Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Sikhism is an inclusive religion, SGPC leave it that way

I am somewhat disturbed by the recent ruckus created by SGPC affidavit and their definition of "Sehajdhari" Sikhs, Sikhs who believe in Guru Granth Sahib but yet cut their hair or beard.

Literal meaning of the word Sikh is being a disciple, then you can project that to being a disciple of the Guru and being a disciple will then imply that you have the same beliefs and values that the Guru practices and preaches.

So I guess I see Sikhism as a spectrum, where we all aspire to become a Khalsa, the ultimate pure Sikh who has committed to being pure in every sense of the word in their day to day life. (A tangent here: I would say that there are far and few Sikh that can truly call themselves Khalsa in their heart, despite what they might put at the end of their name. And if you are insisting on calling yourself Khalsa, isn't that an oxymoron since Khalsa is humble in his day to day life?)

Getting back to the spectrum, I would say we need to be inclusive of all Sikhs regardless of where they fall on the spectrum, and help each other move towards the ultimate goal of Khalsa.

What is not helping is SGPC and other political organizations that are trying to politicize the issue for their own gain, in terms of voting rights or their time in press.

So my appeal is for Sikhs to go back to the sense of inclusiveness and embrace every Sikh and non Sikh and let's educate each other about the Guru, Gurmat and Gurbani.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You don't even know what the issue is truly. Do you have any clue that this is a political not a religious exercise?? If the SGPC were to give a broad definition to Sikh, do you realize or have any idea that the SGPC would suddenly be overwhelmed by people who aren't Sikhs at all in any sense of the word, but would be taking decisions about and take control of all Sikh historical sites and religious places? Do you want to see murtis, idols and all manner of ritualism introduced in every Gurdwara in Punjab and have any Sikh history corrupted or completely wiped out?

Cheere Wala Gabroo said...

My friend, Firstly thanks for your comment. SGPC is filled with cronies of the Badal family today and its unlikely that members of RSS will join the SGPC to do their dirty deeds when they can just continue their assault on Sikhism from Deras of Beas and elsewhere.

The real measure of a Sikh their belief in Gurmat and Gurbani, and both of those clearly define Sikh to wear their hair unshorn and prohibit worship of idols. Yet every Sikh house has photos of Gurus, so are we not Sikhs?

Pinnacle of Sikhism is not easy to reach, therefore my point with the post was to not push away people that are taking baby steps towards the Guru.