Author Archive for Gurumustuk Singh

Pathways to the Sacred - Interview with Guruka Singh

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on February 13, 2007
in Audio and Guruka Singh
. 18 Comments

Here is an audio recording of Guruka Singh being Interviewed by Josh Jourdan on WPVM radio’s "Pathways to the Sacred". It was very interesting to hear all of Guruka Singh’s stories and explanations about being a Sikh. Have a listen!

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About Pathways to the Sacred Radio Show - "Throughout history human beings have sought to explain and connect with the life force of the universe. Throughout history human beings have fought each other for coming to different conclusions and believing different things. May Pathways to the Sacred act as a bridge our differences and celebrate our similarities. Hosted by Josh Jourdan".

Neither a Shield, Nor a Sword

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on February 13, 2007
in News
. 9 Comments

Here is an interesting article on the topic of Seva which I think makes you think. I’m sure most of us are aware of the situation, however it puts things in perspective and hopefully will make us all think deeper about our motivations for doing Seva.

 

by T. SHER SINGH www.sikhchic.com

I have noticed that the concept of seva  -  loosely translated as "selfless, voluntary service"  -  is nowadays increasingly wielded as a weapon and less as what it is meant to be.

The other day, when a community volunteer was asked why she repeatedly failed to do what she had undertaken to do, why she hadn’t met her obligations fully or in a timely fashion, I was flabbergasted by the response I overheard:

"I do seva, bhenji", she protested. "I’m not getting paid for this. I spend so many hours here, while I could easily be doing something else. I don’t have to listen to this nonsense: if you don’t want me here, say so, and I’m gone!"

It was a deft use of the very essence of seva. As a shield  -  a shield from criticism and from accountability.

On another occasion, I heard a fellow wield the word somewhat differently, but equally effectively.

He was addressing members of a community group. "I’m the one who can run this organization and ensure that it stays alive. I’ve done seva for three years … day and night, and weekends too. And haven’t taken a single cent for my time. How can you even think that another person should come over and run it. Others will simply run it to the ground. And, you know, I’m not going to let you do this. I’m not going to let you turn all my seva into nought!"

I felt, as I watched him through this performance, that he was wielding his seva quite deftly… as a weapon. A sword, actually. The parry and thrust was working: you could see it in the wounded look in the eyes of the audience.

Is this what seva is all about?

Continue reading ‘Neither a Shield, Nor a Sword’

Day 9 - 40 Day Sadhana (Challenges, Parenting, etc)

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on February 11, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 11 Comments

Still going? Hopefully those of you who have taken on the 40 day Sadhana challenge are still going! It’s been a real challenge for me (to say the least). Sometimes I hear my friends who are not married tell me how busy they are. I always smile to myself thinking, “You don’t know what busy means until you have kids“. One doesn’t know how busy and how their life will change until they have kids. I’m sure it might be easier for some parents, but no doubt in can be a challenge.

  • Challenge 1 - Lack of Sleep: I started the 40 day sadhana with the understanding that it would be a challenge, but I didn’t realize how much so. It wouldn’t be so hard if I was able to go to sleep early. It’s just that my daughter Charanjeet Kaur wakes up so much in the night and as a result we don’t get much sleep. I normally take Charanjeet in the first part of the night till about 11PM (sometimes later) and then head off to sleep. Then wake up at 5AM, do my Sadhana routine (which takes close to two hours) and then try to get a mini nap before everyone else is up and about. I have to say that right now 5-6 hours of sleep is a bit hard for me to function on. Short term it is ok….. I’m used to that…. but after a week or so…it catches up to you.
  • Challenge 2 - Getting Sick:  A few days before I started the Sadhana, Arjan and Charanjeet got some type of throat sickness (sore throat, mucous, cough, etc.). After a few days into my Sadhana I caught whatever they had. I think because I was tired from getting less sleep my immune system got weak. So, there I was sick and feeling lousy; but I knew I had to keep getting up every morning and doing my routine. It was hard, but I pulled through it. I think I am on the tail end of being sick, but am still pretty tired. I’m hoping that once my energy comes back (after I am totally well) I will be better able to function.
  • Challenge 3 - Kids: Narayan and Charanjeet Kaur are both very strong willed kids. They know what they want…and try to assert themselves. While this can be a good trait later in life, it can be such a challenge (to put it lightly) to teach and discipline them (mostly Narayan). Overall I think we do a really good job, but sometimes it can be a strain and difficult to maintain one’s “sanity”; especially when the adults are not getting much sleep. Narayan’s sun sign is Leo, and like the “lion” of this sign he doesn’t like to be told what to do and only wants to do things on his own terms. What can I say…it is hard to tame or train a lion! Not only that, but being the son of Guru Gobind Singh that makes him extra strong. All I can do is be patient, calm and keep working at it.

