Did the Sikh Gurus support organized religion?

by Gursant Singh ⌂ @, Yuba City California USA, Sunday, April 28, 2013, 08:11 (3987 days ago)

Some Yogi Bhajan kundalini yoga sudents say the Sikh Gurus did not favour organized religion nor did the Gurus offer instructions to people on how to live their lives.

The Sikh Guru Sahiban constantly gave Sikhs instruction on how to live their lives. It is recorded that the Sikhs often asked the Gurus for that kind of instruction and the Guru Saiban gladly gave it.
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For example, Guru Gobind Singh ji gave 52 hukams at one time. There are also others from him. Here are 10 of those 52:

The 52 Hukams (Guidelines) of Guru Gobind Singh:
Earn by honest means.
Give one tenth of your salary [to others].
Memorize Gurbani.
Wake up Amrit Vela (before dawn).
Serve a Sikh Servant with devotion.
Learn the meanings of Gurbani from Sikh Scholars.
Follow the discipline of the 5 K's strictly.
Practice Shabad Gurbani in life.
Concentrate on the True Guru (God).
Accept Guru Granth Sahib Ji as Guru.
The rest you can read at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalsa  if you so desire.

Whether you want to obey the Guru's instruction or not is up to you, but Yogi Bhajan's yoga students should not live under the delusion that there is no historical precedence and validity to the Sikh Rehat Maryada, (Sikh code of conduct) or that it was conceived out of ego, or only by intellectuals.

Those who complied the Sikh Reht Maryada sought the guidance of many Brahm Gyani - men of God Awareness, as well as experts on Sikh History.

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"Sikh Reht Maryada & violations by Yogi Bhajan & his 3HO" https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2394386018428.141119.1214270541&type=3&l=fec0b9ed0c Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!

Many people have asked about my 30 years of experiences with Yogi Bhajan and his Kundalini/tantric yoga group, 3HO. In this album I will comment on the UnSikh like practices and violations of The Sikh Reht by Yogi Bhajan and now his 3HO group. I will take each page and comment on topics which are underlined. If some pages have no comments yet, please check back periodically as this is an ongoing project. The size of this project is very large and therefore I hope will draw comments and participation from other ex 3HOers and current members of Yogi Bhajan’s group.

The same translation as in this album of the Sikh Reht Maryada may be viewed online at: http://www.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_one.html

I will begin by saying that in all my years in close contact, and hundreds of lectures with Yogi Bhajan from 1977 until he died in 2004, I never heard him or any 3Hoer for that matter, once speak of the Sikh Reht Maryada or the Sikh code of Conduct! I first learned about the Sikh Reht only two years ago from Gursikhs in the UK. Reading this document has been a real eye opener for me and has shed light on many practices I need to change in my life after living 30 years with Yogi Bhajan's corrupted form of Sikhism.

I think all Sikhs will agree that things like the practice of astrology, tantric yoga, idol worship and performing Homa (fire) pujas as Yogi Bhajan's group does would all be violations of any traditional Sikh Reht? "Yogi Bhajan's Sikh Dharma Worldwide Organization auctions tantric necklaces, astrology and numerology readings in violation of Sikh Reht to raise funds" http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=402

You may also learn how Yogi Bhajan and 3HO diverted from Sikhism in a detailed account by a Sikh scholar and historian who spent several months with Yogi Bhajan in 1977: "Sikhism and Tantric Yoga" by Dr. Trilochan Singh.
Download the free e-book "Sikhism and Tantric Yoga"
A Critical Evaluation of Yogi Bhajan's Tantric Yoga in the Light of Sikh Mystical Experiences and Doctrines: http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?mode=page&id=1

Sikhs are NOT Hindus! There was a book written around the turn of the 20th century by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, called Hum Hindi Nahi....

by Gursant Singh ⌂ @, Yuba City California USA, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 13:32 (3970 days ago) @ Gursant Singh

Sikhs are NOT Hindus! There was a book written around the turn of the 20th century by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, called Hum Hindi Nahi - We are not Hindu. It is probably available somewhere in English but I have not been able to find it. He wrote it in response to an RSS guy who had gone to great lengths to prove that Sikhs were Hindus.

This is what he wrote about why he wrote the book:

"Dear Member of Khalsa you may be surprised when you read what I have writ-ten. You will ask why there should be any need of such a work as 'We are not Hin-dus' when it is perfectly obvious that the Khalsa is indeed distinct from Hindu soci-ety. Or you may want to know why, if such a work is to be written, there should not be books, which show that we are not Muslims or Christians or Buddhists. This book has been written for the benefit of those brethren to whom the following historical parable applies. The tale, briefly, is as fol-lows. Guru Gobind Singh once covered a donkey with a lion skin and set it loose in the wasteland. Men as well as cattle thought it was a lion and were so frightened that none dared approach it. Released from the misery of carrying burdens and free to graze fields to its heart's content, the donkey grew plump and strong. It spent its days happily roaming the area around Anandpur. One day, however it was at-tracted by the braying of a mare from its old stable. There it was recognised by the potter who removed the lion skin, replaced its pannier-bags, and once again began whipping it to make it work.

