hirmMdr ik drbwr swihb - The Sikh Bulletin
hirmMdr ik drbwr swihb - The Sikh Bulletin
hirmMdr ik drbwr swihb - The Sikh Bulletin
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<strong>The</strong> S<strong>ik</strong>h <strong>Bulletin</strong> mwG-Pgx 542 nwnkSwhI January-February 2011<br />
denying us three venues, one after the other, for holding<br />
the Convention. <strong>The</strong> third venue was finally forced to<br />
concede by court order obtained on Divali day, a<br />
Saturday, one day before the Convention. By the time I<br />
returned home, a rival Gurdwara, a mile or so from us<br />
on a three year lease at $8,300.00 per month, was<br />
already in business.<br />
But the mere occurrence of this Convention generated<br />
so much interest in Diaspora that in 2004, on demand,<br />
Prof. Gurtej Singh and I held six conventions in six<br />
countries in six weeks at Kuala Lumpor, Sidney,<br />
Toronto, Philadelphia, London and Chandigarh, in<br />
addition to smaller gatherings in Bangkok, Thailand<br />
and Vancouver, Abbotsford and Calgary, in Canada. By<br />
this time, as is the destiny of Gurdwaras, one Gurdwara<br />
had split into two because of power struggle and we had<br />
introduced reform in the form of dropping ‘pratham<br />
bhagauti’ from Ardas, banning Akhand Paths and<br />
recitation of three banis from the so called Dasam<br />
Granth that are part of khande-di-pahul ceremony.<br />
After Vaisakhi 2005, the reform Gurdwara ceased to<br />
exist for lack of Sangat. So much for spirit of reform<br />
and hunger for knowledge of S<strong>ik</strong>hi among S<strong>ik</strong>hs. It was<br />
during this second convention in Chandigarh that I and<br />
Mr. Sidhu met for the first and only time when he made<br />
a special effort to drive to Chandigarh for a short visit<br />
with me while he was in India during his regular annual<br />
visits to hold free eye and other clinics.<br />
By this time it had become clear to me that in spite of<br />
too many Hindu practices that had crept into S<strong>ik</strong>hism,<br />
S<strong>ik</strong>hism had nothing in common with Hinduism. With<br />
that thought in mind I approached Mr. Sidhu about<br />
writing a book comparing S<strong>ik</strong>hism and Hinduism. He<br />
did not say yes and he did not say no because he knew<br />
that unl<strong>ik</strong>e the three occidental religions based on a<br />
particular religious scripture and S<strong>ik</strong>hism, Hinduism<br />
has no such one religious scripture. And, of course, he<br />
is sensitive to the feelings of Hindus who could feel<br />
hurt by the comparison.<br />
He has written so many books on S<strong>ik</strong>hism but in my<br />
mind this is his most important work, and I hope it<br />
receives widest possible circulation in Panjab, in<br />
addition to Diaspora, so that our youth can discover the<br />
treasure our Gurus gave us that I missed out while<br />
growing up in India. I was so ecstatic to hear from him<br />
that he would l<strong>ik</strong>e to send a draft of this book to me for<br />
my opinion.<br />
I have been privileged to read this draft and I express<br />
my gratitude to him for writing it. I also feel<br />
vindicated in my belief that other than the fact that<br />
Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu family, there is<br />
nothing in common between the faith he was born into<br />
and the faith he gave birth to. <strong>The</strong>re is no better way to<br />
highlight the core concepts of this book other than in<br />
Mr. Sidhu’s own words:<br />
“S<strong>ik</strong>hism is based upon the writings of the S<strong>ik</strong>h Gurus<br />
inherent in the Granth Sahib. <strong>The</strong>se writings are the<br />
basis of real S<strong>ik</strong>hism. Anything outside the Granth has<br />
a value for the S<strong>ik</strong>hs only if it agrees with what the<br />
S<strong>ik</strong>h Gurus have written. A close examination of the<br />
Guru’s philosophy proves without any shadow of<br />
doubt that S<strong>ik</strong>hism has nothing in common with any<br />
world religion except certain principles of ethics and<br />
moral norms which form an inalienable part of all<br />
religions.”<br />
“I have been reluctant to write on Hinduism. My first<br />
difficulty was to answer the question “Who is a<br />
Hindu?”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> idea in writing this book is to bring home the<br />
myths of Hindu religion to the notice of the S<strong>ik</strong>hs. It<br />
was the religion of their ancestors, a religion that they<br />
have now renounced. This will give them the<br />
opportunity to assess whether their new adopted<br />
religion is any better than the one they abjured. In<br />
doing so, they will also find the basic differences<br />
between the two lines of thought.”<br />
“Vedant is full of contradictions. <strong>The</strong>re are at least six<br />
different philosophies in it. One Granth says one thing<br />
another says the opposite. This causes confusion and<br />
disbelief. It was for this reason alone, if not for others,<br />
that Hindu scriptures were rejected by the S<strong>ik</strong>h Gurus.<br />
Vedantic literature is also full of obscenities which are<br />
an anathema to morality. It supports class distinctions<br />
which are totally refuted by S<strong>ik</strong>hism. S<strong>ik</strong>hism is a<br />
unified system of beliefs which neither contradict each<br />
other nor are in anyway antisocial. <strong>The</strong>y gravitate<br />
around the worship of one God.”<br />
“It is absolutely wrong to say that the S<strong>ik</strong>h Gurus<br />
have borrowed any material from the Vedas<br />
because the Granth Sahib clearly criticizes the<br />
Vedas and rejects them out rightly as useless and<br />
misleading.”<br />
K. T. F. of N. A. Inc. 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762 10