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Summary of Question:	Confused
Category:	Other
Date Posted:	Sunday, 6/03/2001 12:12 PM MDT

WAHA GURUJI KA KHALSA

WAHA GURU JI KI FATEH




SAT SRI AKAL
may guru bless all those who help the needfull pepole like us.

I am a twenty yr guy, i am very confused with the present day scenario. what gurbani teaches us and what this present world looks like ,there seem to be great contradictions . In gurbani it is said that all that appears is false, this family ,this body, this money, these busineses ,these jobs ,these relationships. if we know that these are all false then why we are after them at all ?
Is it wrong for we young people to study, to make our carrers, for we know that ultimately we are becoming educated so that tomorrow we may have better financial staus, a better image?, which acording to guruji is all false.
is it wrong for us to be ambitious?
Is it wrong to satisfy our parents's aspirations which today only seem to concerned that we make great carrers. if we know that is all is not going to come with us this wealth or education then why do we study or work or are forced to do so at all?
is it wrong for us to carve for respect ,respect in the society?
khalsaji i am so confused that sometimes i donot feel like doing anything
my negative mind tells me that why do anything when everything is false?

I fail to understand that if this is the truth of life then why donot we all become like this ? i fail to understand why our negative mind forces us to do certain things which we know are not going to end up anywhere? is our mind ,our will not enterily in our hands , does the control lie elsewhere?why we youth listen to this western poison bearing music at all?
why we all humans donot walk not gurumat way?why only some?
at times i find myself been torn apart by these questions, khalsaji, please please help me.
one needy sikh

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REPLY
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Dear One:

You are not needy, because you are Guru's Sikh. You are Gursikh who has a Siri Guru, who can answer ANY question of the mind. This is the first thing to remember and practice. When you have such questions, sit calmly, and meditate on your question. Then make ardas and still with mind on the question, take Hukum from Siri Guru. Your answer will be in the hukum.

The Khalsa path is a path of excellence. It is not wrong to pursue a career and education, to be the BEST you can be. HOWEVER, what Siri Guru tells us is that it is wrong to chase after money or wealth or our parents' idea of what we should be TO THE EXCLUSION of anything else. Our FIRST priority is to God and Guru, which is why we are taught to arise early and chant the Naam. We set our days and our lives by such practice, and then all the other things of this world fall into place. Being ATTACHED to ambition, money, fame & fortune will guarantee that we come back in earthly form again (and again). This is what is meant by the 'falseness' of such things. They are necessary to get along on this plane only, but a career and fame are ephemeral, hence they are false. They are NOT eternal truths. Remember too, that Guru respects those who respect Him, and who treat themselves with respect. Respect as defined by others is also false.

Sometimes our parents ambitions for us are NOT our highest truths. I speak from personal experience. My first priority was to be a Sikh (my parents are Catholic), but had my parents had anything to say about it, I would not be here as Sikh. Keep this in mind for yourself. If you want what your parents want for you, then that's OK. If you don't, you have the right as a Sikh to forge your own path of study and career. Sikh parents' first hope for their children should be that they love and serve Guru.

Guru Nanak in Japji Sahib tells us in pauris 17-19 that Lord has created ALL kinds of people, some who remember Him, some who do not. All power to create this variety is Waheguru's only. But Waheguru is in all of us. So, when we want to change circumstances of our life, or pursue a career or path of study, it is Waheguru in us who guides us in such a way. Do NOT be fatalistic. We have karmas but we also have free will to choose a better life (or not) and by Waheguru's grace we do it. Your doubts will FLEE if you practice the Naam. The more you practice, the more you will know what Waheguru wants for you and without much concious thought, you will have it. See Siri Guru Granth Sahib, p. 819, shabad that begins 'Dharat Suhavee safal thaan pooran bhae kaam", which explains how, by meditation on God, doubts and fears flee, and our affairs are arranged. You can look it up here on Sikhnet http://www.sikhnet.com. Click on Siri Guru Granth at the near top of the page.

Guru Rakha,
-DKK