Living forHa rmony &A Personal TestamentBy Bhagwant Singh DalawariPeaceiving Happily Together is so indelibly inscribed in my psychethat it seems to have come to me with a spiritual spoon inLmy mouth at birth. Ever since I remember coming into my ownadult consciousness, never has a thought come to my mind thatas a human being I am any different from others. Born inJhelum, now in Pakistan, 80 years ago, I have spent all my timein peace and harmony with all kinds of people. Even whenI was not aware of my spiritual heritage and spiritualconsciousness, I had it ingrained in my heart that all humanbeings are equal and all mankind is one brotherhood. My schoolbench-mate Sarfaraz Khan, son of a Muslim Magistrate inBritish India, smiled and laughed with me, joked and playedwith me and also quarreled with me, a fellow-student, not asone of a different religious denomination but as a human being.Despite the horrendous killings and alienation of the Partitiondays, it never brought me a feeling that the whole community,the whole group, or a whole sect carrying any denominationcould be dubbed as evil merely because one of its members hadbehaved in an inhuman way.AmityWhen I joined the Indian Foreign Service after migration toIndia, it was a real treat to work as a team in the Ministry, orabroad with no feeling at all about one's origin or religion, Stateor background. In over twenty years of service in India orabroad, not once did I feel that my colleagues, from differentreligious, different States or different economic backgrounds,were, in any way, less or more Indian.But the reality of the religious harmony being directly related touniversal peace appeared in my heart and my whole beingbecame the symbol of spiritual universality when my religiousconsciousness manifested spiritual splendor within myself.It was in 1970 that the fact of having been born in a Sikh familyand yet belonging to the whole world dawned upon me whenI began to be attracted by the words and lives of Sikh Gurus.Guru Nanak, the founder was so universal that both Hindus andMuslims claimed him as their Guru. Guru Gobind Singhemphasized spiritual oneness with defiance against tyranny andbigotry. Guru Arjan's willing sacrifice for human solidaritystrengthened my dissolution in 'Truth' and 'Love' of the oneGod of all religions. Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom for thesake of human rights and freedom of worship so impressed methat under the guidance of Guru Granth Sahib - the universalSikh scripture containing the message not only of six SikhGurus but also of Hindu and Muslim saints, including theso-called untouchable Bhaktas, like Kabir and Ravidas of U.P.,Namdev of Maharashtra, Jaidev of Bengal and Baba Farid, aMuslim saint of Punjab - I was led to lead a life of practicalreligious harmony and universal peace even when I was afunctioning Foreign Service Officer. While serving in Egypt, anold Muslim lady, on her death bed, told her children to call mefor her last meeting. In Paris, where during my time, there wereno Gurdwaras, I used to pray in Catholic Churches and used togo to the Ramakrishna Centre in Gretz, 50 Kms away, to feel theuniversal harmony in spiritual unity.EqualityLater I discovered the spirit of harmony in Guru Granth Sahib,that we had been specifically commanded to treat everyone asour friend and become the good friend of all, to have nodivisions among human beings, to show equal respect forwomen, to consider everyone our equal, to remember the oneLord of all, by whatever name people call 'Him' and, above all,display in our conduct the twin essential aspects of religion -self-annihilation through 24-hour remembrance of the Lord andthe deeds of piety and purity - throughout our life. Thesecardinal virtues were so essential - and yet so universal - thatwhen I came to learn of the universal prayer of St. Francis ofAssisi, it semed to me like the dictum from my own Scripture.<strong>Eternal</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> Nov, 2010 - Jan, 201112 13
Let us savor it:Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;Wherever there is hatred, let me sow peace,Wherever there is injury, pardon;Wherever there is sadness, joy;Wherever there is darkness, light;Wherever there is despair, hope; andWherever there is doubt, Faith.O divine master, grant that I may seek so much -- to be understood as to understand;- to be consoled as to console; and- to be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive;It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; andIt is in dying that we are born to <strong>Eternal</strong> life.This prayer enthralled me and reinforced my deep commitmentto universality of religions and service of Man. My inner voicedwelt on two concepts: 'There is only one religion' that of'Truth' and 'There is only one caste' - that of 'Humanity'. That iswhy my Scripture specifically declares:KqRI bRwhmx sUd vYs aupdysu chu vrnw kau swJw ] (747)Khataree braahman(h) sood v-ei-s Upd-ai-s(u) chahu(n) varnaa kao(u) saa(n)jhaa.(There is one and the same sermon for all, whether one is a Brahmin,a Khatri, a Vaish or a Shudra.)Discrimination on the basis of caste is severelycondemned.CompassionMy heart developed the 'Urge' toLIVE the concepts of Guru GranthSahib and the prayer of St.Francis, the revered Catholicsaint. While I was serving inParis, in addition to mydiplomatic, consular orcommercial work, I became amember of the Petits Freres DesPauvres (Little Brothers'Association for the Poor), aFrench charitable society forserving French old people intheir homes. My distinct beardedand turbaned appearance did notcome in the way of my love forthem. They affectionately acceptedmy devotion and extended theirs to me.It was a divine treat not only for me but alsofor the French old couple, when I helped the paralyzedFrenchman to walk some distance on Saturdays or Sundays.Since I had developed a compulsion to ask the old people tothink of Jesus all the time so that they would never feel lonely,I received more love than I gave. In fact the 94-year old Frenchsingle lady blessed me when she said: “You have restored myfaith in Christ which I had lost.” And the widow of the paralyzedFrenchman was delighted when I attended his funeral and latertook her every month to the cemetery, where he was buried.This unique experience of spiritual unity of Man charted a newcourse for my life. I witnessed the divine glow on the face of aPakistani young doctor when I suggested to him to be regular inNamaaz, the