The Indian System of Accounts

Materials are inferior to the spirit. They cannot be enjoyed beyond a single life. The spirit is indestructible. Therefore, an understanding of its true nature is a cardinal aim of India and her indigenous religions.

Core values affect accounting. You have to keep track of your most precious assets. Society demands accountability for liabilities. There are notions of profit. Losses are perceived in a number of ways. Money is one of them.

Financial systems are related to worldly matters. They are followed in India as in other countries. Colonial powers have contributed the Industrial Revolution, professional business management, and the stock market system to the world, apart from Christianity.

Islam traverses the material and intangible worlds in its own way. It not only prescribes a philosophy of higher living, but dictates how business and commerce should be run as well.

India is blessed. She has received the fruits of western thoughts, as well as the full spectrum of Muslim evolution. Both western and Islamic systems of banking and commerce are welcome in this Holy Land. All religions are protected by the Constitution.

India does not receive alone, but offers just as lovingly. We have our unique system of accounts. Hindus and Sikhs both believe in Karma. Accounting is of actions and thoughts, rather than in currency terms. Reporting is to the Living Guru rather than to a stock exchange. The period of review covers an entire lifetime. The dividend is paid in terms of the next life, while the present form of the spirit represents accounts of the previous life. A business organization plans for future growth. Indian scripture aims for salvation.

The Indian Way to Security

Pride Loots Our Homes Like a Thief

You know when a powerful person of Kaliyuga passes on the road by the length of his or her convoy. 21st century leaders are so perceived by their constituencies that they cannot serve them without security.

Lord Krishna acted as charioteer, but he needed no bodyguard even in the midst of Kurukshetra. The Sikh Gurus protected others from physical assaults, but asked for no defenses from others. Lord Gautama Buddha, Mahavir Jain, and innumerable Holy people of timeless India
have meditated alone and endured great penances without protection in any mortal form.

The truth is that there can be no protection as long as we do not recognize the enemy. The Word of the Living Guru teaches us that the worst criminal may lurk inside our brains and in our hearts. No outsider can protect us from ourselves.

It is the same with impulses from which we suffer to protect our links with the Divine. A different approach to God, other than our own, makes us angry. We have to erase the copy. However, the Living Guru does not endorse any monopoly. Our pride not only robs us, but fools us in to delusion as well. It need not be so. The Living Guru is always by our sides. The Living Guru dispels all doubts. The Living Guru eradicates all delusion, anger, ego, envy, and lust. The Living Guru protects us at all times from enemies within.

Indian Panacea

Without Understanding, Everything Is Suffering

All people experience the confusion of Prince Siddharth. The spiritual leaders of India have been spared the physical agonies of nails and stakes that characterize European history. Our ancient places of worship have been razed and sacked, but it is not the Indian way to retaliate with force and violence, even in the face of the gravest provocation. That is why Mahatma Gandhiji asked his followers to bear lathi blows at Dandi without demur.

Forbearance is no sign of mental weakness. Great Indians have always shown indomitable courage through unremitting commitments to peace. Both 20th century famines of West Bengal were astonishing in that looting was unknown even though people starved in front of private grain shops.

The Indian way of non-violent struggle is famous all over the world. Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King are celebrity practitioners of a culture nurtured in the sacred soil of India through centuries. Anger and envy are common emotions. How does an Indian fly above the turbulence of ego, delusion, and lust?

We are indebted to our spiritual leaders for the unique religious inheritance all Indians share. They have left us scripture that makes tolerant living easy , even in the face of unremitting adversity. Communion with God and peace are inseparable. This mental state is neither imposed nor feigned. It is a mark of realization, emancipation, and the only passport we really need.

Listening and Indian Spirituality

Listening Attentively Leads the Spiritually Blind to God

Lust, anger, ego, delusion, and envy distance us from the Living Guru. Our mortality makes our ritualistic observances nearly futile. God has neither time nor value for lip service. The Living Guru has warned that there is no necessary merit in pilgrimage, prayer, or penance. Commitment to the spiritual will brook neither qualification nor break.

Is communion with God elitist? Certainly, Sikhism will accept no such condition, for egalitarianism of the Living Guru is an integral feature. The concept of equality before God must allow all beings the same opportunities to achieve victories over the belittling cyele of life and death.

The Japji Sahib is a great liberator. It is comprehensive, convenient, and common for all comers. You may follow another religion, swear by your disbelief, and dwell in a land other than India. This word of the Living Guru can lead you towards a better way of living.

An outwardly devoted Sikh, replete with turban and all the other symbols of discipleship, may fail to obtain the Grace of the Almighty. How can this be? What is this scripture which welcomes outsiders, but is stern with its own flock? The answer lies in the very essence of anthropomorphism.

All people have the same hearing systems and brain structures. You may be born a Sikh and ignore the Word of the Living Guru. You can also be from any other background and allow your mind to resonate with words, thoughts, and actions of a single, serene, and supreme authority. This is only way to earn the Grace of God.

