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Summary of Question:	Getting Bored With Life
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Monday, 10/27/2003 1:32 PM MDT

hi i got really into sikhi around 2002 when i had stopped shavin and thought i could do absoloutly anything. i have mainly "white/black" friends and all i dont really get along with many of the "punjabi" people. at first [when i stopped shavin] i thought i wouldnt miss the time spent with my white/black friends, we had always gone out most weekends and nights and had a laugh sometimes they had some alcohol but i didnt really do that. lately though im gettin really bored at home, i live really far away from school so dont see my mates often and would love to go out with them but they always seem to be going to the pub or "downtown". i dunno what to do cause i wanna have a laugh with them; knwoing there out having a good time while im stuck at home on my computer or watching tv makes me fell well sad. my dad is pretty religious but hes always working so i dont really see him and my mum isnt really religous at all.

to make matters worse i went to Damdami Taksal this past summer and to be quite honest it wasnt the "uplifting" experience i wanted it to be and i got quite bored, ive been less religious since i came back from there!

i think im just stuck between my friends and sikhi but i want both and i will be going university next year and if i feel like this now surely im going to do stuff that i shouldnt be doing when i go there! i have gotten to know this one girl really well and i like her but i know i shud treat her like a "sister" apprantly, but if i had felt bout her this way back in 2002, im afraid i wud have kept shaving; for her!!!

when i do do simran i dont feel like it means n e thing even with the english translation after reading it in Gurmukhi.

sorry to talk for ages im just stuck............

<<<<< REPLY >>>>>

Sat Nam! The answer to your situation is very simple. You can direct your attention in two directions, outwards towards the myriad joys of maya, or inward to explore the vast world of your own infinity.

We are taught how to look out, but not how to look in.

And the fundamental fact of life is that there must be a balance of out and in. Ah, but looking out is so much more enticing! So much to look at; so many distractions and things to do!

To that I say, until you have truly looked inside, you do not know what enticing can be. But you have to train your mind to look within. You can't do that by rote recitation of Gurbani. You have to pay attention. You have to TRAIN your mind through meditation. It is like when you bring two attracting magnets near each other. At first the pull is weak, but the closer they get, the stronger the pull becomes until they simply must join together.

Meditation is like that. You have to pass through the distractions and "weak attraction" to the object of your concentration, but then you become absorbed. This is called Dyana. The longer you focus, the deeper you go, until you reach Dharana - absorbtion in the sound current of the Shabd Guru.

So, if you are serious about your own spirituality, you must learn to meditate, eyes closed, until the Gurbani absorbs you deep into the Naad. This comes more easily for some than for others. If you are sincere and you keep up, Guru will bless you with his deep meditation.

So understand, it is not simply about outward form and appearances. It is about your inner world. It is beyond the mind. Deeper. Much deeper.

As you develop your ability to explore and experience the inner world you will experience delights beyond words, and it is natural that your friends will change since you will want to be with people who inspire and uplevel you, not people who bring you down.

It is a natural process. If you are sincere and Guru blesses you, you will experience it. This is how your soul grows.

You can feed your soul or you can feed your senses. It is only when your soul is undernourished that you feel bored with life.

.....G