I am proud to be a Sikh because my Gurus have blessed me with a unique book of scripture called Guru Granth Sahib, which is not just a book but a living Guru. It is unique because it not only contains sayings of my Gurus but also other saints; and it has been compiled and finalized by Guru Ji. These are no scripture of any other major world religions, where the prophets of that religion have authored or compiled their own scripture. In most cases these have been compiled by others and there is significant time gap between the utterances and the compilation. The uniqueness of Guru Granth Sahib is that the entire scripture is in poetry form, and it has the set musical scale in which it is sung, and it is has a complete philosophy in it.
It gives me great pleasure, satisfaction and pride in writing about a topic, which should have been thought of long ago.
The main function of a Sikh was detailed by the Guru to lead a pious, honest and life of dedication towards the common good of the mankind, as the Tenth Master has said, “Manas ki jaat sabhai ekai pechanbo.”
Now the question arises why I am proud of being a Sikh, the answers are:
- The teachings of Sikh Gurus have inculcated values of honesty, integrity, confidence and hardwork: Teachings like “manas k jaat sabh eke pehchanbo” ( people of different castes and religions are all equal and same), “ek noor te sabh jag upjya Ko bhale ko mande” ( everyone emerged from one light so nobody is superior and nobody is inferior, everyone is equal), “Shubh karman te kabhoo na taroo” (I shall never deviate from the path of righteousness) etc.
- Wherever I go, people have a sense of trust, security and respect. I’ll narrate a real incident: once I was traveling by train from Pune to Indore. A group of girls entered in my compartment, there was no one else only I and some 4–5 girls.After a while, one of them told me “Sir I want to tell you something, few minutes ago I talked to my mother on phone and she enquired that who else is traveling with us in the same compartment. I told her that one Sardarji (Sikh) is there to which she replied that Sardarji hein to ab to bilkul tension nahi hai”. (If there is a Sikh then I am not having any tension)
- People always call me “Sardarji” which means leader or head even if they don’t know me
- The great sacrifices made by our Gurus and other Sikhs are often recalled by my friends who belong to other religions
- My appearance as a Sikh has great impact over the people I meet. My experience as a teacher is evident for this.
So, if we want to be proud of being Sikh, feel passionate about it, let us strive to work on the understanding of Naam. As we understand what Guru Ji is trying to give us, there will be a paradigm shift in our lives and with that understanding we will be creating a new state of mind. Guru Ji has coined a special word “Sahej” to describe that state of mind.
Every Indian knows Bhagat Singh, and every one is proud of him. He fought for Freedom of India from the Britishers. The list of freedom fighters extends to brave names. We all are proud of them, why? Because of what they did for Us.
In India, there are 2% population of Sikh but contribute to India is approx. above 80%. Just like many religions there are good and bad. Depending on how we evaluate religion. Is religions definition purely based on the fundamental ideas or is it based on what people belonging to that religion are doing in the world right now.
Sikhism is free from all superstitions like animals sacrifice, fasting, dietary restrictions, don’t eat anything after 5 or before 5. Sikhism and Sikh scriptures have rules, that a Sikh needs to follow, but those rules are not to be blindly followed because a reason or a explanation has been provided by the gurus with it. A logic has been provided