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Losing My Religion By Amar Prakash Singh

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Jun 1, 2004
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Taken from another resource on Internet... http://transition-into-infinity.blogspot.com/

Today, I have made the decision to lose my religion. This is not to say that I am leaving the Spiritual Path that was given to me by Guru Nanak but that I am losing this religion called Sikhism.

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
REM

Ten years ago when the song that contains the above lyrics was popular, it was inconceivable for me to even think about the idea of "losing my religion." Recently, I have come to the conclusion that that is exactly what Guru Nanak wanted us to do and we should be "trying to keep up with" Nanak because that is what he did in writing Mul Mantar.

In his article Evolution of the Concept of God, Rawel Singh talks about how the concept of God has evolved through human history. I think that it is very interesting that he uses the term "concept" because that is exactly what God is: a concept but more accurately a metaphor. He talks about how the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament, which is different than the Islamic God, which is different than the Hindu God and even different than Nanak's God. But how can all of these be true? And even more importantly, it begs the question: Is man a creation of God or is God a creation of man?

How can God be Akaal Moorat, the Timeless Being if he keeps changing through time? But is it God that Nanak is talking about or is it Sat? I believe that it is Sat.

Ek Ong Kaar Sat Naam
There us one Truth

Sat is Karta Purakh, the Creative Force.

Sat is Akaal Moorat, the Timeless Being.

In the descriptions of God in various Religions, God is said to have birth, form, even death, fear, and anger. In Mul Mantar, Nanak dispels all these descriptions of God with: He is without birth, without form, without death, without fear and without anger. But is he saying that these are the attributes of God? No, these are all the attributes of Sat.

This whole idea can be extremely frightening and full of doubt. However, once you have passed through that fear and doubt, it is incredibly liberating.

Along this same theme, Wajinder Singh wrote:

My Guru is NOT a BOOK
My Guru Is NOT even a DEITY
The SHABAD is my Guru .... this Shabad is the Divine Knowledge (Gian)
This knowledge is the Guru, Gu-darkness (ignorance) Ru-light JOT (knowledge)
so my Guru is definitely not an Idol, i don't have to follow around my Guru
But when i read / hear the shabad ALL i can HEAR is my Guru SPEAKING

So how could i force others to see my Guru this way,
They don't accept nor believe in this GIAN knowledge
but I DEFINITELY do ..........and this is all that matters !
.... Eh Saagar Soi Teray Jo Har Gun Gavey

Throughout time, Religion has been the barrier that creates the "veil of illusion." As I described in Devolution, "Sikhs continued adding bricks of misunderstanding until the Gateway was closed. Then they stood before the non-existent Gateway and proclaimed what a great wall and religion had been built. As they stood there admiring their work, they decided to add golden domes and beautiful marble to the wall and they declared that God must really love them for allowing such a beautiful wall to be built.

"When some pointed out that the Gateway had been bricked shut, they were told not to 'fiddle with Sikh traditions' and swords were unsheathed, excommunications were delivered, and those who insulted "Sikh religious sympathies" were jailed."

So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?
Guru Nanak page 1

The first step is understanding that the concept of God is the illusion and that Truth and only Truth was what the Gurus were talking about.

In "Break on Through to the Other Side," "We stand before this wall with great fear and trepidation. Why? Because that wall is made up of all of our beliefs that we hold so dear."

One who understands this becomes truthful.
Guru Nanak page 3

We also become free of unanswerable Theological questions, such as: What is the Name of God? Is Nanak God? Is the Guru Granth the word of God?

Our concern turns to: What is Truth? and How do we live a Truthful life?

The Naam, the Name of the Lord, is abstinence, truthfulness, and self-restraint. Without the Name, no one becomes pure.
Guru Nanak page 33

Truth is higher than everything; but higher still is truthful living. ||5||
Guru Nanak page 62

Some understand Truthfulness; they are given the inexhaustible treasure.
Guru Amar Das page 85

All of this appears in the first 85 pages of Guru Granth, Why has it taken me so long to see it? Better yet, why has it taken so long for people to understand? Because what the Guru's are talking about is a moral framework that has nothing to do with religion. It's a framework that can be simply expressed as: Do the Right thing because it is the Right Thing to do, not because some religion threatens you with eternal damnation. Do we really need a religion or God to tell us that killing and stealing are not the Right Things to do? I think not.

