Why you are the cause of decay

[lakhvir]

Why you are the cause of decay

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By Jagdeep Kaur

Ever wondered why youth do not come to the Gurudwaras? Where have we gone wrong? Why have we failed to encourage them to attend the Sunday Diwans, or particpate in religious ocassions? The reasons are simple, but hang on to your seats, you may not want to face the truth.

To begin with, the youth have little understanding of what a Gurudwara really is. Their understanding is, that it is a place where we go and bow down to our Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, sit down quietly and try and concentrate on what the Granthi is reciting, or to understand what the Ragis are singing. Their mind is never in the Darbar because they claim that they do not understand an iota of what is going on in there. Ask them and all you’ll hear is babbling, you will not imagine what these youth do not know. They rarely look forward to stepping foot again into the Darbar. The only aspect of the Gurudwara they may actually enjoy is the Langar and catching up with their friends. Their perspective of the Gurudwara is a grim one. Why go to a place, they say, where we don’t understand anything, people come there to gossip and show off and are constantly fighting over power?

They have not made up that persepctive. They have witnessed it. No one has explained to them what the meaning of a Gurudwara is and what its place is in our spiritual development. We have failed them and with time to come, they will fail us in return. Any wonder why the youth are rolling in apostasy? Our youth are now amongst those in the world who are known to do drugs, smoke, hang out in dark places and even indulge in the pleasures of the sen

ses. To them that is the real world. We know who these youth are and yet we have done close to nothing to try and bring them back to Sikhi. Our failure is our own selves.

When we are not in Sikhi ourselves, why do we even bother trying to comprehend why the youth are straying? Everything begins with the self. The way you portray yourself is the way you will see the world. If you are in Sikhi, so will the youth be. Just try it. You will need less reason to coerce them back. All they need are role models which they cannot find anymore. The few they do find are seen as old-fashioned, traditional or orthodox because the ‘modern’ Sikhs way out number them.

If you and I will adopt Sikh values and commit ourselves to the Guru and promise Him that we will do all that a Sikh is required to do, believe me, the world will follow our examples. You set the wrong examples, you will see for yourself the results of your actions in your own children. We have forgotten our important role in our community and many do not even care. We already know so much but do nothing to refine our beings because we are ourselves weak in spirit.

If we want our youth back in the Gurudwaras, let’s see you there first.

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This article was published in 'Akaal' Magazine and targeted towards the Sikhs of Kenya. Your comments and input is welcomed.

[DhadiMania]

i see a few kids going gurdwara, but all i see (from the kids) is they go to maharaj, do matha theek, but not bow properly and then they run to get prashad. then they go out of the darbar. one thing i think that drives people away from the gurdwara is the old buddhis. i remember years ago (or was it last year) me and my sister went gurdwara, i said i wanted langar so we had it, so she wanted to do the sewa of cleaning the dishes. an old buddhi came in saying "you cant do sewa because your too young" drove her out the gurdwara.

if only i knew a story at that time of guru ram das ji.

apparently guru ji was doing kirtan, in which a women said no you cant because your too young, maharaj shut her up by saying something like "you can do kirtan because its never to young/too old to do naam jaap" i think he said that. it was something like ythat, i cant remember in full, anyone know the full story please post here.

people consider the gurdwara as a toy. i remember going on sikhnet.com chatroom and i said if no langar was established, 100% not many people would go gurdwara. someone said "i go because of langar", langar was established by guru ji because it was for those who were poor and hungry. but even then people ought to do matha theek before/after they eat.

does the sangat go to the gurdwara to fill there tedd up or blessings from maharaj????

hmmm, its election time at the gurdwara, soon the police will be called in to calm any fighting down.

[SSB]

kandola thats so true i do a lil ardaas before matha theek and the get parshad and do simran in my mind with my mala becuase i do find it hard to understand some bani. rainsawahi is wicked because they giv translations to the bani.

kandola thats so true but one fing i truely hate is when they talk while the keertani are singing this puts me off.

