COMMON QUESTIONS

What is the next step after you are initiated?


This is a very interesting question. Obviously, when one partakes of Amrit he/she becomes a member of the Khalsa and promises to live his/her life according to the Khalsa Reht. There are some misunderstandings about "What is Amrit? What does it mean to be an Amritdhari?" It needs to be explained here.

Amrit is an ancient word used in different forms all over the world but means the same thing, some holy liquid the drinking of which keeps death away. Hindu gods are supposed to have taken it and that is why they are to "live" forever. Guru Nanak says this is simply a myth. There is no other Amrit except God's Name. Actually those people (their souls) should be considered alive who drink God's Name (love God and always keep Him in their mind). Those who ignore Father God, they (their souls) should be considered dead.

In the concluding hymn of the Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Arjan Dev tells us that the whole of Gurbaani is Amrit, God's Name.

What we call "partaking of Amrit" is actually "partaking of Khanda Bata Pahul". The ceremony includes making a devotee take the sanctified water and say Waheguru, God's Name adopted by the Sikhs. A Sikh is told to read Gurbaani regularly and love God (Naam Simran).

There is a code of conduct an Amritdhari is required to follow. It helps him to live an honest, humble and virtuous life. It is a good moral life which a Sikh enjoys. He keeps away from un-social acts and vices. Thus the "next step" after one partakes of Amrit is to enjoy living an upright and truthful life, and also keep away from immoral and wrong paths.