Showing posts with label Religion Class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion Class. Show all posts

Saturday, October 12, 2013

FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY - A Shabad



sRIrwgu mhlw 5 ]
nwmu iDAwey so suKI iqsu muKu aUjlu hoie ]
pUry gur qy pweIAY prgtu sBnI loie ]
swDsMgiq kY Gir vsY eyko scw soie ]1]
myry mn hir hir nwmu iDAwie ]
nwmu shweI sdw sMig AwgY ley Cfwie ]1] rhwau ]
dunIAw kIAw vifAweIAw kvnY Awvih kwim ]
mwieAw kw rMgu sBu iPkw jwqo ibnis indwin ]
jw kY ihrdY hir vsY so pUrw prDwnu ]2]
swDU kI hohu ryxukw Apxw Awpu iqAwig ]
aupwv isAwxp sgl Cif gur kI crxI lwgu ]
iqsih prwpiq rqnu hoie ijsu msqik hovY Bwgu ]3]
iqsY prwpiq BweIho ijsu dyvY pRBu Awip ]
siqgur kI syvw so kry ijsu ibnsY haumY qwpu ]
nwnk kau guru ByitAw ibnsy sgl sMqwp ]4]8]78]


sreeraag mehalaa 5 ||
naam dhhiaaeae so sukhee this mukh oojal hoe ||
poorae gur thae paaeeai paragatt sabhanee loe ||
saadhhasa(n)gath kai ghar vasai eaeko sachaa soe ||1||
maerae man har har naam dhhiaae ||
naam sehaaee sadhaa sa(n)g aagai leae shhaddaae ||1|| rehaao ||
dhuneeaa keeaa vaddiaaeeaa kavanai aavehi kaam ||
maaeiaa kaa ra(n)g sabh fikaa jaatho binas nidhaan ||
jaa kai hiradhai har vasai so pooraa paradhhaan ||2||
saadhhoo kee hohu raenukaa apanaa aap thiaag ||
oupaav siaanap sagal shhadd gur kee charanee laag ||
thisehi paraapath rathan hoe jis masathak hovai bhaag ||3||
thisai paraapath bhaaeeho jis dhaevai prabh aap ||
sathigur kee saevaa so karae jis binasai houmai thaap ||
naanak ko gur bhaettiaa binasae sagal sa(n)thaap ||4||8||78||


Siree Raag, Fifth Mehla:
One who meditates on the Naam is at peace; his face is radiant and bright.
Obtaining it from the Perfect Guru, he is honored all over the world.
In the Company of the Holy, the One True Lord comes to abide within the home of the self. ||1||
O my mind, meditate on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.
The Naam is your Companion; it shall always be with you. It shall save you in the world hereafter. ||1||Pause||
What good is worldly greatness?
All the pleasures of Maya are tasteless and insipid. In the end, they shall all fade away.
Perfectly fulfilled and supremely acclaimed is the one, in whose heart the Lord abides. ||2||
Become the dust of the Saints; renounce your selfishness and conceit.
Give up all your schemes and your clever mental tricks, and fall at the Feet of the Guru.
He alone receives the Jewel, upon whose forehead such wondrous destiny is written. ||3||
O Siblings of Destiny, it is received only when God Himself bestows it.
People serve the True Guru only when the fever of egotism has been eradicated.
Nanak has met the Guru; all his sufferings have come to an end. ||4||8||78||

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji p.44

Yes, I am a Trekkie, a nerd of the classical variety. Although not as knowledgeable as some – I'd have to look up France Nuyen's middle name – I am nonetheless a huge fan. More importantly, Star Trek has integrated itself into my life.

In the episode whose name shares this piece's title, a group of people are, unknown to them, living inside a spaceship hurling toward a paradisaical promised land. One man, now very old, once climbed a mountain, an act strictly forbidden, reached up and felt the edge of the spaceship. Telling about this, he falls dead, his act of disobedience costing him his life.

