Who are you devoted to? A religious sect or One Creator?

When people first get drawn towards a religion, they become very devoted and strictly attach themselves to the panth and engross themselves with what is right by the religion and what is wrong. They try to judge everyone's lifestyle based on their notion of right and wrong. This goes for Sikhs, Christians and Muslims alike. That's why Guru Nanak found it easy to preach his message to people of all religions during his travels, as he was well aware of the follies of religious people. He never asked anyone to convert into sikhism, he only pointed out that tasks performed as part of a ritual are meaningless, if you failed in attempting to connect with the divine.

Why should we connect to the divine? What is the purpose of it?
In Japji sahib, Guru Nanak wrote the answer

• Mane surt hove man budh, mane Sagal bahvan ki sudh.
• Mane mug na chale panth, mane dharma seti sanbandh.

When one starts listening to the Naam / the vibration of sound, his mind and intellect becomes one with the higher consciousness and thus become aware of all spheres of existence. This awareness that Gods essence is present in every being, makes a person see everyone as equal. Then such a person shows equal love and respect for all because such a person concerns himself with the true dharma / ultimate justice. Then he is not worried about promoting the rules of his religious creed / sect/ path as better than other religions.

He realises that without Gods grace, one can not know the true path. He realises that it's not about competing with the other religion or the other human being. It's about sharing the resources God provided for everyone and these natural resources are not to be hoarded by a few. That's why Guru Nanak stipulated three basic rules of  Kirat karo, Vand chako, Naam japo.

Until one mediates on Naam / vibration of sound, one has a beggar mentality. Beggars only take, they don't give anything back to any person, or society at large. Guru  says to give up this mentality of always begging for more material goods. Start sharing - 'Vand'.

On the other hand, for those who are physically and metally capable Guru Nanak expects his followers to work and earn a living and not rely on welfare or charity. This is called Kirat.

If a new world could be established in which these three principals are adhered to by everyone and everyone works for a living, shares their earnings and knowledge, and meditated to become one with higher consciousness on a daily basis; how peaceful would such a world be! There would be no need for so many religions, governments, political boundaries and bank accounts.

Now contemplate on your own actions and judge yourself to see if you are affiliated to God and True Justice or just to a small sect of a religion to gain a sense of belonging and acceptance and possibly for the need to be recognised as a good person.

Get rid of the fake goodness and start thinking about humanity as one. There are no rights, only privileges. We are lucky to be living in a rich land with lots of natural resources that help us have a good living. others may not be so lucky, so share a little.

Don't just recite your daily prayers like a parrot, become one with the divine / higher conciousness everyday; mediate a little - Naam Japo

Is it a crime to use magic in real life?

With deep meditation come the magical powers. These powers are revealed even when you were not trying to discover them. Just because something has been discovered, does that mean we should use it ? It's the same ethical question that should be asked about physical explorations of land, medicine, astronomy, mining etc.

Meditation is very similar to physical exploration if land but instead we search within our own body, how it interacts with the sound waves we make and the breath we inhale and exhale. It's a vast world inside, unexplored as far as most people are concerned as they haven't a clue of how many precious jewels are hidden there.

Secrecy about scientific discoveries that can be used as war weapons is seen as essential by the governments. So it's only fair that the spiritual powers that are the result of meditation should also be secret; for you don't know what one might use it for or force someone to use.

It's sad that USA has been exploring spiritual powers to be used as military weapons, if it's true. It's said that they have been doing this since Second World War. This is a dangerous act.

Spiritual powers must never be mixed with military combats. The very purpose of spiritual life is for the good of all because God is one and is within all beings. The military combats however exist because of the opposing view that one must hurt / destroy the other.

Personal use of spiritual powers should also be guided by the same philosophy. Is the use of power for  Wellbeing or destruction of the other? Stealing another's energy is also a crime worse than stealing a physical object because a physical object may not pose a direct threat to one's health whereas the stealing of energy does.

So was the burning of witches in the 16th century Europe justified? The straight answer is no. But the ethical question is were the witches actually diminishing peoples Wellbeing?

Valmiki's epic story of Ramayana, about Ram and Ravan also reveals that the use of spiritual powers in daily life was on in that time. The stories of  Merlin, weather he was a fictitious character or not, portray use of magical powers in daily life.

