Hukam 6 – Learn The Meanings Of Gurbani From Sikh Scholars

 

 

The thing is, who is going to sacrifice their time for the Guru?

Gurmukhi (the language in which Gurbani has been written) is very intricate and complex in nature. Therefore, in order to understand the message that the Guru is giving us, we first have to understand the language the Guru has written the message in. Unfortunately, just as many other aspects of Sikhi; the Western rhetoric influences our belief system. Instead of making the effort to learn Gurmukhi, we settle for a romanised transliterated version of our Gurus words, and then wonder why we don’t connect with GurBani.

We need to go to the effort of enrolling in classes and learning the language. It’s not good enough to say ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘I don’t speak Punjabi’ because there is something that you can physically do to learn. You weren’t born with the ability to speak English, you went to classes and learnt. Go to your local Gurdwara and see when/where the santhia (Gurbani reading) classes are held; join. It could change your life. Once you have learnt the language then you can go to GurSikh’s and begin to understand what our Guru is actually saying to you.

The ritualistic approach of going to the Gurdwara, doing matha-tek, eating prashad/langar and going home isn’t Sikhi. That’s not the Guru’s message. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was against ritualistic worship more than anything else. 

It’s almost like telling someone who is really lazy to exercise. That person may not see the benefits of working out because they have never done so but somebody who works out everyday understands the benefits. That person who works out every day would tell everyone they should exercise because they have experienced its benefit’s. But, until that lazy person gets up and actually exercises, they will never understand the benefits of doing so.

 

Take responsibility for your own life, it is worth more than ignorance. Grasp life with both hands, there is an ocean of knowledge waiting for you.

When you learn, you can take further steps towards your Guru. Guru Sahib puts a huge emphasis and worth on the people you learn from. Scrutinise your source of knowledge, learn what your Guru is saying from those that have learnt and understood the message themselves rather than from people who have learnt everything from Google or misguided ‘babeh’. 

If we’re honest, we don’t blame those that have neither understood nor tried to understand Gurbani. After all, who is delivering the message?

Majority of parents have become passive to the teachings of the Guru themselves. Not only that but Gurdware (Sikh temples) haven’t moved with the times and tried to attract the youth toward the faith. The only thing you will go to a Gurdwara and learn is how much they need for their building fund. This is the uncomfortable truth we are confronted with in 2019, UK.

A Gurdwara used to be a centre of excellence, a hub, a community centre where the most divine truths were revealed; where you learnt about how to deal with this thing that we call life that none of us actually understand.

 

 

They have sadly become power-hungry and orientated around making vast amounts of money which they do not reinvest back into the youth. I guess someday they will have to step down and may the Guru guide us into sorting the chaos out by returning to the intended way; the Guru’s way.