Many friends have come to me recently, asking for good english texts to get a peek or initial understanding of the teachings of Guru Nanak. My first reaction is to tell them the truth, that I have not yet seen a english translation of Guru Granth Sahib that is worthy of being called almost-there. But then, their intent is to start understanding & there must be some good starting point. So here is an attempt at that.

A set of texts that can act as a Primer on the Sikh way of life : 

1.Keeping this in mind: “The aim of life, according to the Sikh Gurus, is not to get salvation or a heavenly abode called paradise, but to develop the best within us which is God.” – Master Teja Singh.

2. A primer to the Philosophy of Guru Nanak: PDF

3. A  fascinatingly thorough translation of the first four steps of the “Jap” composition of Guru Nanak:

• Understanding Jap
• Pauri 1
• Pauri 2
• Pauri 3
• Pauri 4

This set of thesis, though not the original teachings of guru Nanak in his own words, should help direct any inquisitive soul wanting to learn from Gruu  Nanak.

On the night before Christmas Eve, I saw Gursant Singh’s post on a friends Facebook wall mentioning: FREE on Kindle for 4 days : “Confessions of an American Sikh: Locked up in India, corrupt cops & my escape from a “New Age” tantric yoga cult!“

My work computer had crashed & I had 4 days off. I said why not & started reading. I could not keep this book down Believe me, I am a slow, painfully slow reader, who can not read without humming the words.  But, there was no way I could put this book down. I was finally done on Christmas night!

Others may not find it as gripping as it was for me. For me it was too close to home since I too like Gursant have had experience in life when I was walking down the spiritual path & was fooled but charlatans or misdirected by really earnest innocent fellows who were lost like me.

So here is the Good, bad & ugly from the book:
Good:
Gursant Singh does an excellent job of baring his past & his mindset. It is fascinating to read his slow & steady process of unwrapping the layers of misconception & magical illusion he had regarding Sikhi, Kundalini Yoga & Yogi Bhajan.

It is a difficult task for people in this day and age to come out & say, I was living in a mistaken dreamland for 30 years. It takes Guts.

Bad:
I felt it that it went into too much detail during his Rishikesh period, could have done without a chapter or two. Instead I would have liked to read more about how about how he actually stetted his scores once he was back in the USA, what prompted him to write the book, how did he find his wife etc.

Another thing, Gursant seems to have a very Ptriarchical & male dominant mindset in most of the book. In the journey to becoming free of the “men are from mars” ideology of 3HO I was hoping to see a change in his expectation of a male dominant universe.
Ugly:
Reading some parts feels like Gursant actually combined the deed & the doer as one. It is good to to keep them separate, that is how we can move forward. He seems to be incapable forgiving his fellows followers of Yogi Bhajan.  Good or bad, what is done is done.

@Gursant Singh: Hope those like you can take a unifying star & help others walk across the chasm between 3HO & Sikhi, instead of creating a barrier by the very strong stands that you stake against your former friends. This way you may not be able to share what you have learnt.

@3HO people who have forsaken Gursant: I would really like to someone among the group having a real discussion on the points the Gursant raises about the difference between Sikhi & Yoga, instead of just ad hominem arguments that I have seen till now.

Lastly, it is a must read for anyone interested in how cults work from the inside, how the Indian police system sucks & how you can escape from it if you are not an Indian citizen.

Corporate email is a funny place, over the last year I made up a few rules for myself that I think can help others.
Just in case you did not know these on your own, here they are:

1. No DLs on Virtual High Fives
   Bcc DLs when giving kudos or thanking an individual or wanting to make it known. This will avoid the spam generated by other people using “Reply All” to high five the individual. Instead people can reply to the individual directly.
2. Give context when you +SomoneNew
   If you are adding someone to a long email thread and expect them to jump in and help, summarize the issue to set the context. Piecing the picture from bits of information in the thread can be very time consuming.
3. If you put someone in CC do not expect replies
   Use Cc only as an fyi, don’t address an individual and add them to Cc if you expect them to read your message.
4. Don’t reply to a DL to be removed from the same! That s#it just goes viral.
   When someone makes a mistake of using a DL with half the company on it, please don’t Reply All asking to be removed – you are spamming everyone on that DL. Just 2 weeks ago there was a remove me from the DL that generated 159(!!!) responses in under an hour. Either use the corporate DLmanager to remove yourself or Create a rule in your Outlook to trash emails with that subject line/DL instead.
5. Constantly trim the distribution list
   The culture of troubleshooting issues via email is here to stay, the larger the company the truer this is. So just try to get into a habit of Bcc’ing people who no longer need to be on the thread. If the email thread is never-ending and is turning into an IM chat, pick up the phone and call people, schedule a meeting with key individuals or do it via Skype/IM.
6. Email Subject Line matters
   Please make sure that your email’s subject line gives a brief summary of whats in the email body, just to save the time of the others if they need to read it full or not.
7. Change the subject if you bifurcate
   If you hijack a thread to start another discussion update the email subject accordingly. If the email subject is cryptic or not relevant to the discussion, update it.