I take this opportunity to apologize for missing a post for yesterday. I had to be away from the Internet for most of the day, and returned late as well as mentally exhausted.

India Has Just One Tree

Mahatma Gandhi changed India. He restored the Mother Land to freedom. His beacon keeps shining for us. We can use his writings to unearth the secrets of our national heritage.

Religious strife has tormented India. Power, societal relations, and passionate faith drive violent and destructive divisions even in this Millennium. It seems to be a continuum of forced and induced conversions of Indians from one religion to another, which has plagued us since Medieval times.

The indigenous religions of India never asked their followers to convert others to the faith. Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not go around seeking votes, promoting himself. Even today, you can enter any abode of the Living Guru, whether you are a practicing Sikh or not. Similarly, you can see people in turbans paying obeisance at Hindu temples. The co-existence of our Gurudwaras with Churches, Mosques, and all establishments of worship, is the most beautiful of sights of Mother India. Our Armed Forces, of which Group Captain (Retired) Premjit Singh is an illustrious alumnus, are distinguished not just by valor, but by kinship of professionals from different faiths.

We may have been subjects of Great Britain, France, and Portugal during 2008, were it not for Mahatma Gandhi. The colonial evil prevailed only because Indians were divided and fought each other on petty pretexts.

Please take some time to save India by reflecting today on the following words of Mahatma Gandhi:

"Religion as branches are many. Religion as a tree is one".

The Sanctuary of India

O Nanak, The Gurmukhs Live in Absolute Peace

Duality is a burden of mortality. We remain trapped in the cycle of life and death through delusion. The true natures of those we love to hate stay out of the range of our collective vision. Physical attacks and vilification on our peers reflect our miserable failures to recognize forms of a universal spirit. Anger, envy. lust, illusions, and ego lead us to disasters and unremitting discontent.

Non-duality is a uniquely Indian philosophy. It has survived through the recorded history of this sub-continent. It is remarkable that India has been so tolerant of exotic streams of spirituality, without ever losing her own intrinsic genius. Do you know of another country where the entire spectrum of religious thought, from aboriginal allegory to the secular expression of the Bahai co-exist in harmony?

Yesterday's post made tributary references to the late Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, one of the Presidents of our Republic. This illustrious builder of modern India was part of a generation that taught us to treasure our unity in diversity. Religion is a supreme dimension of the eternal Indian character. All those who observe any of the indigenous religions of our country are enjoined in non-duality.

The Indian inheritance of Advaita delivers worldly benefits as well. Contentment is the fruit granted by the Living Guru to those who live by Scripture. It is not a mere symbol that the Guru Granth Sahib is held in such unqualified esteem wherever Indians reside. Each of its directives and prescriptions help us rise above the cycle of mortal life.

The Living Guru is a universal sanctuary. It is not open to Indians alone. However, an essential piece of India blends with you whenever you traverse the doors to one of its abodes. The Living Guru is omnipresent and omnipotent.

We have no unmet need for Nirvana when we dedicate all our thoughts and actions to the Living Guru.

The Scholar President of India

Every President of India is special. You are the Head of the most populous Republic in the world. Representatives of one in every six humans on select you for this office. You have to be impartial towards friends and foes. You are the Supreme Commander of all military resources entrusted with the defense of the Mother Land. You cannot inherit this honor. It is a sacred duty, and pinnacle of all the 8.4 million lifetimes.

It would be scurrilous to suggest that any one person who has ever occupied this highest of Indian offices could any better than peers. However, there must be joyful and reverent consensus that Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was one of the most scholarly titans to grace our Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi with his august and haloed presence.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday is celebrated as Teachers' Day. It is a tribute to his spirit and philosophy.

This President was a prolific writer. Perhaps no Indian has ever matched him for the sheer volumes of translations and commentaries on ancient and sacred texts of India. However, the erudite spirit was no mere scribe, for he has also made classic and mountainous contributions to the evolution of the ethos of modern India.

The secular aspirations of India concerned the President. He was both a Head of State and a deeply religious Hindu. Our colonial rulers first conceived of separate roles for their Church and Government. This was a tacit recognition of power divisions between the religious and ruling leaders of India since time immemorial.

Dr. Radhakrishnan has averred that avoiding shows of partisan faith at official forums alone is not enough: the secular commitment of our constitution demands tolerance for the beliefs of others.

The words ring true to this day. We ignore them at our national peril.

A Universal Declaration from India

God Is in the Heart of All Beings

Anyone can treat their loved ones with respect. Civilization defines how people deal with others who have opposing interests and views.

Tolerance and non-violence are the most Indian of fundamental concepts. Our shared ancestors resisted urges to use violence or any form of physical force. Mahatma Gandhi showed the world that deep and abiding commitment can thrive with peace alone. He was also extraordinarily gentle and courteous towards his oppressors.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji lived many generations before the Mahatma. He too preached the path of peace and harmony. It was the same with Mahavir Jain, Lord Gautama Buddha, and the icons of Aryan culture who lived thousands of years before Jesus Christ.

