My Malice and Bias

  The Middle Paths of Buddhism and Sikhism Two new spiritual philosophies emerged from the sacred land of India that challenged the doctrine of the establishment and shaking the foundation of the incumbent practices of the land. These two spiritual paths are ' Buddhism ' and ' Sikhism ' and both are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. Both religions have their unique belief systems, practices, and traditions. However if you scratch away the superficial layers of ritualistic differences, you will find that these two philosophies have a lot in common. Lets dig deeper into the origin, progression, and core values of both of these great religions and explore common traits: The Originators - Gautam Buddha and Guru Nanak The originators of both these religions did NOT come from the typical Brahminnic traditions with sacred blood lines. In India the Brahmin caste is considered esteemed due to their generations long role as the custodians of religious spirituality. These Bra...

Painting Sikh Gurus I am going to discuss a topic that is very close to my heart. Should we have paintings of the Gurus at our homes or Gurdwaras or not? You may have a strong opinion on this topic but lets rationally look at all aspects on this issue before we form a polarized view. Why the Fuss About? Idolizing the mythological Gods and historical individuals have been an age old tradition in India. The sculptures and paintings of Hindu Gods, Jain Tirthankars, and Buddha are revered in temples as well as at peoples homes.  In Islam, however it's an absolute prohibition - Muhammad, or any of the other prophets of Islam, should not be pictured in any way. Pictures - as well as statues. Historically though Mohammad has been painted by Muslim artists during the earlier period of Islam. At what point then, did depictions of Muhammad become Haram, or forbidden? The advent of mass-circulation print media in the 18th century posed a challenge and a global ban was dictated to the devouts....

Babar Bani  hymns were composed by  Guru Nanak  after witnessing the carnage of  Saidpur  at the hands of Moghul invader  Babur . For Guru Nanak, Babur was not  a Muslim invader bent upon destroying the Hindu culture and neither was an Islamic zealot who wanted to spread his religion over a the land. He was simply a power hungry king motivated by greed and glory, so much so that anyone, irrespective of religion, who came in his way, was destroyed. An artists impression of Guru Nanak Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad aka Babur (persian: tiger) had the perfect combinations of genetics to be a ferocious marauder, greedy plunderer, and ruthless ruler. Babur's father was  Omar Sheikh Mirza , king of  Ferghana , a region presently in  Uzbekistan . He was a direct paternal descendant of Tamerlane , the 15th century Turkish conqueror who plundered western and eastern Asia. Tamerlane was known as  the biggest killers the planet has ever known. ...

ਹਕੁ ਪਰਾਇਆ ਨਾਨਕਾ ਉਸੁ ਸੂਅਰ ਉਸੁ ਗਾਇ ॥  हकु पराइआ नानका उसु सूअर उसु गाइ ॥  To take what rightfully belongs to another, is like a Muslim eating pork, or a Hindu eating beef.  With these strong words, Guru Nanak condemned those who grab what rightfully belongs to someone else. The concept of " Haqq " or the " Rights " of all human being is enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib by our Gurus.  Unfortunately, we all have forgotten these teachings of Guru Nanak. His beloved followers from Punjab fought with each other whether to cremate or bury his pious remains after he passed away. The same Punjabi Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs killed each other and forcibly laid claim to each others's properties during the partition of Punjab in 1947. Guru Nanak at Hardwar Gurdwara Gian Godri The people of Hardwar have not only forgotten the message of Guru Nanak but the local administration has tried to prove that the historical Gurdwara never existed at "Har ki...