Happy International Women’s Day

I’m inspired by so many women in my life. From the women in my life who are leaders, shapers, movers, women raising the next generation, women who have overcome, women who are fiercely advocating, and women shaping the world with kindness, love and compassion....thank you. I hope you get to thank the women in your life as well today. Remind them of how they have changed your life. 

In Sikhism we have innumerable role models from Bibi Bhani, Bibi Amro, Mata Khivi, to Bebe Nanaki, Mata Gujri and Mai Bhago. It was Bibi Amro who was singing Gurbani and introduced (Guru) Amardas to Sikhism. It was Mata Gujri who strengthened the will of the small Sahibzaade before their martyrdom. It was Mai Bhago who rallied the 40 Mukhte and went to go fight in battle. Sikhi teaches us equality, and our Guru Jis got rid of the discrimination against women that was occurring at the time such as sati (women burning on their husbands funeral pyre) or discrimination on the basis of menstruation. After all there would be no life at all without the menstrual cycle. The Guru Jis recognized the importance of uplifting women in times when women were considered inferior. 

In Sikhi we are taught our bodies are a costume. We are not attached to our identities as male and female because from one life to the next we could be either, it is simply what we are born into as a vessel to carry our minds and souls. This is why we do not need to be held back by society’s pressures on us as women or men. Whether it is Punjabi culture, or western culture, there are various pressures externally placed on us. For us to realize our own potential, it is vital that we connect to the One. I think it is possible for us to recognize and uplift as the Guru Ji's did, in celebrating the role of women, while at the same time recognizing that we are all equally a part of Waheguru.  

Boliyan

One of the great things about ladies sangeets that occur prior to weddings is the “boliyan.” This is when the women of the family and friends gather together to make up and sing songs that are fun and also express aspects of the husband-wife, or mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. There’s role-play, costumes, and dancing. I think one of the unfortunate parts of being in Canada is that we don’t really learn boliyan. I remember at my cousin’s wedding years ago she had to hire someone to sing boliyan because very few of the ladies knew any. This tradition remains alive and well in India, but I think is something we are losing here as second-generation Canadians. I think a lot of this also has to do with the fact that we don’t really get together as Punjabi women to sing songs, or dance, etc. Even at weddings, we don't seem to actively participate, or get involved in the boliyan and act out roles. Maybe we are too concerned about looking silly, but that is the whole point! 

When my sister was little we used to watch a show called “Saggi” which had a tape of hours and hours of boliyan. We had them memorized as our favorite was one in which the woman was complaining that her husband went out to the movies without telling her and she wouldn’t let him back in. I think there is great value to bonding over boliyan, or our cultural traditions and passing them on from generation to generation. Here's a video of some boliyan that was part of the Saggi tape: 

Video on Thoughts

This is a great video from Nanak Naam:

Leap of Faith

Faith is a deep concept in any religion, but also in spirituality. There are many who have faith in a greater Creator or Being, even if they do not follow a defined religion. When I left to go to a camp 4 years ago, I didn’t know what I was going for, or where I was going. I kind of just grabbed a flight fairly last minute, knowing that I needed something different in my life. What that camp (Sarab Rog Ka Aukhad Naam) taught me was the power of faith. Being around so many people who so deeply believed, I realized that I truly hadn’t had that level of faith ever before in my life. I had some kind of trust and faith, but that also was deteriorating, and I didn’t know what to hold onto anymore. My faith surely had never been to the extent of the other sangat I was immersed in. That camp hugely accelerated my spiritual journey by giving me the concept of faith, and I have never let it go since. There are days I can still be shaken, but I still turn to ask my Guru for the strength to carry on and my strength is renewed. 

The concept of faith is also intertwined deeply in my role as a healer. I had a discussion with a palliative physician one day. He is honoured and privileged to be a part of people’s dying moments. He told me that as someone who is non-spiritual, he noticed that those who have faith do see miracles. He explained through science using explanations of anti-tumor markers released in the brain used to heal the body, etc. but that ultimately he thought the one element that was key to these surprising cases was the element of unshakeable faith. He explained that it is not like it was guaranteed to save a life, but he had seen it many times that the medicines simply seemed to work better, and even if those people did pass, they did so peacefully. Indeed I have seen this myself. I remember reading once in Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen’s books that one who has science wants to see the proof first, but in religion one must have faith first to be able to see the proof. It cannot be done in reverse. 