The United States, Canada, most of Latin America, and Israel, are examples of modern nations formed by the forced colonization of occupied lands. Countries such as Japan have forcibly and violently preserved their isolation until their national collapse at the end of World War II.

Europe, including the United Kingdom, stands out in the comity of nations. Many members of the European Union have invaded each other at various points of time. The crusades, colonization, persecution of Jews, and ridicule of Islam, have all originated from this land mass.

South Africa is perhaps the only country that shares India's legacy of peace and tolerance. However, even that bastion of the Southern Hemisphere does not match India in her quintessential spirituality.

Swami Vivekananda has declared that India will lead the world, not materially, but in spirit, not by war, but through peace.

Indians, including the diaspora, have a legacy of tolerance. Just as others nurse their inherited wealth with dedication, so must we live this one of our more than 8 million life cycles.

How can we be tolerant and peaceful? The Living Guru of the Sikhs shows a way. It is a direct command to us from Guru Nanak Dev Ji in person.

We have to revere those who oppose us, insult our beliefs, copy the Gurus we hold so dear, and hurt us in endless ways.

They too, are children of our God.

The Value System of India

Many Indians must share the quandary of Lord Gautama Buddha prior to his enlightenment.

Some of us are born in to families with great material wealth, while others attain it through strife during their lifetimes.

Most of us are discontented, while only very few have attained peace and bliss.

The stage when one seeks something beyond tangible assets.

Asceticism distinguishes the holiest children of Mother India.

Why does Indian spirituality shun material splendor?

The 26th Pauri of the Japji Sahib has an eloquent and memorable answer.

Please post below, or write to UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com if you would like an English translation of the Japji Sahib.

The Japji Sahib will help you find new meaning for your station in life.

The Eternal & Shared Legacy of all Indians

A Gurumukh Lives as per the Teachings of the Guru

You can live in Kashmir, Kanyakumari, Jamnagar, Jorhat, or anywhere in-between. You might be of any age and background. Perhaps you are of Indian origin but live abroad. You may be a capitalist, a communist, someone in the middle, or quite undecided. However, like Prince Charles of Great Britain, you have an incredible heritage, only more valuable by far.

This one, of more than 8 million apparitions of your soul, has been chosen to be a Gurumukh. It is a rare opportunity to rise above the cycle of mortality forever. Nirvana is not Utopian for the spiritual Indian. All it takes is to live by the Word of the Living Guru. God has always been online in India. An abode for the Living Guru is the essential symbol of India. Do not fret if you lack fluency in your mother tongue, for the Japji Sahib is available in English as well, courtesy our Chief Trustee, Group Captain (Retired) Premjit Singh.

One lifetime is minuscule for the import of the Japji Sahib. That is why you should lose not a day to begin its diligent study. Like a proverbial genie, the Japji Sahib delivers a new gift of insight with each rendering. Every recitation is unique, for it is a form of direct communion with the Living Guru.

No heirloom is ever truly yours alone. That is why mere recitation of the Japji Sahib is only a first step. The Living Guru expects that the Eternal and Shared Legacy for all Indians is carried forward without a break.

This is the inheritance of Mother Ujjal and Dr. Jeevan Singh that we invite you to carry forward, for all our descendants to honor with all their might.

The Indian Path to Peaceful Bliss

We all want the same thing at the end of the day. The comment by Group Captain (Retired) Premjit Singh on yesterday's post is an eloquent exposition on the irony of mortality. Unity never leaves human consciousness completely, yet the laity remains vulnerable to the forces of disruption. Technological progress has left social evolution behind. How can we make a turn for the better?

The Guru is an entirely Indian phenomenon. All indigenous rivers of faith that have sprung from this sacred soil point to leadership of eternal individuals. The latter spend significant parts of certain lives to transcend the cycle of life and death. Peace and bliss are hallmarks of Gurus. Everyone cannot aspire to be a Guru, but the state of composure is a secular goal.

Scripture bridges the intellectual gap between philosophy and everyday living. Premjit's comment yesterday shows that we know the truth, but find it difficult to adhere to its tenets. Any person of faith can improve the quality of life by day through recitation and introspection of Scripture. The direct teachings of Gurus reverberate in mortal brains, and guide us to the highest state of peace and bliss.

O Nanak, No Obstacles Block My Way

The Priceless Gift of India

We Are All Children of One Father

This is one of the supreme teachings of the Japji Sahib. It is a cardinal principle for all Indians to follow. The Japji Sahib exhorts us to remain steadfast in obedience to the Will of God. It is a priceless and timeless gift with which all Indians can start each day. There is no room for any of us to harbor anger, lust, ego, delusion, or envy. Since we are all children of one Father, our family must include everyone.

Equality is a primary driver of civilization. Other forms of life, as far as we know, do not discriminate against members of their own species. Ignorance, inappropriate thoughts, and wrong actions, lead mortals in to adversarial positions against one another. We need a common prop to realize the truth. Scripture such as the Japji Sahib is an eternal Indian path to realization. It reminds us, through daily recitation, that all of us, including our opponents, are actually a single family under the tutelage of God.

