Supporting non-sikhs isn’t our main priority?

[MisterrSingh]

Too many wannabe Bhai Khaniyeh in the quam, and not enough Baba Banda Singh Bahadhurs, although, ironically, the Bhai Khaniyeh wannabes act not out of a deep seated conviction that their acts are rooted in Truth, but because they don't have the heart and the courage to take the difficult and unpopular decisions, which is, funnily enough, the exact opposite of what the actual blessed Bhai Khaniyah and Baba Banda Singh managed to achieve. Arguably two polar opposing philosophies according to contemporary ethical and moral thought, but viewed through the prism of Gurmat there is NO contradiction between the two approaches. 

[Ranjeet01]

1 hour ago, MisterrSingh said:

Too many wannabe Bhai Khaniyeh in the quam, and not enough Baba Banda Singh Bahadhurs, although, ironically, the Bhai Khaniyeh wannabes act not out of a deep seated conviction that their acts are rooted in Truth, but because they don't have the heart and the courage to take the difficult and unpopular decisions, which is, funnily enough, the exact opposite of what the actual blessed Bhai Khaniyah and Baba Banda Singh managed to achieve. Arguably two polar opposing philosophies according to contemporary ethical and moral thought, but viewed through the prism of Gurmat there is NO contradiction between the two approaches. 

In Gurmat, there are plenty of things that seem diametricly opposed that work in tandem.

If you look around in life you begin to see how two contradictory things can work hand in hand.

I think this is because we in the west have been conditioned to think in a abrahamic mindset which is that there is duality and it is black and white.

[dallysingh101]

I think Akaal Ustat is quite a powerful statement against duality/binary thinking myself (amongst other things). 

[Amit12]

2 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

Too many wannabe Bhai Khaniyeh in the quam, and not enough Baba Banda Singh Bahadhurs, although, ironically, the Bhai Khaniyeh wannabes act not out of a deep seated conviction that their acts are rooted in Truth, but because they don't have the heart and the courage to take the difficult and unpopular decisions, which is, funnily enough, the exact opposite of what the actual blessed Bhai Khaniyah and Baba Banda Singh managed to achieve. Arguably two polar opposing philosophies according to contemporary ethical and moral thought, but viewed through the prism of Gurmat there is NO contradiction between the two approaches. 

Explain....

[MisterrSingh]

29 minutes ago, Amit12 said:

Explain....

Neither approach is incorrect. Balance must be achieved based on context and circumstances. Sometimes it is necessary to help the non-Sikh over the Sikh; at other times one must prioritise the Sikh's needs. Clinging to extremes and absolutes ("I will only ever recognise the plight of the Other because -- through a misguided interpretation of Sikh self-sacrifice that's actually rooted in fear and ego -- the Other can never be wrong" or "All non-Sikh issues are irrelevant to me") is not the way to act in the true spirit of our faith. Remember, "Without Fear or Favour" - "Nirbhau Nirvair." It's all there at the very beginning.

[Guest GuestSingh]

8 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

Too many wannabe Bhai Khaniyeh in the quam, and not enough Baba Banda Singh Bahadhurs, although, ironically, the Bhai Khaniyeh wannabes act not out of a deep seated conviction that their acts are rooted in Truth, but because they don't have the heart and the courage to take the difficult and unpopular decisions, which is, funnily enough, the exact opposite of what the actual blessed Bhai Khaniyah and Baba Banda Singh managed to achieve. Arguably two polar opposing philosophies according to contemporary ethical and moral thought, but viewed through the prism of Gurmat there is NO contradiction between the two approaches. 

helps those liberals e.g. uni students doing 'langar on campus' feel less guilty and appear knowledgeable on their faith to continue 'keeping up appearances' and deceive the rest when theyre still failing in their faith...

as u say, very few if any of them wud have the stomach to instigate change themselves in a unknown environment - thts what separates the shepherd from the sheep..

comfort and guilt go 'hand in hand in my mind....

