May 24th -- Paath Session Summary

Firstly, we would like to apologize for the late Summary, we were a bit busy planning new and exciting Events for the months of June/July :)

Question #1: Sangat Ji, I have a question. What is the meaning of WAHEGURU? I’ve heard it before but I would like as much detail as possible so I will never forget. Please and thank you!

Vaheguru = Wondrous is the Lord.

Vah -> similar to you saying WOW...expression of amazement, awe.
He -> O' as in O'Lord.
Guru -> Gu means darkness and Ru means light. Therefore, the Guru is that light which dispels darkness. It can be taken to mean the Almighty God.

So Vaheguru = WOW O' God.

However, this is only the literal meaning of Vaheguru. There can be countless meanings of God; no one person can define God for you.

Question #2: I would like to know how everyone feels when people go around wearing big khandas. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? People may equal amritdhari and non-amritdharis.

First of all it depends who is wearing it; is it an amritdhari person or is it just Jazzy B. The Khanda is a religious symbol and should be kept as a religious symbol. Everyone should be proud of his or her great religion and how you share your religious views with others is entirely up to you. This brings up the next topic, is it all right to modify the khanda; for example to replace the swords with guns such as AK 47s? The unanimous answer of the sangat was: no, the khanda should not be modified in any way. The swords themselves have meaning and named accordingly, Miri and Piri.
It was then concluded that there is nothing wrong with wearing big khandas, however wearing a chain or pendant is against Sikhi and should not be worn if you are amritdhari. Whether you are amritdhari or not, wearing a chain or pendant depends on personal choice, but really one should be asking himself/herself whether there is ahankari attached to it. As long as you respect your Guru Ji and his teachings, everything else is your personal choice.

Question #3: What’s Sikhi view on evolution or beginning of life?

Sikhi believes that God is the creator of the entire universe and life. It then doesn’t really matter if it happened in one day or through evolution, what ever happened is God’s doing. The Guru Granth Sahib talks about the creation of universe and life, and nothing written in the scriptures contradicts scientific fact.

Question #4: Jooth; what is it and how far do you take it? Is an amritdhari not allowed to eat food or share their food with a non-amritdhari?

Once again this is a matter of personal choice. From a sanitary viewpoint, it is not good to share food with anyone; whether you share food with others or within your family depends on your comfort level. However, if the Panj Pyaarai tell you specifically not to share food even from the same plate with a non-amritdhari then you should take their word for it and not question what they say.

The Movie Analogy

There's this movie;

The Producer is Akaal Purkh Ji
Tthe Director is Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

The movie has many actors, the principal one being Jaspaul Singh, and the movie is called "Jaspaul Singh’s Life".
In one scene, Carman Singh makes a cameo appearance.
In this scene Carman Singh and Jaspaul Singh were discussing things, and they are all things that they have heard before, and things that they already know, but hearing them again, they will know them better, that tears and laughter are two sides of the same coin!!
Do you know what 'educate' means?
In old Latin/Greek it means "to bring out from within".
So all the things that you know and will learn are things already within you, but they are slowly being brought out by the Guru's will and in small increments so that you can appreciate each lesson.

Guru Ji's ways are awesome, by educating us in this way, we learn to value each lesson and he gives us enough time to learn from our mistakes. So there's a reason why we are where we are, we are learning at our own pace, slowly, but appropriately, it's the only way we can appreciate everything more, especially Guru Ji !!