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Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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If I Don't Believe In God, Is Sikhism Pretty Pointless?
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<blockquote data-quote="max314" data-source="post: 25864" data-attributes="member: 2817"><p>Hey there again, <strong>Surinder</strong>. I appologise for my absence, but I had to go down to Portsmouth to give an exam.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, reading your response, there is a lot of 'you must accept' this and 'you don't need logic to believe' that.</p><p></p><p>Of course, if you wish to believe in something for the sake of believing in it, that is totally fine by me. The last thing I am here to do is tell anyone that they're wrong for believing what they wish. That would be both ignorant and foolish, and these are two qualities I strive to distance myself from as much as possible :}{}{}:</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, when it comes to debating and discussing and developing ideas and thoughts - as forums like this are designed to do - very little of this can be acheived on the basis of blind submission alone since this restricts the view of debate, narrowing it to a level whereby one cannot stray outside of those submitted beliefs.</p><p></p><p>Indeed, challenging another's beliefs only ends in tears, which is why I realise that one must tread carefully when communicating their views on a subject as potentially combustible as religion (arguably the single most volatile belief system on the planet).</p><p></p><p>However, I'd like to make a very friendly proposition. Just hear me out, and if you don't like what I have to say, then you can just ignore me :u):</p><p></p><p>Allow me to ask you <strong>why</strong> it is that you choose to believe what you do? Indeed, allow me to ask if it was really even your choice to believe what you do?</p><p></p><p>By reading your name (which is the same as my <em>bhuah</em>, by the way <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />), I think it's fairly safe to assume that you - like myself - were born into a Punjabi family that considers itself belonging to the Sikkh faith and its community? If this is so, then this would quite naturally mean that, since the year dot, we have been raised with a certain perception of reality. Being raised in Sikkh families, our religious reality was "Sikkhi is the absolute Truth, what Gurbani says is pure and infinite and divine and straight from God, what other religions say may be partly right, but they are not as correct as ours". There is also an underlying fear that is built into our psyches: the fear of asking "why?"</p><p></p><p>You see, when we ask "why?", it means that we are questioning the very foundation upon which our ideological principles are built. This is never a comfortable experience. It's so much easier...<em>soooooo</em> much easier...to just have a text in front of you that you can believe contains words that know no limits and can be taken at face value without the need of any added insight. The fact that we can be confident that we are reading 'The Word Of God' and thus have no fear that what we are reading is completely and utterly correct.</p><p></p><p>But even the Master says:</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>"One may read for years and for years,</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>And spend every month of the year in reading only;</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>And thus read all one's life,</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Right up to one's last breath.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Of all things, <strong>a contemplative life</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em><strong>Is what really matters</strong>;</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>All else is the fret and fever of egoistic minds."</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em><strong>~ Guru Nanak ~</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p style="text-align: left">Reading, it is said, can only get one so far. To reflect, to meditate, to contemplate...to <em>think</em> with the mental faculty granted to you by God in living one's life is the true value. To take what you have read and learned and to think upon it...to ask "why?"...and trust that God has granted you the power to answer that question for yourself.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">Imagine if Guru Nanak had not asked "why?" to the pundit who was to tie the thread around his waist? Imagine if Guru Nanak did not ask "why" the Hindus were throwing water at the Sun?</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">Imagine if the Guru had not contemplated upon these matters...we would not even be sitting here discussing whether or not he and God were the same entity.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>"Out of the cotton of compassion</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Spin the thread of contentment,</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Tie the know of contience,</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>and the twist of virtue;</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>Make such a sacred thread;</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>O Pundit, for your inner self."