Why Are Spiritual Sikhs Not Willing To Become Leaders And Politicians?

[Only five]

In this particular instance - and I'm referring to the United Kingdom and Europe as I don't fully know the situation regarding Jagmeet Singh - the colour of a person's skin goes a long way to decide whether he or she will be elected or not. I'm talking about predominantly white areas where ethnic minorities are firmly outnumbered. Its relatively straight-forward to elect an ethnic minority candidate to parliament if said candidate's constituency consists of a large base of voters who are of the same background, race or religion as the candidate.

If the message of Sikhi were the only indicator towards political success, a practicising Gursikh gentleman would've been Prime Minister of Great Britain by now. The philosophy and systems of Sikhi cannot be disputed. But will the caucasian majority vote for a Gursikh candidate because his philosophies are sound? No of course not. They want to identify with their leaders (on a sliding scale from the candidate's background to the aforementioned skin colour) and as much as the Sikh message is "spot on", the Sikh face doesn't fit in a white majority. People are shallow and prejudiced. It also swings both ways for those wondering why I'm maligning white people. I'm not. Just making a point.

The situation in Canada is alien to me as I previously mentioned, but would I be wrong in assuming that the Mr. Jagmeet Singh represented an area where Sikhs were the majority? Or did his message really cross boundaries? If so that is very impressive.

What your saying is that Sikhs would face racism. Satguru Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib ji Maharaj was up against the same hate inbetween people and against him. Only here it was the hate of different caste. You could never catch a higher caste eating from the hands of another caste, especially a lower caste. But all of that changed when Satguru gave and took Amrit from the lower caste people. Satguru never saw the division between people. He treated every human as equals. These teachings need to be implemented when Sikhs look at whites, blacks, yellows or anyone else. Guru Sahib never made his teachings for one caste or one colored people. Human trafficking is not a brown man issue, but a human issue. Poverty is also a human issue. When we can promote the langar of Satguru in an effiecent manner then people would be able to see a white man is no different than a brown person. There will always be a small majority that are going to be stubborn and stay ignorant (stay racist). This is nothing new. Focus on letting others know that Guru Sahib's langar is free for everyone. When others apart from Sikhs hear that something is free, they get amazed because all their life they have been living with the idea that you only eat if you got money in your pockets. They have been introduced to the idea of giving, but they give once or twice a year. This langar is open everyday of the year. The Gurdwara is a place where many things can be set up and run on a daily basis, for FREE. Guru Sahib never charged for his services. He was always open for anyone to get any service from the Khalsa Panth. These teachings have been stitched in the Khalsa Panth, but they are like hidden secrets now cuz no one is taking on the task to learn about them. Guru Sahib created communities around the Gurdwara. Sikhs would bring offerings to Satguru and Satguru would use these offerings for the surrounding community. When Satguru gives his order to the Sikhs to give 10% of their earning to the Guru. This was for the community in the area. Here in the west they refer to it as tax. Satguru refered to it as dasvand.

Satguru did not just come to teach the true way to live as a human of Sri Vaheguru Ji Maharaj. Satguru taught us how to live in a community and make sure the less unfornate are taken care of and the hate among different communities is liminated. To this day we have failed Satguru. In ink, Satguru's Bani the Khalsa Panth is the protector of all, but on practice we have failed miserably and continue to fail miserably because the masands have taken over our Gurdwaras. Get the Masands out and put in Gursikhs and watch the atomsphere around a secular community be naturally drawn to the Gurdwaras. For that unity is needed among the Sikhs. However the Gursikhs are doing their duties and Akal Purakh has already made a seat for them in Sachkand. Those that sit back and say Sikhs don't have this or that and can't be great leaders are very ignorant of Sikh history and Gurbani.

Speaking in general......It all starts with education as Bhagat Jaswant Singh ji is saying to the youth. Educate yourself on the Khalsa Panth and Satguru's teachings will become clear as day

[VanHelsingh]

These teachings need to be implemented when Sikhs look at whites, blacks, yellows or anyone else. Guru Sahib never made his teachings for one caste or one colored people. Human trafficking is not a brown man issue, but a human issue. Poverty is also a human issue. When we can promote the langar of Satguru in an effiecent manner then people would be able to see a white man is no different than a brown person. There will always be a small majority that are going to be stubborn and stay ignorant (stay racist). This is nothing new. Focus on letting others know that Guru Sahib's langar is free for everyone. When others apart from Sikhs hear that something is free, they get amazed because all their life they have been living with the idea that you only eat if you got money in your pockets

I particularly agree with the above.

Considering the incentivised and shallow nature of the world we live in today, people expect something in return even if the ultimate aim is for their benefit (even though they don't realise it at the time).

As pessimistic as what I'm about to say may sound, I believe that it will take an event of international proportions (with far-reaching consequences) for people to be shaken out of their mental and spiritual malaise. This would be a fine opportunity for Sikhs to come to the fore and show humanity what we're about. This may sound opportunistic - and by the way I'm not wishing disaster or hardship on anyone - but I firmly believe for the world to abandon it's prejudices the West must feel the need to change.

At the moment the world is hurtling down a dark hole, but those who need to feel the pinch don't seem to be too bothered about it because they feel their man-made institutions and systems will protect them - and most importantly - keep the public from realising that change is needed.

