Sikh Heritage Month

Happy Sikh Heritage Month! The Prime Minister extended his Congratulations in his daily briefing this morning. This month is definitely not how any of us could possibly have imagined, actually this entire year has not been what we imagined. One of the goals I had in the list on my wall was to be able to participate in Sikh heritage month events in Surrey or Brampton this year. Unfortunately all events had to be cancelled, including the Nagar Kirtans, and all travel has been put off. 

Vaisakhi this year will be celebrated very differently than any previous years. Gatherings are prohibited, in order to ensure public safety, and the Gurdwaras as closed. Among our own household, however, we can still have some celebrations and prayers for Vaisakhi. This is also a valuable lesson for us. Sikhs have been resilient through many genocides, times of war, and crisis. We can move through these times too. I know it isn’t the same as being able to physically get together. I know it is way more impactful to be able to sit in sangat and do simran, and have discussions. We have to be creative in finding other ways to do this. Some examples are facetiming/skyping/zoom/facebook video calling/google calling, or telephone calling other sangat and talking about Sikhi. Do simran together. Talk about Gurbani. For example, I had a nice discussion for a couple of hours with my cousin about Sikhi. Ask questions of each other, and explore new topics. How does Sikhism relate to covid- and all the stuff happening in the world right now? How does it relate to your life and your role in life right now? 

It is a great time to be listening to online kirtan- there is tons available through Sikhnet and youtube. It is a great time to be doing kirtan at home. We can spend some time learning paath, or learning Gurmukhi if you don’t know it. Start a Sehaj Paath and start reading the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, even 1 Ang a day along with translations. I shared this previously, but this is a great place to start because it has translations and transliterations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmGLVjjs7v_3TumV4dTBaw

If you already know how to do that, learn to read in Larivaar. Read the Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, or Professor Sahib Singh’s translations. We can expand by listening to kathas on youtube: Nanak Naam, Basics of Sikhi and Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen for example. It is a great time to pick up those history books, or other Punjabi books and start going through. Have quizzes with your family. We often do this at my house. We ask questions from this list: http://www.cyber-link.net/history.htm which are in chronological order, but also seem to get pretty much progressively harder. We do competitions to see which team wins, and we re-ask the same questions if they were answered wrong previously. It’s lots of fun and good learning. It is a time to strengthen our bodies through exercise and proper food. It is a time to share and serve others. Help them with their groceries if they cannot leave home (especially for elders). Reach out to others- call, text, whatsapp them to see how they are doing. This is a time to think about Sarbat Da Bhalla- the benefit of all of humanity. Many Kirtani Jathas are posting videos online to keep the spirit up in chardi kala. 

The last piece I will mention here is that the reason I have listed all these tasks is because they advance us spiritually and because they give us tools to level our minds to deal with the present situation. Many people are feeling shocked, sad, fearful, etc. and these are all valid. You might not be in a state yet of doing stuff with your time due to the acute state of anxiety around this international crisis. We are in unprecedented times, dealing with essentially war-time measures. It is important for us to appreciate that significance. Especially if you are in a different country than us right now- if you are living in other places, your situation may be acutely different than what we are dealing with. Our situation may also change here, and you may also not have the time on your hands that you otherwise thought. Your time may be spent towards acute safety. Right now our measures are essentially all social distancing and staying home, except for front-line workers and essential services. It is important to remember the tools we have. I will remind you that Sikhs have survived in the jungles, in deserts, and that we will survive this too. We need to use the tools we have to move out of any possible panic or overwhelmed state to actually be able to function. 

The most important thing I found was limiting the amount of news coverage watched, and to stop following groups on social media that were talking solely about coronavirus. I stopped all whatsapp notifications as well. Protecting the mind means having protected time to allow it to relax and remain calm. We can learn to do that if we start to take the time to practice our faith and move towards it during this time. Kabeer tells us wisely “Kabeer, that which you have to do tomorrow- do it today instead; and that which you have to do now- do it immediately! Later on, you will not be able to do anything, when death hangs over your head” (Ang 1371). In Sikhi we talk about death a lot, because death of the body is not to be feared. This is not a message that Kabeer is giving us to make us feel afraid, it is a message of urgency to wake us all up to the fact that we don’t have infinite breaths on this earth. 

Happy Sikh Heritage Month!