How Should We Run Our Gurdwareh?

[Adhyatmic]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh

After seeing violence in our Gurdwareh for a while now. Its quite obvious the way they are run doesn't seem to work.

Is there any ideas of how we could clean up this mess?

How should Gurdwareh be run? is there any old texts on how they should be run?

Do we need committees?

If not how do we get rid of them?

Put forward some ideas.

[Manbir]

Manage Gurdwaras anyway you like does not matter. If you want smooth running and avoid trouble - minimize the play of Money in the affairs of the Gurdwaras. That all.

All over the world Sikhs are having same problem in running the affairs of Gurdwaras.

Those Gurdwaras which have less collections have less problems.

[amardeep]

Exactly. Make sure there is'nt any 'profits' in running the Gurdwara. Make sure that expenses are paid, and whatever is left goes to charity organisations instead of keeping them in the Gurdwara trust for future events etc.

[SAadmin]

Well there are two ways to run the gurdwara. One is through the committee and the other way is through mahant gaddi given by gurdev of respective samparda. Both have pros and cons. I cannot speak for India, but gurdwaras run through mahant are successful and peaceful in Canada because the head of samparda's oversees everything being run. Again, no system is perfect ultimately due to human greed. One possible solution is not to change anything in the committee or mahant structure but to have one independent, huge organization free from bias or any influence overseen by the gurdwara management abroad.

[Manbir]

Well there are two ways to run the gurdwara. One is through the committee and the other way is through mahant gaddi given by gurdev of respective samparda. Both have pros and cons. I cannot speak for India, but gurdwaras run through mahant are successful and peaceful in Canada because the head of samparda's oversees everything being run. Again, no system is perfect ultimately due to human greed. One possible solution is not to change anything in the committee or mahant structure but to have one independent, huge organization free from bias or any influence overseen by the gurdwara management abroad.

Here in Punjab, the deras are controlled by the person who has started it or is the most powerful among the inmates. After the head is no more the main chellas fight it out and form their own dera. So instead of one then there are say four deras after the demise of the head of one dera. This is the reason why these deras are mushrooming all over Punjab. And every Dera is headed by a Sant and he bestows himself big big titles and carries on with his business, infact the most flourishing business these days in India.

Greed is the basic instict of human beings that is in play everywhere.

Religious places are in fact the most flourishing setups whenever the society is going through a phase of economic upside. During this time people have more money in hand and their desires for more too is many folds. This phase keeps going for quite sometime. And then a stage comes when people get fed up of religious exploitations and then starts the decline in the business of religious institutions. See it for yourself, in developed countries the churches are for sale and Sikhs are purchasing them!

Edited April 22, 2010 by Manbir

[Xylitol]

there is no way to avoid money issues except for 1, raise everyone's jeevan, make it satyug; and 2, be completely transparent about finances. even then there are bound to be people who try to play the system, although it will be rarer. it's human nature. harsher penalties for playing the system would reduce the occurrence of this.

[Manbir]

there is no way to avoid money issues except for 1, raise everyone's jeevan, make it satyug; and 2, be completely transparent about finances. even then there are bound to be people who try to play the system, although it will be rarer. it's human nature. harsher penalties for playing the system would reduce the occurrence of this.

You are right, its very difficult to avoid the play of money. When we have majority of us tuned to Guru's teaching we can expect less problems but till then Rab Rakha.

[Mr Sardar]

By understanding full nirmata in seva and understanding its not our Gurdwara it belongs to Guru, we are doing his seva. Also democracy used properly, resolving things with diplomacy. Every Gurdwara sahib in the west usually has a legal charter drafted up legally, that needs to be carefully done. Every purthan dharmistan had a mukhii such as Baba Deep Singh was head jathedar of Damdami Taksal. So a respect for hierarchy must also be there, with education, good ethics, values, etiquette, morals . We must all be very humble. KEY THING DO NOT START FIGHTS IN GURDWARA (EVEN VERBAL ONES OR BODY LANGUAGE PROVOCATIVE BEHAVIOUR). People walk in thinking they own the place and that ego manifests it self out in ways which are unacceptable. As long as those values, etiquette, ethics, moral taught in GurSikhi exist it will be fine. Our Guru touched the feet of Baba Sri Chand in a provocative situation lets humble ourselves and be like water. And also being bigger people to look past things (BITING OUR TONGUES). Everyone should be allowed in the Gurdwara regardless of who SGPC panthic maryada should be a minimum acceptance in place. The Gurdwara committee need to understand the selfless service/sewa they are handling just like how someone would clean the floor do properly with humility. Now the problem is how does Gurdwara comitee take care of trouble makers and what is a trouble maker that should be dealt with so thats what gets people set off all the time. Lets all understand we all make mistakes and not notice those things in others, because usually the bad things we see in others are actually those in ourselves, and how we judge people will come back to us through our karam. As long as we all strive to join with the dust of the feets of sangat it will be fine.

