only truth

This Article might bring the real sikh raj idea for all of you. We don't need to read what our political leaders are saying in western countries just go by the Gurus words. I think we should refrain ourselves quoting gurbani just to mold it towards our mission and its not a good idea. --- Read below article and it will clear so many thing for all of you --- Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Sikhs all over the world celebrated Holla Mohalla, which brings along a message from our spiritual father, Guru Gobind Singh, that Sikhs must learn to use armaments and demonstrate the knowledge of war strategies, so that they may always be able to defend themselves. Holla Mohalla, a festival distinct from the Hindu festival Holi, was first celebrated under the supervision of Guru Gobind Singh in the year 1680. Armed Sikhs on foot and on horseback would play war games on this occasion at Anandpur. Guru Sahib supervised this occasion and provided the participants with training. At the end, the Guru gave saropaas to the winning teams. According to the Sikh scholar, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, "It is a pity that Sikhs no longer regard mastery of weapons their religious duty; they consider it to be the job of paid soldiers. It is the commandment of Guru Gobind Singh that every Sikh should be a soldier and should master the art of weaponry." I leave you with an essay that I wrote to highlight this concern. I would be appreciative of your comments. _____________________________________________________ Hear, the War-drums Reverberate in the Skies by Harpreet Singh The future of Sikhism can be delineated by the fatidic utterance of the Tenth and the last Sikh Prophet, Guru Gobind Singh: "The Khalsa Shall become the supreme decision-maker in human affairs. And all effective opposition shall cease. Those in the opposition camp shall eventually come round to the right way after many frustrations, and they shall realize that stability and progress can only thus be assured." [1] Those who believe in the aforementioned revelation have acknowledged a reality, which shows its color through the curtains of faith. The realization of this truth aggrandizes when one sees a Sikh knighted as a Singh or a Kaur of the Tenth Nanak. Tens of thousands of North Americans and Europeans have embraced Sikhism by taking the Baptism of the Double-edged Sword, demonstrating decidedly that Sikhism is an universal religion. They promulgate with their five Kakars that they are distinct, and represent the blessed nation of Nanak, who embarked on a journey of Truth five centuries ago. The Sikhs of the Diaspora face many formidable challenges. The most important one is adhering to the injunction of Guru Gobind Singh that a Sikh must remain distinct in appearance and conduct. The five Kakars are the gifts of the Guru to his Sikhs. The meaning of these gifts is different to each one of us. The symbolic value of the five Kakars is directly proportional to a Sikh's level of spirituality. Why did the "Rider of the Blue Horse" make these five articles a part of our uniform is a question without an easy answer. Everyone seems to have their own interpretation; every erudite Sikh theologian in the past three centuries has attempted to read the mind of Guru Gobind Singh. These efforts are futile, for these articles have no definite meaning; being beyond explanation, they bewitch us with their inspiring and intrinsic potency. How they help us grow spiritually as Sikhs, and what psychological impact they have on our conscious and unconscious minds, thus, altering our personalities, cannot be ascertained without first adopting them, as prescribed by the Sikh Rehat Maryada. [2] The practice of the Rehat Maryada becomes a key, which opens up a treasure-chest full of Guru's Grace, in which lies the ineffable explanation to the five Kakars. These articles of faith have played a vital role in the Sikh past. Those of us looking for inspiration to adopt them can remember "the Singhs of both the sexes, who courted martyrdom in the cause of Religion and underwent unspeakable tortures and sufferings of being dismembered alive, scalped alive . . . but never wavered in their faith and remained steadfast in mind and spirit in the cause of Sikhism to that last hair on their body and to their last breath . . ." [3] We can remember martyrs like Bhai Mani Singh, who chose to have their limbs cut into small pieces to save their hair. Isn't the road we travel easier than that travelled by Bhai Taru Singh, whose scalp, intact with his hair, was scrapped off by Zakaria Khan's men because he refused to part from his distinct identity? It was this distinct identity that transformed sparrows into hawks. These gifts of Guru Gobind Singh, combined with Waheguru's infinite Grace, had such a psychological effect that it caused a handful of Sikhs, who have always been less that two percent of the population of the Indian