Doing justice becomes even tougher when magic is involved. So is it best that the average population be kept blind about what is there to explore within themselves? I am afraid that it only takes one naughty child to start a fire in a tall building and thousands to control the irreversible damage.

So, secrecy is the safest but saddest option because there is so much peace and bliss to be found in the world of spirituality that we try to seek by consuming more and more commercial products and services. Only if we knew that the pleasures of collecting monetary wealth and enjoying its benefits are nothing compared to the benefits gained by engaging in spiritual life.

May be the actual cause of grief in human life is because of our nature of showing off our possessions , materIal and otherwise. If we start sharing what we know and possess without the intent and need to show off

Dark side of cosmos

Dr Percy Seymour writes  on page 23 of his book, "Dark matters ..." That research in the area of cosmic electrodynamics tells us that the flow of the fluids alters the structure of the magnetic fields, and this in turn alters the flow of the fluid.
In gurbani Sant Kabir mentions about altering the flow in the symbolic language  'ulti Ganga Bahai' and another shabad where he says' sas ghar soor Samai meaning sun( something in the 3rd chakra, near na bhi) reaches where the moon resides normally (between 5th/6th chakra). When this happens, a person becomes pavan ahari, and doesn't rely on food for sustainace anymore; instead a drop of liquid (Amrit) drips from the back of the palette. This must mean that the body's magnetic field also changes at this time. When a female reaches this stage, they say that her menstrual cycle stops and she can no longer bear a child, nor does she have any physical desires such as sex anyway. Such a person, stops showing the signs of ageing after this process starts in the body. This is the true amritpan that gurbani wants us all to enjoy. 

Conversation with self - on what level?

we chat with ourselfs all the time, at least since we first saw mirror and figured out that it's our image on the other side. Do we praise or condemn what we see is another matter.
Once we accept this fact, we need to go further and notice what are we chatting about most of the time? Ourselves or others? The best way to know what's bothering you most is by noticing what you dream about each night. We all dream each night, some remember, some don't.
The quality of your dreams tells you about the night life that you live. It's a full on experience. If you are having conflicts in dreams, you are struggling in day life as well.
There are several akashic planes on which we can travel during dreams. Negative and pessimistic self talk takes us to lower levels, where we intend to harm ourselves or others, religions call these planes hell.
Positive and optimistic self talk takes us to higher planes where there is peace and harmony. Higher and lower planes are not height measurements, they are desire levels. More people desire peace, so it is higher plane but our negative actions and amount of harmful self talk pulls us towards lower planes.
The struggle of life is to rise higher amidst chaos and seek opportunities for peace. That's why religions focus on faith and hope because these give us reason to have peace within us. When we loose hope and faith, we are left with anger, hate and other destructive forces.
Meditation is self talk but with the intention to break away from routine self talk in order to reach a higher plane than the one we are on. We all walk on the same earth, but we are not all on the same akashic plane in our heart and mind. This is the only difference between a successful and an unsuccessfulful person.
Meditation is not only done with closed eyes. It is what we do all the time we do self talk. So meditate on positive stuff, give yourself time to break away from routine habits that have taken over your life. If someone is bothering you in life, stop thinking about them all day and on how you can get even. Focus on things that give you peace and make you smile within.

Check your dreams. Change your plane and change your life.

Seekers of God are basically seeking peace within. When we are able to find that place within us that has goodness for all, the secrets of life are revealed to us. God is wise. While we seek harm for anyone, we are dangerous to Gods creation, therefore, a veil is placed between God's secrets and us. So become harmless and you will immensely improve your own physical, psychological and spiritual life.

Abolish religion, God is within

Good people become bad when it's about religion.

It's our beliefs that are killing us. The belief, "I must do the right thing by my religion and I must sacrifice myself  in the interest of my religion."
We all agree  that Jihad is wrong because we are not Muslims. It's easy to agree when someone else is being proven wrong.

Jerusalem synagogue attack in which five people died has been condemned worldwide but we will forget about it soon because we have learnt to live with Arab- Israel conflict. 

In our minds it's a political issue not of our region, therefore ignore it. I would agree that it's is a political issue not religious. Whenever, one religion is undesired by the other and action is taken to diminish or demolish the other religion; it is and should be classed a political issue not religious. History has countless examples of prime religious personalities of all religions becoming the political target.

