FEATURED BOOK "LEFT TO TELL"

What a wondeful, amazing, heart rendering yet inspiring book this is. I have written a bit about the first chapter and I would like to share this writing with you in the hopes you might go out and read this amazing book. This book has inspired me to ask god to give me seva towards darfur. Whether the All Mighty will do this seva through me remains to be seen.

Wow, what an amazing book. I can already tell and I have just read the fwd. At first I was afraid the book would bring be down. But now after reading the fwd I cannot wait to read the rest of the book. Basically Wayne talks about how he met Immaculee Ilibagiza, how he was so taken by her the first few seconds they met. He talks about how they got in contact and he insisted she write her story down in a book. He also talks about how close they have become because she goes on tour with him everywhere. So who is Immaculee? Well she is the survivor of the Rwandan holocaust (hotel Rwanda) where nearly 1 million people dies in around 100 days, and this is her story:

Part 1: Gathering of the Storm
Chapter 1: The eternal spring:

Wow it was really hard for me to read this chapter because I kept on thinking of what was to come. This book is extremely well written. I don’t know if I can read this book. Its going to be tough. Immaculee talks about her life as a child in Rwanda. “Rwanda is a tiny country set like a jewel in central Africa. She is so breathtakingly beautiful that it’s impossible not to see the hand of God in her lush, rolling hills; mist-shrouded mountains; green valleys; and sparkling lakes. The gentle breezes drifting down from the hills and through the pine and cedar forest are scented with the sweet aroma of lilies and chrysanthemums. And the weather is so pleasant year-round the German settlers who arrived in the late 1800s christened her “the land of the eternal spring”. What amazing writing. I could envision the beautiful country of Rwanda. Right away the author has set me up for heart break.

Then immacule talks about going swimming with her family every so often in the warm crystal lake. She mentions how young children in her village would walk for eight mile to and from work and parents never worried about being abducted. What an amazing place to live. You see Rwanda and kids on T.V. and it makes you sad for a bit, but then you move on even though deep inside you know they are part of you. Those people are human beings as well who have the same connection the lord and god you pray too. But I ignore that feeling or push it deep down inside me so I don’t have to feel the pain. Now this author has put a face to all those children suffering. How will I be able to ignore it now. I will not be able to, as I shouldn’t. I should take ownership of my human existence and help those who are suffering. Waheguru no one knows your secrets. Help me be in service to you.

Immaculee talks about her family and really puts a personal touch to all of them. She talks about her father who is strong and reserved yet very loving towards his family. How her mother and father are teachers and the first in the village to graduate high school. She talks about how the children were pushed to get an even better education then they did. Her dad was a person who the entire village respected and came to for advice. He was someone who was wise and settled arguments in the village, also people came from far and wide to ask him for advice. She talks about how she felt safe in his strong arms. How he used to come home a little tipsy and wake up the kids so he didn’t have to eat alone. How the kids cherished these moments: “Well I can’t eat dinner alone.” He’d say, and gently get us all out of bed. We’d sit around the table in our pajamas while he ate dinner and told us about his day, we loved every minute of it… “They’ve already said their prayers, Leonard. They have school tomorrow!?”. “Well, Rose, I have work tomorrow. And you can never say to many prayers. Right, Immaculee?” “yes, Daddy,” I’d answer shyly. I idolized my dad and was delighted that he’d ask me such an important question.”

The mother was also a teacher and a beautiful person who worried about her family constantly and was up earlier then everyone getting everything ready and went to sleep later then everyone. The family was well off compared to others. Only family with two vehicles and a nice house for Rwanden standards. Once the neighbor was telling the mother her problems of getting her daughter married. How she didn’t have enough money for a new wedding dress. The mother responded just pray and everything will be fine. Then the next day the mother took her money that she saved from teaching and went and bought cloths and stayed up all night making the wedding and bridesmaid dresses for her neighbors daughters wedding. What an amazing story.

