Frenkie visits a Sikh temple

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a temple of the Sikh's in The Hague. I have to confess to my shame that I really didn't know anything about the Sikh faith and so I went to the temple completely blank. I did know from the internet that I had to dress in such a way that my arms and legs were covered. There I would get a cloth to cover my head (hair). The men do this with a turban or simply a cloth. A very nice and helpful gentleman there showed me the way where I could take off my shoes, where I could wash my hands and then he knotted, I had to kneel before him because I am tall and he was small, an orange cloth around my head. Later I noticed that the men there either have a real Sikh turban on their head, and they happened to have a long and unshaven beard. Or there were men who went through life without a head covering in everyday life and who then wore such a headscarf tied up on the spot and these man usually did not have a beard or a short shaved beard, often young people.

    

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion. This means that one believes in one God. Sikhism originated in northern India in the early 16th century, started by the first teacher Guru Nanak Dev. It is an independent faith inspired by Hinduism and Islam but it has its own religious identity. The doctrines are laid down in the Guru Granth Sahib. This is the Holy Book for the Sikhs (Wiki).

All the men sat on one side and all the women, in the most beautiful robes and headscarves, in all the colours of the rainbow, sat on the other side. And fortunately we had a large screen in front of us where the text, sung by the Granthi (“pastor”), appeared in Punjabi (I understood later) and English. In the front of the large room was a kind of altar, under a skylight of daylight, covered with cloths and on the altar a big book with The Holy Word of God. That's all.

I found everything equally pleasant, friendly, open, hospitable and I experienced the atmosphere in the temple as incredibly serene. There seemed to be a great simplicity, with few rituals, and everything was focused on the word of God. What was that word of God then? I got a random text from the internet, which matches the many lyrics that were sung and mentioned in the temple that morning. I liked them very much, for sure actually always referring to: God is in us and we can communicate with God and try to live according to God's example. 

Well all the way to the atmosphere of the blogspot. An example:

Those who have the Lord as their Friend and Companion

tell me, what else do they need?

Those who are in love with the Lord of the Universe

pain, suffering and doubt run away from them.

 

jaa kaa meeth saajan hai sameeaa

this jan ko kahu kaa kee kameeaa|

jaa kee preeth gobi(n)dh sio laagee

dhookh dharadh bhram thaa kaa bhaagee.

 

(this Shabad is by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, in Raag Gauree, at Pannaa 186)

While I am in the service, I wonder if this religion is not one of the pure forms of religion on earth and is partly a forerunner of a time when churches and pastors have been abolished and religion is becoming a most individual communication between God (in man) and man?  I definitely hope to come back again.  

Would You like to comment on this?

My son, let us not judge whether one religion is purer and better than another, people are only going to get away with that.  

The Sikh faith is a reaction to the great richness of the Hindu faith and has adopted elements of Islam. So far. 

I would like to mention four important elements in this blog. Everyone can thinks his own.

ü  The most individual relationship between man and God in man. 

     Guru Nanak has laid the foundation for a pure tradition of seeking God, namely the living and approachable God in man.

ü  The search for the simplicity of life.

     The Sikh faith has nurtured the direct impact of religion on ordinary life and how that life should be lived all these centuries. Many cultural rituals and prejudices have been tried to be eliminated. Everything for man's individual relationship with God. Everything else is secondary. 

ü  The great respect for women and the equality of men and women.

Guru Nanak's assertion that the soul of the man and the soul of the woman are equal has meant that in everyday practice the Sikhs always went back to this core truth, when the sexes seemed to clash culturally.

ü  Room for devotion in everyday life.

Of course, every religion has the desire to inspire and influence ordinary life. That aspiration is everywhere. The Sikhs have succeeded in translating this into ordinary life in the purest way. How one deals with one's own life, with one's fellow man, with the responsibilities in society, with nature. This was and is always done with a lot of respect, a lot of attention and a lot of wisdom. 

 You have enjoyed yourself in this meeting. Go back again. 

And the aforementioned Shabad, the text of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, isn't that exactly what We have together, My son?

The Sikhs are blessed.  

 

My blessings to you all

No 556

The holy trinity and man

From the perspective of other religions, this image of the Christian churches of a holy trinity is quite criticized, but I wonder if, in essence, this is not a truth for all religions? Would You like to comment on this?

I will do so.

The holy trinity is a spiritual fact and is a truth for all religions and a living reality in every individual person. Let this be said beforehand.

The holy trinity is mentioned as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen too.

We have said before that it actually firstly refers to the Father God, secondly to the Mother Goddess and thirdly to the incarnating God on earth, incarnating in man, the Son of God or the Daughter of God.  