If all countries were secular nations, there would be piece in the countries. If people were spiritual but not strictly religious, there would be peace within. Our political nature, the nature to bring the other and his religion down will be pacified.

The only place God is found is if you look within. Meditate every day to connect with your higher self. Nitnem - daily practice of meditation is the only common theme in all religions and yet this is the lesson not often talked about in religious buildings.

Talking about the history and life of religious figures and religious politics takes all of our religious time in these buildings. We all know that politics of a workplace can turn us off from liking the workplace and the people that play these games. In case of religion, the more involved a person becomes in the politics of a religion, the more dedicated to the religion, she/he is considered. That's awkward. 

Don't fool yourself. If you truly want to know God and be in his good books, know that God is within who can't be fooled. God doesn't like the politics of religion. God is found in love, peace, compassion and gratitude. God is found when you have a relationship with yourself and a daily commitment to spend time with yourself. If you are ever confused if your actions are Godly, only consider if your actions are going to harm anyone. If the answer is Yes, reconsider your actions because God does to discriminate between people of different religions. If God did discriminate and gave points for raising the profile of your religion by harming others, it wouldn't be God. Please know that God is not a gender based personality. God is not a personality. God is it. It's a phenomena that occurs in the creation of the universe and therefore within us too. 

God can not be proven with a scientific experiment. It's power is vast. But God is an intelligent source of all things that can be accessed easily, if deeply desired. Since IT is intelligent and logical, it can't be fooled by religious politics. So beware and choose your path wisely. Regions alliances can lead to non-religious path. So look after yourself. Find time daily, possibly in the early hours of morning, to meditate and seek God within.

When Guru Nanak, the founder of yet another religion, set out with his message that nobody is Muslim, nobody is Hindu, he meant for us all to focus on the fact that we are humans and to place humanity ahead of religious interests. Every awakened / enlightened personality knows this. So wake up.

Bypassing law of Karma

The law of Karma states, " As you sow, so shall you reap". It is a vicious circle or a spiral. You do a wrong deed, so you get a bad result. The bad outcome leads you to another bad deed. For example, A simple misunderstanding or different perception can lead you to make a comment that can upset someone. So they do or say something to upset you. So starts a new circle that leads to hatred. The only way out is to forgive or simply change your focus to another person or situation. Therefore, the need to raise your vibration. This is where good company / sangat or Guru comes into play. Both of these help you rise above the situation and see from a broader perspective.

Sangat or Guru are found with Gods Grace. God does not discriminate. This statement also supports the karmic law but also gives hope to bypass the law. Karmic law operates as a default program to run the physical plane. The beliefs that you create based on your experiences of life as a result, register in the mental plane and play a major part in how you experience the akashic plane / the unseen non-physical plane.

You live in the non- physical plane each night when you sleep that is equal to temporary death. In fact, sleep time is your best time to gauge how you are going in the akashic plane. Each time to turn sides while asleep, make an effort to remember what you were dreaming about only minutes ago. When you deliberately ask this question, you will remember your dream and will be surprised how petty tasks you were engaged in and how ridiculous the dream was. You will wonder why you didn't take control of the situation in the dream. Why were you running away from ...... Why were you so scared?

The point is that as soon as you become aware, you take charge. You no longer have to experience the default dream or default program. Awareness comes from observing, witnessing and realising. Observe life, witness your own reaction to situations and realise the vicious circle you are in. Are you in a race to win? Life wasn't meant to be a race. Some people are running doesn't mean you have to join their race. You run your own race. Have a different goal.

Above the karmic law, is the rule that God provides help and support to those who ask for it. For all others, is the karmic law to take care of everyday affairs. You have to first observe yourself to become aware if the situation you are in, before you decide that you need help and intervention from a higher source to help you rise above and get out of the downward spiral. Once you realise and seek help, there is no doubt that it will come. Every time, you ask, you will get it provided you initiate by asking. If you are too busy to ask, then universe is too busy to provide. Again, it's tit for tat.

As said earlier, God does not discriminate. It's not going to give you more than you ask for. Most people fail themselves when it comes to asking. They ask for too little thinking that is the polite way, but that is not the right way. Try to make a difference on a bigger scale. Don't just ask for your welfare, ask for the welfare of the universe. When asking for information, ask God to show you how the universe was created? Ask big questions and be surprised.