This might all be allegorical (much of Star Trek is), but I'm not sure if this has anything to do with this shabad or why I am writing this Whatever the case the background may be interesting to some. It is to me.

I have made this picture to illustrate one of the meanings of this shabad to me. There are many other meanings, of course. This is just one. I am no scholar and I am certain others get deeper meanings from this; this is what I see now. I am not writing a line-by-line analysis; I leave that to others.

Every time I read this shabad that line comes to my mind; for me it sums up one of the meanings it sometimes has for me. After all is said and done, the world of Maya is shallow and meaningless, hollow. How sad would it be if that were all there were!

As I see it, Siri Guru Granth Sahib ji and Sikhi, in general, and this shabad, in particular, show us the ultimate meaninglessness of Maya and the soaring delight, the peace and joy that await us when we are able to accept it.

From the hollowness of Maya, we are called upon to stop trying to find any lasting fulfillment within the fleeting confines of our mundane consciousness, to fall at the feet of the Guru and in doing so, to move beyond the ordinary, to touch the sky.

Part of the genius of Sikhi is that we are able to reach these heights while still living in the world of action, still doing the things people do everyday. This is where we are and what we do, all the time learning to overcome our fevered ego, learning to rest peacefully at the feet of Waheguru, experiencing the extraordinary in the ordinary, touching the sky while our own feet remain on the ground of the hollow world in which we live.


FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY - A Shabad

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Ma Cher Pauline...

After much thought, I have chosen to share my meditation on Pauline Marois with the world.  

First she plucks us of our rights.

Then we remind her of who and what she is.

I'm not sure how La Marseillaise found its way into the mix.  Are you Pauline?

(Not that it much matters since so few read my lonely little blog anyway.)

For those who may not know, Alouette is a song about a sweet lark having its feathers plucked out, bit by bit, as Pauline proposes to do with the rights of the people of Quebec.  A lovely children's song.
Here is a translation.

  Lark, nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Alouette,

nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you
I will pluck you the head
I will pluck you the head
And the head, and the head Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
I will pluck you the nose
I will pluck you the nose
And the nose, and the nose Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
I will pluck you the eyes
I will pluck you the eyes
And the eyes, and the eyes Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
I will pluck you the neck
I will pluck you the neck
And the neck, and the neck Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
I will pluck you the wings
I will pluck you the wings
And the wings, and the wings Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
Alouette, nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you
I will pluck you the back
I will pluck you the back
And the back, and the back Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you
I will pluck you the legs
I will pluck you the legs
And the legs, and the legs Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you Lark,
nice Alouette Lark
I will pluck you Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you
I will pluck you the tail
I will pluck you the tail
And the tail, and the tail Alouette,
Alouette O-o-o-o-oh Alouette,
nice Alouette Lark I will pluck you

Read more: Children - Alouette (english Translation) Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

Monday, August 13, 2012

With Our Brothers, We Will Share


I have had a week now to think about the killings in Wisconsin and I still have nothing profound or moving to say, only the image of  Bhenji Paramjit Kaur matha teking to Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji and rising to find herself at the feet of Satguru.

We have six new shaheeds.  When we mourn, we do not mourn for them.  They died well and they are fine.  We mourn instead for ourselves who have lost their sweet presence on our planet and in our lives.

The futility of these needless killings brings to mind a song from an old 1970s movie, Billy Jack.  We Sikhs are, after all, willing to freely give what we have.

"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain, 
All the treasures buried there. 

Those of my generation will probably remember it.  I hope the rest of you listen and understand its message 



For those unfamiliar with the movie, I should explain that the man being arrested in the video is the hero who has been unjustly accused and the people standing and raising their fists in salute are his supporters, many of them Native American children from the school he was trying to save.  .