Though all indigenous spirituality of Mother India springs from a single source, each tributary has enchanting nuances of its own. Sikhism is most prominent in abiding commitment to equality. Only the Living Guru is superior. The rest of us are equal. No one is superior. No one is a lesser child of God. You do not have to be a Sikh to enter an abode of the Living Guru. However, no matter where in the world you may be, you can rest assured that the Living Guru is at home and welcomes you without qualification.

Sikhs endure super-human hardships to pioneer settlements in all corners of Earth. They may have no comforts or security, but they inevitably establish an abode of the Living Guru as one of their first social acts. The Japji Sahib is a convenient way for anyone to realize God, no matter where in the Universe life may take us.

It is the best gift that India offers to all who are willing to receive it.

An Indian Failing

No One Can Describe God Fully

The root religion of India sees God in infinite forms. Saints of India have evolved special visions of the Supreme Being. They have also attained such peaks of spirituality that they are widely revered as Gurus. This is the history of anthropomorphic religions such as that of Sikhs.

Believers worship Gurus as God, and indeed no one can deny this form of the Almighty. However, the Gurus themselves have not referred to God in personal terms. They have prescribed ways of realizing the truth, but have always proclaimed that God defies definition.

We can experience the powers of God. Scripture, prayer, introspection, rituals, and sermons help us perceive the universal presence of God. The Gurus stand as eternal beacons in the darkness of our delusions. Perceptions of God are like floating in a limitless ocean. There is something new for us to realize every moment.

Gurus meditated for years before they could realize the truth about God. What should ordinary house-holders do? The daily practice of an Indian includes liberal doses of spirituality. It is common to pray at dawn, dusk, noon, before meals, and on all significant occasions. This approach is fundamentally different from going to a House of God once a week, or even less frequently. It is a defining difference between Indians and others. Not all Indians pray several times each day. This is a result of globalization. After all, even communism is a foreign concept for the Mother Land of India. This land never excludes any person. That is why the country is so full of different faiths, as well as no faith. Indian diaspora is another result of modern relations between countries. Indians now live in all parts of the world. How can you recognize an Indian in the classic sense of the term, whether resident or otherwise?

Not all Indians will answer such a question in even manner. However, the Ujjal Jeevan Charitable Trust is dedicated to serving God through the poor. We have been taught to see God in all things, but we learn, every day, from the Japji Sahib, that it is futile to put any boundaries on the vision of God.

The Indian Reality of Maya

It is like water.

You cannot know the source for sure, because it is cyclical and sustained.

All indigenous religions of India agree on the nature of reality.

Maya is more than a root word of many tongues of this land.

It is an oceanic concept in to which rivers of introspection over the ages have poured their offerings.

Maya is disruptive. It contradicts many fruits of concrete intelligence.

It is especially harsh on the conventional senses of humans.

Who can accept the pettiness of enmity or ego?

Perhaps it is the splendor of the Almighty that is easier to translate in to daily living.

That must be why Indians find it easier to prostrate before symbols of God, than to see the essential unity in all the diversity that surrounds us.

Scripture is an enabling panacea to live as per the dictates of the Indian philosophy of Maya and its powers to ensnare us.

This is a prime benefit of daily recitation of the Japji Sahib.

Live By the Word of God to Escape Entrapment by Maya of Mortal Senses

Are you a victim of Maya. Do you seek escape?

Or are you a victor?

Post below, or email UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

A Most Indian Prayer

May The Fires of Our Kitchens Serve For Ever

Trust Sikhs to take observances to extremes!

All people share meals as a means of developing close inter-personal relationships.

Modern etiquette favors eating in restaurants and partaking of extravagant banquets.

Indian traditions of hospitality require us to serve guests food and refreshments as representatives of God.

The community kitchen is part and parcel of every abode of the Living Guru.

A meal at a Gurudwara is a moving experience.

Men and women, rich and poor, people of all backgrounds, and even inquisitive visitors, all eat together.

The food is nutritious but simple.

Hygiene standards are the best possible.

Service is by the faithful and their children. There are no professional caterers.

No one is turned away: not even those of other or no faiths.

The servers do not eat until every one else has been satiated.

All community families take turns at serving.

Each meal starts with Ardas.

No day is complete without community meals in the presence of the Living Guru.

All Sikhs pray that their community kitchens never stop.

There is no better place to eat or to serve the Indian way than an Abode of the Living Guru.

The Essence of Indian Marriages

The social phenomenon of marriage separates civilized humans from other creatures of God. It is so central to the human experience that even social revolutionaries fight to retain this form of recognition. Some States in America allow homosexuals to marry.

Physical union is integrated in to marriage, but western civilizations have broken links of exclusivity in this respect. This trend is perhaps the highest cost that modern India has paid in a frenzied bid to keep up with the west. Many young Indians of today live together out of wedlock. It is a monumental tragedy that some of them have iconic powers.

It would be misleading to blame a new generation alone for the decay in our social values. Traditionalists who promote and practice dowry, child marriage, and other forms of abuse, are equally guilty.

