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Summary of Question:	Sacred Thread
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Thursday, 6/28/2001 6:41 PM MDT

Vaheguru Ji Ka khalsa Vaheguru Ji Ka Fateh

Could you kindly answer the following questions for me. What is the significance of the sacred thread in Sikhi and what is the significance of fear in one's life. At one point in time I was experiencing alot of frightening dreams particularly frightening was the one I had the day before I was baptised. I still had these type of dreams after. They don't come so often now but is there anything you can suggest I do before going to bed (apart from reciting Kirtan Sohila or doing simran) Also is there hope for someone who disobeys Vaheguru?

Thank you
Sat Sri Akal
And God Bless you

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REPLY
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Dear One:

Sat Siri Akaal. The sacred thread is not a Sikh practice, it is Hindu. I do not know its significance.

Fear can be crippling. The only good purpose fear serves is in those situations where fight or flight is the response. For example, being scared of a runaway elephant enough to get out of the way could very well save your life. If you fear someone, it might be for good reason, so listen to such a fear and see if it has basis in how that person conducts their life or is it that you don't relate to him/her well.

Sikhs are taught to be fearless. Now, this doesn't mean that we engage in fights when the SMART thing to do is to walk away from a situation or not engage in it at all. Fear can offer a way of discriminating between good and bad. Everyone experiences fear, but what we must do is transmute the fear to courage to face or somehow deal with what makes us afraid. Bani and simran are excellent ways to build the strength of spirit to do this. They are also excellent in clearing the subconcious mind. Dreams come from our subconcious. They can represent ANYTHING: a karmic experience, a symbol of such an experience, our deepest fear, etc etc. When we meditate a lot, we don't dream so much. If we don't meditate, we dream more. If we don't meditate OR dream, we can go crazy, for the subconcious mind MUST be cleared somehow.

So actually, Kirtan Sohila and some extended Naam Simran before sleep would be very good to practice to stop the nightmares. I do not know what else to suggest, unless you think you need to see a therapist or dream specialist. There are folks who can interpret dreams, but since they can mean one of so many things, then how do you know if they are right? A therapist might be able to help you understand where the dream is coming from. Suchh an understanding can help immensely. I am thinking that you have had frightening dreams so often that the fear of such a thing brings on the dreams--which is entirely understandable, I am not criticizing you. See panna 819, Bilaval M. 5, shabad ending 2.12.76, beginning "Dharat suhavee safal thaan pooran hoe kaam". This shabd explains simply how simran makes fears flee. You can find it here on Sikhnet Web site under Siri Guru Granth (both English and Gurmukhi).

There is ALWAYS hope for one who disobeys Waheguru. USe search-word 'forgiveness' on this Forum and search for other queries/replies involving people who thought that they were/are so bad, they could never be forgiven. Waheguru is all compassionate. This is said again and again in Siri Guru.

Guru rakha,
-DKK