Nanak naam chardi kala
Tere bhane sarbat da bhala

Thursday, July 26, 2012

BURMA - BUDDHISTS COMMIT GENOCIDE AGAINST MUSLIMS

I CANNOT BE SILENT.  THIS IS REAL.  THESE PICTURES ARE CURRENT AND ARE NOT PHOTOSHOPPED.  PLEASE SOMEBODY STOP THIS!


IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY, PUT AN END TO THIS!  THESE ARE HUMAN BEINGS AS REAL AS YOU AND I AND THIS MUST BE STOPPED AT ONCE.


I DON'T GIVE HALF A DAMN WHO STARTED IT OR WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.  AT THIS POINT ALL I CARE ABOUT IS STOPPING IT.  NOW.  IMMEDIATELY.
************************************************************* 

RAISE YOUR VOICE IN ALL THE PLATFORMS, IN PROTEST FOR THIS BUDDHIST GOVT. OF BURMA MASSACRE OF MUSLIM MERCILESSLY, AND WHY US, UN &OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND MEDIA ARE SILENT ON THIS MUSLIM MURDERERS?????

As Received,
                                                                                                caution:  Mail contains some gruesome pictures.
 Please forward this email to others also....  
                                                                                                         Wassalam,
Muslims Massacre and Inhumane Burma Government and Color blind media!!??
28000 Muslim Children, Woman and Man Killed in Burma.
Where in the hell are you international community?!!
More than 20,000 Muslims are killed this month in Burma (Myanmar) by police, army and Buddhist extremists.Now where is f***** UN????

Where is America????
Where is media????

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/189200-20-000-muslims-killed-burma-police.html#ixzz20awf13gX

Check out the video on YouTube and other websites

Burma has a population 75 million with the Muslim population being just 0.7 million. 
The Burmese Muslims have been under this affliction after 1962 when the Army usurped the power in Burma.





  
Trying to elude capture and an imminent killing; Burmese Muslims thronged to the Bangladeshi border, but all they met was dismay. The Government of Bangladesh refused to offer them asylum.
Over 500 Muslim villages have been incinerated hither-to. Thousands have been exterminated. The persecution of the Burmese Muslims at the hands of the Buddhist mobs is at its full swing. Yet all the human rights organizations have maintained a criminal silence up till now. Has the Muslim world become so callous that they remain undeterred by such genocide?
This is not a new thing or an unprecedented massacre. Muslims have been a subject to such hostility even before. If we go through the annals of history we come to the very tenable conclusion that Muslims were always on the suffering side. Why are the followers of Islam being oppressed from time to time?
The fear stricken faces of the poor Burmese Muslims really cuts one apart. The glimpse of their bruised bodies is a heart rending spectacle. Where is the UN now? Why isn’t the International media highlighting this issue? Why are the competitive authorities of the
Muslim world procrastinating?
The government of all secular countries, specially muslim government, should raise a voice in favor of the poor Burmese Muslims at the international forum. The whole Muslim world should join hands to get the poor Burmese out of their distress and misery. – (International Youth Muslim Brotherhood)










A Rohingya mother and her children were turned back when their boat tried to enter 
Bangladesh waters following the sectarian unrest in Rakhine State in June. Bangladesh has
 closed its borders to fleeing Rohingya, in spite of calls from the international 
community to aid the refugees. Photo: AFP

  
A few hours ago in Binsh, Syria - Check out the signs tabarakAllah! Truly we are one Ummah, our land is one!

Whole of West and their hypocrite United Nations is Silent on
  
Massacre of Muslims Burma this week They are silent But

why are you Silent ?

If you betray or forsake a

Muslim who is in need today, be
  
assured that Allah will forsake you tomorrow

Reprinted from IHRO.

__._,_.___

Friday, June 22, 2012

BABINA BAHERA - In Memorium

News story at  http://goo.gl/6rPQ4   




Or perhaps it should be "in angry, outraged, furious memory."  This is wrong on so many levels.  Rape, of course, is the ultimate act of disrespect, to be raped so violently that death results can barely be imagined.  That is the first level of wrong.  How can beings calling themselves "men" behave in such a manner?  I wonder if they think of their mothers, who, after all, are women, while they do the vile crime.