It appears that the sacred institution of marriage is as much under attack in India as elsewhere in the world.

What should we do?

Two Bodies Merge in to a Single Spirit

Find your life partner. Take this oath in the presence of the Living Guru after Ardas. You are married for eternity. Your soul has merged with another. Nothing else is required. No one can challenge you. There is no other bliss you can know.

Remember that the Living Guru must be witness to the ceremony. Your dress, behavior, food, and drink, must be appropriate for this Almighty presence.

Consider also that the laws which allow two bodies to separate or divorce are made by mortals. A united spirit cannot be divided in the Court of the Living Guru.

Finally, accept that you may sever a limb or remove some organ from a body, but the Spirit is indivisible. The marriage of this life only rejoins two bodies that have come together earlier. Even death cannot break the bond of marriage.

This is the lesson of Mother Ujjal and Dr. Jeevan Singh.

The Secular Litmus Test of an Indian Religion

Tolerance qualifies spirituality.

Communists are better citizens than fundamentalists.

People are social animals. The dictates of personal conscience cannot infringe the liberties of others. It is a necessity for the co-existence of diverse faiths in equality and freedom.

India is unique in the comity of nations. It has been regularly invaded, and in a variety of forms. However, temples and religions are the only edifices of its contributions to other countries. All intervention is voluntary. That is why Muslims of Indonesia preserve the Indian names of their country, ancestors, and selves. It is the same with Thailand.

No major stream of human spirituality is absent from this Empire of the Spirit. Religion is in never-ending evolution here, with a participatory flavor that builds community spirit while respecting individual privacy at the same time.

Eons of exchanges with other civilizations have merged the Indian spirit of religious thought and action in to estuaries of confluence with seas of extraneous practices. The Indian diaspora is now a significant force on earth.

How can we distinguish the indigenous and pure essence of India in conventional religious observances, be they domestic or in a foreign place?

Tolerance is a simple but certain mark of India.

A part of the truth is as you perceive it. Help is always at hand. Communion with God is personal. All things are equal. Conscience prevails. Force is kept in reserve for as long as possible. The ambiance is of service and humility.

These are experiences of a Gurudwara visit. You can enter the portals of the Living Guru at any latitude and longitude on earth. Each encounter is unique and yet the same. It is an instantaneous yet lasting way of keeping Mother India in your heart and her ideals in your head.

You can enjoy similar benefits by daily recital of the Japji Sahib.

Have a wonderful day.

India Prays in Supplication

It may be a beginning or an end.

The occasion could be a simple meal, or a grand marriage ceremony.

We may celebrate birth or perform the solemn duties after death of a loved one.

Our purpose may be to recite Scripture or to start a new venture.

Everything in India starts and ends with supplication.

Groups of people remember God with folded hands.

This is a sign of India.

We praise God, and offer thanks for the bounties we enjoy.

We pray together and for each other.

Supplication in India is both universal and personal.

Each prayer has parts handed down by our Guru, and others that we compose on our own.

That is why each supplication is unique.

All supplication, individual variations notwithstanding, has one timeless and unitary aim.

Waheguru

The Indian Way to Forgiveness

Every mortal needs to be forgiven.

It starts even before birth as mothers have to forgive their offspring for a string of wrong-doings. Some of these are involuntary, while others, especially after birth and growth, are effects of lust, greed, delusion, ego, and anger.

All religions try to show paths to forgiveness. God in every form is both patient and magnanimous. Some forms of Christianity prescribe confession. The laity can seek forgiveness through the clergy. Islam has stringent laws. Shariat hands out painful and physical punishment, so the focus is on prevention rather than repeated and easy forgiveness. Hinduism is undecided: Vaishnavs and Shaktas have differing concepts of forgiveness. Shaivaites perceive destruction as a part of the cycle of new creation.

Sikhism is anthropomorphic. The Living Guru is supreme. All beings are equal. Each of us has to be our own advocates in the Court of God. Forgiveness acquires a new dimension in this context. We must participate in judgments of our own wrong-doings. The Living Guru is not a gullible mother to forgive all the time for the same torts, repeated without end. Neither is the Living Guru vicious: the doors are not closed to anyone, and no one experiences physical pain during an audience. The Sikh diaspora have established abodes of the Living Guru everywhere, and the World Wide Web makes personal communion with God even more accessible. You can drop in and seek solace and victuals every day.

Our Chief Trustee has kindly made a comment on yesterday's post. It shows forgiveness in new light. Thank you for scrolling down, reading what Group Captain (Retired) Premjit Singh has said, and reflecting on it for your own sustainable advantages.

May The Lord Grant Grace to Us in Mercy

Courage of Conscience in India

Is a Sikh a disciple, a tiger, or both?

The Living Guru must be pleased to know that the turban and uncut hair have become so seamlessly associated with raw courage. You may or may not have Sikh friends, but the whole world knows them to be fighters par excellence. Few other communities have made matching sacrifices in the defense of the Mother Land. Sikhs are known for their martial qualities around the world.