When she talked about her three brother I was touched. The eldest (amiable) was a introverted mature person who was very humble. The mother doted over him the most but he was always embarrassed to get the attention. Always looking out for the family when the father was gone, by making sure the doors were locked and mother was safe. Immaculee talks about how she never got to know him as well because of the five year age difference. But she loved him so much. The part that touched me unspeakably was when he went to boarding school, she developed a terrible stomach ache. Then when she was to write to him she wrote “Dear Aimable I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you, I miss you, I love you I miss you I love you….and I miss you. Love Immaculee P.S I miss you.” Even now thinking of this I can't help but fight back some tears. What a beautiful child Immaculee was, so much love and innocence.

I See Beauty Poem

I SEE BEAUTY
I see beauty in that distinct smell after a rainstorm
I see beauty in that simple drop on a leaf that is about to form
I see beauty in those colourful leaves shining in the autumn sun
I see beauty in children’s laughter as they run free and experience fun
I see beauty in the innocent and trusting soul of a child
I see beauty in their carefree spirit that is so tender and mild
I see beauty in the aw-inspiring colours of a sunrise
I see beauty in the gratitude of a home less person’s eyes
I see beauty in my longing for my soul mate.
I see beauty in the fact that I have to wait.
I see beauty in the free flight of an enchanting and peaceful dove.
I see beauty in its gleaming array of white, which represents love.
Ultimately I see beauty in the one that is pure and true
I see beauty in the creator, the all mighty Waheguru.

By Divine Quest
(Sehajvir S Randhawa)

My poem about Bhai Taru Singh

With his hands shackled but no fear in his eyes
Awaiting death his khalsa spirit begins to rise

They tell him to convert, but to their dismay
Bhai Taru Singhs faith is firm and does not sway

“Fine don’t give up your faith, just give us your hair and we will spare you life”
Bhai Taru Singh replies “you think I will bend under the threat of your knife”

“Oh cruel people why are you so blind, why can’t you see”
“My brothers have been shedding their blood for this faith long before me”

“We are Guru Gobind Singh ji’s Sikhs, we are a different breed”
“Do what you must so I can join my brothers as a Shaheed”

“I will never give up my hair because it was gifted to me by the king of all kings”
“I will endure any kind of tourture to stay true to my father Guru Gobind Singh”

“So do your worst, entice me, threaten me, burn me, cut me or scalp me alive”
“It makes no difference because I have taken the Amrit from the beloved five”

PLEASE DO NOT COPY THIS POEM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION

Bhai Taru Singh

bilaaval mehalaa 5
Bilaaval, Fifth Mehla:
rog mittaaeiaa aap prabh oupajiaa sukh saa(n)th
God Himself eradicated the disease; peace and tranquility have welled up.
vadd parathaap acharaj roop har keenhee dhaath 1
The Lord blessed me with the gifts of great, glorious radiance and wondrous form. 1
gur govi(n)dh kirapaa karee raakhiaa maeraa bhaaee
The Guru, the Lord of the Universe, has shown mercy to me, and saved my brother.
ham this kee saranaagathee jo sadhaa sehaaee 1 rehaao
I am under His Protection; He is always my help and support. 1Pause
birathhee kadhae n hovee jan kee aradhaas
The prayer of the Lord's humble servant is never offered in vain.
naanak jor govi(n)dh kaa pooran gunathaas 21377
Nanak takes the strength of the Perfect Lord of the Universe, the treasure of excellence. 21377


This month, July 1st, it was the shaheedi (martyrdom) anniversary of bhai taru singh ji. This mahan (great) gursikh is one of my personal heroes because of his dedication and fearlessness. A humble Gursikh Bhai Taru Singh used to farm his land and do his banis with great dedication. He also used to help the Singhs who were in the jungles fighting to overthrow the evil mughal rule. At that time most Sikhs were on the run and living in jungles fighting against tyranny. However a few village chiefs who were noble men and against the evil actions of the ruling government helped out Sikhs and let them stay in their villages to live normal lives. The rulers at the time allowed this, thinking the Sikhs would turn in their brethren if they ever needed information on the outlaw Singhs. This however was not the case, all the Sikhs sympathized with their brothers fighting for the cause and gave them food, water, clothing and any other aid whenever they could. They were living in the villages in order to help the Singhs.