</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em><strong>~ Guru Nanak ~</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong></strong> <p style="text-align: left">The fact of the matter remains that the idea of the Gurus and God being one and the same is not an idea that is enacted within the pages of the Granth...it is enacted by our parents (and their parents before them, and there parents before them...all the while being influenced by the norms of the then-society as opposed to the statements in the Gurbani itself) who subconsciously project this image every time they refer to a picture of one of the Gurus as "baba-ji". If I told you now - today, as a fully mature adult - that <strong>I</strong> am an incarnation of God and that everything I say is due to me being God's representative hear on Earth, you'd throw a rotten tomato at my face and walk away, such is the conclusion of logical thought. And yet...our parents and the society around us can say these things about Master Nanak and we accept it as a fact. This is simply because this is how we've been conditioned - effectively from birth - to believe a certain concept. Of that, we have little control over. But what we <em>do</em> have control over is to start from scratch. To remove those social conditionings to an extent that allows us to free our mental perspective and ask the "what if" questions that our subsonscious may consider taboos.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">What's interesting is that <em>the Guru</em> never said he was God. And yet we believe otherwise.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">Heh...I was watching <em>Unleashed</em> today (original title was <em>Danny The Dog</em>, but we all know what the Hollywood machine is like <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> ) and the main character in that is played by Jet Li. I don't know if you've seen it but the film basically has Jet Li turned into a killer-on-demand...the ultimate hound who is controlled through conditioning to beat anyone and anything to a pulp on the say-so of his master.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>"It's like my saint of a mum used to say: get 'em young, and the possibilities are endless."</em></p></p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">Such is the state of so many 'religious' people.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">In the beginning, sure, it's a little frightening. But once you take one step...than another...then another...you realise that you're actually just fine. That, actually, Guru Nanak's message really does make sense. That you don't need to believe in anything except for the Oneness of All, and that this grants one the power to feel at one with everything to the extent that every passage in Gurbani suddenly makes perfect sense and connects in one coherent whole...maybe in a way that could never have been done through the restricted peep-hole of merely blind faith alone.</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">Well, that's my opinion. Hope you at least had a little fun reading it :ice:</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p></p> <p style="text-align: center"> </p></p> <p style="text-align: left"> </p></p> <p style="text-align: center"> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>99% sweet cookie, 1% {censored}nic :wink:</p><p></p><p>Don't worry about telling me where God is, my friend...if you've read my post (heck, if you've read the Mool Mantra) then you'll know what my perception of God is. I understand and have more "knowledge" than you might think :}{}{}:</p><p></p><p>I have enough "knowledge" to tell you that, whilst it is healthy to keep God in mind at all times, it is also very healthy to live the life that God has handed to you <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>Miri and Piri both, remember...some people like to overlook Miri because it's so much easier to focus on the fantastical and the abstract and the unknowable than on the harsher realities...which can actually be much more easily faced if one has an awareness of God's true nature and his relation to us.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="max314, post: 25864, member: 2817"] Hey there again, [B]Surinder[/B]. I appologise for my absence, but I had to go down to Portsmouth to give an exam. Anyway, reading your response, there is a lot of 'you must accept' this and 'you don't need logic to believe' that. Of course, if you wish to believe in something for the sake of believing in it, that is totally fine by me. The last thing I am here to do is tell anyone that they're wrong for believing what they wish. That would be both ignorant and foolish, and these are two qualities I strive to distance myself from as much as possible :}{}{}: Nevertheless, when it comes to debating and discussing and developing ideas and thoughts - as forums like this are designed to do - very little of this can be acheived on the basis of blind submission alone since this restricts the view of debate, narrowing it to a level whereby one cannot stray outside of those submitted beliefs. Indeed, challenging another's beliefs only ends in tears, which is why I realise that one must tread carefully when communicating their views on a subject as potentially combustible as religion (arguably the single most volatile belief system on the planet). However, I'd like to make a very friendly proposition. Just hear me out, and if you don't like what I have to say, then you can just ignore me :u): Allow me to ask you [B]why[/B] it is that you choose to believe what you do? Indeed, allow me to ask if it was really even your choice to believe what you do? By reading your name (which is the same as my [I]bhuah[/I], by the way ;)), I think it's fairly safe to assume that you - like myself - were born into a Punjabi family that considers itself belonging to the Sikkh faith and its community? If this is so, then this would quite naturally mean that, since the year dot, we have been raised with a certain perception of reality. Being raised in Sikkh families, our religious reality was "Sikkhi is the absolute Truth, what Gurbani says is pure and infinite and divine and straight from God, what other religions say may be partly right, but they are not as correct as ours". There is also an underlying fear that is built into our psyches: the fear of asking "why?" You see, when we ask "why?", it means that we are questioning the very foundation upon which our ideological principles are built. This is never a comfortable experience. It's so much easier...