gur mil ucẖ ḏumālṛā. I met with the Guru, and I have tied a tall, plumed turban. ਸਭ ਹੋਈ ਛਿੰਝ ਇਕਠੀਆ ਦਯੁ ਬੈਠਾ ਵੇਖੈ ਆਪਿ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੭॥ Sabẖ ho▫ī cẖẖinjẖ ikṯẖī▫ā ḏa▫yu baiṯẖā vekẖai āp jī▫o. ||17|| All have gathered to watch the wrestling match, and the Merciful Lord Himself is seated to behold it. "I" is everyone. Everyone can freely choose to be a wrestler; everyone can tie that tall, plumed turban. There is no high and there is no low and the turban comes to symbolize a state of mind that does not bend to illegitimate power and represents the joyous way in we ourselves ਆਪਿ can chose to sit with the that one who is most worthy of our respect ਜੀਉ OK! So now to Turban Days. If kids are being taught the dastar is a way to be humble and protect kesh, fine and good. It is not fine and good if kids are not being taught that dastar in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji symbolizes the end of inequality. Everyone is invited to sit in the bleachers at the wrestling match with the Guru. If Turban Day is a cultural tool, that is a good thing too. In the US over 60 percent of all reported incidents of school-bullying are of Sikh boys who keep hair and wear the pagri. The majority of revenge assaults and homicides following 9/11 were of Sikh men mistaken for Muslims. These attacks continue. If we ask our children to live as Sikhs in a risky world then the least we can do is provide a rational reason for doing so. Akaal Purkh di Fauj (in so many words the army of the timeless god) stands behind having a choice, stands against the capriciousness of power and class, stands for connecting with the Sat because when all wear that tall, plumed turban of awareness, then all are equal. That kind of thinking is what made our Gurus subversives in the eyes of Brahmins and Qazis. Tying dastar can be an irritating but culturally important morning ritual. To the religious rebel (we forget that is who we are), tying dastar is about making the free choice to connect, be aware, have a care for social justice. I see no reason why a cultural tool cannot pry open a window on religious identity. Now I have taken a lot of time thinking what to write. I would like to see others join me by writing responses to Tejwant ji's questions about fasting. If there are deep messages, what are they? [/QUOTE]
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Fasting: Penance, Blessing, Hypocrisy Or Me-ism?
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