Increasing Trend amongst youth

Sikhi teaches us certain principles and lays out rules that we must live by. Sikhi rejects all intoxications as they delude the mind and destroy health. Sikhi guides us mortals to live a pure life of righteousness and honour. All Sikh Symbols and Gurbani must be respected as they represent Sikh values and principles which Sikh Gurus taught us. However it is worrying to see an increase in the number of people smoking when they have a Khanda or ek-onkaar symbol in their cars. This is totally disgraceful and slanderous as it portrays the Sikh people in the wrong way. People will start thinking that Sikhs are allowed to smoke, also the people that are carrying out this deed need to think about the respect that they have for their religion. Do what you’re doing but keep Sikhi out of it!

The Guru is the "boat"!

In this Dark Age the earth has been consumed by sin and vice. Corruption and evilness has taken over the minds and hearts of human beings. Guru Ji describes the earth as a terrible ocean in which all the beings are sinking in and therefore not reaching their destination (union with God). It is very easy to sink as there is more bad around us then good. Everyone around us may it be work, TV; school and even family seems to be engaged in tempory false pleasures (materialism). However if we make Gurbani our main focus in life, it acts as a boat and carries us across this worldly ocean.

The Guru is the Boat to carry me across the world-ocean; the Guru is the Sacred Shrine of Pilgrimage, the Guru is the Holy River. ANG 17 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

O Nanak, the Boat of Truth will ferry you across; contemplate the Guru. ANG 20 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

The True Guru is the only boat on this terrifying ocean. His Glance of Grace carries us across. ANG 59 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

The ocean of fire is so deep; the Saints have crossed over, in the boat of the Lord's Name. ANG 241 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

As a palace is supported by its pillars, so does the Guru's Word support the mind! As a stone placed in a boat can cross over the river, so is the mortal saved, grasping hold of the Guru's Feet. As the darkness is illuminated by the lamp, so does the mind blossom forth, beholding the Blessed Vision of the Guru's Darshan. The path is found through the great wilderness by joining the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and one's light shines forth. I seek the dust of the feet of those Saints; O Lord, fulfill Nanak's longing! ANG 282 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

My boat was sinking under the weight of greed and corruption, but it was uplifted when the True Guru implanted the Naam, the Name of the Lord, within me. ANG 443 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Emotional attachment to Maya is spiritual darkness; it is very difficult and such a heavy load. Loaded with so very many stones of sin, how can the boat cross over?
Those who are attuned to the Lord's devotional worship night and day are carried across.
Under the Instruction of the Guru's Shabad, one sheds egotism and corruption, and the mind becomes immaculate. Meditate on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har; the Lord, Har, Har, is our Saving Grace. ANG 509 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

By the Grace of the Saints, I have found the boat of Truth; embarking on it, I sail across the ocean of poison. ANG 618 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

O miser, your body and mind are full of sin. In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, vibrate, meditate on the Lord and Master; He alone can cover your sins. When many holes appear in your boat, you cannot plug them with your hands. Worship and adore the One, to whom your boat belongs; He saves the counterfeit along with the genuine. People want to lift up the mountain with mere words, but it just stays there. Nanak has no strength or power at all; O God, please protect me - I seek Your Sanctuary. ANG 714 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Kirtan is the way out of hell!

God has infused dark energies into our bodies which are tapped into by an uncontrolled mind. This is the way God has set his game in Kaljug, however if we constantly praise the lord by doing Kirtan our minds can be controlled and we will automatically stop doing sins and stop enjoying corrupt pleasures. But to control the mind takes a lot of dedication it is no easy task. One must have a disciplined routine full of devotion to the lord; we must show our devotion by meditating in remembrance of God and reading a lot of Gurbani. If we don’t do this we will never be able to conquer the mind and attain union with God. Doing Kirtan is the only way we will become pure and rid ourselves of the energies that lead us to doom. It is no easy task because the dark energies are very powerful and put up a strong fight, at any given opportunity when your guard is down they come and strike making you commit sin.

I sing the Lord's Name and the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises; the Divine Light shines, and now I see the Way. ANG 86 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Kirtan of the Lord's Praise has appeared as a Light in the world. ANG 145 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Singing the Kirtan of His Praises, my mind has become peaceful. ANG 178 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Those whose hearts are illuminated by God, sing the Kirtan of His Praises night and day with their tongues. ANG 208 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Nanak has found the peace of the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises. All his sorrows have been dispelled. ANG 213 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Night and day, meditate in remembrance on the one who will be your Help and Support in the end. This poison shall last for only a few days; everyone must depart, and leave it behind. Who is our mother, father, son and daughter? Household, wife, and other things shall not go along with you. So gather that wealth which shall never perish, so that you may go to your true home with honor. In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, those who sing the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy - O Nanak, they do not have to endure reincarnation again. ANG 253 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

O Nanak, sing the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises; this alone is the eternal faith of Dharma. ANG 299 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Raags in Sikhi is a Hukam

A lot of Sikhs have started dissing raag style kirtan saying its weird etc. But if they actually understood Sikhi they would know that to do kirtan in raags is a hukam of Guru Ji. (If you can’t do raags due to not knowing the art, then other styles are better then no kirtan).

Example of Guru Ji’s command

Raag Aasaa, First Mehl, First House, So Dar ~ That Gate (Ang 347 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji)

Guru Ji has told us to sing all the following shabads in the style of Raag Aasaa.

These types of commands are repeated in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji for many different Raags.

Poetry (the form in which Gurbani is written) and music (raags) are two sides of the same coin. They are independent and yet complement each other. Music versifies and provides melody, uniformity and cadence to poetry. The factor that binds music and poetry is their metrical-form (ghar or beat). Music (Raag) is based on sound (swar - notes) and a combination of notes produce distinct musical effects. Poetry is determined by Word (Shabad), which communicates a message to the mind. Music (Raag) on the other hand conveys a feeling to the heart and is therefore universal. Spirituality, after all, is striking the right balance between mind and heart. Therefore, when the poetic Gurbani is complemented with raag (music) and bound by ghar (beat), the resulting effect on mind and heart can become a catalyst for spiritual transformation. The raag conveys a feeling and Shabad a message. Every raag is capable of touching the heart with feelings like joy, sorrow, detachment, etc. Upon studying the structure of Guru Granth Sahib it can be seen that Shabads relating to common themes are generally placed under each raag. When the broad themes of Shabads are overlaid with feelings conveyed by these raags, there emerges a reason behind grouping of Shabads under a broad classification of thirty-one raags.

It’s clear that the Gurus used raags to increase the delivery power of shabad to our mind by invoking complementary feelings in our hearts through usage of the prescribed raags.

Raagmala literally means a beaded string of musical melodies. "Mala" means "a beaded string" and "Raga" is a "musical composition". It is the name given to the last composition in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji appearing after Mundavani (The Closing Seal) and a Salok by Guru Arjan Dev. Like Japji Sahib, which appears at the beginning of the Guru Granth Sahib this composition has no heading to show the name of the author. This Shabad explains everything you need to know about raags!