Vox Populi of Sikhi
by Tejwant Singh Malik
by Tejwant Singh Malik
I personally have no problems or any qualms about Prof. Sahib singing the poetry from Dasam Granth as I do not have any qualms about people including Prof. Sahib for singing varaans by Bhai Gurdas ji although neither of them is in the SGGS, our only Guru. Many claim without any evidence but due to the tradition of our oral history that Guru Sahib had indicated that vaarans by Bhai Gurdas ji is the key to the understanding of the SGGS, our only Guru, which does not hold any water because SGGS is not under any padlock that requires the key to open it, and stating that on behalf of our Gurus is an insult to them because they did not add any of Bhai Gurdas’ poetry to SGGS on purpose. The same is true for Guru Gobind Singh not adding his poetry but only his dad’s Guru Teg Bahadar. Undermining this decision of theirs is undermining our Gurus.
Now, some have shown their objections that Prof. Sahib flaunted his knowledge of Gurbani to many during his hay days, which is second hand information and giving the benefit of the doubt is one of Sikhi traits which we should remind ourselves of as often as possible.
Many have also said that when he sang and gave explanations about the poetry which he truly believed was written by our Dasam Pita and made a lot of money of it, the money he raked should be returned or given to some charity after his realisation or and awakening through the learning process which Sikhi is based on.
Let me pose a question to them. If they worked for a company like Enron in the USA or Satyam in India and honestly thought that the company was doing everything under the law and in the honest manner but found out one day that was not the case, would they return the money that they had received from the said companies? I think not.
Same goes for Prof. Sahib who honestly believed in something but later on in his life came to the realisation that it was not true, thanks to the way of life called Sikhi where learning, unlearning and re-learning is not a shameful act but a valour duty of a Sikh.
Secondly, how do we know or rather who knows that Prof. Sahib has not given a cent to any charity or help the needy, ever?
He had two choices, either to keep mum about it and kept on singing in the old fashioned way, knowingly this time that the so called “Gurbani” was not written by our Dasam Pita and kept on raking money by fooling others or admitting that he was fooled himself due to his own ignorance then and was wrong due to the lack of knowledge which can only be attained with time.
He chose the latter despite being aware of the consequences of being stoned by others who claimed to have loved and adored him and took his love for granted, yet felt betrayed as if the love is a one way street. If they had truly appreciated Prof. Sahib’s love and then they would have loved in return by studying the Gurbani themselves. If they had played their part in this love affair then they would have applauded Prof. Sahib’s bravura rather than hurling stones at him with disdain. It is not Prof. Sahib who has betrayed them but they have done that to themselves because they were too lazy to perform their duty as Sikhs by studying Gurbani.
Some say, why it took him so long to realise that the Shabads he was singing and raking money of from were not written by our Dasam Pita.
For those I have a question.
- How long did it take them to reach to this Gurmat level that they are now and why didn’t it happen to them earlier? What is their excuse or justification?
It seems like a valid request in the first glance but if we give ourselves a bit of time and think about it, we should come to know that the Sikhi path is the journey of the individual and each one of us carries our own spiritual torch either we are famous or not.
Some say that let’s stay neutral which seems a bit puzzling to me because our history proves otherwise.
1. Did Gobind Rai tell his father, our ninth Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur to stay neutral when the Kashmiri Pandits came to him for help?
2. Did our brave Sikhs stay neutral when the Hindu women were kidnapped and raped by the Muslim fiends?
The answer to both is NO and our history shows us quite nitidly what took place instead.
Some say that this ruckus interferes with their spiritual writings and they can not concentrate or have the time to cultivate their passion, if they start discussing about this hot potato. They fail to understand that this hot potato affects Sikhi all over because of the Sikhi power has been abused by a few for too long at the top and these power mongers should be made to come to this realisation .
Our short Sikh History is full of examples like this. In Sidh Gosht by Guru Nanak, He interacts with so called learned people who ran away from their duties and called themselves sages. Were these people acting as neutral while not performing their duties as householders, brothers, husbands, sons or fathers while the Mughals were marauding and raping innocent women ruthlessly in a fiendish manner?
I fail to understand the true meaning of being neutral and what it entails.
Sikhi is not about being insecure, which breeds parochial mindedness. Sikhi is all about breeding goodness within, no matter how, what or who the next person you come across is like. Only security in the self as a Sikh can help us cultivate open-mindedness which is one of the cornerstones of Sikhi, not by making someone an outcast, which breeds disdain and hatred rather than acceptance.
The reason being that fighting for justice demands action and being” neutral” is inaction or sitting on the fence.
Some also say that by putting all this in public will make the world mock us as Sikhs.
Once again, let’s go back to our short and recent Sikh history.
- Wasn’t it a mockery when our fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev ji was tortured to death?
- Wasn’t it a mockery when our ninth Guru, Guru Teg Bahadar was beheaded at Chandni Chowk?
- Wasn’t it a mockery when our young boys and girls were beheaded in return for money so Sikhi could be erased from the face of this earth?
- Wasn’t it a mockery about all other Sikhs who were tortured to death, like Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Taru Singh and many others whom we mention every time when we do Ardaas?
Once we admit that, and then may be our Nitnem will not be like a sand castle built daily on a beach knowing that it will be washed away and crumble with the first wave that hits the shore.
If we do not make an effort to study, understand and put Gurbani into practice ourselves, so that, with our Guru's guidance, goodness can be bred within and shared with others, irrespective of someone's hue, creed or faith, rather than depending on others to do it for us, then only we can call ourselves being on the Sikhi marg.
It is interesting to notice how the cauldron of hatred has come simmering on the edge of the pot which we thought had the Gurmat Amrit in it. It has shown how Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh, Hankaar have been only parroting words which we made ourselves totally detached from rather than making them our own meaningful ill traits that should be lassoed by us with the help of SGGS, our only Guru.
Talking about the hatred against Prof. Sahib by the same people who loved and adored him once have shown the spiritual paper boats they have been sitting on while being rowed by someone else. They had forgotten that Sikhi is a one man/woman kayak and the rower him/herself is the sole traveler in it whether he/she is going over the calm lake or through the water rapids.
SGPC should be sans any political influence from the reigning party or any other outside force is must. A consensus should only occur based on the teachings of SGGS, our only Guru, not on any egos which are running around hiding behind the wonderful baana bestowed upon us by our tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. But, in order for that to happen, The SGPC, The Jathedaars of the Takhats- the both entities who wield and abuse their power in the name of Sikhi-, should study, understand and hence, attain the tools given to us in SGGS, our only Guru.
These tools are to be used in order to cultivate the life of Miri-Piri which till today is considered by them as the umbilical cord of Sikhi. Sadly to say that this is a total misconception about this wonderful concept created by Guru Nanak but named as such by our sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind.
Miri-Piri are the two parallel lines on which the Gurmat train runs. Until and unless we cut all kinds umbilical cords falsely knotted to the Sikhi womb, we can not find the way to run our Gurmat train. It will keep on sitting on the utopic platform, guised as Takhats, SGPC, and other GPC’s that are cropping up like mushrooms, at which the so called travelers have nothing to do but keep on bickering with each other because there is no Gurmat train to take the journey onto.
It is time to take out our spiritual swords and speak up and out loud because justice is being ignored, especially by those who hold the power.
Vox Populi of Sikhi demands that from each of us.
Tejwant Singh
Attachments - Sikh Philosophy Network
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