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Message: <blockquote data-quote="P J Singh" data-source="post: 226683" data-attributes="member: 25524">I see you listed three questions, let me start with what you quoted from Gurbani:" ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਗਡੀ ਲਦੀਅਹਿ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਭਰੀਅਹਿ ਸਾਥ ॥ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਬੇੜੀ ਪਾਈਐ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਗਡੀਅਹਿ ਖਾਤ ॥ ਪੜੀਅਹਿ ਜੇਤੇ ਬਰਸ ਬਰਸ ਪੜੀਅਹਿ ਜੇਤੇ ਮਾਸ ॥ ਪੜੀਐ ਜੇਤੀ ਆਰਜਾ ਪੜੀਅਹਿ ਜੇਤੇ ਸਾਸ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਲੇਖੈ ਇਕ ਗਲ ਹੋਰੁ ਹਉਮੈ ਝਖਣਾ ਝਾਖ"I have heard these lines often quoted by some self-righteous Parcharks and others from gurudawara stages underscoring the importance of "Vicharna" i.e. reflecting on Gurbani and not merely reading it. But there is an implicit negative connotation in which these panktis are shared with sangat.No doubt "Vicharna" is fundamentally important and it has been unambiguously underscored in Gurbani time and time again. It is not only the case with Gurbani, it is the case with any educational pursuit, reading alone is not going to get us anywhere, reflecting on what we read is how we make progress.But here is the problem which we often overlook: YOU CAN NOT REFLECT UNLESS YOU READ FIRST. READING is primary activity; REFLECTING is secondary activity and APPLICATION of what we have read and reflected is a tertiary activity.In Japu Ji Sahib, the integration of READING and REFLECTING activities is referred to as "Suniya" and integration or REFLECTING AND APPLICATION activities is referred to as "Maniya".My friend, I have great admiration for Gurbani scholars who spend years studying gurbani and then help us understand Gurbani from holistic perspective. Gurbani is a holistic subject and calls for caution when we decide to quote Gurbani selectively, as the above quote.It does not mean, we should not be quoting Gurbani panktis in such exchanges. There is nothing wrong in quoting Gurbani panktis and even in providing the literal meaning of the panktis but it is more meaningful and instructive to include "interpretation" as well based on the context in which the panktis may be situated and with proper nuances from the broader and holistic understanding of Gurbani.In the above quote ( that you included in your post) the interpretation of the word "ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ" warrants caution before we assign a negative connotation to this word.The negative connotation about "Reading" (i.e. ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ) is that it ignores the important fact that YOU CAN NOT REFLECT UNLESS YOU READ FIRST.Reading, Reflecting and Acting is a continuum which manifests into "Experience". We need to be careful "experience" is an intangible; it is an outcome when we "act" on what we have read and reflected. Labs do not give you "experience" per se - "experience" manifests as an outcome when we spends days and hours in labs."ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ" ( i.e. reading) in Gurbani is the primary activity for spiritual elevation (at least for those who can read Gurbani; others can listen and move along on this journey). If "ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ" (i.e. reading) is so irrelevant as I suspect from the way you quoted these Gurbani lines, then I would ask how would you ever access the wisdom embodied in the 1430 pages of AGGS -- some one has to read it first!!I would suggest that SIKHI path to spiritual enlightenment is perhaps one of the simplest to understand; it has only two key milestones: Suniya and Maniya.But to cross these milestones is very challenging because the path is treacherous [ਖੰਨਿਅਹੁ ਤਿਖੀ ਵਾਲਹੁ ਨਿਕੀ ਏਤੁ ਮਾਰਗਿ ਜਾਣਾ ॥. This is the reason only<a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%9C%E0%A8%A8" target="_blank">ਜਨ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%95" target="_blank">ਨਾਨਕ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%95%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%9F%E0%A8%A8" target="_blank">ਕੋਟਨ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%88" target="_blank">ਮੈ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%B9%E0%A9%82" target="_blank">ਕਿਨਹੂ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%97%E0%A9%81%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%81%E0%A8%96%E0%A8%BF" target="_blank">ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%B9%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%87" target="_blank">ਹੋਇ </a><a href="https://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.dictionary?Param=%E0%A8%AA%E0%A8%9B%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BE" target="_blank">ਪਛਾਨਾ </a>॥(Among millions, only a rare few, as Gurmukh, realize God. )Who are such Gurmukhs - a few Gurus, Rishis, Bhagats ( as you quoted). But your question why only a few Bhagats and not others. To answer this question, we need to understand why the path is so treacherous?Gurbani has given us the answer to this question so many times, it is up to us to read every line of Guru Granth Sahib and reflect on it with the help of the online tools that are now widely available.Here is a brief answer to your question for you to reflect and expand based on what I stated above:The path is: Read ------Reflect ------Act ( Suniya and Maniya). It eventually manifests into "Experience". This is the Method you were asking about.Between "Reading and Reflecting" [ the Suniya phase], there is so much confusion among Sikhs because everyone interprets Gurbani differently; you see on this site all the time. But there is nothing wrong in sharing different points of view but unless there is a meaningful convergence we flounder and remain in dark.Second, between "Reflecting and Acting" [the Maniya phase], our ego and duality keep us blinded and delusional from the real TRUTH.Gurus, Bhagats, Rishis could tread this path and see the light, but we remain entangled in the web of duality because of our intellectual arrogance, the so-called scientific ideation and infatuation with the material world.Finally, you write "Experience is greater than Knowledge ". To this I just reiterate what I said above: We have three activities at our disposal for gaining knowledge - read, reflect and act. Experience is not a tangible activity in which you can engage. Experience manifests ( as skill or ability) when you act on your knowledge. You go to a lab to act on what you studied in the class and experience eventually manifests as an outcome of your efforts. On your resume, you write your qualifications and then under the heading "Experience" you list your work history. My role as an interviewer is to gauge "experience" [your ability and level of skill to apply what you learnt] from your work history by asking you questions. Two candidates with identical work history may have very different "experience".Guru Fetah!I agree "The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie" but then I ask my self a more important question: what if my "lie" is a reflection of my lack of understanding and it then prods me to rethink which I find very helpful.</blockquote>

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