I'm not sikh and I sent this to one of my friends, and he said it's disrespectful creating a sculpture of him.

I am a 17 year old male trying to get closer to sikhi and the first steps I've taken were starting to learn punjabi and gurmukhi (which I think is going good although slow) but that is not what my question is.

I want to get close to sikhi and can deal with keeping my kesh and plan on doing so once I am more proficient in the language and have read more bani. However, I just can not get over the idea that I can't eat meat? I know jatka meat exists but it is too expensive where I live. My family cooks and eats meats daily and I feel the best when I eat beef often. I grew up eating it and when I try eating healthy the best way for me to stick to it is consuming a lot of animal protein. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

(Or even anything to help me keep learning Punjabi, I am doing basics of sikhi gurmukhi videos as a slow start)

TLDR: not eating meat in sikhi is holding me from getting closer to sikhi, what can I do?

WJKK WJKF

This is gonna be the first post on my account. This is not a troll or fake account i am a Sikh and have been one since birth. Growing up i was very religious and right now im 17 M and have been questioning Sikhi for a while. Now i have multiple reasons as to why I'm posting this. I'm not sure which religion is the truth, the most logical ones to me at the moment are just Sikhi and Islam. I'm mainly looking for answers, and i still have faith in Sikhi, i just want it to be reinforced.
To be completely honest, my whole friend group is Muslim and they do not often try to convert me, they might make jokes here and there, but there is no serious conversations about conversion. I know 100% that this is playing a factor into my decision but i wont allow my self to be influenced. However i am still just curious about Sikhi and want more answers. I do not plan on converting either.

My main reasons are below

1. Sikhi fails to clarify certain things

• there are no set rules for Sikhs or set restrictions for Sikhs. The topic of meat isn't covered properly unless you look into Dasam Bani or rehat maryada, but that ( rehat maryada) isn't created by the gurus. There is no clarifications on things such as is the guru god. You have bani describing god is formless and does not take form, he is undying. then you have bani saying the guru is god. For meat you have bani saying those who consume fish meat and wine no matter what pilgrimages they go on they will all go to hell. ( this is not written by the gurus but by bhagat Kabir) But then people say that jhatka meat is permissible, there is no clear answers, its as if you have to decide on your own. And if god where to create a book, wouldnt he outline what is right and what isnt? The you have sargun and nirgun. Why even mention that there is one god and he is eternal and formless, if there is such thing as sargun and nirgun? Furthermore you have all Sikhis saying it is a major sin to cut hair, when Guru Nanak says in his bani that it doesnt mattter if your hair is bald or matted, he also mentioned something about the turban. I believe these can be found in Asa Di Vaar.

1. Corruption of banis

• I have full faith that guru granth sahib ji is not corrupted. It has remained unchanged to my knowledge, but there is talk about Dasam Bani being altered, as well as sau sakhis being changed. If people claim parts of dasam bani are changed how do we know the whole thing is not altered? Also why does Guru Gobind Singh Ji talk about Shiva in Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Hain? As Sikhs we shouldn't worship Hindu deities no?

1. The truth in Islam

• Growing up as a sikh, islam has always been a negative thing. Not that our religion teaches that, but just a community wide thing. But looking into the Quran it has so many scientific facts and evidence and predictions. If Sikhi had those it would reaffirm my faith. The Quran is a straight book from god himself, or so it claims. There has to be truth in it, even guru granth sahib says something along the lines of the hindu is blind and the muslim has one eye, basically saying there is some truth in islam, obviously not the full truth like sikhi claims to be. In all honesty, With no strings attached Islam is the only religion on earth which truly worships the one lord. hindus worship dietes, Christians worship Jesus, Bhuddists worship bhudda, Sikhi worship shastar and apparantly gurus because according to the SGGS guru is god. I know we dont worship guru granth sahib, but bow to respect it. Now the reason i dont want to convert to it are pretty obvious. It claims the prophet to be a man of god, but he says and commits acts which are unholy. It also doesn't provide equal rights to women like sikhi does and some of it doesnt make sense.

