I NEED YOUR INPUT

[idontknow]

HI

im new here and i have quite a large dilemma

for the past 3 or 4 years i have ive wanted to convert to christianity, and my folks are hardcore sikhs (well not that hardcore) i dont know why i dont feel right practicing sikhism and why lutheranism feels so right for me. i know that i want to take some things with me from sikhism like being a vegertarian, actually im a vegan. Some of the things that attract me to christianity is the universal message that God loved us so much to send his son to die for our sins, and that there is life after death. I find the whole concept of reincarnation a little bit hard to swallow. I posted this message because i wanted to see what people thought, and if they accepted it. I know this will be a huge help when God gives me the courage to face my parents and i will have some idea of how they will react.

Thanks so much

One Life

Live it Right

Striaght Edge

[Jaspaul Singh]

HI

im new here and i have quite a large dilemma

for the past 3 or 4 years i have ive wanted to convert to christianity, and my folks are hardcore sikhs (well not that hardcore) i dont know why i dont feel right practicing sikhism and why lutheranism feels so right for me. i know that i want to take some things with me from sikhism like being a vegertarian, actually im a vegan. Some of the things that attract me to christianity is the universal message that God loved us so much to send his son to die for our sins, and that there is life after death. I find the whole concept of reincarnation a little bit hard to swallow. I posted this message because i wanted to see what people thought, and if they accepted it. I know this will be a huge help when God gives me the courage to face my parents and i will have some idea of how they will react.

Thanks so much

One Life

Live it Right

Striaght Edge

Waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji ki fatehh

Hi singh, i will try to help you as best as i can.

Its great you want to follow a religion, while some people dont even want anythin to do with god as some (atheist) think there is no god. But im bowing down to you as your following a approach to link with guru ji..

As you said your a sikh and your parents are following it. Is there some reasons why you want to leave sikhi and go into christianity?

Your saying jesus has came and sacrificed his life. I bow down to that as he was awesome. You probably have seen passion of christ and i was truly emotional form that... but what about...

Guru Arjun dev ji giving his life to sikhi, and chanting only gurus name... he was not afriad.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji giving his sees to keep the hindu faith alive... did he have no heartt...

Guru gobind Singh ji giving not only his OWN life, but his fathers, his 4 sons, his mother... and all his sons thereafter... banda singh bahadur, bhai taru singh, bhai mani singh, baba deep singh... did they all have no heart...

I just dont get one thing... please dont take it offensive. Millions follow christianity because of one trule great man. But even less want to truly follow sikhi not cuz of one person BUT MANY THOUSANDS OF SHAHEEDS.

God sent jesus to die for our sins. Why were our gurus and many shaheeds sent then ????

You reep what you sow. Isnt that what christianity believes too, if im not mistaken? Why do we always want to have the easy way out. So we can do all the sins and through christianity we can still be saved... just because its easier and so on...

WHY THOUGH !?!?! i had no idea of sikhi 2 years ago ... but it breaks my heart now to see people converting... some say we get so happy when others convert into sikhi I DONT... its best for ppl to stay in their own faith and religion as GURU JI put us in that way.

Please singh... i would really encourage you to think about your choice and listen to what others, elders have to say and even chardi kala singhs (not me!) on this forum have to say ...

hope for your best

r>im sorry if i said anythin wrong... i do get very emotional

bhul chuk maph!

[Balait_da_Sher]

Some of the things that attract me to christianity is the universal message that God loved us so much to send his son to die for our sins, and that there is life after death

I donno , i personally find that hard to belive that one person's sacrifice can rid peopel of thier sins. I rather like Guru nanak dev ji's teachings "vand chako,kirat karo, naam japo" that makes more sense to me than anything.

[SaadhRayn Kaur]

Dear Friend,

If you are currently on the path of the Guru - a sincerely request that before you decide to abandon your Guru and choose another path, please do some serious soul-searching and some serious reflection about Sikhi and try to come to terms with whether or not you are completely ready for this transition.

