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| Issue 33 June 1998 CONTENTS © Central Gurdwara Resource Centre 1998 Central Gurdwara The opinions expressed are not those of the editors or of the management of the Gurdwara
20-23 JULY 1998 for 16 yrs plus London area Jointly organised with the Army.
Activities will include riding armoured cars, sniper stalk, paintballing, assault course,
discussion groups on history, meditation. You do not have to be mega-fit. You need an open
mind and a desire to have some fun. Cost is £30-00 including accomodation, food etc.
23-28 AUGUST 1998 The scouting camp, canoeing, archery, shooting, camp fires and sports day. Meditation, history and the Sikh Way of Life. Cost £40-00 including accomodation, food.etc.
Sponsored Walk Appeal Avtar Singh of London is talking part in a 44 hour sponsored walk (29 Sept - 10 Oct
1998) in aid of MENCAP (charity for children with learning difficulties), in Northern
Pakistan. Please support this charitable endeavour by sending your donations: Contact
Sikh Journals in English for subscriptions in the UK Sikh Courier
Sikh Messenger
Sikh Review
Spokesman annual Subscription £30 or email: fauj@aol.com
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The recent hot weather, should remind us about the physical suffering of the first Martyr for the Sikh cause. Guru Arjun Dev Ji was subjected to severe torture, burning hot sand was poured over his body. His crime was that he preached tolerance. He taught that each person has the right to worship in the manner of their choice. He taught that the Truth can be found whether you are a Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew or any other faith. What was important was that you lead a Truthful Life, think of others before yourself and devotion to the Creator. However, religious differences have always been the cause for disputes to arise, and we see the situation today is no better. Followers of different religions, often become obsessed that their way is correct. Some religious preachers also encourage their followers to actively solicit converts to their fold. But the Sikh Gurus encouraged friendship and harmony between the faiths, and did not ask anyone to become their followers. They simply taught everyone to love each other, to love Waheguru and to encourage people to live by high moral standards (Truthful Life). The society in which we live is made up of many different faiths, most of which have similar values at their roots. The different religious traditions teach the importance of good relationships, characterised by honesty, compassion and generosity. It is these good values that we must treasure to build a society on a foundation of mutual respect, openness and trust. We must respect all others, sometimes this means going out of our way to accommodate their needs, and even learning about their traditions. This will leave us in a good position if a potentially destructive situation occurs. We should have the knowledge and understanding to reconcile our differences and look to highlight the similarities between our faiths and set an example for others. You may even be interested in taking part in inter-faith activities, if so, do get in touch with the Inter Faith Network who can point you to various groups or advise on setting up your own group. The Inter Faith Network, Well this month we conclude our translation and explanation of the Laavan, marriage hymns and hope that this series has been helpful, if you would like to see any particular Shabad translated in future issues please do let us know before the end of June, we will try our best to include your ideas and commenst in the future issues. I am sure you will enjoy this months main article, Essence of a Sikh, and also the Poem by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, which we have tried to explain in our Poets Corner. Bhupinder Singh The final Laav - the last round of the Anand Karaj wedding ceremony.
The fourth laav declares that in the fourth stage, the mind has reached a state of ease, where the divine is attained effortlessly. In the case of the marriage, in the fourth stage, we attain the blissful union because within our natural, stable state of mind we comprehend our spouse, as if the two minds have become one. Keeping ourselves directed towards the divine message of Guru, and enveloping the mind and body with the divine sweetness attains this. We become a manifestation of this sweetness. This pleases the Creator, and we remain continually fixated on the divine. The desired fruit of all our aspirations is attained; all around are felicitations and celebrations of the awareness of the divine. There comes the humble realisation that all of this is being enacted by the Creator, and the mind blossoms with the consciousness of the divine. The Guru proclaims that in the fourth stage one attains imperishable union with the immortal Creator.
"God is everything, God is everything. Without God, there is nothing at all. As one thread holds hundreds and thousands of beads, He is woven into His creation." Bhagat Namdev, Rag Asa, pg. 485 THE ESSENCE OF A SIKH The essence of a Sikh is the the search for Waheguru. The path towards reaching this goal is most elusive. It requires tempering one’s mind, colouring one’s mind with thirst for reaching this goal and love for Waheguru and everything within Waheguru’s creation.