Bonus habit: Let’s use common sense, when I can walk yo to u or call you, I should just do that. Hope this helps

Over the last few days, a lot of my friends have expressed an interest in reading about the teachings that Sikhs follow. It is a difficult task to translate the spiritual poetic flight of the teachings in the Guru Granth Sahib. But these 5 articles do a great job at explaining the preamble to the Sikh faith: The Jap bani.

If you do not have too much time,  just read the first one.  A great attempt at encapsulating what can not be encapsulated:

Understanding Jap1

Understanding Jap2

Understanding Jap3

Understanding Jap4

Understanding Jap5

P.S. The brochure/card I started last week, giving a very high level description of Sikhs, will hopefully get completed by this Friday.

The team at Punjabi Radio USA wanted to print small hand-cards that can be kept in the Taxi-cabs, Trucks, 7-11s & gas stations, especially the ones that are manned by Sikhs. The aim here is to help communicate the relevance of a Sikh Turban (Dastar) & alleviate any fear or animosity associated with it.

I am looking for any feedback you might have before these go into bulk printing.

Front:

Back:

P.S. the print size will roughly be around what you see here.

Please note before giving feedback, that the aim is not to educate someone on the intricate details of Sikhi, but just to make them a little comfortable with who we are. I had included the 5 Kakars (articles of faith) but then I removed them, based on discussions with people at #oakCreek vigils, because they need a deeper discussion.  (Do let me know if this hand-card crosses the line from familiarizing to proselytizing)

I am especially interested in your feedback if you are non-Sikh American. (Also I am the king of typos. Any & all corrections will be welcome.)

If you want the .tiff file to edit & make changes or print feel free to get the original files here & send your updates to me in the comments here or on twitter.

UPDATE: There is a much more eloquent post by Sarabhpreet Singh on exactly the same topic: Read Here

I am going to make a prediction here and a bold one.

That you will:
1. Not see any Sikh cringe back from what they were doing before 5/08 Wisconsin
2. Not see any Sikh engage in violent revenge

This I can say because the 500 year Sikh history is full of examples of terror far greater than what Wade Michael Page attempted to do in Wisconsin.  (Case in point: Genocides abetted by the Afghan Invaders, British & Indian Governments. Even haveing a price on every sikh head at one time.)
And Sikhs have known only one way to react: “Chardi Kala”.

Here is what Sikhs will do next & it is a lesson for America: Love & Educate

Sikh’s will do, what American political leadership has failed to do with those who terrorize America, share unconditional love & educate fellow humans on what might be our differences.

Fear & Retaliation is what acts like these are meant to engender.

Instead you will see increased turnouts at the Local Gurdwaras.
More Sikhs will make the extra effort to make everyone feel comfortable. (Which should not be needed in the first place).
In the great tradition of loving even those who are hell bent on killing us, as set by Bhai Kanhiaya,  sikhs will reach out to anyone who wants to learn who they are & what they stand for.
We will redouble our Langars (free food kitchens) & bring them out of the walls of the Gurdwaras.
Sikhs will work with educators & school officials to incorporate a lesson on Sikhism (Sikhi) in the school books.
Sikhs will strive to build a world where everyone belongs everywhere.
…
Sikhs will do what it takes to not only make themselves safer, but wherever they are, a safer world for those around.

Traditional Sikh Saying: “Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhaney Sarbat ka Bhala”
(Nanak, the creator blesses us with continually ascending positive values; In the creator’s order may everyone be benefited.)