Close your eyes and observe yourself. You are the centre of the universe. Get to your centre before you spread outwards. Become one dot near your belly button and then breath out. Feel your non physical self. With each breath in become the dot and each breath out Spread yourself  as much as the room you are in. Then slowly become the universe. Now you are the universe and you can access any information you seek. What would you like to know? You can become whatever you want to be. Who would you like to be? You can have whatever you want. What do you want? Things or a state of being? Do you want to be peaceful, happy and in harmony with the universe? Ask what you want and  receive.

When your thoughts are at rest, so is the karmic law. When you are in Gods union, you are above Karma.

Inter-faith marriages in Gurdwaras - Sikh Council UK on the wrong foot

Sikh Council UK has developed guidelines to stop inter-faith marriages in Gurdwaras. Read the whole article on http://www.sikh24.com/2014/10/25/sikh-council-uk-develops-guidelines-of-approach-to-inter-faith-marriages-in-gurdwaras/#comment-69831

I disagree with their guidelines. I left a comment on the above site, weather they publish it or not.

Point 2.4 suggests to me that this document is being created to discourage marriages between a sikh and non-sikh in Gurdwaras. Would you rather have these people go to the other religious place? Think carefully and go through Guru Nanak’s life expereinces and messages before you decide. I thought Guru Nanak was the most broad- minded and accepting Guru that ever walked this earth.I see people who have created this documents to be no different than those Pandits that stopped Namdev from entering the Hindu Temple. Are you intending to lobby getting rid of 937 hymns of 36 Hindu saints, Muslim sufis and bards from Guru Granth Sahib as well because they were not Sikhs? If Guru Granth Sahib is the first religious book which contains the writings of persons belonging to different communities, castes, and diverse regions of the country; and it incorporates and sanctifies the writings of holy men of different faith then should the Gurdwaras where this holy book resides discriminate weather a person is Sikh or of another faith? Is that not insulting the very Guru whose Sikh we proudly are? Do not react to incidents, think of the long term. Sikhism is the only religion that is inclusive not exclusive. Guru’s message as I understand was always to include whoever chose to come here, regardless of their religion. We should also allow couples to marry in a Gurdwara in cases where both of them do not belong to Sikh religion but chose to have Guru Granth Sahib as a witness of their marriage. If you have forgotten about the inclusiveness displayed in Guru Granth Sahib then read this article and rethink http://sikhismguide.org/granth.aspx
 

Three stages of religious practice

Examining the life and history of the times of 1st, 5th and 10th Gurus of Sikhs shows when and how a new religion evolves, how it becomes a great path to spirituality and what circumstances turn someone off to adopt a radical view point.

When an existing religion becomes so corrupted that instead of leading people to the path of spirituality, it promotes the practices that financially enrich and socially empower the protectors of a religion; it creates doubt in the minds of the thinkers who can't justify the existing religion serving the masses for greater good. This is how Guru Nanak started searching for the answers to the existing unjust conditions created by the political as well as religious powers.

When one truly seeks the answers without accepting any barriers of  society or their own limiting beliefs, the answers are provided by the Universe / Creator / God. When the enlightenment is experienced, it makes the person very charismatic and power to perform so called miracles through the newly found psychic powers that are as powerful as the enlightenment experience itself. One benefit of such powers for Guru Nanak was that he impressed the rulers and masses alike and this allowed him to impart his message without the threat of being executed for going against the existing practice.

Upto the 5th Guru, Arjan Dev, path of Spirituality regardless of the religion was the goal. The following three examples are clear indication of this.

Famous  Mughal King, Akbar, came to 3rd Gurus congregation and accepted to have langar / food with the commons while sitting on the floor; portraying the doctrine that a King and a commoner are same in the court of God.

4th Guru, Guru Ramdas designed Harmandir Sahib http://sacredsites.com/asia/india/golden_temple_amritsar.html
And chose a Muslim Saint to place the foundation stone of the sacred building that was to have four door depicting that people of all religions are welcome here.

God - an identity or phenomena ?

It would benefit the human race immensely, if we treat God as a phenomena than as an identity. With God being an identity, comes the issue that I know him better than you and my religion is better than yours. We even start speaking on behalf of our friend God. God doesn't like ... And you will not be excepted in god court because you haven't ......