Sorat Mahala 9 par dara nindia ras rachio ram bhagat nai keeni Though the obstacles seem insurmountable, Gurbani, the experience of the Gurus, can serve as a guide. The essence of being a Sikh is to allow the experience of the Guru’s to serve as our guide. The Guru’s have tread this path, faced these same obstacles that we face, and they overcame these obstacles and reached their goal, through both simran and seva, meditation and service. But, from the Guru’s experiences, it is also clear that one cannot tread this path alone. One requires two elements in one’s life. One is sangat, the company of those who also walk on this path. Our sangat, the people we hang around with, has such an influence over us that with time we begin to mould ourselves into the shape of our sangat. If our sangat’s focus is on sports, then we will mould ourselves to also enjoy those sports. If our sangat’s focus is on drugs, then eventually we will be led towards experimenting with drugs and maybe addiction. If our sangat’s focus is on reaching Waheguru, then the influence of that sangat will awaken a spiritual thirst amongst our own selves as well. vadhbaghi har sangat bhavai bhagheen bhram chota khavai bin bhaga sat sang na labai bin sangat mael pareejai jio But Sangat is just one ingredient. The second is discipline. Reaching any goal requires discipline. Ask any olympic athlete how much discipline they have had to have in their own lives in order to reach the stage they have. The spiritual goal, perhaps more difficult than any other endeavour in life, requires much discipline in every aspect of our lives (emotional, mental, and physical). And, though the spiritual journey towards Waheguru is purely an internal one, the mind is so affected by external influences that one must seek to eliminate negative external influences in one’s life and surround themselves with positive external influences that will assist them on the internal journey. Sangat, for instance, is one external influence. Receiving Amrit, one chooses to follow the Sikh way, and one adopts an external form that is intended to promote disciplined living. The kakkar’s, the daily routine of Nitnem, all of these should be used to one’s advantage towards a disciplined lifestyle. This is not to say that all of those that adopt the external form of a Sikh are living a disciplined lifestyle and making progress on the spiritual journey. Many, perhaps most, are not. The inward journey is so difficult that many who have sought to walk on this spiritual path have fallen from it, due to their inability to disengage their minds from the vices the mind covets, and the inability to temper their minds with love for Waheguru. For them, the external manifestations are all that remain to show that, once, they had attempted to walk on this path. For them, the external manifestations are a constant, daily, reminder that they must make the attempt again. They may fail again, but if the external remains, the self, which is so easily affected by external queues, will eventually pick itself up and make the attempt again to walk on the spiritual path. Life, for many who try to walk on this path, becomes a constant struggle, but without the external queues to remind them of their journey, there may be no struggle towards Waheguru at all. The one that has struggled but failed in the spiritual journey is richer still than the one that has never even attempted the journey. Then too, many who have adopted the external form of a Sikh do so merely because it has become a tradition in their families. Perhaps, in many such cases, other than wearing the symbols of Sikhi, there is no evidence of Sikhi in their lives. Perhaps, one day, they will also attempt to tread on the spiritual path. Perhaps they will not. Our minds, it seems, constantly seek out the negative in others, to convince ourselves that we are doing pretty well ourselves (even if we are not). Seeing other people engaged in things we perceive as wrong provides us an opportunity to forgive our own mistakes and feeds our egos. It is not "society", Sikh or otherwise, that is hypocritical. It is our own minds that are hypocritical. Even my use of the word "our" in the above seeks to hide my own hypocrisy. I am the greatest hypocrite. I see only the weaknesses in others, and I overlook their strengths. And, I hide my own weaknesses from others, and present to the world only the facade that I consider my strengths. man tu garab aitia garab ladia jayai maya mohni mohiya phir phir juni pavayai garab ladia jayai mugad man ant gaiya pashtai ahankar tisna rog laga birtha janam gavayai manmukh mugad chetai nahi agay gaya pachtavhai eho kahe Nanak man tu garab atia garab ladia jayai
Bhai Nand Lal Goya was a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh, it is said that when Guru Ji was about to go into battle Bhai Nand Lal approached the Guru and asked him to bless him before going into battle, but instead Guru Ji took Bhai Ji’s sword and gave him a Pen. Bhai Nand Lal Goya was a great poet and his writings are approved for recitation in Gurdwara’s, however as the writings are in Persian, we do not often hear this wonderful poetry. We present below an English rendering of one of his verses. The Garden of Life"Love for You, like the breeze, blew me into the garden of existence. There was no other urge for me to take birth. Happy is the life that is spent in Your worship. What else is there to gain beneath the blue dome?" Divan-i-Goya 1:1-2 (verse 1 lines 1-2 of the book by Bhai Nand Lal Goya)
Kanwar Ranvir Singh |
Ultimately, it is the mind alone that holds the
key. But the mind is not easily tempered. It is so easily distracted. Try sitting even for
a few minutes closing your eyes and thinking of one thing, and the mind quickly jumps
elsewhere. The mind both holds the key and presents the greatest obstacle. It quickly
angers at the slightest provocation, becomes enamoured with the opposite sex, seeks to
have all of that which it does not have, grows attached to that which it does have, and,
worst of all, thinks only of its own immediate pleasures.
The important thing is to not look towards those
who have fallen from the path and be disuaded from walking it yourselves, because on any
journey, there will always be more people that attempted and failed than have reached
their goals successfully. For the millions of children that toil with their footballs on a
daily basis and dream of playing professionally, most will not succeed. But it is the few
that do succeed that inspire others to continue to try to make the attempt. The important
thing, in the spiritual journey, whether you walk on that path as a Sikh or otherwise, is
to look at the example of those that have tread that path and succeeded, and to gain
inspiration from them.