Bhai Taru singh was one such individual who had such immense love for the Guru and his Gursikhs, he would help them every possible chance he could get. He was a true devotee who had full faith in the scriptures and would help anyone irrespective fo caste or religion. Because of this Bhai sahib had a reputation as a noble person and was respected by not only his village but other surrounding villages. Then one day Harbhagat Naranjinia (A government agent) complained to the governor about Bhai Sahibs actions. When Bhai sahib was arrested and questioned about aiding the "rebel" singhs, he remained calm and without any fear admitted to all the charges. They twenty guards who came to arrest him were shocked at how calmly and courageously bhai sahib admitted to the charges which would lead to his execution. But bhai sahib wasn't worried he had gurus bani ingrained in every fiber of his body, after all, what could the rulers of this world do to his soul which belonged to the Guru.

As bhai sahib was being taken away the people of his village and others protested, however it fell on deaf ears. As they walked further down, the other Sikhs from other villages came to rescue bhai sahib. But bhai sahib told them to not interfere and lose their lives for him. Whatever god has intended for me I am ready to accept, because I know my Guru is with me all the time. After days and days of torture they saw that it wasn't doing anything except strengthening his resolve and love for his Guru. They decided to take him the governor, Zakhirya Khan. They told the governor about how they tortured bhai sahib and how it had no effect on the great Gursikh. But Zakhirya Khan thought "Don't worry I know how to make even the hardest captives beg for mercy."

Zakhirya Khan asked Bhai Sahib to either accept Islam or be tortured to death. To which bhai sahib replied " Will I never die if I become a musalman? Don't Muslims die? When I am going to die one day, irrespective of my religion, then why should I desert my faith of which I am extremely proud of? Why should I commit an act to fall out of favour of my beloved Guru? If God had will me to be a Muslim, I would have been born to Muslim parents. I love my faith more than my life and I will defend it at all cost. To this Zakhiriya khan was taken aback. He got angry at this answer, however he kept his calm and decided to take away Bhai sahib's pride.

"Fine Taru Singh if you do not want wealth, riches or to convert to Islam then why not just save your life by giving me some of your hair. " He explained you are a young man, you have so much more to see in your life. Cut off some of your hair and you will be set free. You will not have to convert and your life will be spared. How cunning was Zakhirya, he knew that hair was important to Sikhs and if he could not force him to convert he could take away his pride by getting him to cut his hair. After all what fool would value his hair more then his life he thought.

But Bhai Taru Singh was not and ordinary human being. No he was a Sikh of the Gurus and had extreme love and faith in his Guru. He understood the importance of the five sacred gifts the Guru had bestowed upon his Sikhs. Kirpan (Sword to fight against injustice), Kara (Iron Bracelett to always remind one of God), Kacherra (Long underwear representing control of lust), Kanga (Wooden comb to keep the hair clean) and finally KESH (Unshorn hair which represented surrendering to God's Will, Not changing the form that God intended us to be in). Bhai sahib understood the sacrifices the tenth master had poured into these gifts. The sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh jis Four beloved children. The sacrifice of Guru ji's father mother and entire family. These gifts were not just mere items. NO these gifts were chosen by Akaal Purakh (Immortal God) himself and made benevolent by the Sacrifices of Akaals beloved ones (Our Gurus). NO these Gifts are not merely GIFTS, They are benevolent TOOLS that were designed to uplift and protect the Gurus beloved's as they walk the path of truth towards their All Mighty Creator. Only the true devotees of the Guru know the mystical hidden power of these GIFTS. And My beloved hereo, my beloved inspiration, my beloved mentor Bhai Taru Singh was one of these true devotees.

