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Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

> Can I just go there and join in or should I find a way to announce my visit?

You can just go there, however, if you want someone to give you a tour of the Gurdwara then it's best to call in advanced and let them know.

> When is the best day and time to visit?

The Gurdwara is open every day, but the peak rush hours will be on the weekend, specifically Sundays, usually 9am to 3pm.


> Anything I need to keep in mind besides behaving respectfully, covering my head and taking off my shoes?

Other than basic things such as being respectful, covering the head, taking off shoes, no not really. Also, substances such as drugs & alcohol are not allowed on Gurdwara property.


> being interested in learning more about the Sikh faith


If you would like to learn more about the Sikh faith, then Basics of Sikhi is a great YouTube channel with general videos on Sikhi, and Nanak Naam is a great Chanel that focuses more on the Spiritual/Philosophical side of Sikhi. I would highly suggest you take a look at "The Why Guru Course" which is a free video series that is a great introduction to Sikhi, and talks about Sikh history, culture, language, music, poetry, and much more. For a more in-depth cover on Sikh history read up on "A History of Sikhs" by Kushwant Singh. To access the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji online go to SearchGurbani.com. For Q&As check out LearnSikhi.com, and for everything else you're already at the right spot: r/Sikh.


If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask!

Hey!

I think it would be heavily dependant on who's available within your local area. In my old city of Newcastle there were a few teachers for pretty much any instrument you could care to imagine. It might be worth speaking with some of the people at your gurdwara and see if they either know an instrument and can teach you or can recommend you a teacher. It is also worth seeing if your gurdwara itself offers lessons. In Newcastle there also existed a lot of community centres focused around different countries, including a Pakistani and a Turkish centre. It might be worth seeing if there exist similar groups in your area and then asking there if anyone could help you.

I must admit that's not been going so well. I was too late to join the group class at the gurdwara, but that's likely to change now, as I'm hoping to join in August when the class restarts. I'm choosing to play the taus, if anything because it's rare and so it needs all the attention it can get! Trust me to pick one of the biggest instruments though...

Found these links for learning dilruba too:

• Har Sangeet offers a few free online lessons as well as an online learning program (which you'll have to pay for but the prices seem decently low. Plus you can submit your own playing for feedback as part of the lessons). Here's the link.
  
  
• There's also a book in English which if you can't find a teacher might be worth a look. It teaches esraj, dilruba and taus and is divided between beginner, intermediate and advanced books. Here's the link to the beginner's book. It has the advantage of being written by a native English speaker who is expert in teaching world music. It might serve to be useful as a starting point, and you could, once you'v got the basics sorted, then get some experience with another musician accompanying you who can offer help/advice/practice tips and the like.

Before saying anything, I want to thank you for challenging me on this. I've been making this argument on r/Sikh for months and no one ever counters it in a serious way. Even a few Hindu posters just let my argument stand unchallenged. And the fact that you are the one challenging it, with your breadth and depth of knowledge, is great.

>I agree with /u/rugjet, while it was often used in an ethnic sense these excerpts seem to be referring to it in the religious sense.

Correct, but was that reference to a single cohesive religion? I believe it was a widely understood designation during that era for all non-Muslim Indians. Similarly, there's a tuk in Gurbani where Guruji uses the word Kateb as a blanket term for all Semitic scriptures (Torah, Bible, Quran). Taking that to mean that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are 1 religion would be a stretch IMO.

>Yes it wasn't as structured as Hinduism is today but it's still implied there that Hindu = people who follow Sanatan Dharam versus a Muslim/Turk who follows the Islamic way of life.

So an interesting thing about the phrase Sanatan Dharma, I've read that you won't find it written on any documents that predate the 19th century. Apparently, it was coined as a native language alternative to the word Hinduism. To me this makes sense given that the the religion its referring to would have at some point in its earliest days not been eternal, but fairly novel. The name choice is reflective of the late stage at which the idea of Hinduism / Sanatan Dharma became a part of the Hindus' collective conscience.

>You don't have to concede Sikhi is a part of Hinduism as such, it's certainly similar and ideologically related to Vedanta but has its pronounced differences as well.

So this is a hard point to debate and could take up a whole book. Whether you separate something out or consider it a branch of something larger is a subjective matter. In my opinion, it comes down to chronology. If things took shape at roughly the same time (in the case of religious philosophy a few hundred years apart at most) then one isn't necessarily a branch of another. As that timeframe expands, the newer philosophy is more likely a branch of the older. For example, Punjabi is not a branch of Hindi despite their closeness, but both languages are definitely branches of Sanskrit.