A few things I wanted to put on paper as the day’s events are fresh in my mind. They are a  little rough on the edges so bear with me:

Have organized Media Vigilance & a coherent narrative

It was sad to see that even CNN began the events coverage with appallingly little knowledge of sikhs. As the events happened, I saw a disorganized effort from Sikhs (including me) across twitter correcting @cnn & @fox_news. The beauty was, though there was no central direction to the sikh sikh response, we had a coherent narrative:

1. Do not confuse sikhs with – muslims, hindus or anyone else
2. Even if this attack were on a mosque, it would have been equally despicable
3. Feel free to ask us anything about sikhs, we are happy to answer

Good that we have a new generation that is actively engaged on social media. We need to find a way of consolidating our narrative, especially given the fact that we are a minority everywhere- even the land of our birth: Hindustan.
Gun/firearm Ownership

Sikhs have teachings of love & peace but in a very middle-of-the-road way:

“One who does not frighten anyone, and who is not afraid of anyone else – says Nanak, listen, my mind: call him spiritually wise. ||16||”

Since the establishment of the Akal Takhat (Throne beyond Time) in 1606 sikhs have carried weapons, not for self defense: but for the defense of truth, liberty & freedom of the disenfranchised. It becomes a touchy issue in the US. Most Sikhs would rather have stricter controls & checks based on the mental health of a gun buyer/owner.

But, since the gun laws are not going to change anytime soon & Sikhs will always be the most likely target of hate crimes in this country.

Should Sikhs just do the seemingly rational thing: start bearing firearms that the law allows them to?

#Occupy our #Gurdwaras

This is a side note. It might hurt some feelings. But this is what I think:
I went to the Fremont Gurdwara in the evening, expecting that sikhs would have gathered & the Gurdwara leadership would be organizing a response. But sadly, all what was going on was recitation of the Gurmantar.

Gurdwara’s need to once again be a place of learning, organizing & service to the whole community they exist in. Instead they seem to have become insular institutions where we go & practice questionable rituals.

We need to make sure that Sikhs participate more visibly in the greater social story that happened beyond the walls of the Gurdwara, instead of creating an inward community that no one knows of until a monster comes in shooting us with a semi-automatic.

Stay “chardi kala”. (Stay “continually ascendent in positive values”)
No discussion on this point!

As everyone knows what happened today at the Oak Creek Gurdwara.

Sadly this the only time the media will focus on minorities like the Sikhs. So I am using this time to tweet & talk about sikhs right now. I suggest sikhs & others who know about sikhs to reach out to you local media organizations and talk to them about Sikhi.

I have always wanted to talk about sikhs, but I did not dream that it would be this way. If you want a common sikh’s opinion on what happened, you can reach out to me at: urbanturbanguy@gmail & 4o8-332-3827.

It has been almost a year & a half since my last blogpost. Just like everything else I blame it all on the one percent too.

Ok, the truth is I am just writing this post to brake the non-blogging rut that I am in. I will try to Tweet less & blog more.

… more to come.

…reflecting on the past year…

About a year ago my roommate introduced me to Epicurean Hedonism. It seemed very different from what my perception of the word ‘Hedonism’ was. I realized that for a fact only after I spent this last year working at a startup and inescapably becoming an Epicurean hedonist.

Before we go into the story, here are three Epicurian principles for happiness:

1) Friendship: “Of all the things which wisdom has contrived which contribute to a blessed life, none is more important, more fruitful, than friendship”

2) A thoughtful life: “It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly.”

3) Moderation/Subsistance: Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one’s lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure. The emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than on physical pleasures. Therefore, according to Epicurus, with whom one eats is of greater importance than what is eaten.

Now coming to the startup life:

Well, the third point on moderation is easy to understand, since you only make enough to live life in moderation . There is the expectation of the big exit, but till then you are working for what you can survie on and you make the best of it. Somehow it is in these resource scarce situations that I have had the most fun in life. (Those are the stories for later posts.)

Coming to the point of why I wrote this post-
Friendship and a thoughtful life are the two epicurean ideas that stuck with me as emblematic of a bay area startup. You live and die with 5-15 people you work with. You spend countless hours fighting over ideas and then implementing them. There is no escape from understanding each other at a level that you become best friends, if you want your startup to succeed. (In other words, if you are not in a dysfunctional startup, you will end up with lifelong friends ).

More importantly, with funding being constrained, your every decision has to be well thought through. You are in the game of making bets where the stakes are very high, you feel like Tom Cuise where others think you are writing checks that your startup can’t cash (literally and metaphorically). The only way this can work is if you think through every decision deep and hard. Oh and by the way, all the thinking needs to have been done yesterday.

For a techie like me, this sense of pleasure, can only be had in the startup world of the valley.I have no shame in being such a hedonist.

The question is though, is this just a startup thing or just a frame of mind that will manifest in other ways in different life situations?