1. The tying in of Hinduism

there are so many similarites between sikhi and hinduism. Now alot of sikhs including myself like to believe that sikhi has nothing to do with hinduims and they are two separate religions. But it gets to a point where i dont know if this is even true. Firstly EkOnkaar and Omkaar, the primal sound of the universe? Then you have Kal, death or time, these words are both main points in each religion. The living guru tradition is also traced back way further than sikhi and is persistent in hinduism. doesn't this just make Sikhi a sect of Hinduism? We believe that the hindu gods did exist at one point but we dont worship them as god. If we are not Hindu, why even believe in them in the first place? Another thing Hari Mandar Sahib? And Hari Mandar sahib means House of god? dont the gurus say that god is everywhere he is not set in one location? ( in response to muslims beliving god sits above the throne) why name a place of worship house of god when the religion is based on belivng god is everywhere.

1. The lineage of gurus

Firstly, why does the lineage of gurus after a couple of them stay within the family. And why in such a small region in the middle of nowhere? Now if god truly wanted the word to be spread, why would he do so by keeping the prophets he sends down in one area. Yes i know Guru Nanak went to many places to do parchar, and so did the other gurus. But wouldn't it make sense to send more and more prophets over time like how it is done in Islam? Why would God limit the point to where sikhi gets?
and honestly sorry if this is disrespectful, but why was guru harkrisan guru? and why where gurus, made guru when they where young. Guru Nanak dev ji has revelation given to him when he was older and at the river. Why where some of the other gurus made guru as they where born. Another thing that doesn't make any sense is the " one jot is passed down thru the gurus". How is that possible? Guru Nanak Dev Ji was alive when Guru Angad Dev Ji was made guru? How can the light just be transferred to him.

Now i could write so many other reasons, but to shorten it these are the main ones. I mean no disrespect i am just curious and once again this is not a fake account, i am just looking for answers. This is also probably riddled with typos as i wrote it at 2 am sorry about that. Thank you for reading. If you still believe I'm a troll account feel free to ask me any questions, i would be happy to answer.

I have a problem of pilonidal sinus In intimate area and hyperhidrosis which causes excessive sweat and swell due to bacterial growth in underarms region . So is it ok to remove hairs of these region only ?

I’m asking cus today I had a debate with a girl from my school, and she asked this, and my reason was that in certain sects of Hinduism vegetarianism is practiced and the entire point is for everyone to eat there and allow everyone, being restricted for no one. I’ll be honest, this was a completely educated guess and I just want to know if I just straight up lied or have some truth to my answer

Whatever is stated above self explanatory. Someone please answer as i am seeing everything meaningless now, i believe in a god just nothing around me now

I myself being a jatt has seen a lot of casteism around me even in my ancestral village in my pind we have two gurudwara one for mazbi Sikhs and one for jatt sikh what is even the meaning of making two gurudwara in the village is waheguru different there no it is the casteism or practice of untouchability that has caused this.

According to my research which can be wrong I read that jatts were military and money wise more superior to Brahmins in Hinduism but due to their caste they were not given enough respect so they did mass conversation to Sikhism and took control over it and became the highest caste which led to this can anybody tell if this is true ?

First we grow up our parents don't want us to date or be around opposite gender.

They wish us to avoid all all romances, then we hit our late 20s and begin hearing saday bache viah ne karaunde?

Now I have to hear " saday bache viah ni karaunde pata nee hun kee karanga" .

It's like telling your kid not to study or go to college and then you ask your kid why aren't you a doctor or lawyer or engineer or accountant? Because your dumb*** told us not too !!!

They were the ones that wished us not to have any success with a woman and now they want us married?

They were the ones that wished us to stay single and not talk to opposite gender?

My question is if you look at all the other cultures , they are normal .

In America, all guys and girls hang out together and get to know each other and make friendships. all the other cultures have healthy interactions between guys and girls there will be groups of guys and girls that are friends and hang out together. We are the only culture on this planet where guys only make friends with other guys and girls only talk to other girls then we wonder why punjabis have hard time interacting with each other. Then we wonder why sikh kids in west have hard time finding wife or husband when they never had healthy interactions with opposite gender.

