Guru Nanak Dev Sahib jee & Duni Chand...

The Guru proceeded to the river Ravi and then to Lahore. The Lahore territory was then taken care of, for the Emperor by a millionaire Khatri, whose name was Duni Chand. He was performing the ceremony of "Shradh" (a ritual where food is offered to holy men in a hope that it reaches the dead ancestors) for his deceased father, when he heard of Guru Nanak's arrival. He took the Guru to his house, and treated him with great affection. When everything was ready for the anniversary feast, Duni Chand began to feed the Brahmans.

The Guru, on being summoned, asked what the matter was. Duni Chand replied that it was his father's shradh, and that he had fed one hundred Brahmans in his name. The Guru replied, It is now two days since his father had eaten anything, and yet you say you have fed one hundred Brahmans for him. Duni Chand asked where his father was. The Guru replied that he had been re-incarnate as a wolf, which was now in a clump of trees in the near by forest. The reason his father's soul had entered a wolf was, that while he was on death bay, he had coveted meat which was being cooked by a neighbour, and had died in that desire.

The Guru, on seeing several flags over Duni Chand's door, asked why the flags were put there. He explained that each flag represents a lakh (100,000) rupees which Duni Chand had accumulated. On this the Guru gave him a needle, and told him to keep it until he asked for it in the next world. Duni Chand took the needle to his wife, and told her to put it by for the purpose indicated. She believed her husband has gone crazy, and asked him how a needle could go to the next world.

Duni Chand took the needle with his wife's message to the Guru, who said, 'If such a small and light thing as a needle cannot go to the next world, how can your wealth reach there?' Upon this Duni Chand fell at Guru ji feet, and prayed to tell him by what means his wealth should reach the next world. The Guru replied, "Give some of your wealth in God's name, feed the poor, and your wealth shall accompany you." Upon this Duni Chand distributed seven lakhs of treasure, for he understood that disobedience to the Guru's order would militate against his salvation. He then became a disciple of the Guru, and began to repeat the Naam.

Guru Nanak uttered the following Shabad on the occasion: (Asa Ki Var) SGGS p.468

salok ma 1
Salok, First Mehla:

koorr raajaa koorr parajaa koorr sabh sa(n)saar
False is the king, false are the subjects; false is the whole world.

koorr ma(n)ddap koorr maarree koorr baisanehaar
False is the mansion, false are the skyscrapers; false are those who live in them.

koorr sueinaa koorr rupaa koorr painhanehaar
False is gold, and false is silver; false are those who wear them.

koorr kaaeiaa koorr kaparr koorr roop apaar
False is the body, false are the clothes; false is incomparable beauty.

koorr meeaa koorr beebee khap hoeae khaar
False is the husband, false is the wife; they mourn and waste away.

koorr koorrai naehu lagaa visariaa karathaar
The false ones love falsehood, and forget their Creator.

kis naal keechai dhosathee sabh jag chalanehaar
With whom should I become friends, if all the world shall pass away?

koorr mit(h)aa koorr maakhio koorr ddobae poor
False is sweetness, false is honey; through falsehood, boat-loads of men have drowned.

naanak vakhaanai baenathee thudhh baajh koorro koorr 1
Nanak speaks this prayer: without You, Lord, everything is totally false. 1

source:sikhiwiki

Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sahib jee, Saheedan de Sartaj...

June 16th is the Saheedi Gurupurb of Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Arjan Dev Sahib jee. Following is the brief account of the event leading to Guru Sahibs Saheedi. (compiled from various web-sites)

Mugal Emperor Akbar died and was succeeded by Jahangir. Jahangir was a person of lax morals, pleasure loving and fond of drinking. He left much of the administration duties of running his kingdom to others. Because of his lax morals Jahangir set out to please the orthodox Muslim clergy which he knew did not approve of the tolerant attitude that his father Akbar had previously displayed to other religions.

Jahangir wrote the following in his memoirs called Tuzak-i-Jehangiri; "At Goindwal on the banks of the river Beas, lived a Hindu, Arjan by name, in the garb of a Pir or Sheikh. Thus, many innocent Hindus and even foolish and ignorant Muslims he brought into his fold who beat the drum noisily of his self-appointed prophethood. He was called Guru. From all sides, worshippers came to offer their homage to him and put full trust in his word. For three or four generations, they had warmed up this shop. For a long time I had harbored the wish that I should set aside this shop of falsehood or I should bring him into the fold of Islam." Jahangir further writes; "In these days, Khusro (Jahangir's rebel son) passed through this way. The foolish person resolved to call on him. Khusro halted for a time at this place and this man came to see him and discoursed with him on many matters and also applied with saffron on his forehead what the Hindus call kashkeh (tilak) and consider a good omen. When I heard this account personally, I knew about his false pretenses. So I ordered that he be brought into my presence, that his property be confiscated and his sons and other possessions be made over to Murtaza Khan and he be dealt with in accordance with the political and common law of the land."

When Guru Arjan received the summons to appear before Jahangir, he knew that it was not a good sign. The Guru declared that his son Hargobind should be installed as the next Guru.

Upon reaching Lahore, Jahangir demanded that Guru Arjan Dev revise the Holy Granth, removing all references to Islam and Hinduism. This of course the Guru refused to do. Since Jahangir was on his way to Kashmir, he asked Murtaza Khan to deal with the Guru.

Murtaza Khan immediately jailed the Guru, and ordered the Guru Arjan Dev to be tortured to death if he did not agree to remove the alleged derogatory references in the Holy Granth. The Guru was cruelly tortured. He was made to sit on a red hot iron sheet. They poured burning hot sand on his body. The Guru was dipped in boiling water. He bore all of these brutalities with calm serenity, for five long days he was tortured. When the torturers found the Guru unresponsive to their torture they did not know what to do. On May 30, 1606 the Guru asked for a bath in the river Ravi by the side of the Mughal fort. Thousands of followers watched the Guru make his way to the river with tears in their eyes. His bare body was covered with blisters, Guru Arjan Dev repeated over and over; "Sweet is Your will, O God; the gift of your Name alone I seek." The Guru then calmly walked into the river bank, bidding his farewell to his followers and was gone forever, his body carried away by the currents. This act of brutality in ending such a saintly life with such cruelty was to forever change the course of Sikhism.

Stolen Car...

The following joke made me laugh pretty hard....

A drunk phoned the police to report that thieves had broken in to his car.

"They've stolen the dashboard, steering wheel, break pedal, even the accelerator," he cried out.

However, before the police investigation could get under way the phone rang a second time, with the same voice came over the line. "Never mind," said the drunk with a hiccup, "I got in the backseat by mistake."

Michael Moore's SiCKO Trailer

Amritdhaari Girl Converts To Islam?

Above winning or losing.....

This is an e-mail I have recieved that is a very touching story. I know it seems long to read but it is worth it. Read on....

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children,the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son,Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe, that, when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play,it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (notexpecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, outof reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline,wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay". Shay reached third base because the opposing short stop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were ontheir feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won thegame for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanityinto this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

May your day, be a Shay Day.

May we all rise above the small petty things in life and instead of aggrevation bring happiness to others.

Illusion????

Click on the images to view in full screen to appreciate the effects...



The image above appears to be moving though it is not. The key is to focus on the light color dots in the centre of each circle and the image will not appear to be moving.




The other end of the bridge appears to be upside down. Another optical illusion I believe created by doctoring the picture.