I have slowly been collecting some useful resources for learning Sikhi. Being born in Canada, I think the perspective of learning about Sikhi and the opportunities are vastly different than if we were in a Khalsa school in India. I know for example, my dad learned a ton about Sikhi in his formative years due to his schooling. This is even further limited for those of us living in smaller towns, and then for those who can only read English or haven’t learned how to read Gurmukhi. Unfortunately English translations are limited in what they can provide us. Sometimes they are formalized, or don’t make sense or provide context. I think it would be great for example if it mentions someone’s name to tell us who that person was. What is the context? We have gone through some of these resources in various settings in the past, but I will add on and just make a list here. If you have some suggestions be sure to let me know!
LEARNING GURBANI
I think one of the best ways is if you can’t read Gurmukhi, start learning that with your basic ooda aada, because eventually your understanding will increase greatly. One place you can find this is Basics of Sikhi, where they have made some videos on reading Gurmukhi: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5UNLfJ1TsJm0OHEOslS3NOqGduHwggGg
At the same time start reading the phonetic versions of the Gurbani and listen over and over. I memorized kirtan sohila from listening to my mom reading over and over at bedtime for us growing up. It is very helpful to listen. Start with your basic nitnem and move on from there. Nitnem videos can be found anywhere on youtube. Complete audio of Guru Granth Sahib Ji is here http://www.gurugranthsahib.com/index.html I really liked that there was a youtube version as it can be sped up, but at baseline is a slow version of Guru Granth Sahib Ji page by page with English translation. I used this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_GM5rNxOI If you go to larger Gurdwara Sahibs they often have Santhiya classes (how to pronounce the Gurbani and read it properly). There are a lot of nitnem apps, I really like Sundar Gutka, although there are multiple versions of this.
As for understanding, we must also understand. So direct English translations are available through various platforms. Srigranth.org goes page by page and also has a search button http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?S=y. When you are at the Gurdwara, most likely if they have a projector they are translating from sikhitothemax https://www.sikhitothemax.org. You can pull up the shabads yourself on your phone. I like the app igurbani but it requires you to be able to search in Gurmukhi. If you want to search in English, use sikhitothemax.
As for deeper understanding of Gurbani, I just downloaded Isher Micromedia app (on android it is called Gurbani Explorer). It is a reference for Gurbani as well, but is available in both English and Gurmukhi, and has translations from various sources, in much more detail. One of the texts I actually got told about early on from Sikhnet was Professor Sahib Singh Ji’s translations. While these are in Punjabi, I’ve been told they are extremely helpful to the understanding of Gurbani and have added them to my list to read. These can be found online at http://www.gurugranthdarpan.net/darpan.html. The Isher Micromedia app has those translations available as well. On youtube you can watch a lot of videos on Gurbani Vyakaran (Grammer). One example of this is vyakaran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGox2Pz9918&list=WL&index=6&t=68s. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Academy (link is below in important texts), they have three pdfs on Gurbani Vyakaran, Ucharan, and Kav. Another great resource for a deeper understanding is the Mahan Kosh, this is a dictionary or encyclopedia of terms used in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. I was able to find it online just by searching for a pdf: http://old.sgpc.net/CDN/Mahankosh.pdf. The english version is available on Gurmat Veechar (see the link in important texts below). Also there are the Vaaran Bhai Gurdas. These are the “key” to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. They have been translated into English by Bhai Jodh Singh Ji. For more information about English translations of Guru Granth Sahib Ji check out http://www.sikhs.org/english/frame.html
Of course it is important to develop a relationship with your Guru. I have really found Sikhnet’s Gurbani media center to be very useful https://www.sikhnet.com/hukam/personal
ACCESS TO IMPORTANT TEXTS
The following websites are useful because they have downloads of important texts and books in English and Punjabi for free.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Academy https://sggsacademy.com/gurbani-understanding/# has some great documents and history. Their facebook page has some amazing history
http://www.gurmatveechar.com all the English translations of Guru Granth Sahib Ji are available here.
Sikh book club http://www.sikhbookclub.com (register for free)
KATHA
Katha is a further way for us to try to dig deep and understand Sikhi.
Nanak Naam has excellent English kathas: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCevfxDIvmjSkE9KIwlf6-MQ
Basics of Sikhi have English Kathas https://www.youtube.com/user/basicsofsikhi
Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen’s Punjab kathas can be found on youtube, as well as his books can be read on the links above at sikhbookclub.
The Harpreet Singh Show also has various topics on the show. Many are religious topics, for example talks by Bhai Ram Singh Ji and Bhai Swaran Singh Ji https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC14gdHoacZUaI6SBiCPImtA
HISTORY
Some great websites for history:
Discover Sikhism http://www.discoversikhism.com/sikhism/discover_sikhism.html
sikhiwiki is useful for searching up history https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page
Bhai Manvir Singh has some very well researched videos in English on history. They are on various channels on youtube.
Illustrated Life Stories of Guru Sahibs' book
The Guru's Word and Illustrated Sikh History Santokh Singh
Illustrated Life Stories of Guru Sahibs' book
The Guru's Word and Illustrated Sikh History Santokh Singh
SIMRAN
mysimran.info has unfortunately taken down their youtube videos but they have a website and hold camps for simran. Bhai Ajit Singh Ji in the UK and Prabh Milne Ka Chao (Canada, and India) also have the same purpose. They all do katha and simran.
mysimran.info https://mysimran.info
MUSICAL APPS
itablapro (pay app, electronic tabla), saajtuner (helps to tune traditional saaj).
If you are interested in learning how to do kirtan, there are lots of channels on youtube. Just search “learn” then the shabad’s name, or “learn kirtan.”
There are lots of channels to listen to kirtan as well. We did a post a little while back about different styles of kirtan and some people that you can try to listen to explore these.
Sikhnet has an excellent app called gurbaniMC that you can listen to kirtan for free. On the sikhnet website you can download these shabads as well www.sikhnet.com
Another kirtan website I just found was https://www.sikhroots.com
These are the musical versions from Baru Sahib of our morning Nitnem in raags https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-lVX9SVX-g&index=1&t=5s&list=PLzgHQmDWBzdSzPxpDG8CSRI61baunbBhn
BOOKS
It’s so hard for me to choose since there are so many great ones. I’ll highlight a couple of my favourites.
Forgetting the way of Love by Bhai Sewa Singh Tarmala also in Punjabi as Pantha Prem Na Janyaye. This is part of a huge series of books, most of them are in Punjabi but this one has been translated to English.
Se Kinehiya Part 1 and 2 (English and Punjabi) by Sant Sewa Singh Ji
Wisdom of Sikhism (English)
Gurbani Healing Guide: Sarab Rog Ka Aukhad Naam (English and Punjabi). https://www.curesbygurbani.com/shabad-pdf/
Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam Ji also has a similar book: Gurbani Sukh-Sagar Ocean of Happiness in English and Punjabi available at their camps
OTHER
Sikh Channel is a youtube channel showcasing different topics https://www.youtube.com/user/sikhchannelvideos
Gurbani blog: Gurbani.org http://gurbani.org I haven’t checked this out but it seems like there is a lot of articles in English.
Punjabi Community Health Services Although this is not a “sikh” resource it is a great one for our Punjabi community and its topics can be linked to Sikhi. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj5FmFVCM6Xd39xVbMertfg
NEEDING HELP?
Sikhnet has a discussion forum to help anyone that needs advice from your fellow Sikhs. Just be mindful there are people like you and me on there. https://www.sikhnet.com/discussion/
The UK has a sikh help line https://www.sikhhelpline.com I’m not sure if they accept calls internationally.
Sikh family helpline Canada 1-800-551-9128 I’ve never used this but hopefully it is helpful.
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