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Summary of Question: | Religion After "Near Dead Experience" |
Category: | General Q's from Non-Sikhs |
Date Posted: | Monday, 10/28/2002 9:50 PM MDT |
Dear All,
I always was a God loving person, but from an early age was critical of historic contradictions of human managed religions.
I was born in a Catholic country in Latinamerica.
Several years ago I went through what now is called a "near dead experience" after being considered "clinically dead" for almost one quarter of an hour while I was at intensive care in an hospital- several physicians familiar with my case have confided that they consider me as a "walking miracle". As far as I am concerned my physical body was dead (and I have suffered the sequels for years) while my soul met "Divinity" or "God" in a way which is extremely difficult to explain since the experience itself is impossible to describe accurately in any "human" language.
Thanks to "Its" Grace I was "sent back" to live on Earth with the specific mission of looking after some specific people and and even to start a family of my own, even though it was considered that I have already fulfilled the purpose of my own life.
All this through some kind of "though transmission".
If further "proof" is needed, suffice it to say that while I was "there" I received some revelations -good and bad happenings- about my own future life, that have fulfilled themselves at the expected times.
Needless to say after that experience my point of view about many things changed, I no longer considered myself as a "beliver" who relys on "faith in God", but as someone who "knows", has met or is definitevely certain about God; with a much more open mind towards religions in general I have studied a little about as many of them as I could, but I am very much aware of their shortcomings due to our own human nature while here on Earth and the immense difficulty to transmit the infinity of what one experiences in "Life after Life".
I was lucky enough to have met and befriended some of the very few Sikhs who live in my country and learnt as much as I could -but not enough- about Sikhism which I now consider one of the religions that best describes the nature of Divinity as I experienced it.
I always considered Religion as a path for human beings to be led to God, but the more I study the more I find that what was said are things that I already know; my feeling is that religion leads people to where I have already been.
My question thus is this, given my past experiences, Am I already beyond the normal scope of Religion? is there anything in the scriptures writen for people who no longer relies on faith to know the truth, but has had an experience of Afterlife itself? while I find that relion has little more to offer my love towards God and its creation grows everyday and work actively to help people in need and to streghten their faith in God - in whatever language thet choose to workship "Him/Her/It" as much as I can.
I think that all major religions have been inspired by God, but have been more or less been adapted -or translated- by humans in order to make the message understandable by people of different cultures and times, because even though the Truth is Eternal and Infinite our capacity to understand it is very limited.
I am very interested in spiritual matters but no longer feel attracted to outward demostrations of religion. I also have met the one woman who has the spirit I look after in the woman I expect to marry, and you guessed it, she is Sikh and have been invited by my friends to assist to Gurdwara and even to request a spiritual name. I would like to have a better understanding of the implications before considering making a commitment and above all to avoid hurting her.
What is the stand- or teachings- of Sikhism in cases like this?
Please excuse me for using quotes in some words, this is only to express the limitations of language, not to imply doubts on concepts. This is the kind of questions that are difficult to pose in person because people react in extrange ways when facing topics like this, as if challenged in their believes, which is far from my intention.
Thanking you for your advice, hope you can shed some light.
May you always have God in your thoughts
Francisco
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Sat Siri Akal.
Dear Francisco,
Thank you for writing to us and sharing your incredible and touching story with us. You are very blessed to have had such a powerful and direct experience of God and lived to tell the story, so to speak. You are very lucky to have a confirmed experience of what most people yearn to know as true.
So you asked two questions. Am I already beyond the normal scope of religion?
Yes and no. Many religions talk about God, but cannot actually deliver the experience of God. A few religions can deliver the experience of God, as long as you follow the spiritual discipline. So - you were gifted with a direct experience of the Divine and that does move you beyond the "normal" scope of most religions.
However, you are not beyond having a life that allows you to intergrate and express your experience in every-day reality. And in that way, there are religions (Sikhism being one of them) that may have something to offer you. Giving yourself a structure and form through which you can fully express the love you feel may be very valuable for you. When faith becomes experience, then experience must become committed action. And for that, a discipline is needed. You probably already have a spontaneous discipline from your experience - certain things you do and do not do, based on the knowledge that you gained. Your soul may want to investigate that further and see how it can manifest Divine Love through action. A spiritual discipline will give you the chance to keep that experience of God alive and fully manifest in every moment for the rest of your life.
Your second question: about marrying a Sikh woman.
If you want to marry a Sikh woman, do everything you can to understand the Sikh tradition. Because a Sikh woman bows to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib as Guru, and that Guru is her Guide, her Teacher and her Protector. The Siri Guru Granth Sahib takes a Sikh to the experience of God. In addition, the company of the holy, the community who also bows to the Guru, is her support. Where your wife bows, your children will also bow - and it is important to have a clear agreement up front about how your children will be raised. You'll find that your experience of God and the Sikh tradition will go hand-in-hand very well and it can be a very complimentary thing for you to support your children's relationship to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.
Take the time to study what Sikhism is so that you can enter into a partnership with this woman clearly and fully. Communicate about it very thoroughly ahead of time. Ask every question together, answer every question together, leave no stone unturned. Then, if you can build a life together based on shared values, virtues, character traits, with agreement about raising children and family codes - may God and Guru bless you both with infinite happiness.
God bless you. Thank you again for coming to the forum and the very best to you.
All love,
GPK