If God truly has all the attributes that Guru Nanak has mentioned in Mool mantra then at least in its first stage of meeting, God is a phenomena. You must meet certain conditions to meet him but these conditions are about your emotional state not religious taboos. How you must feel is very close to the attributes of God described in the mool mantra. We aren't always fearless and without animosity, for example; but while we are in meditation and desire to experience God, we must feel that way.

A lot of people don't feel they are worthy of experiencing God because they don't perceive themselves to be perfect as they have all the undesirable negative emotions for someone at some time. The only thing to remember is not trying to be perfect forever, but just for that one moment, forgive everyone and not think of the negative or positive moments of life. Simply experience Silence    and enjoy every breath going in and out. Focus on the present moment. Expect but don't demand, silence will speak to you. True Guru speaks to you in the moment of silence and provides wisdom, not necessarily the logic and explanation of the situation / condition that is being resolved. When you experience true silence, the logical brain is asleep. The moment logical side of the brain wakes up, you will lose touch of the dialogue with silence. So, if you are experiencing a phenomena, don't try to analyse it or it will vanish.

The only problem with experiences like that is that once you get a taste, you want it more and more everyday. Thee comes a time, you start demanding it and that becomes counter- productive as demanding is done by the logical brain that is a hindrance to silence and hence to the phenomena itself.
God places no conditions of dress code or religious bindings as he is not affiliated to any religion. Being too religious and confident of your path can also be a hindrance as it brings the feels of pride in the person. This also removes you from experiencing the moment.
All you need is focus on breath, experience that your dimensions are wider than your physical body and be open to anything happening in that moment while not expecting it.

World war and peace within - how to tread in troubled times

If you had ever dreamt of world peace, all humanity as one, eradicating poverty and equality of wealth in this world; I am convinced that you would be experiencing a turmoil inside these days. World politics has taken a turn for the worst. I believe it's another attempt of politicians to gain a status of immortality by adding their name in history books that are the hall of fame. Weather one is a hero or villain depends on what side of the fence the observer is sitting, but if you sit above the fence no excuse for war is justified either against so called terrorism, protecting western democracies and their freedom or in the name of religion. The bollywood movie 'My name is khan' has tackled some issues of society in such times of uncertainty, to highlight how we are hurting each other when in reality we all want someone to love and care for us.

When I first came to Australia, I thanked God for bringing me to a 'heaven on earth'. The beautiful beaches and the smiling faces that greeted me on these beaches surprised me first. They were too nice for my expectations. Then I became use to a very accepting society and truly made Australia my home in my heart. Today I wonder what happened to that beautiful dream that Australia was a peaceful heaven. Why are we changing our image as a peaceful nation and becoming so aggressive in our tactics, even changing laws to allow discrimination - against Muslims? I believed people came to Australia because they were sick of the world of hatred, war and discrimination that they faced in their homelands as ethnic or religious minorities.

I am thankful to the spiritual community of Australians and the authors of books on healing and meditation; for they helped me understand God without adding any religious baggage. Thanks to all those who care about human beings more than God, religion or the boundaries of nations. 

God is one / singularity and  non- God is duality, ego, superiority of one's ideas over the other.

What is the appropriate action at this time?
Some say we don't watch the news to keep our inner peace. Others justify their non-action by saying that perhaps its their karma to be involved in the disgusting stuff like war but we get to choose where we focus our attention in life. So they have focused it away from war. I am still feeling uneasy because if the above response was sufficient then why did Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru sacrificed the live of his father, four sons and then himself to protect the 'Right to choose one's Religion', not gave in to the Muslim extremist tactics of Auranjeb and the Sikhs following the Guru Gobind Singh who endangered their lives to protect women who were being raped and kept by the Mughals. 

The only path that attracts me as the most powerful way to influence masses single-handedly is the path of Guru Nanak who had become one with God to the extent that people changed just by being in his presence and realised wrong from right and gave up the wrong way. I believe that anyone can achieve that kind of power over wrong by constantly being in touch with the God / the universal energy / the silence within us all. We just need to practice daily and BE who we really are and pray to God to show us the path, help us realise that we are only hurting ourselves. Nobody has ever won the war. King Ashoka the great realised this after a bloody battle. When are we going to realise this?