Religion Matters Rethinking The Challenges of Tomorrow

Religion Matters – Rethinking The Challenges of Tomorrow

“Without spiritual wisdom, successful development is impossible. Good development is like good medicine: it has no side-effects.” Dharam Singh Nihang Singh

Truthfulness: Our actions must match our words. Honesty and sincerity are prerequisites for peace, justice, solidarity and good governance.

Holism: True religion is holistic and shaped by selfless devotion. It is committed to the long-term welfare of all the world’s people and is neither group-led nor interest-led.Dialogue: The wisdom of religion is an offer to others. As people of religion, we should never impose our convictions on others through missionary zeal, either directly or through subtle persuasion.

Development: Successful development is modest in its approach and is guided by the humble insight that we are all guests on Earth. It focuses on essentials, takes place in harmony with nature, and is always mindful of the finite capacities of people and the Earth itself. Development activity is retrograde when it leads to over-complexity, causes problems rather than solving them, and disturbs inner peace.

Tranquillity:
A rapidly beating heart is just as unhealthy as a heart that beats too slowly. Natural development is achieved step by step. It is guided by the pace of evolution itself.

Responsibility: Everyone makes mistakes. This is true not only of individuals but also of nations. The key is to avoid repeating these mistakes and to take responsibility for correcting them.

Circumspect exercise of power: Those who have the power to govern, or the power of knowledge or wealth, have a particular responsibility, for all three areas are especially vulnerable to abuse.Responsible politics: Policy-makers should draw on the wisdom of religion to ensure they are farsighted in their actions, and should support the dissemination of knowledge about religion at schools and universities. At the same time, policy-makers must look critically at religion. If suffering is inflicted in the name of religion, they must intervene resolutely.Competition: Policy-makers and society must encourage competition between the religions. If religious topics are presented transparently, it is easier to ascertain which insights from the various religions are true, of service to humankind, and deserving of wider circulation.

Transformation: True change always begins within the individual and is founded on insight. Religion can help with this. Its very essence is the eradication of what is bad in us and society: selfishness and short-termism. This requires antiquated attitudes to be put aside in a process of deconditioning. People who consider themselves religious have the responsibility to study their religion and history impartially, self-critically and thoughtfully.

Nature conservation: Environmental destruction is the outcome of our alienation from our souls. If we listen consciously to the soul’s voice in our hearts, this will have a positive effect on the environment and our relations with one another.

Unity: Spiritual knowledge brings people together. German unity can be regarded as a religious act. It helped to set the people of two nations on a course towards reconciliation and thus contributed to successful development. Source: “Religion matters – Rethinking the challenges of tomorrow”The complete official summary of the talk “Religion matters” you find here:

• Religion matters – Sikh Talk – BMZ Ministry Germany 02-2015.pdf
• Religion matters – Sikh Vortrag – BMZ Ministerium Deutschland 02-2015.pdf

Dharam Singh Nihang Singh’s vision

“We need an independent world council in which the most knowledgeable experts and representatives of the world religions reach agreement on the values and basic principles of coexistence that will best serve humankind in the long term. The advice provided by this council must be taken into account by all governments as they endeavour to overcome the challenges facing humankind. It would be the responsibility of the council to draw attention to erroneous political and societal developments and to arbitrate in conflicts.”

The Sikh Religion
The Sikh Religion (Sikhi, Sikhism) took on the shape of a unique religion in the 16th century in northern India. Today, around 25 million people regard themselves as Sikhs, seekers of truth. The religion is based on timeless, spiritual wisdom that was revealed to over 30 enlightened ones and later preserved in written poetry known as Gurbani. It provides inspiration for spreading unity among people and leading a virtuous, modest life in harmony with nature and the Will of the nameless Creator. The Sikh Religion shows how humans can move beyond beliefs and intellectuality through self-realisation of their divine purity.

Modern Saints Devoid of Truth

It is difficult to understand from where did the modern day religious imposters, who call themselves saints, claim to acquire the understanding of Gurmat when their school of thought (i.e. Sant-Matt) has never accepted Gurmat, and has in fact always been active in derailing Gurmat. That is precisely why these so-called saints speak and act like Jogis of the past.

Bin sabdai ras na āvai a▫odhū ha▫umai pi▫ās na jā▫ī.