Muslim prayer, and return to Pakistan to serve hispoor countrymen after completing his studies. He gave me awarm smile when he said his parting good-bye: “Khuda Hafiz,I shall never forget that in a non-Muslim country, a non-Muslimreminded me of my Muslim religious duties.”DedicationGod decided for me that the time had come now to leave myservice and experience on a wider scale the concept of 'LivingHappily Together' with the downtrodden through religiousharmony. I thought merely reciting the name of God was notenough; it must be translated into whole time service ofhumanity. I had experienced the truth of Love and Peace inreligion through my oneness with the French old people butI had no training to serve the sick. I did not know which serviceI should take up. Gandhiji's book: My Experiments With Truth,came to my help. I took to my heart Gandhi's advice in the'Introduction' that to see God face to face one had to love themeanest creation as oneself.I became a little apprehensive however torealize that I could in terms of my belief,never consider anyone mean. Godsolved my problem. During the halfawakestate at night, I noticed thepicture of a leprosy patient.I learnt leprosy work in CMC,Vellore and afterwards, leavingmy job, came to the leprosytreatment cum rehabilitationcentre at Amravati, started bylate Dr. Shivajirao Patwardhan.Today I 'literally' live the'reality' of 'Religious Harmonyand Universal Peace'. I came toTapovan, the name of the Center,in October 1979 and in all theseyears, I have been 'Living HappilyTogether' with more than a thousandleprosy patients. The 'reality' of thisexperience is profound because none ofthe inmates - in the management or amongpatients - is a Sikh. Most ofthem are MaharashtrianHindus and some are Muslimsand Christians, but for meevery inmate is either my sonor daughter, my brother orsister and my father or mother.The beauty is that they too regardme as their own and we live like afamily.I have various opportunities to participatein inter-faith dialogues and since 1980 I musthave attended over 20 such meetings. FormerBishop of Amravati, Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosario has been aclose friend in fostering the spirit of religious harmony eversince I came to Amravati. Since I was born in a Sikh family I amrecognized as the representative of Sikh religion, but I humblyand mildly protest by correcting that I belong to all humanityand anyone who lives 'Truth', remembers the Lord 24 hours andpractices universal love, is my co-religionist, whatever be thelabel. I firmly believe that the core of religion is 'Love' - lovewithout discrimination, love without expectation, love in thename of one God of all and love as the 'Direct Representationof Divine Presence'.PrayerThe guidance which I have received from Guru Granth Sahib is sodirect and so unambiguous that I cannot help being universal. Infact I cannot live my religion without loving and respecting allreligions. Many times I believe that for others it may be a kindgesture to foster religious harmony and peace. But for me, 'This isMy Religion'. I have prayed in a London Mosque, I have prayed inTemples, I have prayed in Churches and Gurdwaras. But I haveexperienced the same devotion, the same love, the same truthand the same divinity. We have no personal or physical Guru now,but my perpetual 'Word' Guru, Guru Granth Sahib, specificallydirects me to pray to God to save all human beings 'whicheverpath they take to come to your refuge':jgqu jlµdw riK lY AwpxI ikrpw Dwir ]ijqu duAwrY aubrY iqqY lYhu aubwir ] (853)Jagat(u) jalandaa rakh(i) l-ei Aapanhee kirpaa dhaar(i)Jitt(u) duaar-ei ubr-ei Titt-ei l-ei-h(u) ubaar(i).(The world is going up in flames - shower it with Your Mercy, andsave it! Save it, and deliver it, by whatever method it takes.)That is why I firmly declare that all religions are mine, allprophets are mine, all prayer houses are mine and all methodsof prayer are also mine. But when one ceases to love, one ismerely blowing the trumpets of empty religion and throwingaway the core.Look at our heritage. Where would you find the instance of themost important shrine of one religion having had the distinctionof its foundation stone laid byan eminent divine of anotherreligion? 'The foundation stoneof the Golden Temple of theSikhs was laid by a Muslimdivine, Hazrat Mian Mir'.Where would you find in thereligious text of one religion, thesacred divine messages of thesaints of other religions who wouldloudly talk of their own prophets? InGuru Granth Sahib, there are only six SikhGurus, but 16 highly respected saints of Hinduand Muslim faith also speak from there with the samestatus and same recognition, because every word of GuruGranth Sahib is our Guru. Namaaz and Pooja, Allah and Ram,Hindu and Muslim are so prominently mentioned in GuruGranth Sahib that this Scripture becomes the treasure of allreligions automatically. The core point is 'living thecommands of God'. Many times I have said at the interfaithmeetings that perhaps Sikhs Gurus did not meet Christiansaints, otherwise we would have some Christian hymns tooin our Scripture.When we all believe that all the religions stress Love andPeace, fraternity and equality, harmony and unity, how comewe find ourselves in strife and disunity? Where do we fall andwhy do we indulge in divisions, hatred, ill-will, whole-salecondemnation, murders, carnage, massacres, sexual crimes? Iventure to suggest the causes of our inhuman and foolishaberrations:1. We parade religion but do not practice it, and politiciansparticularly create vested interests in terms of vote-banks,racial superiority, commercial exploitation and humanupheavals.2. We pay lip-service to equality but continue economicexploitation of the underprivileged sections on religiousracial lines.3. We develop real or imagined wrongs done by somecommunity, group, country, etc.4. We regale ourselves with majority-minority imaginaryconflicts forgetting our own religious principles.5. We foolishly believe that our prophet or Guru or Swami willbe pleased with hatred for and condemnation of otherreligions and killing of people other than those of our ownreligion.True, such people are in a minority but they have perseveranceto parade untruth as truth, project loot as Lokseva, personalinterest as common welfare and, above all, political chicaneryas religious fervor.<strong>Eternal</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> Nov, 2010 - Jan, 201114 15
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