Continue reading ‘Day 9 - 40 Day Sadhana (Challenges, Parenting, etc)’

The Global Langar Project

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on February 9, 2007
in Events and News
. 4 Comments

Langar - (reproduced under GNU licence)

Are You Serving Your Local Community Through the Guru’s Langar?

Wahe Guru Ji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji ki Fateh!

My name is Deva Singh and I’m working with the Global Langar Project.

Our mission is to bring people together all over the world to prepare, serve and share Guru’s Langar to all people who wish to partake and to increase awareness of Guru’s Langar outside of the Sikh community.

Not only is the serving of Guru’s Langar something that is close to our hearts, but it is a core part of our identity as Sikhs of the Guru. Being actively known for serving Langar promotes our Sikh identity. It is something that all Sikhs, everywhere, have in common and is among the very best ways to establish our identity as people who live to serve others.

All of us know about Guru’s Langar, but at many Gurdwaras outside of India we see mostly Sikhs partaking of the Guru’s bounty. Our project hopes to bring Langar to the wider community and to bring the wider community to Langar!

As we know, there are many efforts that already exist to serve humanity through providing free food. We would like to find out what is working now and explore how this can be replicated in other corners of the Earth so that the radiance of the Guru’s mission - seeing and serving the God in All - can fill the hearts, minds and stomachs of as many people as possible!

To this end we are asking you to please share information about any food/langar programs in your area that serve people in the public beyond your local sangat. If you don’t have or don’t know of a current program of this nature, but are interested in starting one, we would enjoy communicating with you to explore how we can work with you to create greater impact with our service.

Thank you for taking the time to participate and we look forward to hearing of your local projects along with your ideas and suggestions for the Global Langar Project.


 

Sikh Bloggers

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on February 9, 2007
in Blogging
. 0 Comments

As some of you might have noticed, the number of Sikh Bloggers has grown quite a bit. I love to view my daily update on all the blogs that I read, and feel the "pulse" of what is going on in the lives of other Sikhs around the world.

The original SikhiWiki Sikh Bloggers page has grown to quite a long list! However, many of the blogs are no longer online or haven’t been updated in over a year. Those of you who blog on a regular basis know that it can take time and commitment to keep on blogging. I would guess that a large number of people who start a blog don’t continue blogging past a few months. So, in the interest of keeping this organized and useful on the Sikh Blogger Page I thought it would be great if someone volunteered to go through the Sikh Blogger List on SikhiWiki and do the following:

  • Make sure the blog is still online - If the blog is no longer online then just delete it from the list.
  • If the blog hasn’t been updated in 6 months or longer - If this is the case, copy the link/text over to the Inactive Sikh Bloggers Page

 Hopefully after doing this we’ll end up with a more concise list of bloggers that are still active. I used to visit all the new blogger links, but now there are so many I can hardly keep up.

SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival

Published
by
Gurumustuk Singh
on May 18, 2006
in SikhNet and Videos
. 11 Comments

SikhNetFilmFestivalLogo.gif

http://www.sikhnet.com/s/FilmFestival

Ok…so I guess no one guessed the news from yesterday’s picture/hint. :)

Today I would like to let you all know about a cool new project that SikhNet is hosting. This all new Youth Online Film Festival came about as a result of seeing the power of low-tech videos that are now spreading around online. You don’t need to go to film school or have a $100,000 budget to make a short video. Just some creativity and a willingness to learn.

Essay competitions are so Old School! Computers and technology are so much a part of most of our everyday lives that is only seems natural to try to have a challenge for the youth that is high tech and up with the times. We are going to be featuring the video submissions on SikhNet as they come in for all to watch, and then after the Aug, 31st deadline we will announce the competition winners (cash prizes). Some of these videos may also be shown at upcoming Spinning Wheel Film Festivals in Toronto, Canada and California.

My hope is that youth all over will take this opportunity to try something new and use their creativity to communicate a message related to being a Sikh. A 3-10 minute video can have a huge impact, but you’ll never know till you try and ‘give yourself a voice’.

Help Me Spread the Word…
If you have a blog or website you can help with this project by posting a small bit of HTML on your website which will display an image about the film festival. Get it Here.

Please tell all your friends and family. If you are under 26 get a few friends together and do it as a group (unless you want all the prize cash for yourself, Hahahaha). Have fun with it…and have a good chance at winning some cool cash and people all around the world watching it!

