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Summary of Question:	A Gursikh Should Practice The Following
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 1/21/2004 4:37 AM MST

A Gursikh should practice the following:

· Follow Rehat Maryada of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib.
· Worship only One God, the Ultimate Truth, which is beyond any name, form, time, and space.
· Since the same One God dwells in all, keep no feeling of evil, jealousy, enviousness and enmity for anyone. ooch neech mehi joth samaanee ghatt ghatt maadhho jeeaa ||1||
· Since the same One God dwells in you also, therefore search him within yourself and not outside. 1) man thoo(n) joth saroop hai aapanaa mool pashhaan || 2) sabh kishh ghar mehi baahar naahee ||baahar ttolai so bharam bhulaahee ||
· Be kind and soft-spoken. Hurt no one with thought, speech and deeds.
· Always feel the presence of Waheguru. Kaam, krodh, lobh, moh, ahankar will not trouble us if our mind is focused on feeling the presence. gur maerai sa(n)g sadhaa hai naalae ||
· Practice truthfulness, humility, contentment and compassion in all situations.
· Give up slandering, gossip, worldly contradictions, arguments, and excessive speech. ni(n)dhaa bhalee kisai kee naahee manamukh mugadhh kara(n)n ||
· See All-pervading Presence in all, and treat them as brethren. (like Bhai Kanhayan Ji)
· Take pain and suffering as gifts from God because there are many secrets in them. soee bhagath dhukh sukh samath kar jaanai har har naam har raathaa ||
· Remember that death can come at any time, so understand the importance of this breath and do not postpone good actions/ thoughts for tomorrow. ham aadhamee haa(n) eik dhamee muhalath muhath n jaanaa ||
· Be happy in God's Hukam or Will. Simply put: Take life as it comes. You will always see a gursikh in the happy state of mind / Chardikala. naanak bhagathaa sadhaa vigaas ||
· Make living with honest and pious earrings, share with others, and help the needy.
· Forgive and forget. Forgiveness is one of the transcendental qualities which belongs to godly person endowed with divine nature. fareedhaa burae dhaa bhalaa kar gusaa man n hadtaae ||
· Eat and sleep in moderation. Avoid consuming diet unconducive for spiritual progress.
· One should mould his living in such a way so that he can awaken Divine Love in all hearts.
· Do not waste useful time and energy in making external pilgrimage, and performing ablution, etc. ( Karam Kaand ) theerathh naavan jaao theerathh naam hai || theerathh sabadh beechaar a(n)thar giaan hai ||
· There should be deep desire to meet the Lord. ho thumaree karo nith aas prabh mohi kab gal laavehigae ||
· Meditate / Naam Simro to reach ‘Dasva Dwaar’ and realize God within and stay in the state of bliss/ Anand. no dharavaaj navae dhar feekae ras a(n)mrith dhasavae chueejai ||
· Prema Bhakti is the technique advocated by the Gurus to realize God i.e. While doing seva, simran, nitnem there should be deep love for the guru (loving state of mind) and feel his presence. 1) gaaveeai suneeai man rakheeai bhaao || 2) bhaao bhagath kar neech sadhaaeae || tho naanak mokha(n)thar paaeae ||2||
Remember that all the above mentioned things are possible ONLY with the Kirpa / GRACE OF WAHEGURU. Therefore go to the Gurudwara / Satsangat, with the clarity of mind and do ARDAS very sincerely and beg for divine qualities. 1) manasaa dhhaar jo ghar thae aavai || saadhhasa(n)g janam maran mittaavai ||2) vin gun keethae bhagath n hoe ||3) har jan aisaa chaaheeai jaisaa har hee hoe ||


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This article can help us in the following ways.
1) Dharam Parchar to focus on all aspects.
In the first point it is mentioned that Rehat Maryada should be followed by every Sikh because it gives solid foundation to practice our religion. Normally it is observed that in the Gurudwara lectures only this aspect of our religion is discussed and rarely any body talks about the qualities that a Sikh should inculcate in himself/herself. Guru Nanak Sahib in Japji Sahib tell us that to realize God, the journey starts at Dharam Khand (where every action is in maryada), then Gyan khand (correct Knowledge), Saram Khand (qualities are inculcated), Karam khand (grace is granted), Sach Khand (highest state of mind, to unite with God). Therefore our dharam parchar should focus on all the aspects.
2) Purpose of coming to the Gurudwara.
We go to the gurudwara to become a gursikh and unless we understand the state of mind that a gursikh lives in and the qualities they have-it will be difficult for us to follow their footsteps. Therefore when we go to the Gurudwara we should do Ardaas for those qualities and state of mind. May be oneday Waheguru showers his mercy on us.
3) Understanding Gurubani.
Like we tune our radio to listen BBC news, we have to tune our mind to listen to Gurubani because Gurubani is (maan nu updesh) message to the mind. Once we understand the concept of One God, all pervading, feeling presence of waheguru, concept of death, accepting will of God, Chardikala/happy state of mind, truthful living, no to karam kand, deep desire to meet the lord, naam jaap, seva, satsagat, ardaas, prema bhakti, grace of waheguru, other divine qualities, our mind will get fine tuned to receive gurubani message. Many shabads that are sung may revolve around these concepts directly or indirectly.
I would like to give one example to clearify 2nd and 3rd point.
I wish you to imagine a situation with great sincerity/depth. One gursikh whose daily Ardaas includes – deep desire to meet the lord and now imagine that he is doing this ardaas sincerely since a long time. Today when he comes to the gurudwara he again does it and sits down to listen to kirtan and raagi ji starts the shabad- ho thumaree karo nith aas prabh mohi kab gal laavehigae ||. Don’t you think he will hit the peak of vairaag or at least he will understand the shabad much better because his mind was fine tuned to the divine frequency as compared to the other person who was simply listening without going to the depth in meanings/feelings.
To conclude, since I have mentioned only few qualities / states of mind in the list, you may edit or add more to your list. (I also took few points from one of the articles on the net). Let us once in a while check if we are improving on this path. Despite being an Amritdhari Sikh and doing path, am I a soft spoken person who is always ready to help others ? Is my mind in harmony / trying to feel the bliss?