I humbly advise that you go to www.sikhnet.com Discussion Forums, www.tapoban.org and www.sikhsangat.com (here) and search the topics of reincarnation. There have been many interesting posts about reincarnation and why it is a legitimate and plausible reality. It is completely explainable and understandable, it just deserves some attention and some open-minded consideration.

God loves you so much that God gave yuo the power to be responsible for your own actions. How unreasonable and unfair does it sound that one Jesus, who was crucified some 1965 years ago, could die for the sins of the people who aren't even born yet? How could he die for the sins of the children born in 2044, fourty years from now and almost 2000 years after his own death ?

Sikhi also teaches that there is life after death. That is in fact reincarnation in and of itself. You will not die, your soul will move on to judgement - which is similar to the theories of Christianity. However heaven and hell are temporary transitory places that the soul can rest at. The only permanent true place is called The Realm of Truth, where one becomes completely absorbed in the love and devotion to God. This is called "sach khand" in Gurbani. You can experience heaven and hell while you are on earth and you can also go to heaven and hell when you die. The same goes for sach khand. H

owever, heaven and hell are limited - you will experience the pleasures of the 5 senses and the 5 elements (earth, wind, water, fire and void/atmosphere)

However sach khand is a completely different experience where you will never again feel the pain of Maya and the sting of seperation from God. The key to this Sach Khand is in the hand of Guru Nanak - who is the shabad (Word) jyot (light) of God on earth. This shabad jyot travelled through all of the Gurus and now it lives in Guru Granth Sahib jee. When you honestly, faithfully, with dedication read from Guru Granth Sahib jee, I guarantee you will find amazing treasures that you had never realized before.

I think you are judging Sikhi by punjabi culture, and other outside things.

In order to truly experience the essence of Sikhi, I humbly advise that before you make any decision to change your Guru and become a Lutheran Christian, you should try to be a Gursikh. Try to read the translations of Guru granth Sahib jee, do paat, do naam sirman with all your heart. Say "Waheguru" (Wonderful enlightener) from the bottom of your heart and say it many times with devotion. Most importantly, go to a smagam. Whether that is a saadh sangat smagam (www.samagams.org) or an akhand keertanee jathaa smagam (www.akj.org) or some other sangat's smagam - make sure you absorb yourself in an experience of Saadh Sangat.

There are a few traditions of Sikhi that I have not seen replicated in any faith. Saadh sangat, langar, chardee kalaa, sarbat da bhalla are some unique foundations of Sikhi and I humbly suggest you first explore these - then make your decision. The famous saying is "don't knock it til you try it."

And let me say here - dont' mix your parents Sikhi with yours. Just practice your Sikhi and if you see them doing anything stereotypical or something you think is wrong, do not judge them for it - practice what comes to your heart.

So please kindly take this test run - for the next two weeks try to become a Gursikh a

nd if you are still not interested in the Sikh way of life, then post again and we will talk more.

I humbly request that you follow this advice and then let us know how you feel in two weeks.

I am sincerely sorry for any mistakes against Gurmat and Saadh Sangat jee please forgive me and I hope Guru jee blesses you all with naam and chardee kalaa.

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[Guest mehtab]

"idontknow" jee, welcome to sikhsangat

God loved us so much to send his son to die for our sins

if i m not wrong, didn't jesus cry out "oh lord why have u forsaken me?" when he was being crucified? and what did Guru Arjan Dev Jee say while sitting on a hot plate with hot sand being poured on his head? He said "Your Will seems so sweet to me! Nanak begs for the gift of your Name!" You say jesus died for our sins, look at Guru Tegh Bahadur Jee who sacrificed His life for a totally different religion (i.e Hinduism) which was not even in accordance with the beliefs of Sikhi, why? coz He believed in freedom of religion! Jesus said "those who pick up the sword die by the sword", and Guru Gobind Singh Jee, who fought for the rights of all people who were suffering injustices said "When all ways of correcting an evil have failed, its justified to unsheath the sword".

more from http://www.sikhs.org/relig_se.htm

Sikhism believes anyone can achieve salvation irrespective of the religion that they follow if they endear God in their heart and daily actions.

