SIKH MISSIONARY? HYPOCRITES?

[Singh MC]

http://www.gurmat.info/sms/smsarticles/ess...nsignofdignity/

I am not completely acquianted with the principles of Sikhism but i have heard that we do not have missionaries.

[GABROO KHALISTAN DAH]

we used to goto this missionary when iw uz younger...to pick up things for maharaaj like the kapra used..pilllows and chour sahib....

i think they use missionary wrongly in their name..they don't go out and try 2 convert ppl at all......its just like a store for sikhs.

[Deep Singh]

Missionary in the sense 'going out to people and trying to convert them'...i don't think Sikhs do that. I am not sure if this is allowed or not...but i haven't heard of any specific commandment by Guru Sahib for not doing this, however this type of work is usually linked to pressure, and in that case it is not allowed!

but there is more to it..have you heard the jewish saying:

we don't do missionary work, but we have a mission

it is something similar with the Sikh missionary schools etc. they are meant for teaching of Sikh principles, Rehat, Gurmat, Keertan etc...

basically the same as Taksals. However Taksal/Akharas can be called 'traditional' learning, but missionary schools/colleges is like modern...but the mission is the same. they differ upon Gurbani-viakaran, a bit on Rehat etc..

the goal is to have trained Parcharaks for Gurdwaras, and SIkh societies that can become Granthis/Gianis etc.

[Son of Guru Gobind Singh Ji]

Parcharak losely translates to missionary...

[Banda Singh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Khalsa Jee,

There is nothing wrong with the word missionary, it can be defined as - "one sent to spread his religion or philosophy". The Sikh Missionary Society (U.K.) do not go out to preach to people of other faith, but if these people approach us to learn about Gurmat then we help them.

Here is a quote from the website -

"The aim was to provide an insight into the Sikh religion, culture and history for younger generation through true stories (sakhis) from the lives of the Ten Gurus (Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh 1469-1708). Over the last 35 years (1969 - 2004) many sewadars have worked very hard to achieve this aim. It caters to the needs of not only the Sikh youth, but also the youth and adults of other faiths who want to know about Sikhism. Most of the literature on Sikhism, Sikh History, tradition and culture is supplied free of charge to anyone who is interested in Sikhism. Our other means of fulfilling the mission is by holding Gurmat camps, seminars, Kirtan and Panjabi Classes."

ps. The Website has just been updated and now contains over 80 Full Publications -

www.sikhmissionarysociety.org/sms/smspublications

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa

Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh