Food?

Can sarblohi bibekis eat oats and medjool dates, because both of these are used in several different recipes?

Bhenjee, raw oats are fine, however the rolled oats you find in stores are not raw and have been pre-cooked, thus we cannot eat them. Medjool dates should be fine though.

I've heard some sangat that we can use Desi Gehoo made by non bibekis, as long as they are amritdhari its fine. Is this true? And how come we can use gheoo made by them?

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I've heard some sangat that we can use Desi Gehoo made by non bibekis, as long as they are amritdhari its fine. Is this true? And how come we can use gheoo made by them?

It's best to make your own gheo but if that's not possible, then as per tradition, gheo, sugar, shakkar etc. can be bought from outside even thought these items are processed but this does not mean that we can add items to this list. We should just follow the Gurmukhs of past who have practiced Bibek. There are few contradictions in Bibek Rehit e.g. allowing gheo and sugar but not other items but I guess these are things that were accepted by Puratan Gurmukhs in form of Gurmata or perhaps these items were acceptable from Guru Sahib jee's times because Singhs may be classifying them as raw ingredients.

With respect to dates (Khazoor), if sugar has been added to them, then such dates should not be used. Only dates in their natural form should be used.

With respect to oats, as SK above has pointed out, rolled oats are not used by Bibekis as they are processed. Buy unprocessed and raw oats daleeya.

Rest Guru Sahib knows better.

Kulbir Singh

What about alternative non-dairy milks? For health reasons, can sarbloh bibekis drink processed, packaged almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, etc. by companies like silk and almond fresh, because these are often very difficult and sometimes very expensive to make, especially because milk is used everyday both alone and in countless recipes.

[quote[What about alternative non-dairy milks? For health reasons, can sarbloh bibekis drink processed, packaged almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, etc. by companies like silk and almond fresh, because these are often very difficult and sometimes very expensive to make, especially because milk is used everyday both alone and in countless recipes.[/quote]

No packaged almond milk, coconut milk etc. sold by companies in stores is not used by Bibekis. These drinks can be made home, as such we should not buy them from outside.

Kulbir Singh

You can try making soy milk at home, it is really easy and cheap to make. Just soak soy beans over night and the next morning just put the beans into a blender with water added in. You can filter it if you want or just drink it as it. The cool thing about homemade soy milk is the you can make tofu out of this milk is you wanted to.

Bir Singh,

Bhenji,

If you are wanting to choose almond milk and other options because of health issues, it is generally acceptable to do so. However, if one chooses these options out of laziness and avoiding to make it at home instead, then that seems to contradict the terms of Bibek. Rest, as you progress in your Jeevan, you will automatically come to know what foods positively or negatively affect your Kamaee. The key is to Jap as much Naam as possible, with Naam Kamaee comes Bibek Budhi, which Maharaj Himself bestows upon us.

Please do not get into too much dubidha as to what you should eat, not everyone keeps the same level of Bibek, so there will be different views on this forum as to what is acceptable and what is not. It is up to you to decide. Here is daas advice: if you can afford to make non-diary milk at home, and have the time to do so then you should, but if you don't have the time and it seems expensive then it is okay to buy store bought. You shouldn't be spending half your day in the kitchen worrying about Bhojan (food). Daas would consider spending that time doing more Paath and Naam Simran.

Bhul chuk maaf karnee jee.

Processed milk is not suitable for Bibekis. While everyone's level of Bibek is different as Daasgupt veer jee pointed out, it is always a best idea to make your own food in which you have control on how you prepare it. I have made almond milk a lot of times in the past, and it is really not a difficult process to make non-dairy milk. With store bought products you really don't know where your food is coming from and who has touched it before it comes to your table. Plus I really don't see how much health benefit there will be to drink something that has a shelf life for a year or two. Bibekis try to eat fresh and the most raw foods available to them. There are many Singhs that we see here (Toronto) who go to work all day and still manage to keep strict Bibek. Rest is of course up to you..

Daasgupt jee, I would have to politely disagree. It's important to note that these variances and allowances in the strictness level of bibek are decided upon after veechar and collectively passed gurmata by Sangat. However, although there are different levels of strictness within bibek, there are some things that would be considered totally outside the parameters of bibek. Packaged almond milk and soy milk etc., are not considered bibeki foods at all. They are products totally created by manmukhs. It is not possible to consume these and call oneself a bibeki, and they most definitely will have a negative effect on one's jeevan and kamayee.

Also, there is no reason for any amritdhari Gursikh to buy these from the store, even for health reason, as they take no time to make at home. Almond milk, you just need to soak in water over night, then in the morning blend them in water, and you are done. No excuse that this will take away time from doing paath and simran.

Vaheguru Jee.

By no means had daas meant that a Bibeki Gursikh should choose packaged almond milk instead of making it at home, in fact daas pointed out that laziness should not be an excuse. Maafi baksheo if that was not clear enough. Being unaware of what bhenji’s health issue/ situation exactly is, this moorakh did not want to make it look like there is no exception in Bibek, it is up to bhenji to decide if it is possible for her to make it at home or not, can’t decide for her. As per the last two posts, it seems like almond milk is fairly easy and cheap to make, something daas did not know about. Thanks for sharing jee.

Daas just presented the above view, but did not say that "I disagree" with anyone jee. And daas does not want to discuss strictness levels of Rehit with anyone nor argue what “Gurmatas” or Veechars are to be followed. Daas keep this Rehit as Guru Jee wants me to keep it, and as per the instructions of Panj Pyare Sahibaan.


Vaheguru Jee Ka Khalsa
Vaheguru Jee Kee Fateh.