subcontinent, to become victorious against Mughal and Afghan forces, while majority of the population, Hindus, remained slaves. The Guru's declaration, "If I, Gobind Singh, deserves my name, a single Sikh will confront one hundred and twenty-five thousand," [4] could not be challenged. A small number of Sikhs, with limited resources, were able to establish a sovereign nation because they unconditionally followed all Commandments of the Guru. A question was posed by Dr. Pashura Singh during a history workshop at a Sikh youth conference, man jeete jagjit, that I attended in Detroit, Michigan in May 1996: "Would Khalsa have come into existence if Guru Tegh Bahadur had not been martyred?" There are many questions implicit within the one that was posed. One of them is whether Guru Nanak's perspective on the use of force is akin to that of Guru Gobind Singh's? The Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh was inevitable; it emerged from the vision of the First Nanak. "Guru Nanak had clearly perceived, as Thrasymachus is seen to have held in the Republic of Plato, that violence may, some time, succeed on the sole ground that it is violent enough, and thus, violence may win for its practitioners all the powers and glories of the world. Guru Nanak, therefore, taught that although it was evil to practice violence for gaining power for its own sake, it was also evil to let violence prevail through passiveness of its victim, and Guru Nanak, therefore, enjoined that before violence becomes successful enough to clothe itself in trappings of morality, it should be resisted and defeated, destroyed or contained by all good people, by violence, if necessary." [5] Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Nanak, implemented these ideas, transforming his Sikhs into harbingers of Justice, who paid allegiance only to the Laws of Akal Purakh. One cannot always fight oppression or become sovereign politically without physical strength. The eleven year old Guru announced: "If you want to earn my blessing, do physical exercise, relish the game of fencing, acquire skill in horse-riding, and go to the woods for hunting." [6] He commanded his Sikhs: "Now is the time to stem the tide of aggression. Take up the arms and show your mettle. Cowardice and lack of courage are the sins which can hardly be forgiven to an individual or a nation. Hold the sword of defence in your hands so that the sword of oppression may reign no more." [7] The brahmgyanis of Guru Arjun, now not only possessed the Name of God on their lips but also a resplendent sword in their hands. Guru Hari Rai, the Seventh Nanak, was instructed by Guru Hargobind, to maintain a Sikh army of a minimum of two thousand and two hundred well-trained and well-equipped horsemen. [8] It was Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Nanak, who issued the famous hukamnama, which confirmed the Sikh ideal of sovereignty. The Guru asked all Sikhs "not to salute a Mughal government official and never invite him to sit on the head-side of a cot." [9] Sikhs defied the Mughal authority and in many instances they boldly accepted martyrdom while enduring unspeakable tortures. Sikhs were undergoing a slow process of evolution. The Tenth Nanak further shaped the Sikhs, giving them a new identity, the five Kakars, and completely transformed them. Of these five Kakars, the unshorn hair was to be the most important: [10] "Guru Gobind Singh laid down the ordinance, 'do not shave or shingle,' as a testament of love of God and His beauty, and 'ever remain allies of Goodness and Virtue, and the Khalsa shall remain free and sovereign on earth, forever and forever.'" [11] The Sikhs became courageous tigers, who vowed to eradicate evil from the face of this earth. The Guru infused in them a spirit that was unmatched by anyone's in the history of humankind. One could recognize a Sikh of the Guru from afar; and the same holds even today. Reviving our lost Sikh values is a challenge that we face during our journey into the future. There is no simple panacea; we must add pesticides to the existing trees and plant new ones in a soil impregnated with Gurmat. We must start by rejuvenating the lost principles and wait patiently for a rich harvest. If we are successful, we will yield a nation that accentuates the saint-soldier, sant sipahi, ideal of Guru Gobind Singh's Khalsa. It is unfortunate that we do not have any sant-sipahi role-models around us; they have become fables of the past. How many Sikhs does one encounter who know how to wield the sword-handle weapons of the modern age-which is one of the requirements of Khalsahood? Then how do we expect to fight against tyranny? We must learn from the mistakes of our kindred, who have lost a multitude of battles in Punjab because they no longer practice what their Gurus taught. Sikhism forbids suicide, and fighting without preparation is nothing less than suicide. Inculcating the sant-sipahi ideal in the present and future