(Raamkali, M-1, Sidh Goshti, Page 945) 

Satgur Nanak says that if the instructions of a Sabad/Gyaan (i.e. body of knowledge) cannot provide you with its essence, that knowledge is also incapable to quench the thirst of your ego and desires. That was the reason why Jogis could not quench their desires and rather got engrossed in attaining material and spiritual powers. Therefore, those who could not get imbued in the truthful message must never have achieved truthful understanding. It is only the guidance of Satgur which gets mixed with the hue of truth and is showered upon a seeker in the form of truthful understanding (or Amrit). How can one then believe, that those upon whom not a single drop of this Amrit has fallen can be imbued with truth, or further could have attained truth. Satgur is saying the same thing that if the teachings of a school of thought (or a body of knowledge) provides no essence of truth, then it cannot imbue (or inspire) anyone. The Sabad that we need to partake must provide us with essence of truth, and it can only come from a meaningful guidance. The Sabad that Jogis claim to listen to cannot even provide them with any truthful essence. They used to, and even today preach that Jog is like licking a bland stone. Gurbani also testifies to this claim of theirs by noting “Sil jog alūnī chatī▫ai.” But if one does not achieve any essence from somewhere, it is difficult to focus in such a thing. This was the reason why Jogis could not focus their consciousness.

When Satgur Amardas ji said “Ānand ānand sabh ko kahai ānand gurū te jāni▫ā” then he was also exposing the falsehood of these self-proclaimed saints, be it Jogis or Vaishnavites. He said that these saints of India, who falsely claim to have attained Ānanḏ (bliss), are bereft of actual bliss because none of them have received the essence of truth. But through the company of true Satguru I have now come to know what true bliss is. This was the state of the then saints of Hindostan, and also of their contemporary followers, the self-proclaimed saints, because their faith has always opposed truth. Dasam Patshah had made this amply clear by saying, “….Sant samooh anek mati ke. Saare hi des ko dekh raheyo mat koi na dekhiyat praanpati ke” which means that none of the saints of Hindostan as of this date have spiritual (or Godly) knowledge. That is why it is difficult to figure how come the self-proclaimed saints of today acquired the understanding of Gurmat because no school of saints has ever accepted Gurmat, rather have been busy derailing it. These self-proclaimed saints therefore, talk in the same manner as Jogis used to, bereft of any understanding of Gurmat:

Rang na rātā ras nahī mātā. Bin gur sabdai jal bal tātā.

(Raamkali, M-1, Sidh Goshti, Page 945)

Without guidance of a Satguru (true knowledge), neither can one get the essence of truth nor can one be imbued with truth. A mind without guidance burns constantly in the fire of attachment and desires. One who has never settled one’s attention into one’s heart has never been able to listen and share the voice from his heart with others through words. Those who haven’t chiseled their mind, they don’t feel the hunger for true knowledge; they don’t wish to attain truth. If someone attunes to the true word (Gobind) within one’s heart then one understands the incomprehensible story of the unstruck (cosmic) sound. Then his mind does not waver, and becomes steady. After this, one gets to know one’s own identity (Aatam Ram). Meaning thereby, his illusion (or dreaminess) ends and his mind that was watching this dream merges with one’s true identity.

Gur parsādī range rātā. Amrit pī▫ā sāche mātā. 

Gur vīchārī agan nivārī. Api▫o pī▫o ātam sukh dhārī. 

Sach arādhi▫ā gurmukh tar tārī. Nānak būjhai ko vīchārī.

(Raamkali, M-1, Sidh Goshti, Page 945) 

People indulged in falsehood and deception cannot listen to the truth. Truth appears to them just like a sting from a scorpion. But with God’s grace, the temperament of one’s mind gets changed for the better. He abandons deception. Then he is blessed with the good fortune of being imbued in the guidance of Satgur. Gurbani says:

Amrit ka▫urā bikhi▫ā mīthī. 

Sākat kī bidh nainhu dīthī. 

Kūr kapat ahaʼnkār rījhānā. 

Nām sunaṯ jan bichhū▫a dasānā.

(Raamkali, M-5, Page 892) 

Such a person gets dyed in the unfading color of the truth. The essence of truth that one gets from the deliberation of Sabad Guru destroys the fire of desires. The Gurmukh thus keeps on drinking such ambrosial nectar which cannot be drunk through the mouth (Api▫o pī▫o), or say, one doesn’t need the physical body and mouth to drink that nectar. This fact has intentionally been mentioned by Satguru ji, because fake saints were mistaken thinking Naam is something to be recited through mouth. Even today these fake saints, after being aware of the mention of Api▫o pī▫o in Gurbani still do not understand. If Gurbani is understood with honesty, then there is no reason for it not to spread across the world. The only reason that the spread of Sikhi is stagnant is because Sikhs themselves have not understood Gurmat properly, forget about others. For the last two and a half to three hundred years, the propagation of Sikhi (Gurmat) has been diverted by those Sikhs who are influenced by Sanatan Matt.

Those Gursikhs who will understand the correct form of Gurmat will drink the ambrosial nectar within it, and achieve the state of spiritual bliss. Only thereafter, they will attain the stage of Sach arādhi▫ā gurmukh tar tārī. Nānak būjhai ko vīchārī. The hunger of truth will arise within them, and those Gurmukhs will be detached from the material world and float on the ocean of worldly existence. In the end, Satguru ji is saying that this is possible only after deliberation on the word. This stage can only be achieved after contemplating deeply over Gurbani.