When we think of any Shaheed from our history, or any notable person from Sikh history, their unshakeable faith lights up their path and defines their story. Adversity after adversity, we have collectively survived as a Sikh nation because of our faith in our Guru and God. I think the reason why we struggle so much now is because of our doubts. We don’t have faith and trust our Guru’s path. We lose faith easily in times of adversity and are quick to blame God. The biggest things in life that break people’s faith are those of emotional pain, death, illness, etc., because we cannot dig deep into Gurbani to explain to ourselves. We built a shaky foundation of faith, just like I did. I thought that faith was just action, going to the Gurdwara; yet we do not actually prepare ourselves for the challenges of life. How did Guru Gobind Singh Ji sacrifice his whole family and still write that he was satisfied as long as he had God? How did people survive hunger, starvation, torture, hiding in the jungles and the deserts? Surely the emotional pains of those times must have been severe when we look at the descriptions of the destruction done by Babar’s army in Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Bani. We continue to face that very same destruction in different forms, but we need to understand that we still have the tools to be able to deal with it. The path to Sehaj is laid out in Gurbani and starts with building the sparks of faith. It may start as actions but as the Laavan lay out for us, the physical actions then move to mental action and love for God, to Naam, and a longing, and finally merger. 

When we see these notable role models from our history, they didn’t have faith in a “Mr. God” up in the sky, they realized that the living essence of the universe itself is God, within and in the outside. Faith was no longer a belief, but a fact of truth and of being alive. It changes from “I have faith in God” (two different entities) to there is no “I”, there is just You (One entity), and therefore faith is a matter of realization. It is a matter of recognition of the universal truth that is hidden from us because of maya, because of the wall of doubt, because of ego and our actions. It is the mind’s realization of God. This is why the little strands of faith matter. The tugs at your heart that keep you going. The little sparks that deepen your interest in Sikhi and in something greater than yourself, the ones that make you question your ego and see the world in a different light. We get these sparks from reading books (Se Kinehiya and Forgetting the Way of Love are life changing), simran, sitting in sangat, katha, camps, Ardas/Hukamnama, Sehaj Paath, sewa, and kirtan. Faith is built in each others stories and conversations of amazing things in life. We get these sparks anytime we forget ourselves and just immerse ourselves in something greater than ourselves. So I encourage you today to think about the role of faith in your life and how to build the sparks of faith, but also spread the sparks of faith to those around you. 

The Boat

Gurbani has some amazing scenery and metaphors. One of the most predominant themes in Gurbani is about the boat. I finally got some creative energy and painted after about a two year break or maybe longer. 
Translation: 
"The Lord Himself is the Boat, the Raft and the Boatman. 
The Lord Himself, through the Guru's Teachings, saves us. 
O Nanak, The Lord Himself carries us across to the other side." 

Hold Your Horses

When my little sister picks up the phone, she answers “hold your horses!” every time. It’s her way of telling me “just hold on a minute.” She is well aware of my tendency to just start talking. 

In fact our lives here seem to be very much programmed to be rushed. That is an aspect of life in the pind in India that I miss, because the expectations for time seemed to be vastly different. The sense of time here seems to convey a constant urgency. I learned at a young age that if you want something changed, you take action. I became a high energy, action-oriented thinker; so when there is a problem I don’t like to sit and talk about it, I tend to figure out next steps and get them done. I simply go and fix it. I am realizing now that there are times that one should not act. There are times to be patient, sit in silence, to think things over, to take things slow, or to carefully plan. Strategic decisions need extra time to do them carefully without creating destruction. Some of the best wisdom I have had passed on this last year has been to wait and to let things unfold. 

I realize that we cannot waste our time in life, certainly God has only given us so many breaths. At the same time we have to value time as well. If we are running around disconnected from our souls (God) and bodies, we don’t actually value our time. It is the moments of processing, healing, listening to God’s voice (Naam) that is important. I told one of my non-Sikh friends today, that in the silence if you listen carefully you can hear God’s voice because it is always present. She told me to dig deep and listen more often. I am learning to just hold my horses. While I think that action is imminent, it can often wait. The waiting time is the time to dig deep and listen. 

Simran Camp

There is a simran camp running this weekend Feb 15-17, from 9:30 to 5 pm at the Punjabi School (building next to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara). I didn't have any part in organizing it but thought I would pass this along so more people can attend. 

"I"

The first lesson we learned in life was I. Who am I? Answer it in as many ways as possible. 

