That's great Parveen, would you mind sharing?
I think I've been sharing with anyone who has been willing to listen. Bottling up emotions was never really my strength.
Here is my issue:
Everyone keeps rambling on and on about how the Sikh Paa(n)th needs to flourish and how many outside forces are stopping that from happening... yet those same people seem to be pushing the most people out.
This seems sorta counter productive.
Now I know I'll be generalizing to the extreme here just so I can bring home the point, but rest assured I know this is obviously not everyone.
Observation:
A young innocent boy is volunteering at the Gurdwara (somewhere he is not usually found) and as he watches over the group of children playing a Singh approaches him. Great!...not not. This Singh then continues to shake his hand in the most "laugh laugh laugh, like I actually want to talk to you and I am only doing this to make fun of your presence here" way. It was not well covered up as I from across the room could see this.
Possible results?:
1. Young innocent boy never returns to the Gurdwara in fear of those already into Sikhi making fun of him for trying to become apart of something he thought was great.
2. Young innocent boy never returns to the Gurdwara and continues on in life hating Sikhs in general.
3. Young innocent boy never returns to the Gurdwara in fear of those already into Sikhi, hates all Sikhs in general and for the rest of his life spreads to anyone he comes across that Sikhi is full of pompous wannabes.
Great.
Now I know I should have spoke out in the moment... but I'll admit in the situation I felt like a bit of an eavesdropped and I wasn't exactly comfortable approaching any of mentioned people above. I know this isn't an excuse... I realize I failed so I thought I'd do the normal cowardly thing - blog about it.
Issues:
How can anyone ever come into the Sikh Paa(n)th when the people already involved are pushing them away? It pains me to say... I'm disappointed in my generation. We're all so wound up in the newest kirtan track, the coolest new kirpans and that wicked status Unknown Singh/Kaur posted up on Facebook, but what about actually practicing our faith? What happened to acceptance, love and compassion? Obviously they we're pushed aside so we could take dramatic pictures that make us look very spiritual, obviously.
I know I'm being too harsh.
I know.
But hey, oh well that innocent young boy will now just spend life without Sikhi because we found it funny in the moment, we found it funny in the moment to attack a blind soul searching for the door to Guru Sahib.
Yeah, funny.
*excuse the extreme lack of intelligent writing skill-age in this blogpost
I really agree with your post and can think of so many other situations like this. I don't think you said anything extreme at all. It's very true that when we think we have some sort of "high religious status" because we're Amritdhari and keep our physical rehit, we're missing out on the whole point of Sikhi! Yes, Amrit is so important and physical rehit also helps in disciplining the mind, but we give this more priority than the internal qualities you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteIt's rare to find youth these days at Gurdwaras who are inclusive to new comers. They're so judgmental. At what point does this happen? At what point do people think they can use others to make themselves feel good?
i know a lot of people who went away from "sadh sangat" because they were getting into bad company and made 1 or 2 mistakes, but no one in "sadh sangat" understood or cared for them, rather, everyone just started bashing them, hating on them, slandering them..... What kind of "sangat" is that? Thats not how God would want his kids to be. If we showed more love to everyone our panth would never fail to prosper
ReplyDeleteRe: Young innocent boy.
ReplyDeleteOuch. that just broke my heart. =(
I just came from Paneet Singh's blog {look at me, physically moving around within the blogosphere! :o}, I was reading his post "Judge Judy". I was also just listening to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzE1mX4Px0I&ob=av2e (yes, yes, please laugh).
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with this and related issues on and off for years and years, and much more so lately. I know I have matured a lot in other ways, but it has barely seemed to help in this case. I think we forget sometimes that in being pakkay in our own rehit, it doesn't necessarily follow to ostracize or harm in any other way someone who does not follow the same rehit. I'm barely a Sikh. I mean it, barely. And I have a hard time being a good person to other people. And I know Gursikhs on a personal level, who have so much kamaaee, so much strict discipline, who do not eat from the hands of non-Amritdharis, and still manage to be such kind, caring and loving people toward EVERYONE, regardless of religion or devotion. And we're supposed to be the new, stronger, more open and understanding generation. *rolls eyes*
Something is missing. There's something we haven't caught onto yet, or if we've thought about it, we haven't really realized it, and tend to forget it. I think Paneet Singh said it perfectly, and it kind of pushed me into shock (like it always does when I hear it/read it) and made me want to put my head down and cry:
It's all about love, at the end of the day. Recognizing that we're all connected, and we have that one light inside of us. Recognizing the we are humans, and so are those that we interact with. Everyone has their own story, their own psyche, their own pain, their own triumph. If we sensitize ourselves to these facts, then maybe we can make the world a better place.
Maybe I should stop blogging in your comments section and go breathe some life into my own dead blog, but I really just had to say something because this post moved me in a way I was not expecting to be moved today. Thank you sister. You are so wise, especially for your years.
P.S. Just a thought...this goes so far beyond just Sikhs and newcomers to Sikhi...different "types" of Sikhs (sorry Guru Sahib) act similarly toward each other, or people who have already been doing Seva for quite some time toward people who are new to doing Seva, etc. Really, just take any two slightly different people/groups and you'll have this sitch. Oh man. You and Paneet Singh have really got me going here.
_/\_