Once there was a king who was both good and righteous. He was known far and wide for his wisdom and his kindness to the people of his kingdom. After many years, he began to feel bored with being a king, so he asked his adviser, "How old is my son now? I want him to become king so I can quit this job." The adviser said, "Your son is only 15 years old. The law says he must be 18 years old before he may be crowned as the king." The king said, "No, no no... that is no good at all. I want him to become king now." The adviser said, "You yourself are still a young king. If you were to wait for 3 years, you would still be very young to be retiring from your duties as a king." The king thought this over.
Once there was a king who thought he was the greatest man in the world. His adviser informed him that there was in fact a greater man than him. The king greatly wanted to know who this could possibly be, so they both went out to meet this person. It turned out to be an old man. He was very humble and poor, but he was a man of God. See how the old man taught the king what greatness truly is...
Adi Momo was a really scary mean person. Whenever he would come around the village he would steal from everyone and beat them. One man was very forgiving and wise. He just starting singing Adi Momo's name. Singing and singing..... something happened. Adi Momo did something no one had ever seen him do before...
This book hopes to inspire kids to live in eternal optimism and find the sangat that leads them to becoming the best versions of themselves!
After Guru Gobind Singh's time, during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there was a purely devoted fearless Khalsa named Akali Phula Singh. After taking a hukam from the Guru he wouldn't delay his battle plan to attack at dawn. He was the only one to charge in to battle against the Afghan army at first. He fought bravely without fear of death. He said, "The Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh can do anything."
There was a great drought, no water to drink or to grow food. Animals were died and the farmers became scared and desperate. A Brahman monk told the farmers, "The reason why there is a drought is because you are giving respect to a man who is not a Brahman. Everyone is treating this 'Guru Angad' like a holy man. Kick him out and I will bring the rain. The farmers listened to the monks false promise. What will Bhai Amar Das do when he hears the Guru was kicked out for this nonsense.
Amar Das ji rode to meet the True Guru. The Guru and Amar Das ji were related and Amar Das ji was a couple decades older. When Amar Das ji saw his saintly face, instead of hugging the Guru, Amar Das ji fell on his knees and said, "Please don't consider me your relative and don't even consider me your elder. Just take me as a student and show me the right path!" Amar Das ji devoted himself to the Guru's service for the rest of his life.
Guru Angad woke up in the early morning. He was thirsty, and he asked his sons to bring him water, but they said that it's raining outside and we would have to go to the lake to get water. Bhai Amar Das saw this happen, and he felt the need to serve his Guru. He went outside during the great storm to bring the Guru some water.
Amar Das Bhalla was a very devoted Vaishnava Hindu. When he was 62 he met a monk on one of his long pilgrimages. The monk asked, "Who is your guru?" Amar Das had no answer, he didn't have a guru. When the monk found out about this he became very angry, "I shared food with a man who has no guru!" Amar Das knew he needed a guru, would he ever find one?
Guru Ram Das had sent his youngest son, Arjan, away to do some work for the Guru. From his longing to be with his father he wrote a series of beautiful letters. His older brother became very jealous and showed himself not worthy of the Guruship. Arjan wrote the letters with such devotion and longing that they have the power of 1,000 shabds. For this reason it came to be called "Shabd Hazare".The Gaddi was given to him and he became Guru Arjan Dev ji.
Once there were two students. One day they were both told that they had received the great honor of seeing the Grand-Master. They were both very excited and humbled by this honor. The two students hiked to a remote mountain top to a very beautiful temple there. Both students were excited to see the Grand-Master.
Baba Atal was the son of Guru Hargobind. He was very wise for his age, he was adventurous and loved to play games and have fun. One of his play-mates, Mohan, was bitten by a cobra in the night. When Babal Atal came to play with his friend in the morning he learned that Mohan had died. All he wanted was to continue playing with his friend so he said, "Get up Mohan, let's go play." You will never guess what happened next.
Baba Deep Singh was a beloved child of Guru Gobind Singh, who's commitment was so strong, his word always came true. When the Hari Mandir Sahib was taken over by invaders he promised to fight until his head bowed at the threshold. In the battle field he fought fearlessly and sent many men to their Maker. Then he faught the general of the other army. Baba Deep's head was cut off in this fight........... then a miracle happened......
Once upon a time a long time ago there lived a Muslim child in India named Farid. Like most children Farid loved eating sweets. His mother always knew this about him, and one day she told him, "Son, the Lord created everything and is the Giver. Meditating on Him is the best." Farid replied, "Mama, if I meditate on The Almightly, will I get something in return?" She explained, "Well my son, when we meditate, we look very sweet to the Merciful Lord. So God gives us sweets to eat". "Oh!!! I love sweets!!!!!", he declared joyfully.
Guru Hargobind became the 6th Guru, he was young and strong and he started the Sikh warrior tradition in order to protect the innocent and destroy the wicked. When emperor Jahangir asked the Guru to join his prisoners Guru ji agreed. With many lessons along the way join as the Guru gets the nickname 'Bandi Chhor'.
This book is to remind us all how to live each day.
A long time ago in India there was a simple farmer named Dhanna. He lived a quiet life and loved to farm. Every day on his way to his fields, he passed by the house of a pundit who did many rituals and prayers, and Dhanna found this very interesting. One day he saw the pundit serving food to a stone statue. And he asked the pundit, "Why are you bringing food to a stone?" The pundit replied, "This is not a stone! This is a Thakur. If one pleases the Thakur all their wishes come true. You must feed the Thakur first, and only after that can you eat."
Bhai Gopal was a simple man, a Sikh of the Fifth Guru. Once a man came his store so Bhai Gopal could store his 500 coins. But Bhai Gopal was busy and forgot to put it in a safe place. Later the man came back and asked for his coins. Bhai Gopal said, "I'm sorry friend it looks like I don't have your coins." The man got angry and said, "I had 500 coins, I'll report you to the emperor!" The emperor devised an interesting way to find the truth...
One day in a village in the Punjab a boy named Kanhaiya was born to a wealthy family. As he grew up, Kanhaiya was always searching and learning about new things. He learnt about life and God from many different holy men. He loved the spiritual path, and so in his life he chose a different path from the wealth of his family. He became a deeply spiritual young man who loved listening to divine poetry. He grew up to be known as Bhai Kanhaiya.
Once Guru Nanak went on a long walk with all his dicsiples. As they were walking some people found money on the ground and they went home. After a long, long distance only two Sikhs were left. Guru Nanak told them to eat a dead body. One Sikh couldn't do it, but Bhai Lehna humbly obeyed. Lehna's devotion surpassed all tests. He was so devoted he was like an 'ang' a limb of the Guru.
