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Summary of Question:	Re: Amritdhari Refusing Food From Non-Amritdhari's?
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Saturday, 10/12/2002 8:55 AM MDT

WaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa, WaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh!

I would like to clarify based on my understanding on this topic.
From what I understand, the thoughts of the person who prepares food has an impact on the person who eats this food. I guess that is the reason why we do paath while preparing karha prasaad. I have experienced this many a times- when I eat dinner outside, I would get dreams and I am quite sure that the contents of those dreams are related to what the person was thinking when they were preparing food.

My understanding is that, Gursikhs eating food from amritdhari's only have this belief that another amritdhari would be doing simran or paath while preparing food whereas they cannot be sure about the thoughts of a non-amritdhari. I believe that having food from outside may impact their simran and push them away from realizing the goal of this life - to meet God.

We see that Guru Nanak also refused to eat the special food from the house of tyrant rich man Malik Bhago whereas he ate the simple food from the house of Bhai Lalo. We can not question the wisdom of Guru Nanak Dev ji, but we see that the kind of earnings one has (honest living) is also important. This can also be applied that we can be sure that an Amritdhari, living by guruji's rehit, will have an honest earning whereas we can not be sure about the rest.

In gurbani also, one shabad comes on ang 811 -

su(n)thun kaa dhaanaa rookhaa so surub nidhhaan ||
The dry bread of the Saints is equal to all treasures.

grih saakuth chhutheeh prukaar thae bikhoo sumaan ||2||
The thirty-six tasty dishes of the faithless cynic, are just
like poison. ||2||

So, we must not criticize the behaviour of the amritdharis refusing food from non-amritdharis. Please forgive if I made mistakes in understanding gurmat.

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REPLY
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Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.
Thank you for this perspective. I find it enlightening.

Still, it is impolite if not fanatic to operate one's entire life acting as if the food of anyone non-Amritdhari is poison. For Amritdhari Sikhs who do NOT live in a Sikh-dominant society, this means that one never eats socially with non-Sikh friends or non-Amritdhari family. It means that when one is traveling long distances on business, say, that one must always pack a lunch or starve. This practice is really only practical in Sikh-dominated societies, such as Amritsar or Indian communities overseas that are largely Sikh. While this is certainly a choice, the question is: Is this what Guru Gobind Singh wanted? Or Guru Nanak? If we are to be 960 million, then we will be everywhere on the planet and not all Amritdhari. One could be missing a wonderful meal by someone who is non-Amritdhari but so full of light and prayer that the food reflects it! BTW, one of the reasons to pray before eating is to clear the food of any energy that is not healthy, as you describe above, and to restore the energetic purity of the food. Waheguru ang sang,
-DKK