The Most Inclusive Religion of the World

The Most Inclusive Religion of the World


In my quest for truth I referred more and more literature and wanted to know about the concept of diversity and inclusiveness in the various religions. No doubt Hinduism appeared to be the most diverse religion of the world. But Sikhism in my understanding came out to be the most inclusive religion of the world. I say so because it is one religion which says that there is no discrimination before God. The principles of universal equality and brotherhood are most important pillars of Sikhism. The religion says that before God - No discrimination is allowed on any basis whether it is caste, race, sex, creed, origin, color, education, status, wealth, region etc. (infect no discrimination whatsoever even in the areas which were not specifically mentioned in the text). Infect I am told that the Sikh men have Singh as last name and all Sikh women are Kaur, because it lays down the principles of equality. It is not that the word Singh is added to signify the term Lion. Infect if we understand details in Sikhism there is no Singh who is King. Infect all Singhs are equal and there is no king, subject or any one unequal in the religion. The concept of a King in Sikhism (hope Akshay understands it...) is totally against the Foundation of the religion.

The tradition of Singh for men and kaur for women started because in India through the last name one generally distinguishes what caste an individual is from. With the last name individuals were identified as low, high or middle class. The concept of the Caste name therefore was against the foundation of Sikhism and it is said that therefore the Guru eliminated the last name from all the Sikhs so that no one could tell the caste and thus achieved equality for all Sikhs. The women were given the name as Kaur (kaur means princess) to give respect to all women and to tell them that they do not have to adopt the name of the family she went into after their marriage. The step was to ensure the equality of women.

But despite that we hear names like Navjyot singh Sidhu, S S Alhuwalia, K P S Gill, M S Gill, Simranjeet Singh Mann, Prakash Singh Badal (why discrimination based on place of origin as well?) and so on. But I think even Guru also ensures that a disciple who understands the concept of inclusiveness and equality reaches the top and I think the soft spoken Dr. Manmohan Singh (Does any one knows his caste or family name ?) has risen to the top because of his understanding of the true facts of the religion. Singh is not about a roaring lion who comes out with a sword but in my submission Singh is about equality and inclusiveness of all. Infect Sikhism is not about a Singh but about the word "Sikh" which means disciple or student. Individuals who still use Gill, Sandhu and Sidhu actually want to preserve their caste and are not clearly following their Guru (http://www.realsikhism.com/faq/lastname.html).

Infect the purpose of the langar as I understand is also not to give food to poor (then why even rich goes to Gurudwaras to have langar), but the same is to eliminate any type of caste system and look to view all humans as equal. While eating langar together, there remains no difference between rich and poor, and a superior or inferior person, for all present are eating the same food at the same level.

The only thing having a higher authority in Sikhism is Guru Granth Sahib, and that is why we have a person waving a whisk over the holy scripture signifying the tradition of service to the only higher authority.

Sikhism is the one religion which says that every person has a right to life and recognizes that all living beings - plants or animals are created by God. The most important thing as it is understood by me is that the religion accepts and is open to every new thought. Infect it is said that the Golden Temple or Harmandir Sahab as is called has four entrances spread across four sides of the temple. These four open sides signify the importance of acceptance and openness for all. Infect even in the word Gurudwara the word Gur is for Guru. Dwara is like door. So Gurdwara is the door to house of God. It is a place where the sacred Sikh scriptures, Guru Granth Sahib resides.

But these days there are Gurudwaras where the four entrances do not exist, there are others who keep three out of four entrances closed (to avoid dust or new thoughts ?), there are others who have put in glasses on two of the entrances. But this symbolism is probably also because of Guru's will. When probably He realized that his disciples are restricting new thoughts, there are groups emerging between his disciples, wherein the acceptability and openness to all is deteriorating probably then He thought that let Me shut my doors accordingly. The places where He thought that acceptance and openness are still the way of life all four doors to reach Him remained open but where ever He thought otherwise, he symbolically shut the doors and most of the time through the hands of His favorite disciples or Granthis.

The purpose of swords and large circles around the alter where the holy Sculpture is kept is also significant. The same are not to raise a holy war, but these signifies that a true Sikh as to raise his voice against injustice done to anyone. And the fact that the weapons are lying lower than the scripture conveys that the weapons and the warrior part of Sikh takes the secondary position than the spiritual part.

In essence I believe Sikhism is about hope and progress ( Asha + Uneeti). It is a call to fight against any form of injustice and discrimination.

And I think every Sherry (read representative of common man) will come forward with this hope and progress to undo injustice done to anyone. I think the message must have gone to The One who like the Golden Temple resides in hearts of people of Amritsar.


Regards,

Sameer Sachdeva



reference
1. http://www.realsikhism.com/