Sikhi and Contemporary Sikhs

Sikhi and Contemporary Sikhs

Correct Gurmat teaching alone will dismiss concerns of ‘Sikh identity’

Sikhi is another name for Gurmat ideology. It has no connection with any garb, because garb has been rejected, and never accepted in Gurmat. Sikhi is such a teaching that has been inscribed in the Gurbani for Pandits, Pandhaas, Jogis, Naaths, Sanyasis, Bairaagis, Srevrhas, Qazis, Maulanas, Sheikhs, Pirs, Fakeers etc. It means that Gurmat has enlightened all the above types of garb bearers with the path of truthful understanding. None of the Guru Sahibaans or Bhagats ever told any of their pupils to shun their old garb in order to adopt a new one. The pupils were only advised to adopt the Gurmat ideology. This is perhaps because the ideology of the whole world can be unified despite existence of differences in outer garbs. The reason of discord is ideology, and not the garb.

Although Dasam Patshah did bind the Khalsa to wear a particular uniform, but we cannot call this uniform a garb because he had created Khalsa as an army of Akaal Purakh. When this army must fight to stand guard the truth against the army of the followers of garb bearers, then during the fight it needs a separate identity so that soldiers do not strike their own by mistake. By partaking Khande di Pahul from Khalsa, Dasam Patshah gave the message that hereafter the control of Khalsa Panth will be in the hands of Khalsa itself. Rather than some other person, now it needs to take guidance from Gurbani only. From that time, Dasam Patshah entrusted the responsibility of a personified teacher to the Khalsa. It is another matter that this fact has neither been seriously discussed nor propagated by Khalsa even until today. If this had been seriously discussed and propagated, then ever appearing stories of fake imposter Gurus will not be seen and heard, and neither these gangs of garb bearing saints would have surfaced.

The situation that the Khalsa inherited after Dasam Patshah was a phase of tough examination for Khalsa. The biggest challenge for Khalsa became the preservation of its own identity. The propagation of Sikhi dropped to second preference. This phase of tribulations and persecution went on for such a long time that the Singhs who had understanding of Gurmat either achieved martyrdom or expired. How could the study of Gurbani be carried while sitting on horsebacks day and night? The understanding of Gurmat was kept limited to accepting the God’s will, which is also the crux of Gurbani. Khalsa would face the God’s will cheerfully, and lived a carefree life while struggling with the adversities of that time.

Although that time also came when along with maintaining its identity, Khalsa became the owner of a kingdom. The possessions of a worldly kingdom unsettled the Khalsa from the path of truth. The Khalsa who was a lover of truth, because of the influence of material possessions, kept coming under the dominance of garb bearers. Khalsa, who used to desire indestructible spiritual kingdom (Abinaasi Raaj), turned his back to the Guru in order to attain worldly kingdom (Sansaari Raaj). To maintain the kingdom, it accepted subordination of those powers that wanted to destroy Sikhi itself. It was also the time when the propagation of Sikhi began once again. Many historical texts were created under the name of ‘history of the Gurus’ but their true purpose was to divert Gurmat. An exposition of Gurbani was created through educated Pandits after giving them Sikh appearance. Though the Gursikhs of that time opposed it vigorously, but even those Sikhs did not have the capability to expound Gurbani themselves. That is why, the antithetical preaching continued to be passed off as preaching of ‘truth’, the result of which is in front of us today.

The attacks on Sikhs in America and some European countries have happened because the outer garb of Sikhs and Afghans is very similar. Our missionaries, who are very large in numbers and have many preachers trained by them in European countries. Their preaching is limited to code of conduct and outer garb, instead of ideological understanding. Now there is a need to make the European people aware of Sikhi, but these preachers, or gangs of saints dressed in white, or scholars of our sects, or academicians from universities, or NamDhari Guru or his followers, all have failed. The world needs such a Gurmukhi intellect that is capable of providing ideological understanding of Gurmat.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Gursikhs have been concerned about the correct teaching of Gurmat. Towards this end, even though a lot of work has been achieved through their efforts, but the main act of throwing out the false doctrine from the true, just like separating water from the milk still needs to be done. Pristine Sikhi alone is capable to connect a Gursikh with his origin.

The understanding of spiritual knowledge that is, our ‘formless form’ is documented in Gurmat. But this aspect of Gurmat is totally absent from our teaching today. Our preachers are not giving answer to the questions of Radha Soamis, fake Gurus, and people of other faiths. That is why Sikhs are getting caught in the illusory web of Radha Soamis, so-called saints, and fake deceitful Gurus. There is no preacher to be seen, who using the light of Gurmat can make them aware (and hence awaken them) about this illusory web. If correct preaching of Gurmat had been going on from Gurdwaras, then lowlifes like Bhaniarawala would not have cropped.

