What is our Panthic Duty?

[samosasingh]

As far as I have been able to understand we as Gursikhs have a personal duty for our spiritual lives (nitnem, rehat, etc) and a panthic duty.

My question is on the panthic duty - if we look around everything seems to be a mess within the panth. Everybody is doing there own thing in there own direction their own way. It's so hard to figure out behind the scenes what an org/person is working to accomplish and what the alterior motives are.

From my experience most orgs/people are doing panthic work to promote themselves or to gain power - then I think why would I waste my time investing into that if i'm just being used as a means to an end. But then this type of thinking also makes one anti social. Everybody seems so chalaak - I hate to say it but moreso those that have come from India to the west and get involved in gurdwara politics - they just use people as a means to get power and fame.

In this type of climate what panthic service can one really do? Is there really a panth or are we just working for our individual ego's?

[VanHelsingh]

Bartan and jutiya di seva is my definition of panthic duty in this day and age, lol. Keep it simple. Everyone wants their 15 minutes, so let them have it.

[UKLondonSikh]

From my experience most orgs/people are doing panthic work to promote themselves or to gain power - then I think why would I waste my time investing into that if i'm just being used as a means to an end. But then this type of thinking also makes one anti social. Everybody seems so chalaak - I hate to say it but moreso those that have come from India to the west and get involved in gurdwara politics - they just use people as a means to get power and fame.

In this type of climate what panthic service can one really do? Is there really a panth or are we just working for our individual ego's?

UK = Samosa Sahib if you see some people acting in the wrong way, yet representing the Panth on a platform, it's up to you and me and everyone to make our presence felt. We can't back away because someone insincere is running things. It's up to us to peacefully seize that mantle and push the agenda of Sikhi - which is Sarbat dha Bhalla - forward. There definitely is a Panth. I'm not on the forum too often and obviously we all have our different views but I find great strength in knowing that the vast majority of my brothers and sisters on the forum want the Chardi Kallah of Sikhi.

Bartan and jutiya di seva is my definition of panthic duty in this day and age, lol. Keep it simple. Everyone wants their 15 minutes, so let them have it.

UK = VHS Paji your humility clearly shines through and I respect that. However, i have to strongly tell you that too much humility can be a bad thing too (in your case). Having read your posts for over a year, I can strongly say you should not be restricting yourself to barthan and jutheeyah seva alone. I agree that at one level that is purest non-hankaari form of seva ... but if you don't influence bigger things at your Gurdwara ... for example, are Sangat's Golak donations going to go to help those gareeb in the Third World (instead of being frittered away in classic Punjabi style) ... or promoting your Gurdwara's initiatives in laying the foundation towards merging several Gurdwaray in a particular locality ... or avoiding excessive expenditure upon the physical shell of a Gurdwara ... when that money would be better directed to combatting female infanticide or increasing literacy back in Punjab and elsewhere (as examples of two better objectives) ... or whether we should we lock the gates of our Gurdwara when two people want to get married or should we encourage people to come towards Sikhi through whichever small steps they wish to take? All of these issues, i daresay, could benefit from your input at your Gurdwara rather than staying out of the "dirty" politics to stay crystal "pure" as the Khalsa Panth should be.

---------

Our Panthic duty is to follow Gurmat philosophy summed up as being Sarbat dha Bhalla, encouraging others to join with this motto and for us to have ekta and hamdardi with others within the Panth with whom me might not always 100% agree.

This is a deep topic which has a lot to be said about it but instead I would just briefly like to say that an even bigger issue than Professor Sahib's sentence is the vital need for PM Manmohan Singh to waive all of East Punjab debts that were run up by Delhi in the years between 1980 and Beanta's death as a result of the Genocide of the Sikh Panth. This is something Manmohan Singh needs to deliver for the Panth before leaving office and the waiver of all debts can lift millions of East Punjabi's out of poverty, out of illiteracy, out of the drugs swamp and into active employment so that they can contribute daswand for Sarbat Dha Bhalla. Because this was one of the things Professor Bhullar was vocal upon is precisely the reason the enemy tried to frame him. Thankfully all 133 witnesses now unequivocally state that he was not present at the bombing in question. We got 8.1 million signatures for the Insaaf March ... we should target 25million signatures to Delhi on the waiver of debts from the period when the Genocide was taking place most aggressively.

In the UK i'm confident we have Kesri Lehar to push this waiver of historic East Punjab debts, Insaaf March have shown their organisation with 8.1million signatures in India recently ... so to Canadian, American, New Zealand, Australian and other Diaspora Sikhs like N30Singh, Mehtab Singh, Singh4Peace, Singh559, LuckySingh99, Singher23, SabnaKeerenka, 13Mirch, JSinghnz etc, etc which ekta-based organisations do you have in your countries to organise along the lines of Kesri Lehar in the UK and the Insaaf March? As this is how we can turn the SC rejecting Professor Bhullar's petition to the forward advancement of our Panth's quest for ongoing justice.

[VanHelsingh]

Sorry, I should've said 'Jorehya' instead of 'Jutiya'. My pendu roots have been exposed!

[chatanga]

Sorry, I should've said 'Jorehya' instead of 'Jutiya'. My pendu roots have been exposed!

true pendu style would have been "chhittar" you shehari!

What an excellent topic. This is the kind of stuff we shold have on this forum, rather than the usual dross some members inflict on us, and i was talking to a gyani this week about this, that why dont Sikhs want to work for the Panth in larger numbers. he told me that it is not in everybodys karam to be a inqalabi, but whatever sewa we can get out of someone that is what we should encourage.

You will find a lot of people who are willing to do sewa in the Gurdwara, some less to do sewa in the community, and even less to do sewa nationally. But whatever sewa someone can do, we should encourage them so whatever field or stage they are in, they are doing it as best they can.

On a side note, I have to say, that once you get a taste of Panthic sewa, from my own experience, it is very hard to leave this sewa.

[VanHelsingh]

true pendu style would have been "chhittar" you shehari!

What an excellent topic. This is the kind of stuff we shold have on this forum, rather than the usual dross some members inflict on us, and i was talking to a gyani this week about this, that why dont Sikhs want to work for the Panth in larger numbers. he told me that it is not in everybodys karam to be a inqalabi, but whatever sewa we can get out of someone that is what we should encourage.

You will find a lot of people who are willing to do sewa in the Gurdwara, some less to do sewa in the community, and even less to do sewa nationally. But whatever sewa someone can do, we should encourage them so whatever field or stage they are in, they are doing it as best they can.

On a side note, I have to say, that once you get a taste of Panthic sewa, from my own experience, it is very hard to leave this sewa.

I was listening to katha a few weeks ago, and this very issue was being discussed. Bhai Sahib was commenting on how there's many types of seva for Sikhs to do in this day and age, and we shouldn't assume that "chakking phatte" is the only acceptable form of seva for a Sikh to do in terms of panthic duty. He was explaining how everyone has their own strengths and personality, and those strengths should be utilised and put to good use for the benefit of the quom. He said that if anyone puts limitations on you about how to achieve something don't pay any heed to such individuals, and we should remember we aren't doing seva for people to praise us, etc., but we're doing seva for Guru Sahib. I must say I was rather impressed by such an intelligent and forward-thinking approach to what is a traditional and fundamental part of the Sikh faith.

That's why I shine shoes. Although if anyone told me to go home and get my shine box, there's going to be trouble...