I’m a Sikh, which means that I learn constantly. I’m a woman. I’m in my 20s. I’m a resident doctor, the chief resident to be precise. I’m at the top of my class. I am accomplished and my walls are filled with awards. I don’t party, or drink, or use any substances and I don’t even drink coffee. I’m an advocate for those without a voice. I’m enthusiastic and energetic which is why I usually have multiple projects on the go. I’m a singer, I’m an artist, a musician. I crochet, I paint, I draw, I write. I have worked hard to maintain my language and culture in a setting where it is dying. I co-founded a non-profit at the age of 16 to help Sikh youth. At work I’ve changed the face of resident support and wellness. I’m family-oriented and community-oriented, rather than individual oriented. I’m compassionate and think about others before myself which has often been a detriment to my health. 

We answer this question the same all around. I am this many years old, I am these relationships, I am these features and characteristics, I am my job. Now I ask you to break that. Smash it up to pieces. Take away every piece and definition of yourself. What if the answer was "there is no I"? "I" is an illusion. Most of these things are definitions of this body and the life this body lives- this body has defined physical features but also demographic features like age, sex, and what family it was born into. We didn't control those anyways so really these are not something we should build our ego off of. These will all disappear when we die. Then we have the I “like” and “I dislike” features. These are so loosely attached to us anyways, they may change over a lifetime. Next we use our rehat- “I don’t party, I don’t drink, I dress modestly” to separate ourselves as well. Lastly, the hardest to remove are the features that we think we have created. “I did this,” “I am such a good person.” The features of the differences we make to the community, the things we think we have accomplished. These two are intertwined because we use them to say I am great because, and ultimately I am better than you because, I’m doing these things and you aren’t. Nanak Naam talks about this a lot in their youtube videos and explains this quite eloquently. 

It is hard to remove ego. Really it grasps hold of us and we are taught that this is ours since the time we are born. We are told this defines you and that is reinforced daily. The entrenchment into our forms here in this earth prevents our minds from escaping maya.  It prevents the mind from realizing that ultimately it is Waheguru, through which all these actions are performed. Waheguru made those things happen, not people. We do not own these actions or accomplishments. The entrenchment prevents our mind from the realization of God, in seeing God everywhere in everyone, in every moment. Waheguru trained us in the womb, we only made it to this life by passing the tests of being able to overcome maya and find God’s voice, Gurbani tells us this. So why is it so hard now? It is hard because we get attached to our identities so solidly, we grasp them tightly until we die, and we leave the same as we left, without any progress. Life was not meant to be lived in these daily entanglements but it is almost impossible to see this from a different view and zoom out to see the larger grander scale of God’s creation, if we don’t daily remind ourselves. Gurbani is the truth, we accept Guru Ji as ours as Sikhs. It is the multiple times a day of reading Gurbani, spending time in sangat that reminds us that we are not defined by our names or lives here, and spending time in camps and longer periods meditating that we can finally get it through our minds. There is no me, there is just You permeating and pervading everywhere.

I have struggled greatly with this. Although I now understand this concept, I also think about myself a lot, not using the tools of Gurbani enough. There are times I dig deep and submerse myself in Naam but I get pulled back in because the regularity is not there, because life is too packed. Saying “one day” we don’t realize that we don’t have any time left and there is no guarantee of tomorrow. We must just keep trying and keep persisting and immerse ourselves into this path. The way we see each other is a reflection of our spiritual journey. When we see the Guru Ji's lives were drenched in love, compassion, and empathy for humanity, we realize why - it is You, everywhere. "No pain or pleasure" can only exist if we reach that spiritual avastha. 

Happy Prakash Diwas of Guru Har Rai Ji

Last weekend we had an Akhand Paath to celebrate the Prakash Divas of Guru Har Rai Ji, but most of the Gurdwara Sahibs are celebrating this weekend so I thought I would post this now. 

Guru Har Rai Ji was born in January 1630, to parents Baba Gurditta Ji and Mata Nihal Kaur Ji in Kiratpur Sahib. As his father died when he was young, (Guru) Har Rai Ji was raised by his grandfather, Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. He married Mata Krishen Dev at age 11 (young marriages were common during those times) and went on to have children Baba Ram Rai and (Guru) Har Krishan.

There is a sakhi that shows us what Guru Hargobind Ji taught young (Guru) Har Rai. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji used to feed that birds and then eat langar. One day, there was one particular crow who persisted, and was approaching Guru Ji’s thal (plate). One of the sewadars hit it using a slingshot, and the bird flew away. The next day Guru Ji asked where that crow was, and the man admitted what he did. The crow was present, but far from the rest of the birds and was injured. Guru Ji nursed it back to good health and it would come daily then for langar. This taught (Guru) Har Rai Ji great compassion for animals, and teaches us that we need to teach our children by being a role model.  