[Mr Sardar]

@Manbir forget the deras then, as long as we have real sharda for Guru Maharaj we should go to the purthan dharmikh Gurdwaras (Sri Harmander Sahib, Bangla Sahib, Sis Ganj, etc.) and we should all strive to help the SGPC rid itself of corruption work as a nation together for that which belongs to all of us, not one persons selfish intent of a business, there are genuine baba out there (there must be). But keep sharda with dhan dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Guru Maharaja ladlee Khalsa Panth. We are all here for it as one.

Edited April 29, 2010 by sarbatdapala

[bhooliya]

Gurdwara system should be changed in this present situation. People should stop donating for new buildings and instead donate for the Sikh literature and comparative studies. They should spend money on providing their childern good Gurbani Santhiya. The time is becoming very scientific and with time our traditions may look absurd to new generations. They will have Muslim fundamentalist, Hindu extremists, Sikh communist, Government agencies propaganda and Christian missionary to allure/confuse them. It is must, if we want to keep our children on Sikhism path, that we devote our time and money on comparative studies.

Have we ever seen a farmer just going to field and throwing seeds in the hope to have a good crop? Farmers put so much effort in preparing field/farm before seeding, so they can have a good crop. This same analogy applies to Sikhism. If we want to have good Sikh generation with strong Sikh values then we have to prepare them very well. We have to work on core beliefs and support intellectuals.

[Manbir]

Gurdwara system should be changed in this present situation. People should stop donating for new buildings and instead donate for the Sikh literature and comparative studies. They should spend money on providing their childern good Gurbani Santhiya. The time is becoming very scientific and with time our traditions may look absurd to new generations. They will have Muslim fundamentalist, Hindu extremists, Sikh communist, Government agencies propaganda and Christian missionary to allure/confuse them. It is must, if we want to keep our children on Sikhism path, that we devote our time and money on comparative studies.

Have we ever seen a farmer just going to field and throwing seeds in the hope to have a good crop? Farmers put so much effort in preparing field/farm before seeding, so they can have a good crop. This same analogy applies to Sikhism. If we want to have good Sikh generation with strong Sikh values then we have to prepare them very well. We have to work on core beliefs and support intellectuals.

You have rightly said. We need to change our priorities if we want our children to keep being in Sikhi. We should stop making Gurdwaras and change the illogical maryadas we have developed. We need to introduce our children to Gurbani and make them develop Love with Guru's Bani. The young generation is cheesed off with illogical teachings introduced by our parcharaks.

[Xylitol]

The problem is not illogical rahits/teachings -although this could be in a few places where people think they are more syaana then Maharaj, and consequently change the rahit to make it make more sense only to have it become a practice without a root!

The problem is twofold, kathakars need to live the lifestyle. If they live it, their words will come from the heart and have greater power.

The second is that they need deep understanding of the teachings AND be able to communicate it to the audience. The deeper level of understanding is rare, but certainly does exist. The rarity of this deeper understanding is shown in how often those who teach this deeper knowledge of Gurbani are attacked for their teachings.

[Manbir]

The problem is not illogical rahits/teachings -although this could be in a few places where people think they are more syaana then Maharaj, and consequently change the rahit to make it make more sense only to have it become a practice without a root!

The problem is twofold, kathakars need to live the lifestyle. If they live it, their words will come from the heart and have greater power.

The second is that they need deep understanding of the teachings AND be able to communicate it to the audience. The deeper level of understanding is rare, but certainly does exist. The rarity of this deeper understanding is shown in how often those who teach this deeper knowledge of Gurbani are attacked for their teachings.

Rightly said Xylitol Ji. We need to live a life of Guru's Sikh. Only then would we have impact on our young ones. We feel that by just having long flowing beard and with all Kakars visible we prove to the world that we are great GurSikhs. We have to live a lifestyle as per Gurbani only then our children would find our sayings logical.

I have first hand experience with young one in Punjab villages. They clearly have contempt for Amritdhari Sikhs. Its really surprising that the youth of Punjab have a very low regard for Sikh traditions. I assure you if you take a survey in rural Punjab you'll be surprised of the findings.