Of course the Muslims are right when they say God cannot have a son. And there is only one God. In essence this is true. There is God / Allah / Brahman / Yahweh and some other names and interpretations, as you people know. But only ONE God.

But of course God has two sides, the feminine and the masculine side, two rather important opposing forces in the cosmos. The Christians have come to call these two principles the Father and the Holy Spirit, but it is the indivisible Deity with a masculine and feminine "side", we can easily call it the God-Goddess, but the Father- Mother fits better into this argument. Reasoned in a certain human way, We are already at Two Gods, Forces, Principles, Workings, Beings.  

But the Muslims and Hindus actually are wrong because from the human perspective these two different forces are very tangible and recognizable and experienced.

The Father God with Intelligence and Will and the Word that creates the earth and man.

And next the Mother-Goddess with truth and wisdom and love, who wanders over the earth, so there we have a Holy Spirit, who blows spiritual energy into men and comforts men.

Two Powers for men.

The Muslims drop out, although they acknowledge that Allah has a thousand names.
The Protestants have given the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Truth, a prominent role.
The Catholics cherish the image of the Holy Mother, Mary, the Comforter, the Queen. But in all cases it is about the Mother Goddess.
The Jews give God a strict righteous and a forgiving merciful side expressed respectively in the designations Eelohim (God) and Adonai (the Name, the Eternal). But they actually think it is absurd to grant God genitals.

But in the mean time of course God has masculine and feminine qualities.

What does God not have?

The Hindus do not want to divide Brahma into a feminine and masculine side, because they do agree with the Muslims. Bhrama is indivisible, one and there is only one God. But then the many attributes of God appear in a whole pantheon of Gods like the Greeks and Romans did, and so the feminine (shakti) side of Brahma returns well to Parvati, the peaceful, or in furious forms such as Durga, Chamunda or Kali. But do know that they are all attributes of God.

And the Buddhists started to indirectly identify Buddha with a (male) Deity and the female Deity became Kuan Yin and that's how we are around.

And now comes for man the most important aspect of God, namely the incarnation of God, the Son. The Holy Trinity is so complete, the Father and the Mother and the Son. The son of God on earth and because we are feminist the Son / Daughter on earth. And the Son / Daughter are thus the incarnating god but most of the time man becoming God.

And if you look at all religions, you see the uncontrollable need of believers to experience God close by in His Son and Daughter. Thus Christ comes close, the man Buddha, the prophet Mohamed, the patriarchs and holy teachers of the Jews, Krishna and Rama for  the Hindus. And because of the patriarchal past of mankind, the Daughters have faded into the background, but not correctly. They are equally important in the eyes of God.

And now at last the holy trinity in man.

Every person has his own personal Trinity. The My God, the My Goddess and the My Son / Daughter. And when someone says he is talking with Jesus, is hearing Mary, sees Mohamed in his thoughts, observes the voice of Krishna from within, is having a divine revelation or an appearance of his / her prophet, it is almost always about the personal My Trinity that gives appearance entirely in accordance with this man's religious tradition in a form such as the striking God-Goddess Son / Daughter. And so communication is optimal. For all.
 
My blessings to you all

No 448 

You all may hear your "My God'

Man is a wonderful creature, with many hidden skills.
You all are hearing your "My God," the only question is: "do you recognize the voice of your "My God"?

The voice of "My God" is a dream or a hunch or inspiration or a feeling of happiness or a foreboding or a special meeting or a striking remark of someone or a particular animal on your path or an unexpected event.
For your "My God" is constantly at work on you and always finding ways and means and resources to feed your free will on spiritual goals. For earthy goals do come naturally on your path, even too many.

You all do have a "My God," Whose voice can be heard. The only question is: do you really want to hear the voice of "My God"? Because It is up to you to do one’s utmost.

Purer living, purer thinking, purer feeling, purer acting: in this way you’ll become a purer instrument and it will be easier for your "My God" to “use” you. Aren’t you preferring for yourselves  hammering with clean and good tools, walking on good shoes, cooking with great pans and writing with a fine pen?
God really likes a good instrument.

So:  look at yourself. Are you eating calmly and moderately? Don’t you drink too much alcohol? Are you leaving another cup of coffee alone? Are you cutting down on smoking? Are you skipping more often meat and fish? Are you praying now and then? Are you arranging quietness and tranquility for your inner self? Are you saying “no” to too much hustle and appointments? Are you switching off your TV or computer ever? Do you love your fellowmen?

What do you want? Loosing yourselves in needs, worries and obligations or opening up to the voice of your "My God"?

It is up to you, every day again.

My blessings to you all