Received this from a friend who recently got married. I have edited out any personal references after taking permission from her (the daughter).

Dear Daughter,

Loving Guru Fateh!

Thanks for your email. We all are grateful to Almighty and to our Guru for the blessing and the help. We all are fine here and remember you a lot. I had kept an email for you, which I am sending now. Please do not consider it a Bhashan. It is guidance from my experience in life and I will be failing in my duty if I do not convey it to you.

I have been asking you again and again whether you have been reading the GURU GRANTH SAHIB regularly. You must be wondering why Papa is asking me this question everytime we speak. I ask you again and again because I am looking forward to the day when it has become a routine for you to have a dialogue with the Guru on a daily basis.

It has been accepted over the centuries the essential requirement to have a Guru. It is as important as the air and water without which we cannot survive. It is the Guru who guides us on the path of life. The man himself is not in a position to always know what is right and wrong and has to turn to the Guru for guidance. Also the feeling and belongingness to the Guru is like having someone to turn to in the time of needs and doubts. The requirement of Guru is imperative due to illusions in the world and attractions which can make a person go on the wrong path. It is the Guru who does not allow you to tread on the unfavorable path and decisions for which the consequences would not be helpful for the person in the long run. The most important requirement for adopting a Guru is for the help in the real achievements of the aim of life to join up with the Almighty and get freedom from the bondage of Rebirth.

As far as we are concerned, Guru Granth Sahib is our only Guru. It is a gift bestowed by the Tenth Guru and we are Lucky to be born in a Sikh family and have the Guru from the day of birth. Thereafter not following the true Guru would mean the most unfortunate and unlucky thing that can happen to a person born in a Sikh family.

There are three important things while reading the Guru Granth Sahib.
1. To read with devotion.
2. To understand the meaning.
3. To follow and obey the teachings.

This is the way to achieve his blessings. The Charni Lagna is carried out to achieve the above. If we are able to follow the teachings we will be liberated from the bondage of rebirth and eventually join up with Him. You have to make the beginning by reading the Guru Granth Sahib regularly. The other two situations given above will come automatically.

I would like to quote to you a lovely piece of the beauty of the Guru Granth Sahib written by Bhai Sahib Vir Singh. The impact of the original Punjabi cannot be same but I am sure you will be able to grasp the magnitude of the Guru from the heart of a great saint.

The Sacred Tome scriptures of the Sikhs - Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Literal meaning of Guru is one who dispels darkness of ignorance and provides light of Knowledge), verify the effulgence of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs and is the pristine pure divine knowledge of Almighty God. The entire Tome is one un- definable personality, an ocean of uninterrupted flow, one continuous beauty, one continual melody. It presents a panorama of myriad ripples of prayer, yearning, unsullied fear, knowledge service, faith, and affection, loving devotion. The tome is one continued song, poetic nectar one uninterrupted blissful ecstasy, sweet delightful swaying, nectarine thrill, manner of merging. This indeed is Guru Nanaks heart, His life story and divine knowledge. This itself is divine melody and lyre. This is the illumination of divine knowledge showered by the Lord on the Guru.

As the Guru's heart is free from selfishness and ego, and is pristine pure, it reflects the divine knowledge without the slightest distortion just as an image is faithfully reflected in a mirror. So too is faithfully reflected the entire divine utterance in the Guru's heart. Indeed this Tome thus is the sacred knowledge, it is the Guru Nanaks heart and so it is his very Person.

Sd Vir Singh

Mr. Macaulife was a Britisher who stayed in India for a long period and studied the Guru Granth Sahib in detail. He has written the Sikh history and his books would be available in your Gurudwara Library.

Thus spoke Mr. Macaulife to a gathering in Amritsar in 1899.

Sikh religion has a notable distinctive feature - other religions of the world have had great preceptors, but they never wrote even a single line themselves. Some of you would have heard that in Greece there has been a great philosopher called Pythagoras. He had a large number of disciples and had become a world famous person. He left behind not even a single line written by himself from whom we too could have known what his rules and principles were. The second great master of the world Socrates came on the scene in 500 BC in Greece and became famous as a great spiritual luminary. He said God's celestial voice came down unto him and urged him to do virtuous deeds and shun evil deeds, But he too has not left behind even a single sentence in his own writing which would have been maintained as a record for posterity of his aims, objectives and his religious principles. What all is known about his teachings has been made widely famous by his disciples. Then on the Indian scene came the great Buddha. He too wrote not even a single line. After that came the very well known religious Teacher - Jesus Christ. He too never wrote even a single word. His teachings became famous through the Holy Book called the Bible. But the Gurus (spiritual preceptors) of the Sikhs have been distinct from them all in that they have themselves written down the rules and principles of their Granth Sahib, a compendium of the sacred teachings for our benefit. In this aspect the Sikh religion is foremost among all the religions.

An extract form an article published in a Magazine entitled " Sikh advocate" published in October 1964 written by Bhai Sahib Dharmanant Singh Ji.

" I am saturated with Gurubani!
Every particle of my essence is nourished with Gurbani!
Yea, my very being is transmitted into Gurbani !
My heart is Gurbani,
My soul is Gurbani!
Now what more, young lad, do you want me to profess?
My Joy is Gurbani,
My hope is Gurbani!
I live in Gurbani and shall pass away in Gurbani!"

You are aware we have always turned to GURU GRANTH SAHIB at every occasion for guidance, so did my grandparents and so have you seen your grandparents - entirely devoted to the Guru. It is imperative that the tradition is continued and we are worthy of the Guru at all times.

Lots and Lots of Love & Regards,

Your Papa