The truth is that since the time the control and management of Gurdwaras has come back to the Sikhs, we have only worried about Sikhs, and have not yet felt the need to worry about Sikhi. But now with this new game plan of God, perhaps we will awaken from the slumber of apathy, and get attentive towards this responsibility bestowed to us by the Gurus. By exercising this responsibility with honesty, hopefully we will earn the blessings of the Guru.

Dharam Singh Nihang Singh

Nihang Singhs are the flagbearers of Sikhi

The word ‘Nihang’ stands for one who is free from egotism (Nih means without, Ahan-g means ego). To shun one’s ego or getting rid of egotism is the sole target of a Gursikh. It is possible to get rid of egotism through complete understanding of Gurbani. A Gursikh who has acquired complete understanding of Gurbani is called a Gurmukh, or one having spiritual wisdom. Other names for spiritual wisdom that have been used in the Gurbani are Gyaan Khadag (sword of knowledge) and Sach ki Kaati (knife of truth). Every human being has to conquer his mind by equipping oneself with this formless spiritual sword. Meaning thereby that complete understanding of Gurmat is capable of cutting all the figments originating in the mind. The end of formation of these figments of the material world in one’s mind is an indicator of becoming a self-aware, self-realized person who is indifferent to the material pleasures. That is why the meanings of the word ‘Nihang’ given in the Mahan Kosh are according to the above context.

In their respective doctrines, the worldly-minded people had promoted the spiritual words like Sant, Saadh, Brahm Gyaani, Satguru, Guru, Dev etc after giving them meanings having worldly connotations. Gurbani has emended all these words. Likewise, the meanings of the word ‘Nihang’ had been presumed by the confused intellectuals according to their own doctrine. Gurbani has rejected those meanings as is evident from the following verse:

Nirbẖa▫o ho▫i▫o bẖa▫i▫ā nihangā. (Aasa, M-5, Page 392)

There are two types of doctrines in the world. One is the doctrine of truth, the God’s own doctrine. This doctrine can convert the human intelligence into spiritual wisdom, which along with making one perceptive of the temporal world, awakens one to the afterlife as well. The other doctrine, while feigns to provide all the achievements of the first doctrine, but due to it being incapable of doing so engulfs the seeker in such a web of illusion that the seeker becomes a blind believer and superstitious of the highest degree. Then anything, whether ethical or unethical could be gotten done through him on the name of so-called religion. That is because the spiritual prowess within him has been destroyed. Consequently, such people are limited to the cleanliness of the body rather than the purity of the mind. Catering to the illusion that peace of the mind can be achieved through external materialistic things, they engage themselves in amassing materialistic possessions. Oblivious to the understanding of their inner spiritual identity, these confused intellectuals and cynics waste their human life entrapped in darkness. Owing to this entrapment, these people consider sacrificing their physical lives to their deities as an extreme act of piety. Such self-immolators used to be called ‘fearless Nihang’. Whereas according to the truthful doctrine of Gurmat, the sacrifice that was needed to be given was that of the mind. Thus, while it was imperative to die in context of one’s mind, but the physical death was taken as a religious or pious act which is nothing but a crime. The above verse of Gurbani hints at this particular aspect.

As far as the meanings of the word ‘Nihang’ taken as sword are concerned, then rather than the physical sword, they stand for the formless ‘sword of knowledge’, ‘spiritual wisdom’, and ‘knife of truth’. This alone is called the ‘Sword of Piri’. Bhagats and Guru Sahibaans used this sword of knowledge during their discourses with the other faiths to cut through the web of illusions of confused intellectuals, and showed the path of salvation to gullible people. Using this very sword of knowledge, Guru Nanak Sahib laid the strong foundation of the domain of the truth. That is, he himself lived according to this true doctrine and so did all the following Gurus up to the tenth. After that, the Khalsa (or Nihang) tradition that possessed this sword of knowledge, that is Gurbani, was established by Guru Gobind Singh. Now the responsibility for propagation and spread of Gurmat lies with the ‘Nihang Singhs’. Not from today, this responsibility was entrusted to the Singhs since the time Satguru ji partook the gift of Amrit from the five Singhs. Although as long as Satguru ji’s physical body was present he used to expound on Gurmat himself, but he never considered himself to be above the Khalsa tradition. That is why he agreed to leave the Chamkaur fortress on the order of Nihang Singhs (the five Singhs). Since then, the control of Khalsa tradition has always remained under the leadership of five chief Singhs. Or to say it differently, in place of Satguru ji, five Singhs used to provide religious leadership.