In fact, some times doing the Right Thing is contrary to what your religion tells you. I remember one evening in India, as I was approaching Gurdwara Nadha Sahib, One of the legless beggars asked me for money. According to modern day Sikhi, we are told that Sikhs should never beg therefore you should not give money to any beggars. I had a 100 Rupee bill in my hand that I was going to donate to the Golak and walked by the beggar. A few steps later as I was looking at this magnificent Gurdwara, it dawned on me that this Gurdwara was as cold as the marble it was built of and there was no Truth there. I turned to the beggar and saw the Guru in him. I approached him and gave him my money, that he grasped it between his handless arms, instead of the Golak. Why? Because it was at that moment I realized that that was the Right Thing to do.

Salok, First Mehla:
Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran. Make modesty your circumcision, and good conduct your fast. In this way, you shall be a true Muslim. Let good conduct be your Kaabaa, Truth your spiritual guide, and the karma of good deeds your prayer and chant. Let your rosary be that which is pleasing to His Will. O Nanak, God shall preserve your honor.
Guru Nanak p. 140

The above quote from Nanak is telling a Muslim how to be a good Muslim. But it also begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Muslim, recognize this person as a Muslim? I think not.

As I was reading this quote, it dawned on me what Nanak might say to a modern day Sikh. It would be something like this.

Let mercy be your Gurdwara, faith your Simran, and honest living your Guru Granth. Make modesty your Kakkars, and good conduct your rituals. In this way, you shall be a true Sikh. Let good conduct be your Golden Temple, Truth your Guru, and the karma of good deeds your Banis.

Again, This begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Sikh, recognize this person as a Sikh? Again, I think not. But the Truth is that this person would really be the True Sikh.

And this is the reason that I have decided to lose my religion. Not to stop being a Sikh but to become a True Sikh.
 

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
14,500
19,219
Aman ji

You gave me quite a scare. Please forgive me. It took a while to realize that you were not losing your religion but finding it. However, your honesty and courage was a wake up call for me and very moving. The post == it is something I will study carefully.

We need a smiley with a halo so we can use it for your posts.
 

Archived_Member_19

(previously amarsanghera, account deactivated at t
SPNer
Jun 7, 2006
1,323
145
Losing my religion is also a colloquial way of saying losing my cool.

I am not sure if REM wanted to say that they were losing their "religion"

nice post btw
 

ballym

SPNer
May 19, 2006
260
335
Again a surprise... no one debates this.. but debate kesh over so many pages. Bravo.... good article... God is knowledge and truthful way of life.
religion is not "having kesh" or "no kesh"... it is truth.
I am sure our Guru Nanak never thought about keeping hairs or not keeping hairs. Infact he has satted somewhere that people who fight over silly matters are fools.
promote true sikhi... it will prosper.
remove poorly educated controllers of our faith and prosper.
 
Salok, First Mehla:
Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran. Make modesty your circumcision, and good conduct your fast. In this way, you shall be a true Muslim. Let good conduct be your Kaabaa, Truth your spiritual guide, and the karma of good deeds your prayer and chant. Let your rosary be that which is pleasing to His Will. O Nanak, God shall preserve your honor.
Guru Nanak p. 140

The above quote from Nanak is telling a Muslim how to be a good Muslim. But it also begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Muslim, recognize this person as a Muslim? I think not.

As I was reading this quote, it dawned on me what Nanak might say to a modern day Sikh. It would be something like this.

Let mercy be your Gurdwara, faith your Simran, and honest living your Guru Granth. Make modesty your Kakkars, and good conduct your rituals. In this way, you shall be a true Sikh. Let good conduct be your Golden Temple, Truth your Guru, and the karma of good deeds your Banis.

Again, This begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Sikh, recognize this person as a Sikh? Again, I think not. But the Truth is that this person would really be the True Sikh.