generations is a challenge we must undertake, so that our fates do not resemble that of the six million Jews who perished in the concentration camps of Hitler, [12] or hundreds of thousands of Sikhs who have "disappeared" since the 1984 sacrilege of the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and thirty-seven other Gurdwaras, by the Indian Army, thanks to the Machiavellian minds of the leaders of "the world's largest democracy." There is an urgent need for Sikh institutions that would teach Gurbani and chivalry along with other courses that are currently prescribed in schools. Sant-Sipahi schools should be established in the East and the West, so the young members of the Sikh society may always lead fearless lives, extirpating evil, cultivating freedom and becoming an invaluable resource to their society. Instead of spending our money on covering the domes of our Gurdwaras with gold, we should spend it on institutionalizing Sikhism. The Roman Catholics in America run their own schools, teaching their youth the principles of Christianity. Sikhs also have opened similar schools in India, England and Canada, but they are far from inculcating the Khalsa ideals because they fail to emphasize the importance of martial training. Martial training is not just a requirement of Khalsahood, but also a necessity in today's world. In the Western world, many put forth asinine claims that one has nothing to fear when governments such as the United States are protecting their political rights. Not too long ago, on March 21, 1942, under the instructions [13] of President Roosevelt, 112,000 Japanese-Americans, two-third of them citizens born in the United States, were placed in concentration camps in the United States interior till 1945. Many Japanese lost valuable land holdings on the West Coast and the civil liberties of these American Citizens were denied. Their only crime was that their roots were Japanese. These acts were totally unconstitutional. Even though Congress and the President are given broad powers in a time of War, when such laws are applied to all Americans it is one thing. However, laws that discriminate against a select group of people, especially when those people are Natural born U. S. citizens, are blatantly unconstitutional. It should be noted that no similar laws were ever passed against German-Americans or Italian-Americans. This melancholy saga transpired during the Second World War. What if history were to repeat itself, and the next time you or I were one of the victims? What if there were no hope of surviving? We could either die like cowards or die fighting with dignity. [21] The aforementioned discrimination of a select few is not an aberration in American history; there are numerous examples. In 1832, the Cherokee Indians were removed from their land and their rights were suppressed, in spite of a Supreme Court ruling in their favor. [14] Sovereignty of a particular race or an individual can be in jeopardy even in nations such as the United States; there's little need to dwell into what's possible in "democracies" such as India. Sant-Sipahi establishments will give us an ability to mass-produce tiaar bartiaar, geared-up, Singhs and Kaurs, who might otherwise have an uncertain future as Sikhs. These young men and women would have intellects as sharp as a razor's edge and martial training matching that of the United States Navy Seals. After such rigorous training, these young Sikhs can advance to colleges and universities, as they traditionally would, however, with one difference-they would be a true representation of the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. These Sikhs would become doctors, lawyers, engineers and granthis, but at the same time they would be protectors of humanity and uplifters of the downtrodden. When they strike the ranks of the enemy, they would be victorious, much like the forces of Hari Singh Nalwa. They would also spread the message of Truth, one preached by the Ten Nanaks. Such a Sikh, in the words of Principal Satbir Singh, is a lighthouse that shows the way to thousands of ships. Sikhism holds political sovereignty in high esteem. A prominent Sikh historian, Rattan Singh Bhangu, gives the essential characteristics of the Sikhs: "The Khalsa is never a satellite to another power. They are either fully sovereign or in a state of war and rebellion. A subservient coexistence they never accept. To be fully sovereign and autonomous is their first and last demand." [15] These words have a striking similarity to the message given by Guru Hargobind, five days before he passed away, to his fourteen year old successor, Guru Hari Rai: ". . . do not hesitate to fight relentlessly for your religious and political freedom." [16] Guru Gobind Singh delivers a similar message: "The political power and the State rest on armaments, and without political sovereignty, the good way of life cannot securely prevail in society." [17] The Guru wanted his