A second level is the fact that being raped, being the VICTIM  is so shameful that she cannot even be named, not even after she has died.  I guess that would upset her family's izzat and position in their community.  I have always hated the fact that a woman who has been raped is "dishonoured" in the Indian speech.  I will not be sidetracked into the whole izzat thing except to say it is one of the greatest evils of Indian society.

Note:  Now, thanks to the Times of India, we can give her a name.  Babina Bahera.  When I originally wrote this, I found no name for her.  Now, at least, her name is known and her memory can be properly honoured.  

Which brings us to what is probably the single greatest evil of India, certainly the most glaring.  Caste.  My higher caste Hindu friends assure me that caste is totally passé and of no importance.  I have had many Dalit friends over the years and not a single one has ever tried to convince me of this nonsense about caste being irrelevant.  If it is irrelevant, why is it always mentioned?  Have the thugs responsible been arrested?  Are they known?  Why was the family's complaint ignored? How would the gang rape of a young brahmin girl be treated?

And I don't let my Sikh coreligionists off the hook here, either.  You know damned well that caste is still a fact of life among most of us.  Remember Jassi Kaur Sidhu of Canada.  I thought that would make you cringe.  It damned well should.  He was "of a lower staus than she," indeed  For those who aren't Sikh or pretend to forget, there is even a Wikipedia article about her.     .  At this point, I am so angry, that I suppose I should stop writing and cool down a bit, but I won't.

All you big, strong, macho Jatt Singhs out there, how would you react if this were your sister?  Would you sit back and do nothing?   Well, guess what?  She IS your sister and if you are worthy of the name "Singh" you know it.  What are you going to do about it?  

This young lady's case has become something of a cause célèbre.  Good.  But that's not enough.  What about the other young women raped and otherwise sexually disrespected?  What about them?  Maybe you think you can hide them behind the innocuous-sounding "Eve-teasing."   No.  Not any more.  Be prepared to discover that those days are ending;  the women of India, like women all over the world are awakening and these days are soon to come to an end.  Do you think I'm dreaming?  I'm not.  Here is one blog that is an example of the awakening of our hundreds of millions of sisters in India.  Read the posts.  Read the comments.  Check the links.  The women are rising up and demanding equal status as human beings.  Here is the link to "The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker."  
http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/

I have no right to dictate anything to the Dalit community, so I will only suggest that you remember and emulate the intelligence and courage of Dr. Ambedkar.  There is power in numbers.  And 166,000,000 are a whole lot of people.


WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS






WE ARE THE 99%
WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED!
OCCUPY!! 





My friend Gurmeet Kaur found more information including the young lady's name.  It is Babina Bahera.  May she rest in peace and may those who love her be comforted.   Reading between the lines, it appears that the perpetrators are known or at least highly suspected.

Now will they be brought to justice?  From The Times of India:  Pipili 'rape' points to pitiable state of women.

 Reading between the lines, it appears that the perpetrators are known or at least highly suspected.  Now we shall see.  What will be the final outcome?  I can guess.


She is dead.  Except for those who know and love her, she will soon be forgotten and life will go on unchanged.


It doesn't have to be that way.  If the people have the will, it can be changed. But it won't.  Not now.  Maybe not for a long, long time.  Someday.  Just not now...

If this post has not offended anybody, I am sorry.  That was not my intention.  Some things are inherently offensive;  this is one of them.  I will never forget her.  Every time I see a lovely hummingbird, I will think of her and the others like her.  It could have been me.  Or you.  Or som,reone dear to you.

My love to you sall/.

