exploration's profile - activity

Thank you. I wasn't aware of the Sikh sangat website. I will start contributing there too.

I have read a lot about how Gurdwara's work and how they operate and also the politics that exist, but to visit and see what it is all about is a different matter all together. I want to visit the huge one in Southall and go to their Langar too. I wonder if they have a bookshop as I can purchase books.

Thanks for being so helpful.

Thank you. I wasn't aware of the Sikh sangat website. I will start contributing there too.

I have read a lot about how Gurdwara's work and how they operate and also the politics that exist, but to visit and see what it is all about is a different matter all together. I want to visit the huge one in Southall and go to their Langar too. I wonder if they have a bookshop as I can purchase books.

Thanks for being so helpful.

Someone: The reason why people in Africa, Asia or anywhere else live in poverty is nothing to do with faith. We live in a world of greed, corruption, wealth monopoly and many other reasons. We equally live in a world where morality and ethics rarely exist anymore.

Thank you Nihang. I really appreciate your response. God bless you.

Are there any Sikhs who are from Southall who can accompany me to a Gurdwara as I have never stepped foot into one?

I would like to witness Sikhism in practice rather than reading about Sikhism from books. The books give you helpful knowledge, but the experience of viewing Sikhs following the example of the Gurus is completely different.

I called the Gurdwara by telephone but the woman who answered said "there is nothing to see in the Gurdwara." Quick call. I was left bit confused.

I have ordered the books and they will arrive in the next few days. Thank you again.

I think you have raised some very important issues and ones humans ask themselves every day.

I am Muslim and not Sikh so I am not in a position to really speak with any authority from a Sikh perspective. I take a more pragmatic view of God. I believe in One God who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing, and nothing is comparable to Him. I place all my trust and faith in God. I believe God answers your prayers/worship when you are genuine and place your trust in him and only He knows what is in your heart. In the same way that I have read in the Sikh scriptures that, God reveals and manifests through all in the universe, but no finite form can be worshipped as God, who is infinite.

As a Muslim, when I speak to non-Muslims who are fixed in their views, they often allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who demands to be obeyed fully and is not loving and kind. Nothing could be further from the truth than this allegation. It is enough to know that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an begins with the verse " In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate". In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), we are told that “ God is more loving and kind than a mother to her dear child”.

In my view, all faiths have their own unique way of worshiping God and I would never go out of my way to violate someone else's dignity by criticising or belittling their faith or view of God as I believe we all believe in God and have different ways of praying to him.

Thank you. I will order them. Thanks again and God bless!

Thank you. I will order them.

Much appreciated and God bless you.

Thank you for your reply.

I am trying to avoid reading material online as I am one of those old fashioned book readers who avoids electronic computers whenever I can. I don't use the Kindle either or any of those new high tech savvy stuff. I love the smell and feeling of reading books that I can purchase and keep forever and whenever I want to refer to something I won't need to go online.

Do you know any stores/book shops or any books I can purchase on Amazon that may be helpful.

It is not only general books on Sikhism, but books authored by spiritual sikhs and their interpretation of the Sikh teachings. I hope that makes sense.

Hello

Thank you so much for that response. I am trying to avoid computer based information as I love reading books so I can take them places and read as I don't like reading on computers. I fall into the camp of non-computer information unless it is e-mail as I worry about authenticity on the internet. When it is a published book or material, it has greater authority in my eyes.

Thanks I will check those sites but if you can recommend anything I can get from a bookshop or Amazon or anything from the UK that would be welcomed.

Thank you for your comment. It is very kind of you. God bless you. waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh.

I am a university educated professional. During my time at university I was always interested in the academic study of religion, primarily learning about Sikhism. I am unsure how I became interested in learning about Sikhism and what has driven my passion to develop my learning further. As a South Asian non-Sikh, my learning of the Sikhs’ has developed in me a great affinity to the Sikhs.

It all begun during my university education, I began my personal academic study into religion. I have been yearning for spirituality for many years and I decided to explore my yearning further. I reached a point where I re-evaluated why I was doing this. What did I really want out of this studying of religion? I determined that what I really wanted to know was Truth. With this approach I opened myself up to the possibilities of truth regardless of what religion they might be found in. What I discovered was that there is a lot of basic agreement and some very interesting ideas in other religions. In particular, I studied the academic perspectives of the Sikh Gurus and their lives which inspired me immensely. I could not say they were wrong when I found something of value in them to me personally. There were many aspects of Sikh life which I can relate to.

It is for those reasons that I decided to study & read almost every academic book on Sikhism I could find and now I want to delve further into the philosophical teachings in an English format that I understand. As a non-Punjabi speaker, I have tried to obtain an English copy of the Shri Guru Granth Sahib and have been unsuccessful in finding a reasonably priced one.

I also want to delve further into the spiritual aspects of Sikhism as academic books are normally focused on histories and similar topics. I would therefore like to know if anyone can recommend or direct me to any useful books I could purchase from the UK where I am from.

I hope you can help.

Best wishes

I am sorry to hear about the way you are feeling. I gather from what you are saying is that you failed at course at college (university) and you feel you cannot speak to your parents about it.

You can ignore my suggestion and listen to other responses of people who have far more helpful advice than me.

At some point in our journeys we embark on in our lives, we get to a part where we feel like giving up. Sometimes we give up before we even start and other times we give up after we have not obtained the results of something that we put all our effort and energy into. I know how you feel as I have been in a similar position.

You say you want to kill yourself. But my view is that as long as you are alive (and healthy and free) you have the choice to keep trying until you finally succeed. The chance of mastering something the first time you do it is almost non-existent. Everything takes time to learn and you will make mistakes. Learn from them. You may have failed something but learn from it. Every time you get knocked down you should try and get back up again.

You are stronger than you think. One little setback is not enough to stop you from achieving your goals. Neither are 10 or 100 or 1000 setbacks. You don’t want to be known as someone that is weak and gives up. Go out there and prove yourself in your own studies and to yourself. You CAN and WILL achieve what you set out to do. The only time you fail is when you give up. Don’t sell yourself short. In life there are going to be many people who will try to bring you down and tell you what you want to achieve is not possible. Don’t let anyone destroy your dreams.

Let the people you love and who mean the world to you be your inspiration to persist and persevere. Maybe you need to try a different angle, study more or practice more but don’t give up!

The best policy with parents is to be honest and upfront with them about what has happen. Don’t you think that it will be a weight off your shoulder by telling them and trying to move on from it?

I hope my suggestions have been helpful.

Vaheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Ji ki Fathe!

I am Muslim and enjoy visiting the Sikh net website and have recently signed up to this discussion forum. I hope nobody will mind.

I am an Asian Muslim from the United Kingdom. As a Muslim, I respect Sikhism a lot and have only one Sikh friend who has taught me a great deal about Sikhism. I shown an interest in learning about Sikhism. I believe that a society can only be built on a sure foundation of mutual respect, openness and trust. This means finding ways to live our lives of faith with integrity, and allowing others to do so too. Our different religious traditions offer us many resources for this and teach us the importance of good relationships characterised by honesty, compassion and generosity of spirit.

I am not opposed to anyone propagating their religion, but some people just beyond what I consider to be reasonable. If I want to find truth, I have a brain and the intellectual ability to find my understanding of truth without someone breathing it down my throat.