With a thunderous booming voice he said "you fool, how can I make a spiritually blind person see the magnifesence of these gifts. How can I make you see that these are more precious to me then not just one life, but an infinite amount of lives. I would die countless number of times defending these gifts. Do your worst to me I will never cut my hair." Zakhirya Khan being furious ordered his men to tie up Bhai Sahibs arms and to cut his hair by force. When Bhai Sahibs hands were tied and he had the sharpened knife above his head. He closed his eyes and he prayed with his heart to the all mighty.

Did he ask for his life to be spared? Did he ask to not feel pain? Did he ask Akaal why is all this happening? NO. Bhai sahib asked for one thing and one thing only. "Dear Lord save my precious hair, I can not bare for this precious gift to dishonored. I do not care what happens to me as long as my Gurus Gift remains intact." Hearing this Zakhirya Khan was even more furious. "You think your God is more powerful then ME!!" Cut his hair he ordered. As the butchers Knife came down and the sharp blade came in contact with the hair sparks flew and the knife bounced off the hair as if it were hitting strong metal. Not even minor damage was done to Bhai Taru Singhs Precious Hair. Furious Zakhirya ordered for them to use an axe. But the same thing happened. "USE A SAW THEN" He screamed. But of course nothing could damage bhai sahibs hair "birtha kadi na hovay jan ki ardas." Zakhriya Khan now was in an all out rage "If you cannot cut his hair then cut his scalp." And that's what they did. After which bhai Sahib did an ardas (Prayer) "Thank you lord for taking my scalp but leaving my hair intact."

While the blood kept oozing from Bhai Taru Singh's head, Zakaria Khan started crying in pain since he could not pass urine. All efforts on the part of best of doctors attending on Zakaria Khan failed to relieve the Governor of Punjab of unbearable pain.

As a last resort, Zakaria Khan sent a message to Khalsa Panth through S. Subeg Singh asking for forgiveness for his cruel acts agains the Sikhs and promised to stop their persecution forth with. S. Subeg Singh suggested that Zakaria Khan should get his own scalp hit by Bhai Taru Singh’s shoes. Zakaria Khan readily agreed to the suggestion, made by S. Subeg Singh, Bhai Taru Singh who was still alive even after removal of his scalp, was approached for loaning his shoe for the purpose of hitting Zakaria Khan’s head with it, as suggested by S. Subeg Singh.As soon as Bhai Taru Singh’s shoe went into action, Zakaria Khan’s pain started receding and finally disappeared but a little later Zakaria Khan died while Bhai Taru Singh was yet to breathe his last. As soon as Bhai Taru Singh got the news of Zakaria Khan’s death, he too breathed his last.

My beloved Taru Singh is one of my many inspirations. I am an amritdhari with Gurus Grace. So i can proudly say i am his brother. He is my older sibling who is sitting in Sach Khand watching out and protecting his fellow Gursikhs. My brothers and sisters if you are a Sikh then ponder on this true event and become steadfast in your conviction and love for your Guru. And if you are not a Sikh then I hope I have shed some light on how important hair is for a Sikh. God bless you all.

bloggers note* this event is true and has been recorded in the history of the sikhs. However most of the dialogue was made up by the Blogger to protray the situation according to what i have imagined. thank you

My writing featured on www.Mrsikhnet.com

Janurary 11 2006 If you go on mrsikhnet.com and scroll waaaay down you will come across something I wrote up on my experience at the winter soltice. You can see some of my pics in my gallery If you are too lazy to go and check it out, I will let you read it here Love, Change, Sikhi, Sangat @ Winter Solstice Camp A friend who works with the 3HO events office forwarded me the following email from a "Punjabi" Sikh who participated in the recent "Winter Solstice Camp" which took place last week in Florida. It is always nice to see people go through their own personal growth and make positive changes in their lives. We can all learn from each other's experiences. (Ps. The Summer Solstice Camp is in the middle of June here in Espanola, New Mexico. We are also going to be holding another camp on "Jaap Sahib" right before that camp. More info to come in the spring)

