Singing And Dancing

[gurbanivichar]

Gauree Gwaarayree, Third Mehl:
Some sing on and on, but their minds do not find happiness.
In egotism, they sing, but it is wasted uselessly.
Those who love the Naam, sing the song.
They contemplate the True Bani of the Word, and the Shabad. ||1||
They sing on and on, if it pleases the True Guru.
Their minds and bodies are embellished and adorned, attuned to the Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||1||Pause||
Some sing, and some perform devotional worship.
Without heart-felt love, the Naam is not obtained.
True devotional worship consists of love for the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
The devotee keeps his Beloved clasped tightly to his heart. ||2||
The fools perform devotional worship by showing off;
they dance and dance and jump all around, but they only suffer in terrible pain.
By dancing and jumping, devotional worship is not performed.
But one who dies in the Word of the Shabad, obtains devotional worship. ||3||
The Lord is the Lover of His devotees; He inspires them to perform devotional worship.
True devotional worship consists of eliminating selfishness and conceit from within.
My True God knows all ways and means.
O Nanak, He forgives those who recognize the Naam. ||4||4||24||

 

[ballym]

By dancing and jumping, devotional worship is not performed.
But one who dies in the Word of the Shabad, obtains devotional worship. ||3||
The Lord is the Lover of His devotees; He inspires them to perform devotional worship.
True devotional worship consists of eliminating selfishness and conceit from within.
My True God knows all ways and means.
O Nanak, He forgives those who recognize the Naam. ||4||4||24||

WHAT IS DEVOTIONAL WORSHIP?
A. DEVOTIONAL WORSHIP IS A PRAYER FORMAT DESIGNED TO PROVIDE AN
ANOINTED ATMOSPHERE FOR MEDITATION ON SCRIPTURE AND FOR
LINGERING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
In my view, any way is fine as long as the person eliminates selfishness and conceit from within. If it suits to him/her, song and dancing can be done. In fact it helps many people to focus on worship.
It all depends on individual learning method or expression style.

 

[mannii]

what is the attitude toward dancing in Sikhism? Is it wrong if someone dances as a hobby or dances at somebody's wedding??:whatzpointkudi:

 

[ballym]

what is the attitude toward dancing in Sikhism? Is it wrong if someone dances as a hobby or dances at somebody's wedding??:whatzpointkudi:

It is a bit of digression. I hope it is not an opportunistic line written to rake up a controversy.
My issue and reason to post on the thread was to discuss about method of meditation/simran/visit to Gurudwara.
Is it sufficient to just visit, bow your head, make some donation, do some seva? Do we need to do involved listening of shabads or also singalong the shabad... or do louder singing or shake your body.. or sometime even getup and dance?
In my view, it is upto the individual as long as it is decent.
And , or the point raised above in the quote... it is a lifestyle,and is OK in the limit of decency.True sikhi does not put rulings on small day to day issues.

 

[spnadmin]

what is the attitude toward dancing in Sikhism? Is it wrong if someone dances as a hobby or dances at somebody's wedding??:whatzpointkudi:

manni ji

This is a better thread to answer your question. http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/interfaith-dialogues/23677-dancing-and-gurbani.html

This thread has more of a general focus on dancing as a kind of mediation or simran.

And, No, it cannot be wrong, because Sikhs have been dancing many Punjabi folk dances days on end at weddings for centuries, both in Punjab and all over the world. Sikhs have been teaching Punjabi folk dance as members of dance teams world wide. So don't worry about any of the grumbling on the part of the "pious" who have nothing better to do than use religion to play the shame game.