[Guest GuestSingh]

anyone reading this will probably see as it as 'simple' and 'obvious'...and it is...but it needs to be said not only for the sake of answering the op but also serving as a reminder to those who believe their priorities should lie elsewhere...

if we dont bother helping our own ppl - with whom we share a faith, identity and culture - thru their poverty and uneducation, they continue to suffer in pain and misery...and that can only induce death more quickly, reduce our numbers more quickly and lose more of any kind of 'sikh' power/authority/presence we have in panjab more quickly - so we can forget any hope of sikh/khalsa raj in our homeland....ever.

but if we help the foreigners/outsiders, who we owe absolutely nothing (they didnt decide we could live in their country), theyre obviously going to take what they can to only serve themselves i.e. spirituality and we get nothing in return. ask urself, are they going to help our ppl in panjab or elsewhere within the diaspora? are they going to fight for any of our causes? are they even going to care about them? the answer to all those questions is no..no..and no...they are not going to do any of those things...so why do so many apne insist on spending their time and money helping them? what wordly benefit are getting from it all? why are they oblivious to these things?

yh, as said above, we have bad amongst our own but so does every other single community - theres good and bad everywhere in every sinlge one of them...so whos to say those foreigners/outsiders who we feel deserve help and our tym arent bad themselves? the ppl wholl go out of their way dont know them,or their story, or their experiences, or their choices...so why make preference for them over our own ppl who live life as ur loved ones once did? these westerners live a damn gd life, they have everything they could desire and more in lyf but they still aint happy..but why should tht be our problem? what about the gd ppl in panjab who have absolutely nothing? no money, no food, no home, no education, no faith, no hope, nothing? what about them? if u were in tht position, wud u not feel any sadness or perhaps some resentment and bitterness? anyone who says otherwise is a damn liar...easy to act pious and holy wen u live in comfort..and if most of these apne were in tht position, theyd be exactly the same so they aint any different from the gd or bad in my eyes - theyre only a conditioned product of their environment...anyone else could be the same...

if any of this sounds bitter or hateful, couldnt care less and make no apologies for it.

[proactive]

This giving to others yet not providing for our own is a form of virtue signaling at best and a mental illness at worst. It's self hatred of the worst kind because you block out the desire to help those with whom you share a common religion, a common language and a common culture in order to help those who in the past have inflicted the worst atrocities against your people. How else but that it is mental illness and extreme self hatred could you then explain Ravi Singh rushing off to waste the Panth's money in Mirpur after the 2006 earthquake at a time when most Sikhs in the UK knew that people in the UK who were from that very region were involved in cases of grooming Sikh girls. Did he think that this act of kindness would somehow convince the community that these paedophiles belonged to  rein them in? What if not mental illness then explains his use of the Panth's money to build a mosque for refugees and provide them with Qurans? 

[MichaelJackson]

11 hours ago, proactive said:

This giving to others yet not providing for our own is a form of virtue signaling at best and a mental illness at worst. It's self hatred of the worst kind because you block out the desire to help those with whom you share a common religion, a common language and a common culture in order to help those who in the past have inflicted the worst atrocities against your people. How else but that it is mental illness and extreme self hatred could you then explain Ravi Singh rushing off to waste the Panth's money in Mirpur after the 2006 earthquake at a time when most Sikhs in the UK knew that people in the UK who were from that very region were involved in cases of grooming Sikh girls. Did he think that this act of kindness would somehow convince the community that these paedophiles belonged to  rein them in? What if not mental illness then explains his use of the Panth's money to build a mosque for refugees and provide them with Qurans? 

You made some very good points. 

[dallysingh101]

What about in general everyday situations, like at work? Now at work you might get some people who give you a heads up/hand when required, and then you get others who might actually hold some sort of resentment towards you for whatever reason, even if you've done nothing (maybe due to personality clash, racism, competitiveness). That is an important one to grasp.