The Sikh Bulletin

The Sikh Bulletin m`Gr- poh 544 nwnkSwhI November-December 2012Rituals and idol worship in SikhismSikhism rejects ritualism but any level headedperson will find no difference between a ritual ofputting a sacred thread by a Pundit on a Hindu boyand the ritual of initiating a Sikh and putting aKirpan on his shoulder. It has no spiritual significanceand what is the fun of carrying a weapon which youcannot use even for self defense and it has oftenbecome a liability in Australia. Most Gurudwaras andhomes of the Sikhs have faked, supposed pictures ofour Gurus embellished with prayer beads and garlands,which Gurubani condemns; and every morning Sikhsvow in front of them. If this is not idol worship thenwhat else? The supposed pictures of our Gurus arebeing published daily in the newspapers whichultimately end up in the rubbish bins or are being usedfor fast food wrappings and handouts in India. Do thesesupposed pictures of our Gurus deserve that reverence?These pictures should be legally banned, by the SGPC,as they are fake and contrary to the Sikh philosophy.During Guru Nanak’s time there were many renownedpainters and Guru Nanak had no difficulty in getting hispainting done for the posterity. But, with his vision ofthe future, he did not because he knew that after histime his followers will start worshiping and idolizinghis picture rather than his philosophy. Sikhism underthe influence of these agents of God has become a cultof rituals and idol worshippers much worse thanHinduism; Hindus at least admit to believe in idolworship. There is a need to educate this brand of Sikhs(Singhs as they call themselves) to create a culture ofunderstanding so that they understand who is a Sikhand what is the Sikh faith or Sikhi and don’t dividethe Sikhs into Amritdharis and Sahaj Dharis or MonaSikhs.There is only one Guru Bani, and there cannot bemany different meanings of the same philosophyand its followers cannot be addressed by differenttitles.too important to be left to the human judiciary todecide for us.Look around the world, basic religious philosophiesof most of the religions have succumbed to the newphilosophical doctrines put forward by newthinkers, which have lead to the fragmentation oftheir doctrines because they were not absolute.Sikhism has preserved its philosophy, survived theshocks of political, religious and social upheavalsand onslaughts, even from within, since itsinception by Guru Nanak. None of the theologicalarguments, explanations have proved it to beuntrue and these human law makers have nojurisdiction or right to fiddle with the absolutetruth. They should not be allowed to invade thespiritual realms of the Sikh faith, any modificationand deviation from its truth will amount to aninexcusable sacrilege. Guru’s words are immutable.A Sikh believes in the philosophy as enshrined in GuruGranth Sahib but Sikh Rehat Maryada was written byhumans, Sikh scholars, who had no vision of their ownfuture let alone the future of the Sikh religion. Theyhad no foresight of the fast approaching technologicaladvances in every field of human activity. SRMdoesn’t reflect the essence of the Sikh philosophy andis self contradictory in many aspects. The social,cultural and religious requirements have changed inmany ways since its inception and there is a dire needto revisit the SRM and modify it. We are living insocially and culturally changed environmentsintroduced by the technological advancements, whichare fundamentally different from India and we can nolonger be an extension of the Sikhs living in Punjab.Here is what Guru Nanak said:-“Religion does not consist in the patch coat or in theYogi’s staff or in ashes smeared over body or wearingear rings or a shaven heads or in blowing horns”. Howtrue but these people don’t understand or believe in it.If we continued to quibble about, “who is a “Sikh”,and refused to accept as defined by Guru Nanak,perhaps time is not far away when the SGPC andJathedars will ask the Indian Government to legallydefine it for them and we will have no choice but toaccept it, as it happened in the case of the students inAmritsar medical college. These fundamentals of ourfaith, basic philosophy and spiritual truth, are too sacredSo by asking a person to keep uncut hair, giving him anew name and clothe him in strange garments will notchange his persona, his nature or inner belief. Byputting on Rugby player’s uniform one doesn’tbecome a Rugby player, it requires much more thanthat.There is a great difference between the religion ofK. T. F. of N. A. Inc. 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762 26