I digress.

[JSinghnz]

The sad part is that in spite of having the concept of Miri and Piri since centuries Sikhs have not followed it.

The spiritual Sikhs could have become great leaders but do not want to do so for reasons I cannot fathom.

It needs a lot of hard work to be good both in Miri and Piri and I do not think our spiritual Sikhs want to put

in the hard yards. Look at our local Gurdwara politics. Even here, the spiritual Sikhs do not want to take control and

govern them for the benefit of the Panth. And until these Sikhs who are spiritually and morally strong do not become active at

least in the Gurdwara politics, things are not going to change. It is very easy to moan but to be in the forefront taking

leadership roles is a different matter all together.

[HSD1]

Just because someone may be spiritual doesnt mean they know what they are on about. Bare in mind, one person may be considered a great Sikh and seem to be a good leader but it may be more to do with what their supporters say about them than what they are really like. What is this discussion referring to? Gurudwaras, local communities or entire countries? Each one is different and requires different levels of skill to achieve results in that 'sphere'.

[xtremesingh18]

imo i dont think politics goes very well with sikhi. i think Gursikhs should try and stay clear from it.

[Only five]

Just because someone may be spiritual doesnt mean they know what they are on about. Bare in mind, one person may be considered a great Sikh and seem to be a good leader but it may be more to do with what their supporters say about them than what they are really like. What is this discussion referring to? Gurudwaras, local communities or entire countries? Each one is different and requires different levels of skill to achieve results in that 'sphere'.

What do you think a Gurmukh missing when it comes to running countries?

[HSD1]

What do you think a Gurmukh missing when it comes to running countries?

Nothing and everything. It all depends on which Gurmukh you refer to and what you want them to lead. When it comes to running a country, it is all about experience and knowing the system inside out. Now this doesnt mean playing by the system if it's crooked or 'getting dirty', but having the intelligence to develop mechanisms to operate within the the system without being seen to be a weak or useless leader. Also, how does one judge a Gurmukh's qualities? How do we judge leaders? Is it right to discriminate based on 'religiousity'? Some people lack charisma, some let power get to their heads, others take the opportunity and fly to heights no one expected of them when they are given leadership.

Having a leader is the first step. No leader is good without more decent governors, ministers, ministeries, deparments etc right down to the common soldier, sailor, worker, farmer etc. who know what they are doing. A leader needs to understand what is going on every level or at least people willing to give him/her all the information in an unbiased way. The leader then has to sort out current issues whilst keeping an eye on the future and possible 'hiccups' that could pop up. Each event like this would have to be dealt with by people who could then carry out the leader's orders. They would have to feed back information if theoretical ideas dont materialise into practical systems. All this may have to be done under duress, such as without sufficient resources or uncooperation from certain people. If good results are produced then a nation is happy. If not then they will want change. In a democracy this results in elections. Could someone considered to have the greatest jeevan and be the best Gurmukh by religous institutions lose an election if the people are unhappy? What would that say about the religious institutions and, by association, the religion itself? If the country isnt a democracy and is more totalitarian, the people wanting change will resort to protest and violence. Again not great results. Some people will say that wont happen, but when our Gurudwaras on our own doorstep dont even serve the community fully and amass wealth at ridiculous levels, you have to say that so called religous people need to start with baby steps before they can even consider running entire countries and ruling over millions of people.

[Only five]

Nothing and everything. It all depends on which Gurmukh you refer to and what you want them to lead. When it comes to running a country, it is all about experience and knowing the system inside out. Now this doesnt mean playing by the system if it's crooked or 'getting dirty', but having the intelligence to develop mechanisms to operate within the the system without being seen to be a weak or useless leader. Also, how does one judge a Gurmukh's qualities? How do we judge leaders? Is it right to discriminate based on 'religiousity'? Some people lack charisma, some let power get to their heads, others take the opportunity and fly to heights no one expected of them when they are given leadership.

How do Gurmukhs differ when miri and piri have been taught to them? Are you saying Gurmukhs don't have charisma, the ability to see situations politically, stand strong on a point, have the intelligence run a political system, and don't have the ability to control power from getting to their heads?

[HSD1]

How do Gurmukhs differ when miri and piri have been taught to them? Are you saying Gurmukhs don't have charisma, the ability to see situations politically, stand strong on a point, have the intelligence run a political system, and don't have the ability to control power from getting to their heads?

Interpretation. Some people no matter how hard they try cannot wield power. Others excel at being powerful. Sikh history is full of examples of some Sikhs who failed to lead and others who excelled. I cant honestly answer unless you got a Gurmukh willing to get political who would also be happy to air their views and how they would change things. Then there would be the case of having to build a political party and where it would fit into the political spectrum as many voters are pretty left or right leaning.

[JSinghnz]

How do Gurmukhs differ when miri and piri have been taught to them? Are you saying Gurmukhs don't have charisma, the ability to see situations politically, stand strong on a point, have the intelligence run a political system, and don't have the ability to control power from getting to their heads?

And that is the main question. How many Sikhs today follow the concept of Miri and Piri or even understand the basics of mixing governance and spirituality. I do not think there many Sikhs who are good at it. Had it been the case, we would have had Gurmukh Sikhs ruling at least in Punjab if not elsewhere.