http://www.panthic.org/news/125/ARTICLE/4691/2009-01-23.html
Interestingly enough, this article I found brings up many controversies we witness in the Panth today, including the difference between a non-Sikh and a Sahejdhari (someone basically opposite of an Amritdhari - does bujjar kurehats).
"The affidavit raises the question that if the SGPC does not classify people with cut or trimmed hair as Sikh, which religion or faith they belong to."
As if those that have strayed from the path of Sikhi by Vaheguru's Hukam should be automatically excommunicated from the Sikh community and condemned! Wh
y should the SGPC ever not try to encourage our estranged Sikh brothers and sisters from returnining to the path of the Guru? Is this encouraging them at all? Is this truly the best solution to an ongoing struggle within our entirety of the Sikh community? The last thing Sikhs need to be is elitest enough to only let those that don't keep their kesh to be "allowed" and "recognized" as Sikhs. Guru ji's heart was far too loving to have wanted some their fellow human beings to be oppressed from a community that should show them love incomparable to anything else other than our love for Vaheguru. That's how Pehla Patshah Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji did it; that's how our panth should do it as well.
Alright, now off of my soapbox.
I also encountered something that I feel wasn't recognized as much as it should have been: a public apology by Golf Digest on their "golf guru" screwup - when they used a picture of Guru Arjan Dev ji Patshah for a "golf guru" segment.
Once again we have been reminded how we as a people - as a Panth - when we really put our minds to do something because we care for it, we can truly get it done. It means doing more than just writing in a blog nobody reads, or reading a blog that nobody writes in - and part of me even thinks that signing a petition is far too easy to be taken as seriously as when we actually get out there and e-mail those that can do something with both jhosh and hosh, or learn to become one of those people that are able to make change happen and make a difference in the world in which we live. So much can happen if we just get off our butts and try. I have never been to a protest or actively been involved in a certain position of political ideal, and part of me feels that it's not just because I live in a town with a miniscule and indifferent Sikh Sangat. It is possible to team up with those of different cities to make change happen, or even learn how to inspire and educate my Sikh Sangat to help me do what I believe is right. It means a lot of hard work. It means a lot of pulling people's elbows. It means a lot of patience.
But then...
But then I remember our true hero, who went on his three Udasis in his love for humanity and its spiritual health, who had the courage to strike out on his own with a simple minstrel named Mardana to help teach humanity the true path to happiness, and who had the audacity to say as he emerged from the River Bain that "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim region.
Pehla Patshah Guru Nanak Dev ji. He had the audacity fed by Love. He was driven by that audacity. And without that audacity, where would the Sikhs be today? Vaheguru, words couldn't explain my horror.
Apna Pehla Patshah still lives! He still breathes! He still smiles, and he still Loves. His audacious Love still exists within all of us, to only be realized if we just tried to be more involved in our community, did some Seva outside of the Langar Hall.
Not to say that we aren't doing anything so far, just that in order to truly keep up the Sikh spirit, we MUST keep active. That's the true "labour" that Prof. Puran so highly praised in his book - the activity that we do within our community in display of our Love for humanity.
I cannot reiterate my point enough.
But Biology homework calls. Another day I'll get back on that soapbox.
Vaheguru ji ka Khalsa | Vaheguru ji ki Fateh
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