"The Guru used this parable to teach his Sikhs an important lesson. 'My dear sons,' he said, 'I have not involved you in a mere pantomime as in the case of this donkey I have freed you, wholly and completely, from the bondage of caste. You have become my sons and Sahib Kaur has become your mother: Do not follow the foolish example of the donkey and return to your old caste allegiance. If forgetting my words and abandoning the sacred faith of the Khalsa you return to your various castes your fate will be that of the donkey. Your courage will desert you and you will have lived your lives in vain'. "

Many of our brethren are in fact neglecting this aspect of the Guru's teaching. Al-though they regard themselves as Sikhs of the KhaIsa they accept the Hindu tradition. They imagine that it is actually harmful to observe the teachings of Gurbani by ac-knowledging the other. Sikh relgion is dis-tinct from the Hindu religion. The reason for this is that they have neither read their own Scriptures with care nor studied the historical past. Instead they have spent their time browsing through erroneous ma-terial and listening to the deceitful words of the self-seeking.
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The tragedy is that these brethren are falling away from the Khalsa. They forget the benefits which the Almighty Father has bestowed on them - how he has exalted the lowly raised pau-pers to be kings, turned jackals into lions and sparrows into hawks. Seduced by those who oppose the Gurus' teachings, they are ensnared by deceit and thereby forfeit the chance of deliverance, which this human existence confers.
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Before donating to SikhNet, Sikhs must watch this video showing SikhNet's support of Hindu idol worship!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKLNcRqWnKU
http://forums.delphiforums.com/Kamallarose/messages?msg=2233.69
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I mentioned Hum Hindu Nahin (We are Not Hindu) by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha. I doscovered that it is available form Singh Brothers of Amritsar so, if you are in India, you should be able to get hold of a copy.

There is a web page that has a lot of the English material posted.

Link: http://www.esikhs.com/articles/no_we_are_not_hindus.htm

here is an extract:

Question- Gurbani doesn’t treat Sikhs distinct from Hindus?

A. It is not correct to say so. In fact the Fifth Nanak has dealt this issue in detail_ at page 1136 of Guru Granth Sahib [GG]

[I practise not fasting nor observe the Ramzan;...... I go not on pilgrimages to Mecca nor worship at Hindu places of pilgrimages. I serve the one God and non-else. I neither perform puja like the Hindus do nor I do the Muslim namaj. I take the formless God into my heart and there make obeisance unto him. I am neither a Hindu and nor a MusaIman. This soul and body belong to God whether He be called Allah or Ram.)

Similar references are profusely available in Gurbani reacting to various Hindu concepts. At most places Guru criticises and condemns them. Please see pages 71.98, 128,202,201,227,230. 231,324,327,419,423,455,464,467,468,471, 475,476,479,525,556,559,593,654,710,719, 739, 747, 789, 864, 874,885, 894, 896, 902,912, 954,

Warran, the ballads of Bhai Gurdas Bhalla [Nephew of Third Nanak] which have been treated as key to Gurbani have also touched this issue at several places and in very clear terms he treats Sikhism as the birth of a third religion. Please see Warran numbered at 38,39,...........

Guru Gobind Singh in his compositions has also treated Sikhs distinct from Hindus. [)-33 Swaiyyas.

And the Sikh historical books


All the historic Rahitnamas the codes of conduct written after the demise of X Nanak also treat Sikhs distinct from Hindus. See Rahitnamas of Bhai Daya Singh, Chaupa Singh, Bhai Nandlal etc. Rattan Singh Bhangu author of Panth Prakash of early half of 19th century is rather highly vocal on this issue. pun ihMdU qurkn qy inAwrw[ rcoN Kwlsw Xih blI Apwrw

So much so even Bhai Sukha Singh a writer of 18th century who partially believe in Brahminism has admitted introduction of third religion (from two faiths he created three do qy qIn pMQ kr ly hY[

Poet Santokh Singh Chudamani of Suraj Prakash, is also very categorical in his descriptions. He quotes Guru Gobind Singh as having said to the Emperor Bahadur Shah how he has created a third religion

pun auqpq kIE Kwlsw qIjw[

Not only the Khalsa, Hindus have always been treating Sikhism a religion different and often exercised their boycott. Bhai Mani Singh the prime martyr [early 18th century] while giving a commentary on the 11th War of Bhai Gurdas explains how on several occasions the Sikhs of Guru Arjun Dev faced a similar boycott from Hindu. Kavi Senapati also describes a Delhi boycott of Sikhs.


The advice given to the Sikhs at the time of baptismal ceremony:­


I] Today your past of a different religion and caste is over ..[ii] Don't worship any god or goddess, Avatar the incarnation or any prophet except Akal the timeless God. [iii] You shouldn't have faith in any religion book other than Guru Granth Sahib.

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