A Sikh is a tiger or a tigress only in the physical sense. Mentally, they are disciples if they recite the Japji Sahib every day, as they are born to do,

Discipleship and courage go together. A disciple knows only one fear.

Use the Fear of God to Fan Flames of Internal Purification

Fear of God makes a Sikh indomitable and courageous without exception.

It is the only fear, with no reason or space to be scared of any mortal.

The brave disciple fears only God.

The Living Guru brooks no disobedience, but it liberates from fear.

The Living Guru is available to all.

Our Chief Trustee, Group Captain (Retired) Premjit Singh has translated the Japji Sahib in to English. Get a free copy today by leaving a post below, or by emailing

UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

The Indian View of Time

Indians are sometimes the subject of jokes because we are not as conscious of time as occidentals. Even the Japanese are more particular about punctuality than many Indians are.

The civilization of India predates clocks and wrist-watches. People used the Sun in ancient times to approximate the time of day. The hours from dusk to dawn were kept largely for rest. This may be a part of the reason for many Indians being weak at adhering to schedules. It is not a good habit, regardless of its origins: time is a precious resource, and we must be disciplined in avoiding its waste, especially when others are involved.

The Living Guru has a different notion of time compared to that of modern life. Indian Scripture perceives this dimension in a larger context. The rituals of traditional Indian life place great importance on the precise planetary positions during birth, marriage, important festivals, and death. However, religious philosophy of our Mother Land heaps scorn on all conventional concepts of time.

God is eternal. Everything else is transient. There is no permanent reality other than the Divine. The Universe is an illusion. God has been present since the beginning of Creation. God will continue to prevail beyond the limits of our comprehension,

The Word of the Living Guru links time to the supremacy of God. The Japji Sahib recognizes that God is beyond time. Eternity is an exclusive preserve of the Almighty.

The Living Guru is also above time. It links us in this Millennium to Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who first gifted us with this supreme truth some 500 years ago. We seek the Grace of God so that our descendants may honor the Living Guru who can never die.

Please post your concepts of time and experiences with the Living Guru below, or email UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

Please also spare some thoughts and financial support for S. Inder Singh and Shri Bihari Lal, whose appeals appear alongside this panel.

The Essential Unity Of All Children of Mother India

A Unitary God Vibrates Universally In All Creations

Guru Nanak Dev Ji faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles in presenting the world with his spiritual revelations. The 16th century after the times of Christ were dark with ignorance. India was no exception in those days.

The Guru was born in the strict confines of a conservative Hindu family. His early life was dominated by a feudal governance that brooked no deviation from the path of Islam.

Religious strife has never been far from the land of the five rivers that quintessentially belongs to Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Perhaps this is why the Guru created an anthropomorphic path to God.

The life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are Universal and Timeless. His words are as relevant 500 years from the first day that he uttered them, and our descendants will continue to abide by them for eternity. Everyone can and should be a Sikh in the true sense of the term. All traditional Sikhs can participate fully in every secular forum. This is why you find Sikhs all over the world, living in the strangest of circumstances, but true to the Living Guru.

Sikhism is essentially Indian. It sets you apart no matter which passport you hold. It brings you to the Kingdom of the Living Guru, no matter where you may reside.

Let us celebrate the Spirit of India by unflinching obedience to the Word of the Living Guru. God is within each of us, and all beings are equal.

The Divine Law of India

You Shall Reap The Fruits of Your Deeds

It is unusual for the Living Guru to be strict. The Sikh religion is forgiving, benign, and benevolent.

However, there is no escape from the accounting of deliberate actions, whether they are good or bad.

The Japji Sahib joins all tributaries of Indian faith in its allegiance to the philosophy of reincarnation.

Modern science, through physics, genetics, and biochemistry, recognizes the continuity of life.

The concept of each action having a discrete effect is timeless in India.

The Divine Law of Action gives special meanings to all those who value the Indian way of life. It is a clarion call for unbending ethics, and humane morality. Sikhs who obey the Living Guru, and all other Indians, who are children of this sacred soil, face incessant challenges to overpower evil motivations that threaten to break their links with God.

Do you believe that kind, truthful, and correct acts today can stand you in good stead in future?

Are you aware that evil in every form will eventually catch up with you?

What would you like to leave behind, and to carry with you, when your soul finally leaves the body of today?

Please post your views below, or email:

UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

Start Every Day With The Japji Sahib Or Any Other Scripture Of Your Calling

True and Illusive Penance in India

Penance joins all believers.

Every mortal being must endure penance.

We know that we have done wrong even when we pretend outwardly to be right and good.

Even the most glorious founders of the religions of India had to endure penance. Lord Gautama Buddha, Guru Nanak Dev, and innumerable Hindu Sages spent long periods in the lap of Nature to meditate and realize the Truth of God.

Penance is one of the Sacraments of religions that are not indigenous to India, though our Mother Land denies none of their practices.

Penance is therefore universal for people of all major faiths.

However, not all penance is the same.

Penance has some extravagant traditions and conventions. These include ostentatious pilgrimages, inhumane sacrificial rituals, egoistic donations in material forms, and high-profile abstentions from food and drink.

