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Summary of Question:	Many Questions - Vegetarianism, Harbhajan Singh, Gurbani Music
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Monday, 7/16/2001 5:17 PM MDT

In the name of the One Almighty Creator...

the Immaculate...
the Divine...
the Beautiful...
King of Kings...
Queen of Queens...
the True Love...
the True Name...
The Supreme Soul...
the Timeless Formless Revengeless Omnipotent Omnipresent Ocean of Truth,

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA !!! WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH !!!

Dearest Brother / Sister,

I come to you in confusion.

I have MANY questions with relation to different aspects of my life and Sikhism in general.

Specifically I have three questions, relating to Vegetarianism, Harbhajan Singh and Gurbani Music.

1) I am a vegetarian. I do not consume the meat of any animal. I try to refrain from milk. I do not consume eggs in the box - but it is very difficult to find products without eggs in them.

I would like to ask you if there are any reasons for why Sikhs should not consume dairy products. Also, isn't Guruprasad or Karahprasad made from butter and flour? Butter is a by-product of dairy. Does this mean we should not consume prasad?

The reason I am asking this is because I have seen several videos of real documented cases in dairy farms where cows are mistreated and injected with growth hormone injections causing deformities and suffering.

I don't think this is fair to the animals and that's why I don't think dairy is right for Sikhs to consume; but this includes everything... milk, cheese, butter, cream, yogourt, etc.

So is there a line that we can draw?

>>> Yes. Milk is freely given by the animal. It is not flesh. There are many good dairy farms. If you buy organic or raw milk/yoghurt it is free from the taint of BGH or mistreatment of the animals. I drink the milk of goats who are lovingly cared for by the Khalsa.

Another part of this question is - Why do the sevadaars (volunteers) at Harmandir Sahib wash the parkarma with milk? Is this appropriate?

>> Yes. Milk and yoghurt have the ability to draw out toxins and impurities. That is why you can take a yoghurt bath to cleanse the skin and why we wash the body of somone who has died with yoghurt.

2) My second question related to Harbhajan Singh, also known as "Yogi Bhajan."

I recently visited his website at www.yogibhajan.com and it states there that Harbhajan Singh is the "Chief Religious and Administrative Authority for Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere."

I see this as a direspectful statement because the chief authority is only Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaaj, the light of knowledge in the Dark Age.

So why is this statement made?

>> "Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere" is an organization. It is simply a legal entity within the United States for the purposes of doing business in the US. He is the Chief Religious and Administrative Authority for the organization. Of course our supreme authority as Sikhs is Guru Granth Sahib Ji and only Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

3) My third question is in relation to Gurbani Music. I have searched many websites for music by talented Sikh artists such as Dya Singh, Waheguru Kaur, Singh Kaur and Harjinder Singh.

Could you please give me some links, information, contact numbers for places where I could purchase CD's by these artists? I live in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

Please give me names of all retailers - not only people related in business to Sikhnet.

>> I don't have the names of all such retailers, but why don't you start your search at http://www.a-healing.com or http://www.cherdikala.com/

I really appreciate your hardwork and dedication.

>> Thank you.

Thank you very much for your help.

Stay in Chardi Kalaa!!!

Waheguru Ji Ka KHalsa!!! Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh !!!