[I]soooooo[/I] much easier...to just have a text in front of you that you can believe contains words that know no limits and can be taken at face value without the need of any added insight. The fact that we can be confident that we are reading 'The Word Of God' and thus have no fear that what we are reading is completely and utterly correct. But even the Master says: [CENTER][I]"One may read for years and for years, And spend every month of the year in reading only; And thus read all one's life, Right up to one's last breath. Of all things, [B]a contemplative life Is what really matters[/B]; All else is the fret and fever of egoistic minds." [/I][B]~ Guru Nanak ~[/B] [LEFT]Reading, it is said, can only get one so far. To reflect, to meditate, to contemplate...to [I]think[/I] with the mental faculty granted to you by God in living one's life is the true value. To take what you have read and learned and to think upon it...to ask "why?"...and trust that God has granted you the power to answer that question for yourself. Imagine if Guru Nanak had not asked "why?" to the pundit who was to tie the thread around his waist? Imagine if Guru Nanak did not ask "why" the Hindus were throwing water at the Sun? Imagine if the Guru had not contemplated upon these matters...we would not even be sitting here discussing whether or not he and God were the same entity. [CENTER][I]"Out of the cotton of compassion Spin the thread of contentment, Tie the know of contience, and the twist of virtue; Make such a sacred thread; O Pundit, for your inner self." [/I][B]~ Guru Nanak ~ [/B] [LEFT]The fact of the matter remains that the idea of the Gurus and God being one and the same is not an idea that is enacted within the pages of the Granth...it is enacted by our parents (and their parents before them, and there parents before them...all the while being influenced by the norms of the then-society as opposed to the statements in the Gurbani itself) who subconsciously project this image every time they refer to a picture of one of the Gurus as "baba-ji". If I told you now - today, as a fully mature adult - that [B]I[/B] am an incarnation of God and that everything I say is due to me being God's representative hear on Earth, you'd throw a rotten tomato at my face and walk away, such is the conclusion of logical thought. And yet...our parents and the society around us can say these things about Master Nanak and we accept it as a fact. This is simply because this is how we've been conditioned - effectively from birth - to believe a certain concept. Of that, we have little control over. But what we [I]do[/I] have control over is to start from scratch. To remove those social conditionings to an extent that allows us to free our mental perspective and ask the "what if" questions that our subsonscious may consider taboos. What's interesting is that [I]the Guru[/I] never said he was God. And yet we believe otherwise. Heh...I was watching [I]Unleashed[/I] today (original title was [I]Danny The Dog[/I], but we all know what the Hollywood machine is like :D ) and the main character in that is played by Jet Li. I don't know if you've seen it but the film basically has Jet Li turned into a killer-on-demand...the ultimate hound who is controlled through conditioning to beat anyone and anything to a pulp on the say-so of his master. [CENTER][i]"It's like my saint of a mum used to say: get 'em young, and the possibilities are endless."[/i][/CENTER] Such is the state of so many 'religious' people. In the beginning, sure, it's a little frightening. But once you take one step...than another...then another...you realise that you're actually just fine. That, actually, Guru Nanak's message really does make sense. That you don't need to believe in anything except for the Oneness of All, and that this grants one the power to feel at one with everything to the extent that every passage in Gurbani suddenly makes perfect sense and connects in one coherent whole...maybe in a way that could never have been done through the restricted peep-hole of merely blind faith alone. Well, that's my opinion. Hope you at least had a little fun reading it :ice: [/LEFT] [/CENTER] [/LEFT] [/CENTER] 99% sweet cookie, 1% {censored}nic :wink: Don't worry about telling me where God is, my friend...if you've read my post (heck, if you've read the Mool Mantra) then you'll know what my perception of God is. I understand and have more "knowledge" than you might think :}{}{}: I have enough "knowledge" to tell you that, whilst it is healthy to keep God in mind at all times, it is also very healthy to live the life that God has handed to you :D Miri and Piri both, remember...some people like to overlook Miri because it's so much easier to focus on the fantastical and the abstract and the unknowable than on the harsher realities...which can actually be much more easily faced if one has an awareness of God's true nature and his relation to us. [/QUOTE]
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