Here are some ideas for videos to get you started

  • Tell an inspirational story about yourself or someone you know.
  • Interview your friends and/or family on some topic or issue related to Sikhi.
  • Sharing a story or personal experience related to Sikhi.
  • A ‘video portrait’ of a friend or family member showing their life as a Sikh.
  • How my parents (or other family) came to America and kept their Sikhi in spite of the challenges they faced.
  • How it’s cool to be a Sikh (Sikhs hanging out with Non Sikhs or vice versa).
  • How Sikh children can combat bullying or teasing.
  • A comedy that teaches a lesson.
  • Create a Sikh related music video - use bangra or other dance.
  • A drama on why we need to keep our identity.
  • Your experience leading up to taking Amrit and how the experience has changed you.
  • This year is the 400th Anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s Myrtrdom. Create a video about the meaning of personal sacrifice or a similar theme.
  • A message for the next generation Sikh youth of the world.
  • A video that shows the unity of the Sikhs.
  • Future job professions featuring Sikhs (athlete, solider, congressional leader, actor, etc.)
  • Musical performance that highlights Sikhism (rock band, rap).
  • A video that confronts Sikh social issues (keeping both hair and beard).

    Ready to Get Started? Who’s in?

    Maybe I can get Narayan to do a video. Oh darn…he is under 11 years old.

    • New Blog Layout and System

    Published
    by
    Gurumustuk Singh
    on May 16, 2006
    in Blogging
    . 17 Comments

    Well, the past few nights have been long. That’s all I can say. I’ve been moving over to a new blog system and at first it was great, but have been trying to work out some issues. Your average blogger just types text and a picture here and there. I post quite a bit of audio, video and pictures so this has complicated it. I have to have a streamlined system so that I don’t spend a huge amount of time formatting and uploading, etc.

    Anyways, the new blog is up as you can see. Still rough on the edges and things to work out. Here are a few of the new things…

    • Better commenting system
    • Get notified of new comments on a specific post.
    • Blog posts organized In categories for easier browsing (still have to categorize the old posts which is going to take some time!)
    • Recent comments show on the right navigator.
    • Integrated realtime search for blog.
    • RSS feeds for both new posts and new comments.
    • Lots of stuff that is “under the hood” that makes it easier to organize and present the info.

    Narayan’s Favorite Uncles

    Published
    by
    Gurumustuk Singh
    on May 16, 2006
    in Espanola Life and Family Pictures
    . 14 Comments


    Narayan and his Uncles.

    Himmat Singh Tying a Turban on Narayan

    “Maharaja” Narayan Singh!

    Youth of the Month - Sukhmani Kaur

    Published
    by
    Gurumustuk Singh
    on May 15, 2006
    in Sikh Role Models
    . 1 Comment

    Here is another thought provoking interview with Sukhmani Kaur (UK wale). Have a read, it’s interesting :)

    Chardikala Jatha - Live at Harimandir Sahib - April 2nd

    Published
    by
    Gurumustuk Singh
    on May 12, 2006
    in 2006 Picks, Audio, Chardikala Jatha, General, Musicians and Videos
    . 8 Comments

    I just finished converting the two videos (from PAL to NTSC) of Chardikala Jatha playing kirtan at Harmandir Sahib so I could watch it on my home DVD player. I was going to post the video later on…but after listening to the earlier video from April 2nd 2006 I have been in bliss listening and had to share it with you all. Here I am on my laptop in the living room listening/watching since I can’t tear myself away. I like this video better than the one I posted earlier. They also played a bunch of shabads I haven’t heard them play before which is nice. This video was done in the evening right before Rehiras (evening) and the one that I posted earlier was from the morning so they are in different raags too.

    It’s a nice way to spend a friday evening after a busy week. I feel that sigh of relief and peace this evening. Part of it is the feeling of joy of spreading the mission of the Gurus and being thankful to be a part of it. It’s awesome seeing so many friends of mine excelling and doing great things in the world (most of whom were classmates or I grew up with). It’s also exciting "building bridges" with Sikh youth from other backgrounds and working together. Building bridges of understanding, friendship and commonality. I’m excited to meet up with the Sikh youth that are coming to Espanola this summer! Plus I have the exciting arrival of a new child in my family somewhere around the end of June beginning of July. We’ll see how blogging goes after that since it will be a big change of pace for me.

    Oh yeah…This is the video where some of the management thought my friend Siri Amrit Singh was a Girl because he doesn’t have much of a beard yet. You’ll see him playing the Tampura on the right and they zoom in on his face a few times.

    Ok…I’m out. I hope you all are having a relaxing evening/weekend.


    I wasn’t planning to post this video yet…so don’t have the normal windows media format for the video download (as well as an audio only mp3 file). I’ll post that next week when I am back in the office.

    Download: Video (235MB) / Audio (57MB)

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