Remain in chardi kala.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

COURAGE OF CONVICTION (The Matter of Balwant Singh Rajoana) by I.J. Singh








Beant Singh's assassin, Balwant Singh Rajoana, is to be hanged on Saturday, rules the court.  But the jail authorities are reluctant to do.
The political back and forth between the jail authorities and the courts continues.  The courts have ordered a hanging; the jail authorities would like to defer the moment.
Why?
There is no doubt that Balwant Singh, by his own admission, is guilty in the killing of Beant Singh, the former Chief Minister of Punjab, almost a decade ago in 1995.
Balwant Singh has not requested a delay.  He has not appealed to a higher court.  He has not petitioned for mercy.
Balwant Singh absolutely refuses to recognize the courts or the legal proceedings that convicted him and sentenced him to die.
He has repeatedly and clearly asked that no one intercede on his behalf.
It is not that Balwant Singh wants to die; it is that he is willing to do so.
It is that everyone is free to challenge the existing law, whether on taking a life, as Balwant Singh did, or going through a red light.  Each carries a price that the law demands.
When a man deliberately decides to break a law he must also be ready to pay the piper.  And Balwant Singh is.
He committed a crime.  Why?
Because Beant Singh, the Chief Minister, was responsible for the arbitrary and capricious murder of so many innocent Sikhs  -- all in the name of state security and peace.  Something had to be done. The state mechanisms of justice had totally failed.  And when all other means have failed it is just and rightful to take to the sword.
This is what Balwant Singh did.  That is why to the peasantry of Punjab Balwant Singh has reached an iconic status.
But when the courts have so ruled why do the jail-authorities cringe at carrying out the orders?
Simply because the jailers and those designated to carry out the hanging see the political realities.  To most Sikhs Balwant Singh is a man who has done no wrong; he is a hero to so many that it would be politically unwise to hang him.  Many would like to give him a medal instead.
From a hanging a popular backlash could result and that would hardly be conducive to peace.
His guilt is not issue today.  It is the shortsighted political decision that is to be rued.
A crime deserves punishment and alternatives to hanging exist.
Before Indians in India – Sikhs and non-Sikhs – take umbrage at my words; to them what I say sounds like interference in the internal affairs of their country, I ask them to think a little.  Not so long ago, when apartheid was the law of the land in South Africa, it was our moral duty to raise our voices against it – no matter if we were citizens of India, Germany, Africa or India.  Why then should we hold our tongue in the case of miscarriage of justice in India?
South Africa is not the only nation whose genocidal policies raised our hackles.  It became everyone’s cause, no matter the race, color, caste, creed, religion or geography and nationality.
Take careful note of the fact that India’s record of justice for its own people is horrendous.  One example of many that exist:  the killing of several thousand Sikhs in its capital city of Delhi in 1984 when the police watched, if not aided and abetted the murders.  And where is justice now 28 years and a dozen Inquiry Commissions later?  Still waiting!
I would be willing to bet that the ordinary Punjabi, the ordinary Sikh, grieves for Balwant Singh today while at the same time he salutes and celebrates the courage of his convictions.
Hanging of the man – Balwant Singh – who acted in the face of such unabating injustice would reopen fresh the wounds of the 1980’s.  And that is not the way to a future of peace.  It is the way to unending resentment and violence.
Is that what the policymakers in India want?  I would think they are a lot smarter than that.
A government of the people ought to listen to the people; it needs to have an ear to the ground

March 28, 2012

Published with permission of the author.


Saturday, November 19, 2011

THE CREATION CONTINUED

Please shield this post from the snoopy eyes of all Christian fundamentalists.  I don't carry to have the Rev. Huzzit issuing fatwas against me.
******************



THE EIGHTH DAY


"On the eighth day, Yahweh fully rested, resumed creating. He created the PC and the MacIntosh and the Internet and Photoshop and Facebook and a host of other cybercreations, and, lo, He saw that it was very good. And it was evening and it was morning, the eighth day." 

Chapter 9
THE INTERNET
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/telecomm_handbook/chapter9.htm