(Guru) Har Rai was walking in the garden one day, and noticed that the flower he had previously been admiring was not there. He discovered that his clothing had caught and the flower had broken off, and he began to cry. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji told him it was important for him to be careful with his clothing. This also teaches us, just like our clothing for our soul is our body, we have responsibility not to hurt others or break anyone from this path. Guru Har Rai is commonly said to have used this quote by Fareed Ji very often: "All men's hearts are jewels; to distress them is not at all good; If thou desire the Beloved, distress no one's heart."

 

Har Rai became Guru at age 14. He started katha along with the tradition of kirtan. He made 52 gardens and started a herbal hospital for the ill. Guru Har Rai Ji was a hunter, however instead of killing the animals, he fed them and protected them in a zoo. He additionally kept a force of 2200 soldiers, however he never had the need to deploy them. Guru Ji also traveled extensively.

One particular Sakhi about Guru Har Rai Ji emphasizes the importance of Gurbani. The Sikhs asked whether we get any gain from reading Gurbani if there is no understanding. When the Guru Ji came across a broken pot with butter in it, the sun was melting the butter onto the pot, he said, "Look my Sikhs, broken pot shards - when they are heated, the butter that adhered to them readily melts. As the grease adheres to the potshards, so to do the Gurus' hymns to the hearts of his Sikhs. At the hour of death the Gurus' instruction shall assuredly bear fruit. Whether understood or not, it has within it the seed of salvation. Perfume still clings to a broken vase." From this sakhi we learn the value of Gurbani, even if we do not yet have an understanding. 

Dhir Mal, the older brother of Har Rai, gained support from Shah Jahan, and turned against Guru Hargobind (and thus was not named successor). He went on to corrupt the masand system set up for collecting daswandh, and tried to divide the Sikhs. Guru Har Rai Ji set up a Manji system to try to unite the Sikhs, with Sikh missionaries sent to certain regions. He also appointed new masands who became successful in spreading the messages of Sikhi. 

When Emperor Shah Jahan’s son Dara was poisoned by Aurangzeb, there was no one that could help. Upon Shah Jahan’s request, Guru Ji gave the necessary medicines and Dara’s life was saved. Aurganzeb manipulated that Guru Ji was supporter of Dara, and when he became emperor he summoned Guru Ji to his court. Guru Ji sent his son Ram Rai was sent in his place with the instructions to not give up his principles at any cost, and God would protect him. Ram Rai started to show miracles, and changed one of the lines of Gurbani to please Aurganzeb. Aurganzeb, in turn, decided to keep him in Delhi with the idea that he would be able to control him when he succeeded Gur Har Rai. Guru Ji excommunicated him for changing Gurbani and nominated Guru Harkrishan as his successor at the mere age of 5. Guru Ji became Jyoti Jot at age 31, in October 1661. 

So let us apply these lessons learned from the life of Guru Har Rai Ji:

-Nature is God’s creation- we should treat plants and animals with respect. Feeding animals, watering plants, and planting a garden is sewa. 

-Be fearless but also gentle

-The benefits of Gurbani are there even if we don’t quite understand yet, so we should always do our prayers

-We need to be careful not to hurt others on our path, or break others from this path.

-We should stand by our principles no matter what and maintain our integrity

-We should unite in the face of those dividing us like Guru Ji did with Dhirmal and the corruption of the masands. It is important for us to unite and support each other.

References:

http://www.discoversikhism.com/sikh_gurus/sri_guru_har_rai_sahib_ji.html

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/gurus/nanak7.html

https://www.sikhdharma.org/life-times-guru-har-rai/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijPyPSCvz2Y

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Har_Rai

http://panthic.org/articles/3084

Remembering the Wadda Ghallughara (Large Holocaust)

We are commemorating the Wadda Ghallughara (large holocaust) of the Sikhs at the Gurdwara Sahib this weekend. 

Zakaraiya Khan became Governor of Lahore in 1726. He ordered rewards for anyone who removed the scalp of a Sikh, hair o a Sikh, or give information on a Sikh’s location. He punished those who sheltered and protected the Sikhs. In the meantime, the Sikhs divided up into the Budha Dal (army of veterans in charge of looking after Gurdwara, spreading Sikhi) and Taruna Dal (army of younger Sikhs in charge of fighting). Nawab Kapur Singh played an important role for the Sikhs at this time, leader of the Dal Khalsa. He further divided the Taruna Dal into misls. Under the rule of Zakaraiya Khan and Lakhput Rai, Bhai Mani Singh Ji was martyred in 1737 cut joint by joint. 