And this is the reason that I have decided to lose my religion. Not to stop being a Sikh but to become a True Sikh.

I said i will not write here anymore, but when Guru Sahib is being attacked someone has to speak out.

In the above you can see that Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji is being equated as equal to the koran. Singho question this part with the knowledge of Sikhi. How in the world can you compare Guru Sahib to the Koran. The Koran wasn't even written by the prophet himself. Asd yourselves whats the difference between Gurdwara and mosque, then prayer mat and simran etc go on like this and I gurantee the light bulb will go off. At first even I thought the article was fine, but then I looked closer and noticed the flaws that are being promoted as Guru Nanak Dev jis words. Don't buy into this stuff. It's only written to knock Sikhi down.

I'm leave it to the sangat here to figure out the mistakes in the article, I have already given clues and now all that has to be done is-research on what is being compared and noticing the difference and then writing about them.

I'll be post this article in different sites aswell. For better exposure of what some are up too.

:welcome:
 

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
14,500
19,219
Singh ji

Please post your critiques of SPN all over the Net and to your heart's content. Every time you or a member of your cohort attempts a smear campaign of SPN our net traffic increases by 100 percent or more (not an exaggeration) and visitors translates into members at higher rates too. It is always a pleasure. :rofl:
 

Tejwant Singh

Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jun 30, 2004
5,028
7,188
Henderson, NV.
I said i will not write here anymore, but when Guru Sahib is being attacked someone has to speak out.

In the above you can see that Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji is being equated as equal to the koran. Singho question this part with the knowledge of Sikhi. How in the world can you compare Guru Sahib to the Koran. The Koran wasn't even written by the prophet himself. Asd yourselves whats the difference between Gurdwara and mosque, then prayer mat and simran etc go on like this and I gurantee the light bulb will go off. At first even I thought the article was fine, but then I looked closer and noticed the flaws that are being promoted as Guru Nanak Dev jis words. Don't buy into this stuff. It's only written to knock Sikhi down.

I'm leave it to the sangat here to figure out the mistakes in the article, I have already given clues and now all that has to be done is-research on what is being compared and noticing the difference and then writing about them.

I'll be post this article in different sites aswell. For better exposure of what some are up too.

:welcome:

Singh ji,

Guru Fateh.

Welcome and thanks for coming. We missed you.

You have once again shown the lack of your English comprehension skills and the parochial vision of the understanding of Gurbani in SGGS- our ONLY GURU.

All your above claims are bogus and filled with falsehood. As you do not understand the great essay written by AmarPrakash Singh, as a Sikh- Student, you should have the courage to ask him the questions here rather than judging him without even having knowledge of Gurbani which you have shown it here.

So, here is the solution for you to become a true Sikh. Write down the questions that you have and post them here and let Amarprakash Singh or/and others clear your doubts. This is the only way one can become a better Sikh where we learn from each other.

Tejwant Singh

PS: Please visit us more often because there are a lot of topics about Gurbani Vichaar here.
 
One question if the spners wanna answer it. the one who wrote this article is it the same Aman Singh who runs this site and is one of the admins here?

Scratch that question. Is Amar available to answer the questions I have publicly maybe on this site if admins and mods behave fairly, and not in some pm where personal attacks and other sly ways can be done by any party.
 

Admin

SPNer
Jun 1, 2004
6,689
5,244
SPN
Singh Ji, where is your focus? Are you blinded by hatred? As you can see it was published by me, but if could take care to read the first line, it was posted from elsewhere on internet, it kind of intrigued me so i posted it here... Stop lobbying against SPN... you are making a fool of yourself... nothing more... If you and your supporters like Inder Singh ji thinks that innocent Sangat can be fooled by your one sided attacks then either you are naive or playing naive... Best of luck! :)
 

Admin

SPNer
Jun 1, 2004
6,689
5,244
SPN
Stop lobbying against SPN... you are making a fool of yourself... nothing more... If you and your supporters like Inder Singh ji think that innocent Sangat can be fooled by your one sided attacks then either you are naive or playing naive... Don't get blinded by hatred... Best of luck!
smile.gif
 
I'm off for now leave me an pm or post it here on this topic if Amar Parkash Singh is available to answer the questions about his article. One or more spners, so far on this topic write as you know him, so it'll be nice if he is told someone is going to be analyzing and critiquing his article.

