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Are We God Loving Or God Fearing Sikhs ?


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Going through my daily Sikhi updates I found this Q&A -

(Query)

I am a black girl. My bf is Sikh and we have been together for 4 years. Recently an incident happened to him and he thought he was goin to die of AIDS cos a junkies blood accidentally splashed inthis eye.

He went into overkill and would not let me close to him thinking I may catch something. I should mention he is a hypochondriac. Anyway he kinda got over that paranoia of death but he banned us having sex.

Slowly slowly he was shutting me out and seemed to spend his whole time praying going temple etc. last week he dumped me and says he wants us to be friends! ...are you kidding me. We can't be friends. I am feeling ok at the moment kinda but I know I will feel really bad when the reality sinks it.

Does anyone have a view on this or in similar situation.

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(Answer)

He just wanted an excuse to end things it sounds like. He either met someone else or just was over it all.

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(OP)

You could be right. On both counts he even did it via text.

he was actually taking medication cos of his paranoia that he caught something but it was too extreme. He even got depress and has been of work for close to two months now. I dunno I feel in limbo.

I don't even fancy him anymore cos he has grown a full beard due to going all religious. I think I have been dumped for religion....

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Did some googling and came up with an interesting article

"People are not God loving, people are God fearing"

A God-fearing person is religious and behaves according to the moral rules of their religion.God loves and He doesn’t want us to be afraid. And if you live right, there’s no need to fear anything. God Loving are also God fearing but only god fearing are not god loving.GOD FEARING MEN are those who help others always to seek blessings.GOD LOVING MEN are those who help others to seek love of GOD.

Religion and spirituality are two different things. Some people achieve spirituality simply by meditation. Many people don’t feel that going to temples, mosques and other places of worship is necessary. Some believe in Sufism.

You just need to be true to yourself, to your family and your society. If you can’t help, at least make sure that you don’t harm anyone. We must try to maintain harmony around us. We must be not only God-loving but also people loving individuals. When people say that they are God-fearing, that is the wrong thing to say.Love and fear are similar in that they are both motivational. The love of God motivates me to obey God because I please Him. The fear of God motivates me to obey Him even when I do not care for God. Jonathan Edwards has referred to this as an equalizing balance in the Christian’s obedience to God. They are both necessary and important depending where we are in our relationship with God. He did not infer that one was lesser and the other greater. He did not say that the fear of God was no longer present. The fact is that unless we fear God, we cannot know the love of God.

The fear of God is a normal and healthy response to God when our love is not completely perfected. We might have some concern as to what consequences God might bring upon our lives if we disobey Him. If it was based on fear, then it would not be based on a trusting relationship. However, the fear of God is based on trust and therefore is good and healthy. Through His fear we trust Him to guard our lives from the worse and bring us to receive what is good. When we have this understanding of God, it keeps us from lots of troubles. We can trust God for a ‘sting’ when wrong is done so that we are kept from further wrong. The fear of God builds trust and deepens relationship. Fearfulness destroys it.

The love of God gives us a great affection for God which again is based on trust. We expose ourselves to Him because we have great confidence in God’s care and guidance over our lives. We are willing to take risks because we trust Him, even though what He asks of us seems foolish or dangerous. We can trust God for a reward when right is done so that we will pursue the good path.

Because of our sinful natures, we dare not say we do not need chastisement. However, as we become trained, the need for this should be less and less. In summary, although the love of God might increase to such a degree that the need for reverence seems overshadowed, it never is. And although we are part of the family of God, we are still only the children.Humans are supposed to fear God because he is so powerful. Now this fear is not supposed to make you huddle in a corner, it is supposed to strengthen your relationship with him. You fear his capabilities but this fear turns into love and comfort. You know how powerful God is but you know that Gods power is used for your protection and hapiness not to harm you.

When you really know God you see what he is capable of. This sparks a bit of fear of intimidation becuase you know that God can stop your heart if he wanted to. There should be natural fear in knowing this, but that fear should also make you very very happy. You know that this power is not for your harm and God would never use this power to hurt you. He uses the power to help you…..

Humans are supposed to fear God, but at the same time the fear is supposed to turn into love and comfort.The fear of the Lord is like the first gleam of dawn. Ever brightening till the full light of day.: I agree with( My) that it is about respect, but I have also come to see that his anger can be frightening. If you are able to learn what God has for those that deny him and embrace the world of evils. You will begin to see how good the fear is. It is good to fear the Lord.GOD does not want HIS children or the ones who love HIM to fear HIM,HE wants them to love HIM..now the ones who hate GOD or the ones who are HIS enemies HE wants them to fear HIM..

Source - http://thoughtstalk.com/wp/people-are-not-god-loving-they-are-god-fearing/

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There is no clear cut answer to question: Are We God Loving Or God Fearing Sikhs


For some sikhs (learner/seeker)- god is perceived as love right away via gurbani when sikh (learner/seeker) get into sikhi so they right away- start developing more personal love for god which eventually turns into unconditional impersonal all prevading love for god.


For other sikhs (learner/seeker) god in intial stages is naturally perceived as fear, and therefore god fearing since one's mind is in panj chors, in order to make them realize their wrong doing and take them out of maya- Gurbani gives them tarna (scolding), gives many cautionary warnings-consequences bachans so they mend their wrong doings, but as seeker progresses slowly that same fear is turned into love.


So journey often starts from fear (one point or another) but sikhi is not confined in static fear, its transition process - from fear to personal love to impersonal love- all prevading love.

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There is no clear cut answer to question: Are We God Loving Or God Fearing Sikhs
For some sikhs (learner/seeker)- god is perceived as love right away via gurbani when sikh (learner/seeker) get into sikhi so they right away- start developing more personal love for god which eventually turns into unconditional impersonal all prevading love for god.
For other sikhs (learner/seeker) god in intial stages is naturally perceived as fear, and therefore god fearing since one's mind is in panj chors, in order to make them realize their wrong doing and take them out of maya- Gurbani gives them tarna (scolding), gives many cautionary warnings-consequences bachans so they mend their wrong doings, but as seeker progresses slowly that same fear is turned into love.
So journey often starts from fear (one point or another) but sikhi is not confined in static fear, its transition process - from fear to personal love to impersonal love- all prevading love.

I would more or less say the same .

For definite, fear helps to bring one out or make one realise their 5 chor weaknesses.

Even though fear is itself a weakness,......we fall for our weaknesses more easily.

In a way, if someone needs to be awaken from their complete engrossment in kaam let's say..... then they need some kind of fear as in the case of op above....... some factor of fear, itself highlights the fear of God within that person.

Once you learn and hopefully start some kind of self discipline (another reason for rehat!), then his nadar/grace starts giveing you that feel of divine love.

Our Gurus were all completely God loving, they had no reason to be fearing, along with Shaheeds and great sikhs all gave their lives in the name of pure love, without a single ounce of any kind of fear from anyone.

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Guest dasguruka

When it comes to prema bhagti then you need both. Love by itself won't hold for long unless you don't have the fear of losing it. The phrase 'bhau bhagat" comes quite often in Gurbani.

Personally if I hold on to just love then im more likely to make a mistake and give myself a reason that Oh he's merciful and ever forgiving so go ahead and lets do this. This is where fear comes in. I hope this made sense.

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