By the virtue of it being the doctrine of eternal God, Gurmat is an eternal doctrine. It is the inner voice that is present in each one of us. That is why its realization has been, and will always be available from within. ‘Nihang Khalsa’ is the adherent of this doctrine, inheritor to the eternal kingdom, bumblebee of the eternal Sabad Guru, abdicator of worldly kingdoms, and believer in the kingship of God rather than any man. Until today, never has the desire for worldly kingdoms arisen in the adherents of this doctrine. The message in the verse, Rāj na cẖāha▫o mukaṯ na cẖāha▫o man parīṯ cẖaran kamlāre. (Page 534), is like a check on the sentiment of ‘Raj Karega Khalsa’. If this sentiment is used by the Khalsa to achieve eternal kingdom and emancipation of life, then it cannot be in dissension with the Guru. Although the kings of the Misls were also from the same Khalsa tradition, but before becoming a Misldaar, they used to be disrobed off the uniform given by the Guru because then they were considered as second rung Sikhs. That is why the robe of the Nihang Singhs and that of the Sikh Sardaars was different. Even until today, Nihang Singhs have never had a desire to achieve worldly kingdom, although perhaps many among contemporary Nihang Singhs might not know about this key fact because it is natural for many a shortcomings to surface over time. The lack of complete understanding of Gurmat is the biggest reason for this.

‘Nihang Singhs’ consider them to be the army of Akal Puarkh because Dasam Patshah created the Khalsa as the army of Akal Purakh. That is why during the baptizing ceremony, Singhs are asked to chant ‘Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh’. This phrase is repeated several times. This means that from now onwards, Khalsa belongs to the God and the victory of the Khalsa is not possible without the will of the God. The victory achieved through the will of the God must be attributed as the victory of the God or Waheguru. There must be no misconception about it being the victory of a man. If it cultivates the misconception that the victory belongs to himself or his associates, then sorry, such a Khalsa does not remain a Khalsa in the true sense. At odds with the Guru, he would be egotistic, ignorant, materialistic, and extreme blind and deaf.

As long as the question of Khalsa being detached from the material world is concerned, keeping in mind the contemporary materialistic age it can be safely said that there is much blessing of the God on Nihang Singhs even today. There are still many a Singhs among them even today, who are above the web of materialistic pleasures and thus adored by the Guru. In the past, there had been great contended Singhs who understood the illusory web of Ranjit Singh and kept the Guru Khalsa safe from the worship funds (donation chest) in the Gurdwaras. Therefore, when the management of the Gurdwaras went into the hands of the Mahants, then Panth Khalsa used to keep an eye on them. There could not be much fellowship of Khalsa with the Sikh Sangat because the materialistic Sikh Sangat has always considered the Khalsa who solely follows the path of Gurmat as foolish. Sikh leaders, who consider them to be the savior of Sikhs, too have been covertly jealous with the Nihang Singhs. The reason being the Nihang Singhs were quite aware of the hidden motives of the Sikh leaders owing to having similar experience during establishment of the Misls. Nihang Singhs are the flagbearers of Sikhi; but these so-called representatives who got authority (or political control) with the help of the Panth Khalsa, and are damaging Sikhi (Gurmat) itself cannot befool Panth Khalsa from now on in the future. It is reassuring that now even the ordinary Sikh Sangat has also gotten aware of their inner chicanery.

Dharam Singh Nihang Singh

Original article in Punjabi can be found at https://www.scribd.com/document/473...

Human Consciousness

First, they conquer their inner self, and then, move on to empower others to do the same. Such extraordinary people are the ones who tirelessly work to set foundation for "World Peace" and help "Human Consciousness" move towards higher realm of spiritual awakening.

Spiritual Intelligence

You may forget the religious scripture quotes and the exact words that brought change within you but what you will always remember and will never loose is the amount of 'spiritual intelligence' you gained through the learning process.

Reason Argument (Cavil) and Spiritual Wisdom

‘Reason’ is the name of such an arrow (weapon) which has the ability to cut through falsehood. The reason that can completely cut through the illusory web of falsehood is a fruition of the hearts of spiritually wise people. That is why spiritual wisdom has also been called ‘sword of knowledge’ in Gurbani. It has the ability to expose all types of deception and no plea of false knowledge stands a chance in front of it. Reason has a second form too. The reason given by someone having fake knowledge which shall actually be called an argument (or cavil), although the person with fake knowledge will still call it reason. Thus, in Gurbani any reason that originates from false knowledge has been condemned using the word reason (ṯark) itself:

Māiā kī kiraṯ cẖẖod gavāī bẖagṯī sār na jānai.

Beḏ sāsṯar kao ṯarkan lāgā ṯaṯ jog na pacẖẖānai.