Another point to consider, for all the respect the Vedas are accorded, they have almost no bearing on the religion we now call Hinduism / Sanatan Dharma (aside from a pandit uttering Sanskrit verses which no one understands at various traditional ceremonies). The Vedic Age and its gods (Brahma & Indra) declined and gave way to the Hinduism of the Gurus period which placed Vishnu in the pinnacle. We don't speak of a Quranic Age or Bible Age, there is a strong continuity in those religions that I don't see in Hinduism.

Here's some books that have informed some of my thinking. If you're interested in exploring this subject further, I think they're worth perusing:

Unifying Hinduism - The author pegs the first awareness of a Hindu religion to the period of contact with Islam. Even at that time though, the idea of a pan-Indian religion was completely new and the purview of Hindu elites and philosophers. The process he describes is somewhat similar to how the diverse tapestry and rivalries of the Native American tribes coalesced into a more homogeneous Indian (ironic right?) identity only after European conquest of the Americas. The author notes that Hindutvadi narratives of Hinduism dating back to ancient times is a modern fabrication.

Was Hinduism Invented? - This book refutes the commonly held belief in Western Academia that the British invented Hinduism but does place its birth during the colonial period and gives credit to Hindu intellectuals who were responding to Christian missionary activity.

I think the most damning evidence of all is that we are having this conversation. Religions certainly evolve and change, including Sikhi. But if there is no common thread from the beginning, is it really a single religion? Sadly, Guruji would frown on us having this conversation. It does nothing for removing the artificial sense of separation between ourselves and others. But I believe there is value in understanding this as a bullwark against the Hindutva intellectuals who are currently making their case much better than we are making ours.

excellent step, i actually did this with my wife last year as our new year's resolution.

what we did is write out one/two lines of bani per day on a flash card and memorize up to that point and then keep increasing slowly every day. on weekends take a break for it all to sink in.

for example, on day one, you will write down, read out loud for a set interval of time (say 15 minutes) and memorize the mool mantar on a flash card.

day two you will write down the first pauri on another flash card and read out loud mool mantar + first pauri, and keep incrementing slowly every day depending on how well you are at memorizing and your retention. on weekends, just review what you've memorized up to that point and start again on mondays.

this works very well especially when you're doing it together with wife/brother/sister/etc. it's like going to the gym together with your buddy and it helps to stay motivated by doing it together.

on particular lifehacks, that varies from person to person depending on if you're a visual person (i'm not but my wife is) or analytical person (i am but my wife isn't) and there's a variety of tricks available.

some pauris are easy to memorize because they're very similar or start with the same word and almost all of bani rhymes. other pauris are more difficult so you take them slow. continue to recite in your head throughout the day whenever you have some free minutes available (e.g. waiting in line at the bank, etc.).

as you start to do it more and more, your brain will actually start to get better at it and you'll be able to memorize more per day.

in general what has worked well for me is memorizing the first word and first letter of every word, making mnemonics, and just brute force memorizing and the rest flows-in.

in more difficult parts, try to associate each word of bani with a particular object, person, place or thing you can visualize. also, certain parts have a particular theme, so knowing what the theme is also helps you remember the individual components.

as for a book, this one i have at home and it has a lot of techniques available and has helped me memorize much in general. it's a very cheap book and it might be available in your local library.

congratulations on taking a very big and important step and all the best to you.

> Gurbani is available on websites which may be accessed by sikh and non-sikh alike.

Just like it always has been in book form.

> Gurbani is now available on phones, for use in all sorts of situations and scenarios, such as when you are trying to understand some kirtan and are sitting around confused in the congregation hall.

Just like it always has been in book form.

> Gurbani kirtan is found on youtube, itunes, soundcloud, you name it, again for access by sikh and non-sikh alike.

Just like it always has been in video tape, cassette, CD form.

> Gurbani quotes and references are finding themselves into unlikely sources, such as video games (Civilization 5 and Europa Universalis), which are read by sikh, but mostly non-sikhs.

Just like they always have been e.g. here, here.

What's your point about free speech? You don't own the copyright over the book or impose control over its use. At best you're confused but I'm not 100% sure you're not a troll (I'll give you benefit of doubt). Who is trying to impose taking off shoes or covering of heads when referencing a quote from the Gurbani? Evidence please.

Technology has not fundamentally changed anything, it's just made it easier for people to reference and access the Gurbani, just like the billion other things on this planet it's helped in the same way. Digital, physical -- same thing. It's the bits that are being communicated that are important, not the medium of communication.