Subsequently, Nadir Shah, a Persian invader (Emperor of Iran) was plundering Punjab in 1738-9. His men would loot and rape villages, as well as kidnap young Hindu and Muslim girls. He successfully took victory of Delhi. The Sikhs led by Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (who took over as leader of the Dal Khalsa after Nawab Kapur Singh) fought and returned thousands of Hindu girls to their families. Nadir Shah only kept Zakaria Khan as governor by bribe and keeping his son as a hostage, then left. Zakaraiya Khan ordered Bhai Taru Singh Ji to be martyred by removal of his scalp and Bhai Mehtab Singh to be martyred on a wheel in 1745. Bhai Taru Singh Ji stated that Zakaraiya would be killed by his shoes, which he was...he developed urinary retention and then asked for forgiveness from the Khalsa Panth, which they told him he would have to beat himself with Bhai Taru Singh Ji’s shoes. He was cured of his urinary problem but died from the injuries of hitting himself with the shoes. Bhai Taru Singh Ji survived without his scalp from 9^thJune to July 1^stuntil after the death of Zakaraiya Khan.

 

May 1 1746 Chotta Ghallughara: Zakaraiya Khan’s minister was Lakhpat Rai. He wanted revenge on the Sikhs as his brother was killed fighting the Sikhs. Under his guidance,7,000 Sikhs were killed and 3,000 were captured then executed in the Chotta Ghallughara (small holocaust). At that time the Sikh population was small due to persecution and this is estimated to be a loss of 1/3 of the total Sikh population.

Ahmad Shah Durrani (Abdali) took over Lahore and massively slaughtered and looted the population in 1748. Subsequently he was defeated by the Mughals and Mir Mannu took over as Governor of Lahore, imprisoning Lakhpat Rai and appointing Kaura Mall in his place. Under Mir Mannu’s rule, hundreds of Sikhs including women and children were tortured and executed. He died by falling off his horse in 1753. In 1755, Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded India again, with the same pattern of looting, slaughtering, and taking Hindus and Muslims as slaves. Baba Deep Singh Ji’s jatha attacked and freed the prisoners. Abdali appointed his son Taimur Shah to "finish" the Sikhs, who got the help of Jahan Khan. Jahan Khan invaded Amritsar in 1757, and started demolishing the Gurdwara Sahib. In response, Baba Deep Singh Ji gathered the Sikhs and became martyred while defending Harmandir Sahib. Once again Ahmad Shah returned to India over and over. On his 6^thinvasion is when the Wadda Ghallughara took place. He had been foiled over and over by the Sikhs, who freed his prisoners and took back the money he had stolen. During this invasion he was intent on killing the rest of the Sikh population forever. 

Wadda Ghallughara: On Feb 5^th 1762 the Wadda Ghallughara took place at Kup Rahira 12 km north of Malerkotla. The Sikhs had a plan to fight the Afghans but they first wanted to send their families to safety in Malwa. This plan was intercepted, and Ahmad Shah sent messages and prepared three separate groups of armies to defeat the Sikhs when they were off guard. The Sikhs, led by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Charat Singh Suckerchakia (grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh), had a difficult time defending themselves because they also needed to protect their elders, women and children. Unfortunately Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Bir of Damdama Sahib was not able to be saved in battle. Estimates of Sikh losses vary from 20-50,000 on this one day with most sources citing 25-30,000 as this was cited by a Muslim chronicler. In April 1762, Ahmad Shah returned to blow up Harmandir Sahib. The Sikhs reorganized and took back Lahore and Amritsar, then celebrated Diwali at Harmandir Sahib. In Ahmad Shah’s subsequent attacks (9 total invasions), the Sikhs forced his retreat and ultimate defeat. He required the slaves and loot from India to run his empire and didn’t have it. Ahmad Shah died of an ulcerating wound caused by a piece of brick when he blew up the Harmandir sahib with gunpowder. 

It is hard for us to imagine now the times that Sikhs must have lived through losing such a massive amount of our population all at once, and living in the jungles and desert trying to fight for their survival. We must remember our history and retell it to our friends, families, and our children. The fact that we have any Sikh population at all goes to the bravery of those Sikhs who fought for us. It is said that not a single Sikh warrior was unwounded in the Wadda Ghallughara. Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal! 

References: 

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/warriors/kapur.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhai_Taru_Singh

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/lakhpat_rai.html

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Timeline_of_Sikhism

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/abdali.html

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Ahmad_Shah_Durrani

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Wadda_Ghalughara

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/holocaust.html  

http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/SikhAwareness/Sikh-Population-Around-The-World_159.aspx

http://www.discoversikhism.com/sikh_genocide/1762_wadda_ghallughara.html

See old posts: Baba Deep Singh; Bandha Singh Bahadur; History of Our Resilience