Sikhs to preserve their dignity by self-preparedness: "A person not free to bear arms in self-defence, and one unable to proclaim his or her free sovereign status with unshorn hair, is like a miserable sheep, inviting all and sundry to catch it by the ears and lead it to the nearest slaughter-house." [18] The Guru proclaims, emphatically, the importance of martial training: "They who loosen their grip on the hilt of the sword, may have to receive the sharp edge of the sword on their soft boneless necks." [19] Face it, if the over six million [12] non-violent, non-resisting European Jews were acquainted with the aforesaid wisdom, the casualties might have been in smaller proportions. It is, therefore, not without reason that Guru Gobind Singh commanded his Sikhs to obtain these special characteristics that enable humans to exist in today's world, a world which allows only the fit to survive. The Khalsa is to practice religious discipline, maintaining his or her honor by power of weapons, thus, preserving peace in this world: "All the virtues of heart and the excellences of mind: These are the natural qualities of the Khalsa. This is to be a new and unique type of person, who bears arms and constantly lives in the presence of God; who strives and fights against evil with his gaze rivetted to the stars. Such is the goal to achieve which the Khalsa has been ordained. And lo, it is a well-armed and well-integrated person." [20] Guru Gobind Singh's Khalsa, who by the above definations must be a sovereign entity, has become a slave. This is confirmed each month with the various reports of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations such as Movement Against State Repression (Chandigarh). Unless we reclaim the title of sant-sipahi, the genocide of the Sikhs shall continue incessantly. We must devise a system so all future Sikhs are martially trained from an early age, so they may protect themselves or die fighting with dignity. [21] Guru Gobind Singh's declaration to the Mughal emperor Auragzeb summarizes the Sikh stand on use of force: "When all peaceful methods fail, the sword becomes a lawful imperative for a religious person for settling conflicts." [22] Lest we forget, this statement must always act as a reminder to use armaments when we fail to establish peace by means other than the sword. In order to effectively use arms, we must educate ourselves, which can only be possible with the establishment of sant-sipahi institutions throughout Punjab and abroad. We must not fight a physical war until we are carnally prepared and are certain of our victory. This was the common sense that guided the Sikhs during the times of the first ten Gurus and also during the Sikh Raj. We must unite and fortify for that day when we will be able to procure the prerogative of equal rights for the entire human race. While becoming good soldiers, we must not ignore the development of the spiritual dimension of our personalities. We need to evolve back into the spiritual tigers that Guru Gobind Singh created. Each day our brothers and sisters are ruthlessly being tortured and killed in Punjab, and we do nothing. The Indian policemen continue to rape our mothers and sisters, and we do nothing. Thousands of innocent Sikhs rot in the squalid Indian prisions without a trial, and we do nothing. Why do we continue to practice callousness and cowardice? O Sikhs of Guru Nanak-Guru Gobind Singh! Bhagat Kabir is urging you to awaken from your frivolous sleep and fulfill the mission of the Guru: Hear, the war-drums reverberate in the skies. And the deadly bullet flies straight towards its mark. The soldier well-entrenched in the battle-field, Knows that this is the hour of battle and victory. This is the badge of a true soldier- To fight to the end for justice and freedom. [23] Notes and References: 1. raj karega khalsa, aki raheh(i) na koe(i) || khvar hoye sabh milege bachaha(i) saran joe hoe(i) || --Karninameh; and Rehitnameh Bhai Nandlal 2. The Sikh Code of Conduct, which was drafted by eminent Sikh scholars from all over the world, under the authority of Sri Akal Takhat Sahib. 3. Ardas, the standard Congregational Prayer of Sikhs 4. sava lakh se ek laraoon, tabe Gobind Singh naam kahaoon 5. Sirdar Kapur Singh, Sikhism: An Oecumenical Religion, p. 79 6. The Sikh Review, May 1995, Vol. 43:5, p. 19 7. The Sikh Review, May 1995, Vol. 43:5, p. 20 8. Trilochan Singh, Life of Guru Hari Krishan, p. 1 9. Sikh Virsa, June 1996 10. nisahaanay sikhi panj harf kaaf | hargiz na bashid ee'n panjay mooauf |1| karra kardo kacch kanghay binda'n | billa kess hech asst jummlay nishaa'n |2| Translation: There are Five Nishaans of Sikhi, and never should they ever be removed from one's body. The iron bangle, sword, long drawers, small comb must always [be worn], but without the unshorn hair, kess, these symbols (Kakars) are meaningless. --Sri Mukh Vak Patshahi 10; often attributed to Bhai Nandlal 11. jatajoot rahboh anurageh || sant sabhun kau sukh deeje|| achal raj dharni meh keeje || -- Bachitranatak, Chabisavatar, Dasam Granth (taken from Parasaraprasna, p.85) 12. Websters New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, p. 644 13. President Roosevelt, pressured by the War Department and Congress, issued Executive order No. 