(Aasa, M-5, Page 381)

Here, Satguru ji is saying to a confused intellectual who is bereft of the essence of the truth and devotional understanding, that you yourself are ignorant and know nothing about devotion. But you are giving arguments against true knowledge which has the capability to stabilize the mind and make it free from wishful thinking. The word Beḏ stands for knowledge and the word Sāsṯar means a compendium for governance. Therefore, ‘Beḏ sāsṯar’ means that knowledge which is capable of governing, and eventually winning over the mind. When our intellect understands this core-knowledge, then it becomes competent to stop the mind from engaging in self-willed thoughts. This spiritual stage has been called as “Man jīṯai jag jīṯ” in Gurbani which means that no intellect in the whole world stands a chance in front of the one which has attained the capability to win over the mind. At the same time, such a spiritual wisdom is never in conflict with another one of its own kind because they are identical in essence to each other. They are “ek joṯ ḏue mūrṯī”.

On the other hand, when an unenlightened or confused intellectual argues against this core-knowledge, his arguments are called hujaṯ (cavil) in Gurbani:

Gurmaṯ sācẖī hujaṯ ḏūr. Bahuṯ siāṇap lāgai ḏẖūr.

Lāgī mail mitai sacẖ nāe. Gur parsāḏ rahai liv lāe.

(Aasa, M-1, Page 352)

Here, Satguru ji is saying Gurmat is unlike the arguments (cavil) of a confused-intellectual because Gurmat is a truthful doctrine and nothing can rebut the truth. The intellect of anyone who tries to oppose truth in fact gets more polluted, and cannot be purified without the knowledge of truth. One who argues against truth, if becomes a subject of the blessings of God, can become truthful after accepting Gurmat.

Although it is prohibited in the Gurbani to argue against the truth, but the question asked by a seeker in order to understand truth has not been considered an argument. People had been getting their doubts cleared from Bhagats and Guru Sahibaans, which they used to do on a regular basis. A real religious teacher must be considered as the one who after clarifying the doubts of people has the capability to dispel their illusions. For those who call themselves religious leaders, and craftily conceal their ignorance by rendering the genuine questions asked by a seeker to get his doubts cleared as mere argumentation, Bhagat Kabir says:

Kabīr māe mūndao ṯih gurū kī jā ṯe bẖaram na jāe.

Āp dube cẖahu beḏ mėh cẖele ḏīe bahāe.

(Salok Kabir ji, Page 1369)

Kabir ji is saying that the fraud of the false doctrine (māe) of such a Guru must be exposed who is incapable to dispel all types of illusions of his Sikhs. He might be learned in the four Veds, but due to himself being drowned in the ocean of the physical world, that is being materialistic, will drown his disciples in that ocean as well.

The various worldly doctrines have been frequently reasoned against by the authors of Gurbani. Bringing to fore the flaws of each temporal doctrine, the solution has also been suggested along with. This means that when Gurmat points out flaws in other doctrines, it also provides appropriate remedial action thus proving its noble intention to guide them in the right direction. It is not done in ill-will or to debase any of these doctrines. But the contemporary religious leaders in front of us, instead of answering the questions asked by seekers in order to get their doubts cleared, all of them shut the seekers up saying that you don’t have enough devotion (towards us). This clearly means that they don’t have any answers for the seekers. In order to hide their ignorance, they misuse the word Sarḏẖā. In Gurbani, Sarḏẖā means ‘good intention’, which is evident from the following verses:

Saṯgur hoe ḏaiāl ṯa sarḏẖā pūrīai.

Saṯgur hoe ḏaiāl na kabahūʼn jẖūrīai.

(Majh ki Vaar, M-1, Page 149)

Anṯarjāmī purakẖ biḏẖāṯe sarḏẖā man kī pūre.

Nānak ḏās ihai sukẖ māgai mo kao kar sanṯan kī ḏẖūre.

(Raag Gauri Poorbi, M-5, Page 13)

The above verses do not reflect desire of any materialistic things or pleasures. Here it is a supplication in front of God for satiation of the hunger for true Naam (or knowledge). But in the world of confused intellectuals, the meanings of the word Sarḏẖā have been distorted to mean blind-faith. A confused intellectual is a fake Guru (Saint) and has to adopt this measure to save his falsehood. He can only maintain his sainthood by propagating this illusion. That is why saints today in the garb of Sikhs also have to take refuge of such craftiness to save their sainthood. They don’t have the understanding of the truth in the Gurmat. These fake saints, gag the seekers by saying ‘One must not argue’, whenever the seekers ask a question.

