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Summary of Question:	Living Guru?
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Tuesday, 1/29/2008 12:54 PM MST

SAT"Kal,

I am a 27 year old sikh from Mumbai, India and am a frequent visitor to your esteemed website. I would like to ask one question which has been going on in my mind for a while.

Many a times while the Hukumnama is being recieted I have realised that it speaks about being in the company of the Sants and Mahatma's. A lot of impetus is being given on having a guru and the sangat of the Sant's .

My question is How do we recognise these Sants and Who is a Sant Mahatma in the first place. How do we recognise him. Everyone who comes to the Gurudwara need not be an enlightned one.

Now... Here is where the catch is... The Namdhari's and the Radha Swami and other sect.. also believe in the same ideology of being in the company of the Saad Sangat and the Sant's. However, they consider thier Living Guru to be their Sant. As a Sikh i Find it very confusing. Can you advise further???


Also, I have another question for you... Here it goes..

I was recently asked a question by a Christian friend of mine. The question was as follows:

What if a non Sikh comes up to you and ask's you that he wishes to become a sikh howvever, before he does that He would want one convincing answer as to why he should be a Sikh??? Honest I did not have a concrete answer to hies question. Can you please advise. Thank you. Sat'Kal.

-----reply-----
Sat Nam. Answer to the Christian's question could be anything, really. So I'd answer, depends on what you're looking for. Maybe you SHOULDN'T be a Sikh".
Siri Guru Granth Sahib is shabd Guru. Shabd Guru never dies and is immortal. It IS a living Guru. In the company of the sadh sangat in Guru's presence, when everyone is reciting together, then living Guru is present. Doesn't matter how spiritual or "Sikh" each individual is, key is that everyone is together before Guru for the same purpose. That is shabd Guru. It doesn't need a live person as Guru.

The more you keep up your own spiritual practice and the more you intentionally project for and seek out the company of the holy, you will find them in your life. I'm not talking about great sants, swamis, or gurus, I'm talking about what could be your colleague, your spouse, your co-worker. The other side of this is you start to consciously choose to avoid unhealthy or poison environments, such as smoky bars, wild parties where substance abuse is rampant, people who only like to torment or deride others, etc. You'll find your life full of the holy!
Guru ang sang,
DK