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Summary of Question:	Gurudwara Practices
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Sunday, 9/10/2000 12:39 AM MDT

Satnam, this is my second attempt at this message. I am not sure if you already received a copy of this or not.Anyways, my question is one that has had me puzzled since childhood. Does a person's Amrit for lack of a better word "get broken" if they share food with a person who is not Amritdari?. For example, Let's say that a family of Amritdari's go to someone's (Non Amritdari's)house for dinner . The Amritdari's once they have served themselves they do not/may not touch a plate that has salad on it. The salad plate is like a communal plate that everyone will take a piece of onion, tomato, etc off of throughout the meal. The Amritdari's will not/may not take salad off of it, if during the meal the Non Amritdari has helped himself.I mean has the salad been contaminated or something. Or the other reason is that the Amritdari may not want anymore salad.Who know's? .

I know that this question may seem rather petty. Unfortunatley, I have been in this situation several times throughout my life. I mean come on, is someones Amrit really gonna "break" if they "touch" another's plate. I find that at this level some people are "superficial Amritdari Sikhs". Those that have not taken Amrit are made to feel as though they are not a part of the "chosen group". Please note that I have said "some". I don't find that all Amritdari's are like those that feel that if someone touches their food,or the utensil they are eating from or whatever the case may be, "like oh my god" the world has come to an end for them. Is there any merit to this? If so, please enlighten me.

This is the same case in the Gurudwara. Please understand I am not speaking ill if the practices, I am just puzzled by people. I mean they have so much more work to do other than worrying about "hey is that guy/gal an Amritdari, and I should make sure he doesn't touch my tray" I know that at the Gurudwara hygiene is important and because in the langar the head should be covered etc, but people just make me wonder. I'm sure god isn't going to say, "I know I created you but please don't touch the food that is going to be blessed during Ardas".

The Amritdari versus non Amritdari terms were used as comparison's so that I would be able to clearly express what I am saying. It is no way intended to make one look better than the other. We are all "his" and as such I feel we should treat each other the same way.
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What kind of spiritual path would be messed up by eating from the same plate as a "non-Amritdari"? A very weak one.
The Khalsa deals from strength, not weak-kneed fear. If you chant Wahe Guru once it wipes away millions of karmas, why would I be concerned about who touched what?
Don't worry about these relics of Hinduism. That's a Brahmin trip, not a fearless warrior's.
LSK