The knowledge of truth, though always remains preserved in the written form, but these materialistic people in order to save their false dogmas, misrepresent the eternal doctrine by giving it temporal meanings. Similar misrepresentation that has happened with Gurbani is now in front of us. But when the correct meanings reflecting the fundamental ideology of Gurbani will emerge, then obviously there will be all types of clamor from the adherents of Sanatani doctrine. Through various arguments they will try to rebut the truth in Gurbani in eyes of their disciples. Eventually they will be unsuccessful because confused-intellectuals can only cavil, which they try to pass off as reason.

The conclusion of this whole discussion is that spiritual wisdom is the only wisdom from which reason (or logic) can originate. From inside the confused-intellectuals, only empty arguments can emerge which is nothing but cavil according to Gurbani. Whenever a seeker with an intention to know the truth, asks a question from a religious person who does not have an answer for him, in that case the spiritual stage of the seeker is higher than that of that religious person. That particular question for knowing the truth has also originated from the spiritual wisdom of the seeker. The intellect that that is trying to acquire understanding of the truth will also be called spiritual wisdom, although it might be incomplete at that time. Each question asked from the spiritual wisdom of a seeker is like a blow of reasoning for the fraud Gurus, while for a complete Guru, such a question is a sign of progress of the seeker. Because wherever there is no reason, there is illusion (ignorance).

Ŧarak na cẖā.

Bẖarmīā cẖā.

(Dhanasri Bhagat Namdev Ji, Page 693)

- Dharam Singh Nihang Singh -

No Place For Corruption In Gursikhi Character

After honest deliberation of Gurbani, it is evident that corruption and Sikhi are two mutually opposite entities. Beginning with the era of Bhagats to the era of Gurus, and even after that, there has been Islamic rule in India. During Islamic administration, the judiciary was under the Qazis (head of the Shariā court). Qazis were bound to adjudicate according to the religion Islam, but owing to their greed, they used to do injustice. The opposition to this injustice is recorded in Gurbani, indicating that a Sikh who is an adherent of Gurmat can never do injustice at any cost. Satguru ji is inspiring the Qazis to do justice according to Islam by saying:

Musalmāṇ kahāvaṇ muskal jā hoe ṯā musalmāṇ kahāvai.

Aval aul ḏīn kar miṯẖā maskal mānā māl musāvai.

Hoe muslim ḏīn muhāṇai maraṇ jīvaṇ kā bẖaram cẖukẖāvai.

Rab kī rajāe manne sir upar karṯā manne āp gavāvai.

Ŧao Nānak sarab jīā mihramaṯ hoe ṯa musalmāṇ kahāvai.

(Vaar Maajh, M-1, Page 141)

In the above verses, Satguru ji is shaking the soul of Qazi and saying that O Qazi! You are considering yourself Muslim, but becoming a Muslim is extremely difficult. Calling oneself a Muslim falsely is like deceiving oneself. An extremely righteous person shall only be called a Muslim. It is not proper from any aspect to call just about every other person a Muslim. That alone is a Muslim who is the first to accept truth as sweet, not the one to whom truth tastes bitter. Secondly, a Muslim erases any illusion of birth and death from inside and delivers justice according to ‘Rab kī rajāe’, that is, the voice of his inner self. While adjudicating, he does not let his mind act according to its wishes. At the end, Satguru ji is saying that by adopting the strategy mentioned above, such an impartial Muslim can become compassionate just like God.

It is evident from these verses how strongly Gurmat is against those who take bribe in order to pass on someone’s right to another undeserving person. The following verses make it clear further:

Kājī hoe kai bahai niāe. Fere ṯasbī kare kẖuḏāe.

Vadẖī lai kai hak gavāe. Je ko pucẖẖai ṯā paṛ suṇāe.

Ŧurak manṯar kan riḏai samāhi. Lok muhāvėh cẖāṛī kẖāhi.

­(Vaar Ramkali 3, Salok M-1, Page 951)

In the above verses too, Satguru ji have exposed the character of Qazi, the authority of Islam, who looks like a very religious person from his outward appearance and holds a rosary in his hand and chants Khuda Khuda (or Allah Allah) all the time. But during the time of adjudication concerning the men of the same Khuda, his intentions are ravenous. He gives the judgement in that person’s favor who gives him more bribe. If someone questions the Qazi about this injustice, then he quotes something from the Qoran and shuts the person up telling him some meanings according to his own interpretation. He counsels people with Islamic knowledge, and emphasizes to imbibe that knowledge into the heart, but himself swindles people through bribery.

The Qazis of that time, who never got tired of claiming themselves to be the custodians of the Islamic rule of truth and justice, were engaged in such rampant corruption. Actually, men who stand guard for truth and justice are always rare in this world. That there is nothing to be gained other than misery from worldly hassles is known to the ones who adhere to the principles of truth and justice. That is why Gurbani has given the message to yearn for Godly love to a Gursikh, rather than nurturing other desires like power and salvation.

