# Sipping Water Used To Wash Feet. Taking Rounds Of Nishan Sahib. Should We?



## insearchofpeace (Apr 25, 2011)

Waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh.

Whenever I go to the Gurudwara I see lots of people taking a sip of the water where they wash their feet(taking it as a sip of amrit)....then they also do matha tek to the nishan sahib, and take a round around it and again do matha tek to it....well I also used to do the same, take  a sip of the water (where we clean our feet) and also go around the nishan sahib.....though I have stopped practicing this as somewhere I heard it is not right to do so.
I wanted your views on it whether it is right or wrong to do so because though I don't do it, i see others do it and my family members too and question myself whether not doing it is right or wrong.
Thanks for sparing your time.


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## spnadmin (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Should we do this?*

insearchofpeace ji

You have made some decisions that are imho right! You are describing ritualistic and meaningless behavior. Before tearing off into condemning the ritual of taking sips of water willy nilly, however, let's think why this goes on in the first place. Is there something in the culture of people who do this that keeps it going? Is there a lack of knowledge and education? Let's ask, Can anyone of us change anything or anyone other than ourselves alone? 

Please read what is here at the forum on rituals. Check out some other threads. And please come back and tell us what you found that helps you answer your own question


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## Gyani Jarnail Singh (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Should we do this?*

ALL THAT..."holy water"..."holy ashes - dhoorr"..Holy this and Holy that...
are based on FAULTY interpretation of Gurbani.
GURBANI is all about PRACTISE...if you want to cultivate "humility" (and not add to ego) go wash the dishes, clean sangats shoes jorreh sewa, sweep the floors, mop the kitches, do the bathrooms etc etc if possible as anonymously and un-noticieably as possible so you get the most benefit..
better still Actively SEEK out the Creator !! and extend your help...the homeless..the cold ones..the hungry ones..the bare footed..the naked....the stray dog..the stray cow and do the needful...
Go to the SCHOOLS..the Hopsitals...the PINGALWARA...the orphanages..give your TIME..spread your love..etc etc..
Make the Practical Gurbani shine out through you and your actions !!

Sipping dirty water..circling the Nishan sahib - just as the Nishan Sahib standing tall announces a holy place of SANCTUARY..food for the hungry..shelter for the homeless..sympathy and Love...simiarly YOU should stand OUT as tall for the exact same things !! Simply circling the NS..and then going out and barking at the poor rikshaw man for a few rupees more...or shouting at the bus conductor...beggar woman trying to get your attention etc etc shows YOU dont practise what the Nishan sahib Stands for !! You pretend to honour the Nishan Sahib but you are a Traitor..selling out your soul...

Sadly most peole today are Lai laggh...sheep...that follow others blindly..without thinking...DONT DO THAT. Stand Tall and DO WHAT the GURU SAYS...not what the weak Sikhs do !! That will make you a beter SIKH.


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## insearchofpeace (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Should we do this?*

Thank you spnadmin, I will go through some thread and learn more. 
And Gyani Jarnail Singh Ji, Thank you soooo much for the explaination, it really helped, i stopped doing it and I won't even think of going back. :happykaur:


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## Kanwaljit.Singh (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Should we do this?*

True. Just like Gyani ji said, if drinking the water from dust of visitors to Gurudwaras, teaches you humility, then it is OK.

I saw a weird practice in some Gurudwara in Ludhiana. There was dust from the shoes of people in Jodha Ghar which was kept in plastic pouches nicely tied by rubber band. And people were taking it away. I was left aghast and speechless. Dust of feet of saint eh? Such dust has to be EARNED by doing Sewa, not just taken off the counter!


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## spnadmin (Apr 25, 2011)

*Re: Should we do this?*



Kanwaljit.Singh said:


> True. Just like Gyani ji said, if drinking the water from dust of visitors to Gurudwaras, teaches you humility, then it is OK.



Kanwaljit ji

How are we reading what Gyani said so differently. I read him dismissing the idea of drinking water from the dust of visitors very strongly. Here is what he said about humility:



> GURBANI is all about PRACTISE...if you want to cultivate "humility" (and not add to ego) go wash the dishes, clean sangats shoes jorreh sewa, sweep the floors, mop the kitches, do the bathrooms etc etc if possible as anonymously and un-noticieably as possible so you get the most benefit..
> *better still* Actively SEEK out the Creator !! and extend your help...the homeless..the cold ones..the hungry ones..the bare footed..the naked....the stray dog..the stray cow and do the needful...
> Go to the SCHOOLS..the Hopsitals...the PINGALWARA...the orphanages..give your TIME..spread your love..etc etc..
> Make the Practical Gurbani shine out through you and your actions !!



Or were you being a bit facetious?


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## Kanwaljit.Singh (Apr 25, 2011)

Hehe veerji I had to look up the definition of facetious though I could get the context. No I was saying that some experiences can teach you humility. Like it can teach you the value of thirst and water too. The idea that water is precious. And when one needs water in grip of choking thirst, you wouldn't care where water comes from. And you wouldn't feel that the water has been 'soiled' by the feet of visitors. The idea of cultivating humility without ego. It is just like that Scene of Acceptance from the movie Swades, where SRK doesn't go for his bottled water. Rather he takes it for 50p from a small child selling water from a pot.


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## findingmyway (Apr 25, 2011)

Is it the same people who encourage the concept of jhooth and drinking the water from others feet? How are the 2 concepts compatible? Also from a health point of view, water containing so many bugs will be extremely unhealthy. Dirty water is a leading cause of so many problems across the world so if you are drinking it on a regular basis you are putting yourself in danger unnecessarily. Much healthier to share food as at least those bugs are supposed to be in the mouth


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## Seeker9 (Apr 25, 2011)

I thought the Catholic Church was bad for ritual but I have learned something new today about Sikh ritual!

I have never seen this and will add my tuppence worth and just say that purely from a hygiene viewpoint, I find the whole concept quite disgusting and wholly unnecessary...unless someone can direct me to an appropriate reference in SGGS.....


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## Gyani Jarnail Singh (Apr 25, 2011)

Seeker Ji..
This "ritual" is ONLY in INDIAN GURDWARAS....thats perhaps why you havent seen or heard of it before....no other gurdwars in the Diaspora have such pools of running water to wet the feet.....although lots have feet washing platforms with taps in the wall...no water collects there as  it all drains away...BUT in India the entire gateway is usually having a shallow lake like structure whereby everyone ahs no choice except to pass through this pool to get to the Gurdwara...Quite a few sikhs take a dip/sip from this water thinking t is the dust of saints..dhoorr !! or Charan Dhoorr...whereas the real GURBANI meaning of Charan Dhoorr is to BECOME THE DUST of the sangat feet..see the Vast Difference...in Gurbani one is instructed to PRACTISE BECOMING as humble as the DUST..but people take it to mean..CONSUMPTION of PHYSICAL DUST...but i accept that taking a SIP of dust is so much and way way EASIER and faster than the real Gurbani WAY...


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