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Summary of Question:	Bowing B4 Humans Or Pictures
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Friday, 10/18/2002 2:15 PM MDT

Sat Sri Akal,

1. My family are very devoted Sikhs and we believe in the Guru Granth Sahib and the other 10 gurus, so that makes us Sikhs, as said in the Rehat Maryada. But I have one BIG dilemma, our family believes in a Hindu Baba Called Baba Balak Nath Ji and we bow to him and believe in him, well he is from before the Gurus Times and I know that it is wrong??? to bow to any other person or thing apart from the gurus and god. But I still bow to him because my mum always gets angry when I question her about Baba Ji and bowing to him, i know i shouldnt but i am scared form my mum.I know he is real and everything because I have heard stories and my great Grandma used to have his spirit in her and she used to say weird stuff and she knew it was him because she worshipped him. what should i do, please help me?

2. We also bow down to a human Baba called Baba Gang Das JI. i DONT KNOW IF U KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM but he did 12 years seva of gur Amar Das jI and Guru ji gave him the gurgaddi,( nt to become guru of sikhs, but a seperate one) because he did do seva and simran of guru 4 12 yrs. and we worship his successors e.g Baba Balram Singh jI. We bow to them, i know they have shakti and bhagti. but shud we be doing this? what shud i do about it??????

by the way we r sikhs not hindus( u might be thinking that)
and I do hope to take amrit once i am ready, so are we allowed to do this in being Amrit Dhari?

Thank u for ure service 2 the sikh community!
CaN u Shed SUM LIght?
thanx
sat sri akal

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REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal. This comes up more and more. So many people who call themselves Sikh but bow to humans as gurus. The 10th Master Guru Gobind Singh told us that the ONLY Sikh of the Gurus is Siri Guru Granth Sahib, and he bestowed that guruship on SGGS very shortly before he died. In fact, an Akand Paath was read during his final days in human form. So, the Guru of all observant and Amritdharia Sikhs is SGGS and ONLY SGGS. Sikhs bow to God and Guru only, not to ANY human form. Amritdhari Sikhs take a vow to bow ONLY to God and Guru in the form of Siri Guru Granth Sahib.
So, while at home, you have 2 choices. To keep the peace, just do what your parents expect you to do but in your heart you know better. OR, you can remind your family that observant and Amritdhari Sikhs bow to no one but Siri Guru and that you do not feel comfortable bowing to a picture of a human (past or present). Also, how you bow can be different, if you feel you must continue to keep peace. You can barely nod your head with your hands in a namastay (prayer) posture, but before SGGS, you put your forehead to the floor. In the end, you have to follow your heart and what Guru in your heart tells you to do.
Guru angsang,
-DKK