Rāj na cẖāhao mukaṯ na cẖāhao man parīṯ cẖaran kamlāre.

(Devgandhari, M-5, Page 534)

The above verse talks about something totally distinctive from all other doctrines of the world. Until now, all doctrines that have emerged in the world apart from Gurmat, after having achieved enough number of devotees, began to nurture the desire to grab worldly power. It is another matter that which doctrine was successful in doing so and which one was unsuccessful, but Gurmat has categorically stated that an adherent of Gurmat, a real Gursikh, can only be the one whose desire for worldly power, worldly glory, and worldly pleasures has ended. Although contemporary Sikhs might not agree with this thought, but this commandment has been inscribed in the Gurbani for the Gursikhs by the Guru.

When we make this claim in front of the world that the verses of Guru Granth Sahib are true, and that the teaching therein is superior and distinct when compared to other doctrines of the world, then we will have to admit that the biggest virtue contained in Gurbani is that it instructs it’s Sikhs to renounce greed, and to burn (dismiss) any worldly accolades. Any person who cannot do these two things has no right to call himself a Sikh. When we are asking a Muslim to call himself a Muslim only after becoming one in a true sense of the word, then we must also call ourselves Sikhs only after adopting Sikhi in the truest form. But whatever is happening today is contrary to the above.

One thing that needs to be understood is that a ruler needs people of all religions and factions to keep his government stable. In Gurbani, the flaws of various worldly doctrines have been exposed, and their falsehood and deception has been rejected and criticized. If a Sikh ruler is to propagate Gurmat from this throne, then it will be obvious for the adherents of the other doctrines to get displeased. There are only two alternatives in this case. Either the ruler must be extremely powerful and completely acquainted with the understanding of Gurmat, so that he can connect the adherents of the other doctrines to this true doctrine after understanding them in an amicable manner, and thus is able to enhance their complete life style. If that is not the case, then that Gursikh shall keep on spreading the message of Gurmat to the world, but keep himself away from the administrative circles. During spreading of the message of Gurmat, there must be no display of feelings of hostility or disdain. The endeavor of Gurmat is to understand the doctrines that are moving in a wrong direction, and inspire them to tread towards the right direction.

Why it is that all those flaws that were in the other doctrines have creeped in to the contemporary so-called Sikhs, when Gurmat has categorically condemned all such flaws in the Gurbani. The answer is clear that we have neither properly understood nor adopted Gurbani (or Gurmat) in our life.

Several false anecdotes have been implanted into the history of the Gurus, and those have attempted to paint the Sikh and Sanatan doctrine with the same brush. All those basic fundamentals, by the virtue of which Gurmat appeared distinct from the Sanatan doctrine, were modified with great efforts in such a way that Sikhs could not understand it. For instance, according to Gurmat, ‘Jamaṇ marṇā hukam hai’ (i.e. birth and death are natural occurrences, or God’s will) but there are many such anecdotes in our history that contradict this Gurmat principle. Where in Gurmat, ‘Nām’ has been considered to be Ḏukẖ bẖanjan (i.e. invalidator of misery), but in actuality we have a Jujube tree (beri) publicized as an invalidator of misery. Aren’t these two things self-contradictory? The crux is that knowingly or unknowingly, today Sikhs are polluting the message of Gurmat themselves. We have completely forsaken the following message of Gurbani:

Parathme man parboḏẖai apnā pācẖẖai avar rījẖāvai.

Rām nām jap hirḏai jāpai mukẖ ṯe sagal sunāvai.

(Asa, M-5, Page 381)

The above directive is extremely important in the context of propagation of Gurmat. Through these verses, Gursikhs have been instructed that until a Sikh himself does not understand Gurmat completely and is not able to realize Sabad Guru from within his heart, he shall not engage in Gurmat preaching. There are rare Gurmukhs who understand the Gurmat ideology. This is a thinner than hair, that is an extremely acute subject. Engaging in its preaching without understanding it thoroughly, like it is happening today, then owing to it’s sharper than a double-edged sword tendency, it could be suicidal. Our (Sikhs’) condition today is because of the way we are preaching Gurmat. The reason our young generation is becoming nonconformist is that the anecdotes written in our historical texts are in contradiction to Gurmat. Where it was expected from our Gurdwaras to send the message of renunciation of greed, anti-Gurmat prayers for fulfillment of material desires are taking place. Consequently, the vice of greed in Sikhs has become so intense that they can even commit big crimes due to this greed. Meaning thereby that the Gurmat ideology, which is against corruption (or bribery), is being preached with alteration. There can be no place in the character of a Gursikh for greed and corruption. Anyone doing so has no right to call himself a Sikh.

-Dharam Singh Nihang Singh-

Note: This article has already been published in the 07/2002 edition of Gurmat Parkash magazine published by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sri Amritsar Sahib.