We may delude others and even our own selves by mockeries of penance, but the Grace of God will not accrue through any pretense.

Scripture shines like a wide and bright beam to show a path to true penance.

The Japji Sahib, which is the Word of God for the disciples of the Living Guru of India, has a clear and easy prescription to adhere to true penance.

All we need to do is to accept God without qualification. Unbroken communion with God is true penance.

The pressures of everyday living tempt us back in to the ways of anger, greed, lust, delusion, and envy. These lapses undo the fruits of our true penance.

That is why daily recitation of Scripture is so efficacious. It is a pure and true form of penance.

The Japji Sahib guides the thoughts and actions of all practicing Sikhs. These original Words of the Living Guru are always available all over Mother Earth.

The Japji Sahib inspires the Ujjal Jeevan Charitable Trust.

Thank you for your kind visit to our web log, and for your patience.

Please come again and visit yesterday's post to review our Aims and Objectives.

Thank you for voluntary donations to support our Trust in the service of the poor.

May God Guide Your Penance to Truth.

TRUST PROFILE

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE TRUST

The sole aim of the trust is to serve and promote the welfare of the suffering humanity at large, irrespective of caste, colour, creed, sex or nationality

1. To look after the welfare of the poor and needy persons, that is, orphans, widows, the aged, the blind, deaf and dumb persons, destitute, physically or mentally challenged persons through financial and/or medical assistance.
2. To honour such exemplary men/women who have led an “Ujjal Jeevan”, that is, those who have lead their public life honestly, with dignity, integrity and with commitment to righteous causes.
3. To co-operate, to associate with, or to assist other charitable organisations, societies or body of persons, who are engaged in purposes which are conducive to, or are in furtherance of the aims and objectives of this trust, in the form of financial assistance to charitable dispensaries/hospitals, medical camps, homes for the aged and the poor, educational, social, and welfare institutions.
4. To maintain, run, or assist schools /colleges whose prime objective, besides conduct of curricula, is to build noble character in the future generations.
5. To promote research in, and study of, theology in its broadest secular context. To print, publish, sell or distribute gratuitously the results of the study/research, in the form of books, to the public at large. To print/post articles in Blog spots, journals, periodicals, or leaflets, that the trust may consider desirable for the promotion of its objectives, and,
6. To fulfill all charitable purposes, as defined, in section 2 (15) of the income tax act.

How Indians Live the Word of the Living Guru

Trust the Japji Sahib, regardless of the faith or the ideology that drives your life. We have discussed yesterday how India emphasizes the imperative to empower the soul. Today we search for an answer on how this may be done.
The Japji Sahib has a four-pronged approach to the empowerment of the soul.
Sweet language is the first milestone on the journey to personal empowerment through spirituality. The unvarying self-control that delivers courteous talk and behavior is easily achieved by a person who recites the Word of God as a daily practice.
Humility is the second plank on which empowerment of the soul can be built. This is the Word of God contained in the Japji Sahib. A Sikh is enjoined to treat all people as living expressions of God. Sikhism allows no discrimination in favor or against any person. Humility arises from deep awareness of this philosophy. It is also a reason for Sikhs to live in the constant company of the vestments of their religion.
Heightened consciousness is the third driver of empowerment of the soul. One must rise above the mortal expressions of the physical body in order to know God. This is another engaging benefit of daily recitation of the Japji Sahib.
Morality is the last but major dimension of empowerment of the soul. A Sikh must have a sound judgment of differences between right and wrong. The inability to discriminate against torts and evil keeps the soul in bondage. The Japji Sahib helps us awake to a new beginning each day: we evolve towards the utopia of soul empowerment in the benevolence of the Living Guru.
The Japji Sahib is an uniquely way to experience God. Daily recitation prepares us to face life, and leads to the Indian ideal of an empowered soul.

Empowerment in India

All nations strive for individual empowerment. The form of governance is immaterial as long as citizens can be free to prosper.

Empowerment was an all-powerful driver of the freedom movement in 20th century India. It started with a move to drive out foreign rulers. Empowerment focused on the poor and neglected sections of society when India became independent again, and efforts continue ceaselessly in to the new Millennium.

Empowerment has been a major driver of the spiritual evolution of India throughout the ages. The Japji Sahib of the Sikh faith is concerned with the empowerment of the soul. Sikhism is anthropomorphic. It sees equal applications for the Word of God in every life, regardless of artificial hierarchy. The democratic nature of Sikhism probably springs from the feudal oppression in which it arose more than 500 years ago.

Social scientists may reflect endlessly on the origins of personal empowerment in Sikhism, but our greater purpose is to live by the sacred doctrine of the Japji Sahib.

Please return tomorrow for an interpretation of how the Japji Sahib prescribes empowerment of the soul.

Laity Wears the Crown in India

India has had her share of Kings and Queens. Japan and some European Union constituents continue to honor the remnants of their Monarchies with constitutional roles, as indeed does Thailand as well. It is befitting that India rescinded princely privileges decades ago. An egalitarian society is a major national aim in India. Cornerstone policies seek to provide education, jobs, and subsidies to the traditionally under-privileged.

