Universal Peace

As we see regions in the world engulfed with an upsurge of a deadly mix of religious intolerance (as in the case of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sudan, Israel/Palestine, Syria and Iraq) and new nationalism’s (as we have seen in Ukraine, and across Europe with the rise of extreme right wing parties, such as The Golden Dawn in Greece, the UK Independence Party and the French National) it is time for peace loving people to take a stand. Today there is a need for human beings of all shapes, colors, sizes, creeds, and histories to come together in identifying our common humanity. Without it we are to see the spread of conflict within and between groups defined along social, religious, ethnic and national lines.
Deep down most people long for very simple things such as security, education, housing, health, food, and an opportunity to connect with nature, and be creative and contemplative beings; it is such basic universal needs that were emphasized by the Sikh Gurus. But sadly we Sikhs have lost sight of the bigger picture by putting and elevating the importance of petty group affiliation and power games at the expense of ethical living. As I have been arguing for many years, Sikhi is a very simple belief system, but sometimes ironically it is the simple things in life, such as being kind and polite, that seem most difficult to realize.
In these times where, like the world more generally, Sikhs appear to be fragmenting along class, race, caste, ideology, political affiliation, codes of conduct, cultural identity and others, it is crucial that we refocus our energies towards the essence of Sikhi i.e those aspects of our belief system that binds us together, not only as a distinct group but also as servants of humanity who end their daily prayers with a call to serve humanity “sarbat da bhalla”.
So what was the essential message and teachings of the Gurus? In a nutshell it was to identify and practice timeless and universal values and techniques for life, such as, justice, freedom (action and thought), learning, dialogue, ecological living, love, peace, respect the body, and all other living things, spirituality/meditation and living in equilibrium. As Siri Guru Arjan Dev ji in Sukhmani says, “of all religions the best religion is to mediate on the one and perform perfect (without ego) deeds”. And so it is with deep sadness that I see so much conflict among Sikhs, particularly those who take on the outward form because we all rightly look to them to be role models for others and to be the embodiment of the true Khalsa principles.
Why have we got into this sate of affairs? Well, the first thing is that nobody is immune from religious fanaticism and like Muslims, Jews and Christians, we have to accept, though perhaps the most tolerant people in the world, Sikhs nonetheless have developed a very intolerant streak particularly among some sections of the youth.
I could go into various social and psychological explanations for this, but I think first and foremost, we have to realize that the opposite of fundamentalism (as the fanatics would like to believe) is not some kind of empty atheistic materialist position. Indeed, I would classify this just as problematic as those that seek to find solutions to contemporary problems in literal reading of ancient religious texts or claim that “the modern” world if polluted, as if the ancient world was pristine pure.
The easiest thing in this world is to “blame other”. We all have to take individual and collective responsibility to educate ourselves away from the destructive path of fundamentalism, religious or secular, and nationalism. A good starting point could be adopting a rule to be polite to all people and follow the Gurus injunction “I am not good and others are not bad”, that “we are all sinners and that only the supreme creator is free from blemishes”. And so, we need to develop forgiveness to those that for whatever reason may have transgressed against what we believe to be the truth and we need the courage not to revert to violence as this, according to Siri Guru Gobind Singh Ji must be the last resort.
Tags: DR. GURNAM SINGH