"As I sit here getting ready to write about my experience at winter solstice my mind is struggling to find the words. After all how do you put into words the emotions of love, peace, acceptance, universal oneness? I am almost afraid to write these words because I know they will not do these emotions justice. But I will try with my limited capacity as a writer to express what I experienced. I feel like it to be a duty to tell the world (especially the Punjabi youth) about my experience with the 3ho sangat. Before I start I would like to tell the people this is my own personal experience of just meeting the sangat. I did not do much yoga there because I am a beginner and it was difficult for me to participate in the main events. So I am writing about only my experience with interacting with the sangat. I would like to tell the readers a little bit about my background. I have done personal development courses in my life which have opened me to new experiences. However it has been a long time since I did these courses and I found myself going back to my same old mundane life. The experience at 3ho has rejuvenated me; it has touched my heart in such a profound way. I have been into Sikhi pretty much my whole life in one form or another. I have taken guru jiý’s amrit about 2 years ago. It was a wonderful time in my life. I had so much pyaar for Guru ji and this kept me on track and happy. However along the way I started to become more strict for whatever reasons. I somehow forgot about the love of Sikhi and focused on being strict in order to achieve my spiritual goals. Do not get me wrong, I believe it is fine to be strict IF your soul asks for it. For example if through simran you naturally do not want to watch t.v. because your soul (inner self) feels it is distracting and taking you away from meditation, then that is wonderful and beautiful. However if you stop watching T.V. because you are copying someone who is spiritual, then it can be dangerous. If you do not know why you are doing what you are doing then you can lose that pyaar for God. My point is always know why you are doing what you are doing. Do not let Sikhi become ritualistic.

This is a lesson I have learned the hard way. I had lost the pure emotion of love for my guru and it had been replaced with love buried in rituals and superstitions. After attending this solstice camp my heart has become open to love again. I have experienced so much love energy from the sangat at the solstice that my heart became opened once again. When I become strict for the wrong reasons I automatically started putting up walls. I started havingjudgmentss on people who weren't as strict as me. I was like this because of my environment of fear based thinking. "God will punish you if you do this or that". "You need to be perfect, or God will not love you". I started thinking about people who trimmed their beards as wrong, people who were amritdhari yet wore make up as weak, people who went out to see a movie, as sinners. Why? Because I was so miserable with myself I had to make myself feel better by judging others. I made thesejudgmentss without even realizing it. My heart had been closed. So recently I gave up being strict and decided to just be. Iý’m not saying I went out doing kurheits (braking my amrit). I just stopped depriving myself of small pleasures. However my heart was still closed.

After going to winter solstice and seeing their love for humanity and love for people in general my heart has become open once again. What I have seen is that the 3HO sangat do not push their views on others. They do not put up walls, instead they build bridges. They show people nothing but love. And this love is like a tidal wave that bursts through the barriers of the heart which are preventing one from realizing God. There were many Sikhs and non-sikhs attending this solstice camp. The key that opened my heart was the way they just loved everyone and anyone regardless of how much simran they did, or what religion they were. The lesson that I have learned is that every one person is their own and they have the right to find their own way to practice sikhi. Why should I impose my beliefs on someone? A person is an individual child of god who has the right to practice however he or she wants. I also realized that it iridiculousas to interfere or pasjudgmentsts on another individual. Who am I to say what is right or wrong. There is only one way to god, and that is through love. Only through love will you be able to touch another persons heart. Only through love will people listen to you. Not througjudgmentsts.

This lesson has been implanted in my heart after being around some of these beautiful Sikhs at the solstice. Through love they have touched my heart and opened it once again. I have realized that walls melt away when you have love. But if you have rituals and you follow other people's version of sikhi blindly then walls get put up and you end up cold and alone. Thank you 3ho for showing me how to be compassionate again. Thank you for showing me that sikhi is inclusive not exclusive. Thank you for showing me that Gurbani can only be understood fully through love. "Sach kahon sun leho sabai jin prem kio tin hee prabh paio." (All should listen to this truth that only those who love God can realize Him.)" - Sehajvir Singh