6/6/12 - Occupy Our Gurdwaras!

[SikhiStore]

Came across this website and agree something needs to be done about a lot of our Gurdwaras. Take a look at their website at: http://sikhanonymous.wordpress.com/

But here is just a little part that was on the website that really affected me. Imagine if Gurdwaras were like their vision.... Vaheguru!!

"Current Gurdwara experience

If you’re born into an average Punjabi Sikh family, this is roughly what your Gurdwara experience is like. Go in, Matha tek to something you’ve never read or looked at, listen to music you dont understand whilst sitting and eating tasty parshad and checking who else is in the Sangat that you know. Sit mainly still whilst texting, playing on the phone or whispering to your cousins until the parents decide they’ve sat for long enough and then it’s time to go to the Langar hall. This bit is fun, langar always tastes good plus depends who’s sponsored it this time. You long since learnt to ignore the paintings hanging around the langar hall as they seem brutal and no one ever explained them to you. Once you’ve had langar and enjoyed the sweet pudding of that day, you can chat to your cousins, play with nephews and nieces and wait until the parents decide enough time has been spent doing the family religious obligations and it’s to head home. During this time, if you’re lucky, you may have wondered, what is the music being sung or paat being read, and perhaps even about what is the philosophy of Sikhi, but mostly you’ve stopped asking that because no one answers those questions and as far as you know, just be a good person and be proud of your Punjabi warrior past.

We often wonder what Guru Nanak or Guru Arjan would think if they walked into a Gurudwara nowadays. Most of all, I think they would be appalled that we never even had a vision of what the Gurudwara is meant to be. Here is our vision of what Gurdwara could be like.

Gurudwara Vision and Ideas

Imagine a Gurudwara where before you even enter, outside the Gurdwara are some large posters with some beautifully presented quotes of gurbani translation, like “Why do you call woman low, from whom kings are born”, or “The best religion of all is pure actions and meditating on Gods name”, “Listen everyone one, I speak the truth, only those who love will get to God”. Then when you go inside the Gurudwara, you see an information desk, where you can take a number of leaflets free of charge, you can ask for a tour of the gurudwara. If you wish, there is a TC and headphones to view a short video introduction to the Gurudwara and also to Sikhi. You’re already surprised, then you go upstairs to darbar hall and you hear beautiful raag kirtan, on stringed instruments with mesmerising tabla beats. The sound is so so amazing and the atmosphere so peaceful and blissful, you feel like you’re in a small part of heaven. The sangat is singing the words and you can see the translations above. The kirtanees don’t look like a professional jatha, just local sangat and you can see they are doing this purely from love. Then another layperson explains the deep meaning of the shabad in English and Punjabi, and then she says that today, right now, through this raag kirtan and sangat, you are meant to have a spiritual experience and awaken your soul. You feel excited and a little scared, but the music starts and you start singing with it and soon those glorious words of love begin to feel real and you can feel the love around you and there…the bliss and joy and love start pouring through you, you eyes start to weep, you feel so blessed, you feel like a huge part of you that you never knew existed has suddenly come to life and its so beautiful. Then the kirtan ends and everyone does ardaas. The person leading the ardaas tells everyone that this is the time to ask for Guru’s guidance and that the hukamnama that will come after will contain Guruji’s answer. You beg for some guidance and wisdom in your life and then when they read out the hukamnama, its explained in English as well and you can see that your Guru heard your pleas and he blessed you. You feel full of tears and hopes and love and bliss. Suddenly Guru Granth Sahib ji feels like your Guru and it can respond to you. When you bow to Guru Granth sahib ji now, you feel so thankful, so blessed and when your forehead touches the ground, you feel a profound desire to throw yourself at your Guru’s feet, to give yourself to Guru. A relationship of servant and master, of teacher and disciples has just been born.

When you go downstairs to langar, you pop into the library and see lots of books on Sikh spirituality, and posters for courses in Punjabi, in kirtan, tabla, and also an introductory course in Sikhi. You sign up for those times that fit, wanting to learn more and then you’re told there is also a Sunday darbar and a longer monthly darbar where there will be such kirtan and katha. You borrow a book for the course. You then see that there is a big seva board up. You can see that there are langar runs to the homeless, an actual homeless shelter that the Gurdwara runs, drug counselling, a small medical centre, women’s shelter, volunteers places abroad with charities, education for people to improve IT and English skills, opportunities if you want to help kids study in evenings and also classes on self-defence at the Gurdwara gym where you can work out too. You can see so many people getting involved with the Gurdwara, doing seva of society. You can feel the buzz in the Gurdwara and it’s infectious, you can see so many non-punjabis who are involved in learning about Sikhi and doing Seva. You don’t know where you are, you feel like you’ve just been transported to planet SachKhand. Through the Guru’s door you walked, not knowing what joy you were to receive…..”