Christian concept o

f Jesus as son of God. Sikhism regards all as the children of God.

In Sikhism child baptism into the Khalsa brotherhood is discouraged. One should only become a Khalsa when they are able to fully understand the duties and responsibilities.

There is no special day like Sunday or Sabbath for worship.

Heaven and Hell as physical entities. In Sikhism there are no such physical places. Hell is equivalent to the cycles of births and deaths and heaven is equivalent to the soul merging with God.

Guru Gobind Singh abolished the priestly class making Sikhism free from their weaknesses and egos, the only priest is the Living Guru, the Guru Granth Sahib which contains all the knowledge and which is available for reading by any Sikh.

[Jaspaul Singh]

Dear Friend,

If you are currently on the path of the Guru - a sincerely request that before you decide to abandon your Guru and choose another path, please do some serious soul-searching and some serious reflection about...................................................w this advice and then let us know how you feel in two weeks.

I am sincerely sorry for any mistakes against Gurmat and Saadh Sangat jee please forgive me and I hope Guru jee blesses you all with naam and chardee kalaa.

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

What a GREAT post by SAADHRAYN bhainji ......

all read carefully....

Mod comment : Please cut ur quotes using the dots, as people reading can refere to the origional message, thanks -10

[Guest mehtab]

well said SaadhRayn Kaur jee

[Jaspaul Singh]

"idontknow" jee, welcome to sikhsangat

God loved us so much to send his son to die for our sins

if i m not wrong, didn't jesus cry out "oh lord why have u forsaken me?" when he was being crucified? and what did Guru Arjan Dev Jee say while sitting on a hot plate with hot sand being poured on his head? He said "Your Will seems so sweet to me! Nanak begs for the gift of your Name!" You say jesus died for our sins, look at Guru Tegh Bahadur Jee who sacrificed His life for a totally different religion (i.e Hinduism) which was not even in accordance with the beliefs of Sikhi, why? coz He believed in freedom of religion! Jesus said "those who pick up the sword die by the sword", and Guru Gobind Singh Jee, who fought for the rights of all people who were suffering injustices said "When all ways of correcting an evil have failed, its justified to unsheath the sword".

more from http://www.sikhs.org/relig_se.htm

Sikhism believes anyone can achieve salvation irrespective of the religion that they follow if they endear God in their heart and daily actions.

Christian concept of Jesus as son of God. Sikhism regards all as the children of God.

In Sikhism child baptism into the Khalsa brotherhood is discouraged. One should only become a Khalsa when they are able to fully understand the duties and responsibilities.

There is no special day like Sunday or Sabbath for worship.

Heaven and Hell as physical entities. In Sikhism there are no such physical places. Hell is equivalent to the cycles of births and deaths and heaven is equivalent to the soul merging with God.

Guru Gobind Singh abolished the priestly class making Sikhism free from their weaknesses and egos, the only priest is the Living Guru, the Guru Granth Sahib which contains all the knowledge and which is available for reading by any Sikh.

Hmmmm somehow i didnt catch Rochak jis amazing post in between. Veerji i was thinking about this too... but i didnt know HOW TO say it .. cuz i didnt know the exact words that Jesus had said....

THIS IS SOO TRUE!!!

[Jassika]

try the belief-o-matic and see what religion comes first for u. i was pretty surprised the first time i did this a long time ago i got like 100% sikhism so i find this religion really is the most sensible after comparing with all others

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

[Deep Singh]

waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru waheguru....

seeing all these amazing posts i know i am amongst saints.

Idontknow friend, once i was some how in the same position as you are in. what i did was to read the Bible, from page 1 towards the end. and after that i started with Sri Guru Granth Sahib (which i am reading now), after reading the first pages of Guru Sahib i knew what i will be missing my converting to other faith. brother/sister, i believe it is your responsibility to at least read whole of the Holy Bible and also whole Sri Guru Granth Sahib before you convert, so that you may know what you will be missing either way. [this happened some years back in my life, i wanted to, but never got time to finish with Quran...and then there were all the Hindu scriptures....i took a break, and focused on Guru Sahib...man it is awesome!]