It was a wakeup call for me when I visited a bookstore in NYC that had 3 aisles of book on christianity, 2 isles on Judaism and Islam, and 1 aisle on Hinduism and Buddhism. I couldn't find a single book on Sikhism (except for a book on the poetry of Kabir, that I bought). So I wouldn't expect any books in the mid-west (yet).


There are a few SGGS websites as mentioned on the sidebar. I'll make a shameless plug for a website I'm working on for exploring the Guru Granth Sahib -- www.granth.co. It is a work in progress but you can read it page by page in 53 languages, jump to sections or look at random hymns. We have some useful features planned (including search and custom pothis).


Regarding Sikh / Punjabi history, I liked Kushwant Singh's "History of the Sikhs" (two parts). A book I was given recently was The Sikhs in Canada. I flipped through it and it looks interesting. I'll post a detailed review in a month when I can finish reading it. At a slightly advanced level, I recently started looking into Recent debates in Sikh Studies. I found it to be as it's namesake -- an attempt to objectively assess the recent debates in Sikhism. Finally, The Sikh Religion by MacAuliffe is a must have for anyone interested in Sikhism (First volume here )


On a more cultural perspective, you can check out some of Robbi Clipper Sethi's books like Fifty Fifty

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1848853211/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1380856710&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
It's pretty good so far. Has a lot of info that u couldn't easily find online

Or I could start a fight and recommend this one! https://www.amazon.com/Sikhism-Hew-McLeod/dp/0140252606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506345691&sr=1-1&keywords=sikhism+hew

In actual fact it was my introduction to Sikhi well over a decade ago and I don't care what anyone says, his translations in the back are outstanding.

Maybe the didn't.


You should start with this book:
http://www.amazon.com/History-Literature-Identity-Centuries-Tradition/dp/0198070748/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1426874239&sr=8-3&keywords=JS+Grewal


This guys is the best historian out of Punjab, has never had his dastaar knocked off for what he's written, and is recognized internationally for the quality of work he's done which is all source based.

If you're looking for a historical, text book type source, then you want A History of the Sikhs Volume 1, 1469-1839 and Volume 2, 1839-2004 by Khushwant Singh. Comprehensive and well researched with plenty of footnotes.

found this online, hope it helps. http://www.gurbanifiles.org/translations/English%20Translation%20of%20Siri%20Guru%20Granth%20Sahib.pdf

and this looks good too. http://www.amazon.com/Shri-Guru-Granth-Sahib-Vol/dp/160620100X/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344421667&sr=1-8&keywords=guru+granth+sahib+in+english

Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Same-Light-Daljit-Singh-Jawa/dp/1479758442/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380655447&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sikhs-History-Religion-Society/dp/0231068158/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217958&sr=8-6&keywords=sikhism+mcleod

http://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-Volume-1469-1839-Collection/dp/0195673085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217976&sr=8-1&keywords=sikhism+khushwant+singh

http://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-v2-1839-1988-corrections/dp/0195626443/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1344217976&sr=8-5&keywords=sikhism+khushwant+singh

I'm reading a translation of the SGGS in English. this one

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00V7SYUFU/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_5EB5xbEGSFD46

http://www.amazon.com/Soft-Target-behind-disaster-Second/dp/1550289047

It's tough to be so conclusive of responsibility at this point, but to compare it to Muslims saying 911 was an inside job is a stretch. Yes, this person is reprehensible and given the entire community a stain, but lines are blurred as to exactly where ALL the responsibility lies. Do you honestly think it's beyond the pale for Indian politicians to slaughter their own citizens for their personal gain with false flag operations? If so you might want to look into the Sikh Kashmiri massacre in 2000. Have you read Soft Target written by Brian McAndrew (of the Globe and Mail)?

http://www.amazon.ca/Soft-Target-behind-disaster-Edition/dp/1550289047

"On March 16, 2005, almost twenty years after one of the biggest mass murders in Canadian Aviation history, the Air-India Case concluded with a verdict that authors Zuhair Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew predicted sixteen years ago when Soft Target was first published: not guilty. In this second edition, the two offer a detailed foreword that brings readers up-to-date with some startling new information surrounding the twin bombings on June 23, 1985 in the air over the Atlantic, and on the ground in Japan, which left 331 people dead. They offer key details from the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri that took place in a specially-built Vancouver courtroom, leads that were not followed up, and more details of India's intelligence service's clandestine interference in Canada."

tl;dr - India (with or without the aid of the accused) bombed Air India, CSIS found out, realized it would put Canada smack into the middle of the cold war, Canada's top investigations unit "accidentally" deleted all surveillance tapes (look it up, that's on the official record) and noped the f**k out of the investigation.