And all the personal attacks that have already begun.:) Slander me some more.
 

Tejwant Singh

Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jun 30, 2004
5,028
7,188
Henderson, NV.
I'm off for now leave me an pm or post it here on this topic if Amar Parkash Singh is available to answer the questions about his article. One or more spners, so far on this topic write as you know him, so it'll be nice if he is told someone is going to be analyzing and critiquing his article.

And all the personal attacks that have already begun.:) Slander me some more.

Singh ji,

Guru Fateh.

As mentioned before, AmarParkash Singh can be available. The ball is in your court. It is you have to come up with the questions as asked to you in my post above.

Waiting for the questions and please read the essay again before forming them.It will help you a lot.

Thanks.

Tejwant Singh
 

Admin

SPNer
Jun 1, 2004
6,689
5,244
SPN
Another in the list of endless baseless accusations of your under-cover group of supporters. :crazy: Your group should open Phd classes on imparting various attributes of accusations. :{;o:You and your group were found miserable incompetent here at SPN and if showing you the mirror amounts to slander then so be it. :down:

Open Invitation: If anybody is seriously interested in uncovering the myth created by this group against SPN then please read all of this group's "intellectual" posts preserved here at SPN exclusively... :welcome: and if SPN is at fault then we would be the first to admit it and work towards rectifying it at the earnest... Thats is the only way to discover Sikhi and evolve...

Oh by the way! SPN is only network online which has a dedicated section on Sri Dasam Granth alognside Sri Guru Granth Sahib...

Gurfateh!
 
Jan 7, 2009
59
48
I said i will not write here anymore, but when Guru Sahib is being attacked someone has to speak out.

In the above you can see that Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji is being equated as equal to the koran. Singho question this part with the knowledge of Sikhi. How in the world can you compare Guru Sahib to the Koran. The Koran wasn't even written by the prophet himself. Asd yourselves whats the difference between Gurdwara and mosque, then prayer mat and simran etc go on like this and I gurantee the light bulb will go off. At first even I thought the article was fine, but then I looked closer and noticed the flaws that are being promoted as Guru Nanak Dev jis words. Don't buy into this stuff. It's only written to knock Sikhi down.

I'm leave it to the sangat here to figure out the mistakes in the article, I have already given clues and now all that has to be done is-research on what is being compared and noticing the difference and then writing about them.

I'll be post this article in different sites aswell. For better exposure of what some are up too.

:welcome:

Singh Ji
Please do share the mistakes you see in this article. My knowledge may not be as great as yours. I would like to understand both sides. Please do enlighten me.
 
Here is a question for Amar, how can he compare Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji to the Koran, as saying they are similar in the shabad?

Here it is below

What Guru Nanak Dev ji has said
Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran

Mr. Amar Parkash Singh understanding
Let mercy be your Gurdwara, faith your Simran, and honest living your Guru Granth.

I know some others will want to respond to this question, but im hold off till Amar Parkash Singh answers the question.
 

Tejwant Singh

Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jun 30, 2004
5,028
7,188
Henderson, NV.
Singh ji,

Guru Fateh.

You seem to be confused again and have exposed your lack of understanding of what Amar Parkash Singh wrote.

You write:

Here is a question for Amar, how can he compare Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji to the Koran, as saying they are similar in the shabad?

Here it is below



What Guru Nanak Dev ji has said
Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran

Mr. Amar Parkash Singh understanding
Let mercy be your Gurdwara, faith your Simran, and honest living your Guru Granth.
Can you give me the page number from the Holy Koran that Amar Parkash is comparing SGGS with? You have failed to see the obvious for the reasons mentioned in my earlier post.

FYI, for a Muslim, his/her Holy book is Koran and for a Sikh it is SGGS.

I will be anxiously waiting for the page number from Koran so that we can compare the 2 scriptures.

Tejwant Singh
 

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