Guru Piarey jio, if the vision above inspired you, ask yourself why isn’t every Gurdwara like this? Our next post will be our most ambitious. May Vaheguru bless the panth and the panth sing of Vaheguru."

-------------------------------------------------------

Web: www.SikhiStore.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SikhiStore

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SikhiStoreUK

[kullykhalsa]

brilliant idea hope it kick off! Needs to be some more marketing off this idea.

End of the day they are our Gurdwaras not the trustees or the committees

[N30S1NGH]

Yes came across with above website...Loads of good content...looks good on draft/online but its going to hard to implement it in gurdwaras or try occupy/protest infront of gurdwara..its definitely going in right direction but i am afraid its not a long term solution..but hey don't get me wrong...people should still join on 6/6..atleast we are doing something..atleast something good (awareness among sikhs) will come out of it.

However, best long term solution to this problem...its youth committe going to sri akaal takth sahib and try to pursue them to first have their own sikh channel or have media influence in india and abroad, then b) pursue the jathedars to have sri akaal takth sahib branches in USA, UK, CANADA so that sri akaal takth sahib branches can dictate and enforce "standard policies" in the gurdwara and each gurdwara who complies with the "standard policies" get annual certain funding/free manpower from sri akaal takth sahib...i know its not a sikh way but sometimes you gotta bend over backwards to get these committe wale to follow Gurmat...so those who comply with "standard policies" get recognition in the media and annual funding/free manpower, those who don't... don't get any funding and gets named and shamed in the media...!!!!!!!!!!!!

[N30S1NGH]

If sikh anonymous brothers are watching this thread, i would advise please read the following the thread ~ Ideas to have your Dream Gurdwara~....feel free to take any ideas off from that thread and incorporate them into your website/banners/brouches etc... http://www.sikhsanga...dream-gurdwara/

As Julian assange would say- what matter most is - maximum impact (change in public opinion) coming out of journalism/political activism - behind the scene work does not and should not matter (like who is doing it, how its done etc etc)...all youths should work together as unit.

[genie]

brilliant idea. And yes most gurdwara's are not fit for purpose because of gurdwara commitee's who have not catered for the needs of the congregations for decades now.

Majority of those who dont attend gurdwara because they see no relevance to their lives, everything is in gurumukhi punjabi language nothing is preached to them that makes them understand what the guru and religion is saying how to conduct your life in a right way.

[garch]

Agree with everything except the line at the end - don't agree with the stereotyping of the committees/parbandaks as corrupt/sardars types.. some are corrupt, some are doin an excellent job, others are honest sevadar but have limitations.

As I say agree with the campaign but not with vilifying, but I guess propaganda is not as effective without a villain then is it?

Politics doesn't have to be a dirty game, I would've been inspired even without ^.

[Beginner]

maybe start with one gurdwara in the UK and accomplish the new visinon there, then move on to others as a collective group?

[VanHelsingh]

Are people literally going to occupy a Gurdwara? Surely the committee will call the police?

[N30S1NGH]

This is isn't same type of occupy wallstreet movement where broader public was with occupy movement because of common goal of speaking out against corporate tax breaks and against raw capitalism. Most non sikh will ignore occupy movement related to religion as normal public don't want to part of tribal wars and deal with tribal issues from tribal people.. sadly that's how we were seen..lets not make it more worst than it already is..surely there is a noble cause behind this "sikh occupy movement" but i m afraid ways they are thinking of dealing with it will back fire miserably could cause violent clashes between two sides, bring charges and prosecution and further divide sikh community than already is...one cannot help but thinking violent clashes between youths in bc over table and chairs played over national t.v

I like the idea of sikhi leaks but that too have some serious privacy legal implications..its better to play out safe...i am assuming all the sikh youths go to india once a year or so..lets form an "Canadian Sikh Youth Committe" singhs from coast to coast and coordinate a trip to India together to present an plan to jathedar of Sri Akaal Takth Sahib to have branch of sri akaal takth sahib abroad and come out with standard policy which can be implemented all the gurdwaras in Canada...so whats in the standard policy? No controversy or technicalities of maryada but just basic things we can all agree on like to do further improve sikhi parchar to sikh youths through the medium they understand..eg- Mandatory Sikh youth sevadar in the gurdwara doing workshop once a week on sikh theology, sikh way of live and another sevadar good in public relations and good in social media etc etc.

[Only five]

Until the people that wrote "Occupy Our Gurdwara" don't tell everyone who they are, do not do anything on June 6th. Who knows what these peoples actual plans are. They could be people that want to start fights in Gurdwaras..............talk a good talk, but have bad intentions in mind.

If they are serious about solving issues in Gurdwaras where bad people are running the Gurdwara, then they should have no problem disclosing who they are.