[DhadiMania]

another thing is the girls/men who dont bring rumaalas to cover their head. others just dont want to go due to the fact it will mess up their hair. i blame the parents for this.

another thing i hate is like you just said SSB, buddhis talk. plus when someone wants to do sewa, 100% one buddhi will try and drive you out.

[Jkaur]

another thing that makes the youth less interested goin to gurdwara is the politics... i guess most of us know what im implying here... its just so saddening that in guru ghar we've got the dirtiest politics goin on..

[DhadiMania]

i hate it when people forget their rumaals, at the east park road gurdwara there was a funeral yesterday, some guy asked me where the rumaals (to cover the head). a nice example he sets out doesnt he? (or his family havent told him the importance of the rumaal).

[Gupat Singhni]

totally with you there Kandola ji! I hate the buddies gossiping about their daughter in laws, the polictics and they way people dnt bother to cover their heads! Makes me :wub:

:cool: @ @

[26th27thDecember]

lol

Dont u guys see guru sahib there ? dont u guys see SAVA-LAKHI SINGH SINGHNI sittin there?(vs other people i guess!) dont u hear AKALII BANI?(vs chugliya of bibia)

like the arctile said(i wana copy paste the whole article but..anyhow)

"

When we are not in Sikhi ourselves, why do we even bother trying to comprehend why the youth are straying? Everything begins with the self. The way you portray yourself is the way you will see the world. If you are in Sikhi, so will the youth be. Just try it. You will need less reason to coerce them back. All they need are role models which they cannot find anymore. The few they do find are seen as old-fashioned, traditional or orthodox because the ‘modern’ Sikhs way out number them."

"If we want our youth back in the Gurudwaras, let’s see you there first."

so stop lookin at the bad things that are happening in gurdwara or around u..they are jus kaljugi excuses...they take ur mind off from guru sahib..and indulge u into it self(kaljug mayaa)

dont worry about what others are doing....jus worry about what guru sahib ji wants me/u/us to do!

bhul chuk muaff karni

waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh!

[26th27thDecember]

and about politics....umm GET INVOLVED!

if they dont let u..then u have something to say/do...

[DhadiMania]

Dont u guys see guru sahib there ? dont u guys see SAVA-LAKHI SINGH SINGHNI sittin there?(vs other people i guess!) dont u hear AKALII BANI?(vs chugliya of bibia)

i see maharaj, but how can one concentrate on shabad guru if your being distubrbed? i see gursikhs, not as often as i used to, now the comitee wale said to a pooran gursikh he could do simran, but not use the museum on the top floor of the gurdwara for hukamnama translation for kids. see him on special occasions (he goes in evening). but he does his simran and hukamnama translation in nottingham.

When we are not in Sikhi ourselves, why do we even bother trying to comprehend why the youth are straying? Everything begins with the self. The way you portray yourself is the way you will see the world. If you are in Sikhi, so will the youth be. Just try it. You will need less reason to coerce them back. All they need are role models which they cannot find anymore. The few they do find are seen as old-fashioned, traditional or orthodox because the ‘modern’ Sikhs way out number them."

hanji, we learn from our elders. at times we think we are better than others (mainly), but thats kaljug for you. not neccesari

ly will you be in sikhi if your family isnt. my father isnt religious much, but am i? ill leave it to guess for you. i remember the gianis daughter, the giani was religious, but the daughter wasnt, she drank. only from hukam to you join with guru. not because of people around you.

"If we want our youth back in the Gurudwaras, let’s see you there first."

the buddhas go for gossip and sit around, the buddhis do gossip. the kids i have seen quickly do matha theek and run for prashad and eat it as soon as they get it. but a good point.

so stop lookin at the bad things that are happening in gurdwara or around u..they are jus kaljugi excuses...they take ur mind off from guru sahib..and indulge u into it self(kaljug mayaa)

of course maharaj makes me go gurdwara, i am sure most of us do here. dont know what else you go for, but i go for guru ji's darshan. but youd be suprised at how women say "dont do this, this is how you do this, like this, no like this", then you end up shouting at them. and then they quiet down once they realsied who your grandad was (well its happned to me before)

bhol chukke muaff