RITUALS..

1. RITUALS.. qIriQ nwvx jwau qIrQu nwmu hY ] qIrQu sbd bIcwru AMqir igAwnu hY ] • Why should I bathe at sacred shrines of pilgrimage? Naam, the Name of the Lord, is the sacred shrine of pilgrimage. • My sacred shrine of pilgrimage is spiritual wisdom within, and contemplation on the Word of the Shabad.

2. DAYS MORE SACRED THAN OTHERS? • bRhmn igAws krih caubIsw kwjI mh rmjwnw • igAwrh mws pws kY rwKy eykY mwih inDwnw • The Brahmins observe twenty-four fasts during the year, and the Muslims fast during the month of Ramadaan. • The Muslims set aside eleven months, and claim that the treasure is only in the one month. ||3|| • What is the use of bathing at Orissa? Why do the Muslims bow their heads in the mosque?

3. AUSPICIOUS DAYS • rwmklI mhlw 1 ] swhw gxih n krih bIcwru ] swhy aUpir eykMkwru ] ijsu guru imlY soeI ibiD jwxY ] gurmiq hoie q hukmu pCwxY ]1] JUTu n boil pwfy scu khIAY ] haumY jwie sbid Gru lhIAY ]1] rhwau ] gix gix joqku kWfI kInI ] pVY suxwvY qqu n cInI ] sBsY aUpir gur sbdu bIcwru ] hor kQnI bdau n sglI Cwru ]2] • Raamkalee, First Mehl: You calculate the auspicious days, but you do not understand that the One Creator Lord Vaheguru is above these auspicious days. He alone knows the way, who meets the Guru. When one follows the Guru's Teachings, then he realizes the Hukam of Vaheguru's Command. ||1|| Do not tell lies, O Pandit; O religious scholar, speak the Truth. When egotism is eradicated through the Word of the Shabad, then one finds His home. ||1||Pause|| Calculating and counting, the astrologer draws the horoscope. He studies it and announces it, but he does not understand reality. Understand, that the Word of the Guru's Shabad is above all. Do not speak of anything else; it is all just ashes. ||2||” (Ang 904)

4. SUPERSTITIONS • gauVI mhlw 5 ] jw kau ApnI ikrpw DwrY ] so jnu rsnw nwmu aucwrY ]1] hir ibsrq shsw duKu ibAwpY ] ismrq nwmu Brmu Bau BwgY ]1] rhwau ] hir kIrqnu suxY hir kIrqnu gwvY ] iqsu jn dUKu inkit nhI AwvY ]2] hir kI thl krq jnu sohY ] qw kau mwieAw Agin n pohY ]3] min qin muiK hir nwmu dieAwl ] nwnk qjIAly Avir jMjwl ]4]52]121] • Gauree, Fifth Mehl: Those, upon whom Vaheguru Himself showers His Mercy, chant Naam, the Name of the Lord, with their tongues. ||1|| Forgetting Vaheguru, superstition and sorrow shall overtake you. Meditating on the Naam, doubt and fear shall depart. ||1||Pause|| Listening to the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises, and singing the Lord's Kirtan, misfortune shall not even come near you. ||2|| Working for Vaheguru, His humble servants look beautiful. The fire of Maya does not touch them. ||3|| Within their minds, bodies and mouths, is the Name of the Merciful Vaheguru. Nanak has renounced other entanglements. ||4||52||121||

5. GURU’S WISDOM • gurdyv qIrQu AMimRq srovru gur igAwn mjnu AprMprw ] • The Divine Guru is the sacred shrine of pilgrimage, and the pool of divine ambrosia; bathing in the Guru's wisdom, one experiences the Infinite.

6. WHO IS SPIRITUALLY WISE? • BY kwhU kau dyq nih nih BY mwnq Awn • khu nwnk suin ry mnw igAwnI qwih bKwin • One who does not frighten anyone, and who is not afraid of anyone else • - says Nanak, listen, mind: call him spiritually wise. ||16||

7. SUCHAM — SOOTAKPlaces being pure & impure • sloku mÚ 1 ] jy kir sUqku mMnIAY sB qY sUqku hoie ] gohy AqY lkVI AMdir kIVw hoie ] jyqy dwxy AMn ky jIAw bwJu n koie ] pihlw pwxI jIau hY ijqu hirAw sBu koie ] sUqku ikau kir rKIAY sUqku pvY rsoie ] nwnk sUqku eyv n auqrY igAwnu auqwry Doie ]1] • “Salok, First Mehl: If one accepts the concept of impurity, then there is impurity everywhere. In cow-dung and wood there are worms. As many as are the grains of corn, none is without life. First, there is life in the water, by which everything else is made green. How can it be protected from impurity? It touches our own kitchen. O Nanak, impurity cannot be removed in this way; it is washed away only by spiritual wisdom. ||1||”… (Ang 472)

8. WOMEN BEING CONSIDERED AS “POLLUTED”… • mÚ 1 ] ijau jorU isrnwvxI AwvY vwro vwr ] jUTy jUTw muiK vsY inq inq hoie KuAwru ] sUcy eyih n AwKIAih bhin ij ipMfw Doie ] sUcy syeI nwnkw ijn min visAw soie ]2] • First Mehl: As a woman has her periods, month after month, so does falsehood dwell in the mouth of the false; they suffer forever, again and again. They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies. Only they are pure, O Nanak, within whose minds the Lord abides. ||2||

9. WOMEN ARE INFERIOR & BAD? • mÚ 1 ] BMif jMmIAY BMif inMmIAY BMif mMgxu vIAwhu ] BMfhu hovY dosqI BMfhu clY rwhu ] BMfu muAw BMfu BwlIAY BMif hovY bMDwnu ] so ikau mMdw AwKIAY ijqu jMmih rwjwn ] BMfhu hI BMfu aUpjY BMfY bwJu n koie ] nwnk BMfY bwhrw eyko scw soie ] ijqu muiK sdw swlwhIAY Bwgw rqI cwir ] nwnk qy muK aUjly iqqu scY drbwir ]2] • First Mehl: From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From women, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only Vaheguru, the True Lord, is without a woman. That mouth which praises Vaheguru continually is blessed and beautiful. O Nanak, those faces shall be radiant in the Court of the True Lord. ||2||