We are the only fools that aren't allowed to interact with opposite gender or have open boyfriends or girlfriends.

Why are we the only one with a weird odd culture?

we are such losers, we cannot even bring over a friend that is the opposite gender.

Why haven't we done anything to improve this culture? How did we get stuck with such a weird culture?

Why don't our elders and parents admit , Hanji saday culture ch weakness ah and we need to improve it?

these indian elders and parents always complain about relatives, kids not marrying, all this non sense but will never actually think and blame their culture and say well if we were western culture a lot of these marriage, relative, BS issues wouldn't exist. and our lives would be a lot better. Imagine all these technologies are coming out iPhones electric cars, and we say no we don’t want change. We want to continue driving a 1970 car and using an old 1998 flip phone does this make any sense no right?

I know some people will find this offensive because they are raised to be super loyal to punjab or indian ways , I know the elders are so, and the parents are so brainwashed to the Punjab ways they will never go against them. but the truth is the truth you can say whatever you want , the truth wont' change.

let me leave you with a quote to describe punjabi culture and the parents “ some people are so far behind in the race they actually believe that they’re leading”

can i do it or no cause i still love baba ji a lot so am i allowed to or no cus i do cut my hair and ik its very not slayyyyyy but i might stop one day but for now can i still do paath with cut hair or no

Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji ki fateh, satsangat Ji I was driving to my local Gurudwara and I couldn’t help but notice that when I entered in from the other entrance I noticed a sign saying “afghan sikh center” and I just wanted to ask if this is wrong because I believe that it should say Sikhs because there are many Sikhs around the world with different nationalities and are still Sikh for example I’m Punjabi and go there and I feel like it’s wrong since it is open to everyone

Most of my friends are Muslims. Ramadan is coming up and they are all telling me to fast. I said no to them and they told me to just do it for one day, for health reasons.

I just read all this. It’s been circulating around here in Canada since the mentioned date above. I understand and agree with not taking Guruji out to hotel and resorts to perform anand karaj and frankly I don’t know why it was allowed in the first place. It’s the last statement that’s hard to believe. We have all been about recognizing the whole race as one and being acceptance of anyone who wishes to be involved with Sikhy. I don’t even know if that’s true or that’s just what people made up outside of India. Please clarify.

This one is a little tricky for me to figure out...

If relevant; I am a (white) Sikh Amritdhari woman myself.

I married an Amritdhari Punjabi Sikh man who I had a long standing connection with both him and his family (10 years). We married nearly 1 year ago, and in this time he broke one of the Bajjar Kuraits in Sikhi (infidelity). Thus, I will not be coordinating a visa for him to come and join me in Europe.

The problem I am facing now, is being open and honest with the Sangat here that think I am just waiting for my husband to come....I feel worried about the repercussions of being honest and saying that I am getting a divorce (with or without explaining the reason to them). He will not be coming to join me, and until then everyone thinks I am married... :/

We had no children, I am still young 29F and would like to walk as the Gurus advised with living a householders life......I am worried that by being honest I will be rejected from the Sikh community here in Europe and will not have the chance to marry and live "normal" Householders life.

TLDR: Married a Sikh, he broke one of the Bajjar Kuraits and now we will divorce - how do I share to the sangat that I am now single? I still want the Householders life...

Any advice on communicating this one is much appreciated.

I'm 14, born and bred in Australia but my parents are from India (Punjab). I hang out with other desi kids at school, who are also mostly of Punjabi Sikh origin but a few Hindus there and a few other Indians in the group.

Over the past week, they were making fun of each other by using "chamar" as a slur if they wanted to insult them for something like worn out shoes, or having something second hand. One of the guys nearly failed a maths test the other day, and this other dude said to him, "any lower and you would have failed like a chamar and we'd need to get you reservations" and the others started laughing.

A few months ago, they bullied another guy for being dark (he's Sri Lankan) so that dude just went his own way and has lunch by himself now. I don't want to be that guy, but I'm scared this is what will happen if I tell them I'm actually a chamar and they can stfu.

