Previous

Next

Ask a Question

Summary of Question:	Selling Religion.
Category:	Gurbani
Date Posted:	Sunday, 7/13/2003 7:28 AM MDT

If Bani was given free, and the authors (Guru's)had no copyrights on their material, then why do we see giani's and others putting copyrights on theirs? Why do we sell albums of bani and shabads, yes maybe we creat our own tunes but we are using Guru's material. Why do we sell it? WHy not give it away? Why do people creat cd's of mediation then sell them, whe the serva in selling? Why when i come to this site am i told that i may download a shabad but i cant then give it to another person? Im sure the musician didnt write the lyrics him/her self! Why do we see bani's for sale in shops? We hav to make a living is the only reason but did guru charge then? Why do w charg now? If in this day we are so chardi kalaaa, so spiritual and in bliss why do we fel the need to sell our serva? why do i need a memebership for this site? We should have access to everthing, thos who decide to donat shall. The guru's offered their services to all and didnt ask fopr nothing. They raised their money from whover wantd to donat. If the poeple of today are so imerded in naaam then they would think aou tbeing able to cover their own costs alon before they started. Musicians wouldnt sell there kirtan and gutkas would be free. If its too costly get money. Im just addressing a issue so orgive me for any wrongs i have said. Could somone explain to m why?

(REPLY) Your idealistic view of seva is very lovely, but not at all practical. The Guru's lived in a different time when there was no phone bill to pay, no internet access to pay for, no printing costs. No letters were mailed. They traveled on foot or horseback, not on planes and trains and autos, all of which cost money. They had free kitchens, or were fed by disciples. Isn't part of Guru Nanak's teachings to earn your living righteously so that you would then have enough to share with others? Well, so earning money is part of our dharma. Fortunately, many people do donate, which helps keep this website alive, because it needs money to survive! All of the moderators donate their time and energy as seva,without pay. They have other jobs they need to hold to earn their own living. But it's a full time job to take care of the technical aspects of this website. Who is going to pay for their time? And as for CD's-- renting a recording studio takes time. Buying the equipment to record takes money. It's someone's job to do the recording, musicians have to be paid! We are no longer in a society that barters, we use money as energy to achieve worthwhile things. Remember, money is what money does. So, my dear, believe me, there's plenty of seva going on, but in this day and age, money is needed to pay for printing and editing and publishing even of banis! God bless those who are rich enough to finance such material and give it away!