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.

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May God Guide Your Penance to Truth.