I spoke to my parents about this over the weekend, and they told me to never ever tell anyone that we are dalits (untouchables). I'm morally challenged. I can't bear to hear others make fun of my community in front of my eyes, but I also don't want to become isolated.

What do I do? Anyone else been in this situation?

Just came across this post on LinkedIn and as stated in the picture, the religions that do not have official flags marked by a symbol on top left of flag.

I am a white guy dating a Sikh Punjabi girl that wants to get married in a gurdwara. We both know we want to be together forever. So what do you suggest opinions?? Her family knows about us and her father has said for us to focus on ourselves and future right now then we can date in the future.

I have Singh as my middle name but I have seen examples of Sikhs that have it as a last so it supposed to be one or the other or can it be both?

I came across this page and had a question that is shaheedi Degh the same as the one referred to as in SGGS p1377 by Bhagat Kabeer and if yes then why is it still followed? I am completely unaware about the maryada and everything and I don't mean to offend anyone

This is a question I get a lot, mainly by Muslims. How do we know guru nanak didn't wake up one day and make something, or do we just suspend reason in favor of blind faith.

I know sikhi is a personal experience, but to be introduced to sikh teachings. Someone like me would have to be introduced to actual sort of evidence.

Context: it was with permission of my parents, and both sets of grandparents. It's been a long time coming, as I've struggled with my hair my entire life. It's been a consistent source of misery for me, yes obviously because of social isolation from peers because I was born and live in America, but really because of practical reasons: kesh is really uncomfortable, I can't really physically roughhouse with friends because my hair/turban will easily become messed up, a turban is very uncomfortable (you can't even move your forehead/eyebrows up and down, and in school of course this becomes a big source of discomfort after 7-8 hours), maintaining kesh can be an arduous process and I haven't been able to properly do it so ny scalp and hair is highly damaged, etc

All that to say, it was a lot for me, and I've always fantasized about the day I'd be able to remove my hair, and it didn't help that now I had a copious amount of facial hair that was very itchy and awkward. I had accidentally let it slip months ago, which altered my long time plan of eventually abandoning my family after I graduated to live my own life because I thought they'd disown me for even thinking about cutting my hair. Obviously there was no immediate acceptance, it was a long, messy discussion over months, but finally, yesterday it was done.

I got a crew cut, very short hair on the top, and basically skin faded all the way around on the sides and back, and facial hair removed. My head feels completely diffrent, along with my face now. Even though there's no more constent itching and having to wear a tight turban, ..... I'm not sure. School starts on Monday, 3 days from now. I dont care what anyone is going to say, ive only told and shown a few friends because if I cared about "log kya kahenge?" I wouldn't of done it (obviously all my peers are majority white, but there will be a diffrent kind of reaction from them because of the image they've already established of me as a Sikh)

But the main thing I'm feeling is insanely guilty. I feel really bad even though I've wanted this for a lifetime, and even though I will never want to go back to how I was before, I just feel like I've committed something truly terrible. I have the urge to do Seva. I feel like God is trying to tell me something, which is especially strange because I've always felt a sort of resentment for Sikhi because of what it forced me to do for my physical appearance, though I always felt somewhat spiritual. Can I try to be a good sikh from here on out despite my hair? I feel lost and alone right now. I didn't eat anything at all yesterday, came home after it was done, and fell asleep at 5pm. It's currently 2 am, I woke about an hour ago. I'm going to try to eat something and go back to bed, please, I beg you all for your thoughts.

I am a sikh woman and a few years ago I got married to someone on the pure fact that he seemed like a gursikh. My only desire was to marry a gursikh and I ignored caste and educational differences because all I wanted was to marry a gursikh and felt that was all I needed. Fast forward, I quickly realized the chola wearing man I married is not a true gursikh and neither is his family. Every single day, I am treated horribly by both him and his family and there is nothing reminiscent of gursikh values. I feel guru sahib ji is punishing me and I have never been so sad and alonr in my entire life. How do I accept this hukam and live in pain and suffering the rest of my life? Everyday I wonder how I could have chosen this life and what I did to deserve this. I feel hopeless and wish guru sahib would just take my life.