Indian society encourages the use of external symbols as marks of identification. You can tell the marital status of women in many parts of the country, from vermillion marks on their heads. Traditional Hindu men wear marks made of ash or from sandalwood paste to denote their religious denominations.

Sikhs wear crowns. This is no restricted privilege of past Kings of Punjab, but a common right of all people.

The crown is made of cloth.

Women are encouraged to wear turbans in equality with men.

The Crown of a Sikh is not a mark of extravagance or material wealth, but one of responsibility and commitment.

You can recognize a practicing Sikh anywhere in the Universe by his or her turban.

It is a mark of moral behavior, right thinking, diligent action, and selfless service. Above all, it signifies a mortal bond with the Living Guru.

Sikhism is rich in its symbolism. However, the rituals are embedded in the practical realities of contemporary life. That is why even people of other faiths can share in the joys of the Sikh faith.

This web log is also a celebration of Sikhism in the context of the Indian mother land. The Ujjal Jeevan Charitable Trust serves the poor, especially women. We invite your invaluable participation. Please post below or send an email to:

UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

Thank you for inviting your friends and members of your family to visit this web log often, and for their active participation.

Voluntary financial donations to the Trust are welcome.

May we all realize the Glory of the Living Guru.

The Ebbs and Tides of Women in India

Mortal India has always been a cauldron of contradictions with respect to the social status of women.

Leaders of Indian thought have been unanimous in extolling the virtues of women. They have been unequivocal in their equal rights with men in all respects.

The ground realities are horribly different from the ideals set out for Indians. Discrimination against women has been widespread, incessant, and brutal in India. It continues to this day.

How can we change for the better?

Anthropomorphic religion can show an easy path through the dark corners of minds that subjugate women.

We can reflect on the lives of great and real Indians, and learn how they treated and were affected by the women in their lives.

Consider the role of Mother Tripta Ji. Could a child born of an imperious father in a feudal setting have become the Eternal Guru without the support and care of the Mother?

What if we all had elder sisters like Bebe Nanaki Didi? Do we actually have such inspiring and supportive women in our lives, but fail to recognize and to appreciate them?

The Mother of Guru Nanak Dev lives forever in the forms of all mothers.

The Sister of the Eternal Guru is always by our sides in the forms of women around us, and in our mundane lives.

Finally, we have the Word of God to guide us on how to treat women:

Woman Guides Man to the Door of Liberation

The tragic gaps between Scripture and ground realities in India, with respect to the rights and status of women, must be because we forget the Word of God.

Recite the Word of God everyday to achieve equality, freedom, and respect for all the women in your life.

Ask the Living Guru to audit your performance in this respect, and to guide you to Heaven through the path of reverence and service for all the women you know.

This is the Pure Path of India.

The Ujjal Jeevan Charitable Trust is focused on the service of poor women, though no man is turned away from our humble doors on this account.

Please inspire our Internet community by sharing your experiences and expertise in practicing perfect equality for women in your life. You can post below or send an email to:

UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

Please join in our living tributes to the women of India so that our Mother Land blesses our descendants with her bounties for ever.

Music Links India

Music is a distinct form of intelligence.

It transcends humans because birds, which excel in this form of communication, predate people by eons.

Music is versatile because you can use it for such a wide variety of purposes.

Music is also subjective: the sounds we dislike may be favorites for others.

Music is most often participatory. One person may have a thought, a second may convert this in to verse, while a third composes tunes, and the whole world sings the final product.

Music has spiritual purposes for all believers. Group singing of hymns are common for masses of worshipers everywhere.

Scripture in song is a wonderful product of Mother India.

The Word of God comes to us in an inspiring fashion that is easy on the memory.

Scripture in song is an oral tradition. We join hands with our ancestors when we sing Scripture in chorus.

The relgious music of India represents her secular character. Guru Nanak had followers of other religions in his flock, when he first sang the Word of God, in the lap of nature.

You can sing the Japji Sahib and connect immediately, directly, and personally with the Living Guru.

It is a magical way to better living.

God is generous. Your own rendition of the Japji Sahib, or another form of Scripture, is invaluable.

Please send a rendition to

UjjalJeevanCharitableTrust@gmail.com

and we will publish it here.

There are some administrative matters to consider:

a. You must be the sole owner of all copyrights for your transmissions.
b. Please make a declaration to this effect, and accord permission for our publication, with your email.
c. Use MP3 for audio transcripts and JPEG for video.
d. Keep each MP3 file to less than 10 minutes of recording and each video to not more than one minute of recording.

Thank you for sharing your songs for God with our community and with us.

The Ujjal Jeevan Charitable Trust is dedicated to the service of the poor, especially women.

Please strengthen our hands by

1. Visiting this web log often, with active participation (you can post below)

2. Inviting your friends to join our online community.

3. Making voluntary financial donations to the Trust.

Start Each Day With a Song by the Living Guru