The word Gurdwara is pronounced as 'Gur-Dwa-raa'. The word Gurdwara literally means the 'Guru's Door' or 'through the Guru'. Sikhs come here to learn how to live a spiritual and moral life and earn Guru's blessings. Gurdwaras are commonly known as Sikh Places of Worship in the Western world.

The simplest Rehit for someone starting out is Jap Ji Sahib in the morning, Rehraas Sahib in the evening, and Sohila Sahib before going to sleep. Guru Granth Sahib Ji starts with these three Banis, which are the bare minimum that a Sikh must do. Do not start thinking that “I am not good enough to do Paath '' or “I will start doing it when I feel better”. Paath will make you better. If you are ill, you don’t stop taking medicine. You take medicine anyway. Everybody should do Paath regardless of what they are doing in their lives. As we get more into Sikhi, then we can increase our Paath as we grow. We can do Jap Ji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Tav Prasad Svaiye Sahib, Chaupee Sahib and Anand Sahib in the morning. Rehraas Sahib and Aarti in the evening. Sohila Sahib and Rakhiaa De Shabad at night. As we grow more, we can add Shabad Hazare, Salok Mahalla 9, Laavaan, and other Banis when we have time during the day or add it to our morning Nitnem.

The word Simran means to remember. Simran means to unite with Vaheguru from whom we have come. When we repeat Vaheguru but don’t feel anything, we are not getting Naam (connection to the Divine). We get some benefits from doing it but are still far from union with Vaheguru. If we’re repeating Vaheguru daily but not feeling anything then we need to look at our life, as Gurbani tells us to search our hearts every day. Find out what the problem is and fix it. Ask yourself, am I living a good life? Am I a good human being? Am I full of anger and hatred? Don’t spend the time just doing Paath (reading daily prayers) and not connecting to the words. Speak to someone to get advice and find out the problem. Work hard to make that connection. You remember Vaheguru by saying Their name. Say Their name and you’ll find Them.  

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The five thieves are lust, anger, greed, attachment, and pride. You have to keep fighting them your whole life. Honesty is the best policy to fight these five thieves. Most people are not honest about them. They try to hide them behind a fight. You have to face these enemies. If you are a lustful person and you keep saying that you are not, but your mind keeps thinking about it, then you are not honest with yourself. So, you can’t start to fight unless you face it. To solve the problem, you must first admit that it is your problem. Start it by admitting to yourself, and then take a zero-tolerance approach to fight it. For example, if you are a lustful person, you can’t say that you will not touch a woman, but you can keep watching pornography the whole day. That is not going to help you. A superman cannot fly if he has a bit of kryptonite inside him. Poison is poison at all times. You can’t allow a little bit of poison inside you. You need to cut it out completely.      

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A Kirpan is a symbol of justice in Sikhi. It demonstrates the Khalsa’s motivation for justice and freedom. Kirpan serves two purposes. Firstly, it is to defend ourselves and secondly, it is to defend the rights of other people. The Kirpan is God’s Grace on the Khalsa Panth (Collective of initiated Sikhs). The Kirpan is only to be used as a weapon of grace and never offense. It also stops a person from being a pacifist because most people see a problem and say that they can’t do anything. If someone is being raped or mugged, a lot of people would walk past because they don’t have any tools to help the other person. In self-defense classes, women are being told that if they are being attacked or somebody is trying to rape them or rob them, don’t shout rape, shout fire. People don’t tend to help them if they are shouting rape because people are scared of that situation. As Khalsa (Collective of initiated Sikhs), we can never choose to be self-interested in such situations. The Kirpan encourages us to be proactive in helping other people and not being reactive or pacifist.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was the first Sikh Guru. Guru Ji had Guruship from birth since they were sent by Vaheguru to help humanity. They were born in Rai Bhoe Di Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib) in 1469 AD in the house of Baba Mehta Kalu Ji and Mata Tripta Ji. Guru Ji had a five years older sister named Bebe Nanaki Ji.

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