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War "to prescribe military areas . . . from which any and all persons may be excluded." Only people who were excluded were Japanese, the rest remained. 14. Touhill, Blanche M., Readings in American History, p. 128 15. avar kisoo kee kan na parihe, raj kare ike lar marihe | kan na kahu kee ih rakhat, shahinshah khud hee ko bhakhat | -- Prachin Panth Prakash, Oral recension (taken from Parasaraprasna, p. 41) 16.Trilochan Singh, Life of Guru Hari Krishan, p. 2 17. tab im bhaneeo gareebnivaaj, shastaran ke adheen hai raj, bina raj nahi dharam chale hai | . . . Gurpratap Surya Granth aun 1, ansu 36 (taken from Parasaraprasna, p. 41) 18. bina shatar kesham naroo bhed jano, kidho kan te ko pakar le sidhano |Sukha Singh, Gurbilas, XXIII.15, 21 (taken from Parasaraprasna, p. 41-42) 19. kharag hath jin tjeh kharag thara saho || --Chritropakhyan no. 297, Dasam Granth, p. 1247 20. soodh boodh sahit bhale gun sare | nar ur te kaljug nirvare | dhare shatar simrah satnam | dharam dhareh pahochehn su radham | 29 | im karan te panth upayo | do ayadh ras beer badhayo || . . . 30 || --Gurpratapsurya Granth, ain 1, ansu 36 (taken from Para saraprasna, p. 42) 21. "I would confront and oppose that what is evil, to destroy it or subdue it, or die fighting against it with dignity." (jab avi ki avadhi nidhan banai ran main ati hi tab jujh maron) --Guru Gobind Singh 22. Chu kar az hameh hilate darguzasht Halal ast burdan b-samshir dast -- Guru Gobind Singh, Zafarnama, 22.1 23. gagan damama bajiyo pariyo nishane ghao || khet jo mandiyo soorma ab joojhan ko dao || soora so pehchanie jo lare deen ke het || purja-purja kat mare kabho na chande khet || --Maru, Kabir, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1105. (The Sikh Review, January 1998) Writer: Harpreet Singh

MAHAPURSH ! By Sudhir Kundi Mahapursh means a great man, A righteous, enlightened being, One who’s above the daily norms, One who has ‘divine seeing’. Because a table has legs, Doesn’t mean that it can run, You don’t become a Mahapursh, Just because you are called one, Being a Mahapursh is a way of living, Not something you became once a week! You’ll know when you’ve became one, You’ll reach a spiritual peak. When you’re tolerant and compassionate, Full of love and no grudges are kept, When you are content and undisturbed, And have no desires except... To make your master happy, To make your master smile, To serve all his creation, And remember him all the while. Enjoy each and every moment, And thank God for all he’s done, Live life in total surrender, Then your life has truly begun. Bless me to be a Mahapursh, This is my prayer, this is my wish- Until I’m not don’t call me Mahapursh, I’m only Mahapursh-ish!

I think you are trying twist your own words here. I just tried to show you that your own beliefs are respectful but they are not inclined with whole panth and that was the point I made and I didn't go in details because you have said it clearly that you didn't want to have discussion. I have it in red for you to have a look on your own words. Now next post you are posting here to convince that your beliefs are right and this is the problem you come across when you follow any particular jatha because you go by the jatha not by the whole panth so in that case your beliefs can be right in the boundries of particular jatha but as whole panth they will remain in controversies till whole panth approves them. I'll ask you to visit the thread where these controversies discussions are in progress and members are discussing it because I will keep your words and won't get into discussion and you should keep your words as well because you have said something else and doing the opposite. It's against sikhism's rehat/code of conducts to run away from your own words. Here is Gurbani to back up my statement. You just went against Guru ji's teaching as you didn't remain on your words because you have said it that you didn't want to get into discussion but just to prove that your beliefs are right you went against your own words so I would suggest you learn more about Sikhism so you don't end up screwing up your beliefs because of organized knowledge of Sikhism. Thanks!

Isn't it sarcastic that our Panj piraye are not even sure about rehat maryada and we have to go for the most correct but not fully. No discussion but simple line for this. How can you validate that your personal beliefs are correct? Your personal beliefs you have mentioned above are in controversies and whole panth is not inclined towards them so in that case you will end up following your personal beliefs not Rehat Maryada of Sikhism.