470f Sikh Philosophy Network - Blogs - Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/ Sikh philosophy network is resource on sikh history sikhi sikhism sikh religion traditions discussion forum and intellectual articles on sikh philosophy. en Sat, 25 May 2013 22:01:20 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/images/makemoney/misc/rss.jpg Sikh Philosophy Network - Blogs - Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/ Sikhs reflect and object. Who will cast the first stone? http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/153-sikhs-reflect-object-who-will-cast.html Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:11:16 GMT *Nicely expressed!* ---Quote (Originally by dalbirk)--- Bhai Harbans Lal Ji , It is beyond me to comment upon something pointed out by such an esteemed authority like you... Nicely expressed!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dalbirk View Post
Bhai Harbans Lal Ji ,
It is beyond me to comment upon something pointed out by such an esteemed authority like you . But I wholly agree with kanwardeep Ji's observation that Sikhi survived only due to TALIBANISED / RADICALISED Sikhs like the founders of Singh Sabha Movement . Why did Guru Gobind Singh Ji made the hair & kirpan mandatory , because IMHO one explanation suggests that at the time of martydom of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji out of thousands of Sikhs in Delhi at that time only Bhai Jaita & Bhai Lakhi Shah played the role of Sikhs . None of the other followers came forward because they were a part of the crowd where they could conceal their identity .Also IMHO no other religion / Movement has survived in India where there were thousands of movements but only thing surviving is BRAHMINISM . Also one more thing is there despite several attempts to revive Buddhism in India the efforts have not yielded much results Why ? Because the Brahmins are in full control of Buddhist shrines all over India with no sign to distinguish them from real Buddhists . Why Jainism was absorbed & sank without a trace because 99.99% of Jains do not follow Jainism & worship Devi Devtas instead , shrines are controlled indirectly by Brahmins . No other INDIC religion has survived from the onslaught of Brahminism in India except Sikhism because of the outward symbols prominently HAIR . Which is why the shedding of Hairs by Sikhs in Punjab is causing so much alarm , is certainly seen as the decline of Sikhism & its subsequent absorbtion into Brahminism ( Hinduism )
]]> Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/153-sikhs-reflect-object-who-will-cast.html Suicide and Sikhism http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/151-suicide-and-sikhism.html Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:16:08 GMT Suicide
by PARVEEN KAUR


"They are all crazy here, a bunch of nuts" says Aman (please bear in mind that this is a fictional name).

I glance over my shoulder to see a well dressed, perfectly coiffed woman screaming obscenities and being led away
by a security guard wearing latex gloves. "You would never think she is crazy," he mutters.

Even though I have been exposed to many things in my career, nevertheless I am taken aback by this comment.

I thought my Friday at work would be an uneventful one until I got that call from my colleague at the other college campus. She informed me that Aman had left a message to say she wasn't doing too well in school. Being a bit surprised, I call her to make sure that everything is okay. Last week she seemed to be in good spirits while we worked on an assignment together.

"I want to kill myself," she says. Even though I am bit perturbed, my training on suicide prevention instantly kicks into high gear and I probe further and ask her how she planned to carry this out. "I am going to swallow 40 aspirins and wait to die; there is nothing in life to look forward to".

I remind myself that this is the time of the semester that we find students in crisis, it happens predictably every month around mid-terms.

Personal issues that have been percolating over time, the stress of endless assignments, group work and exams to study for, can push some students to the edge. This time it could have had disastrous consequences.

Aman agrees to meet with her psychiatrist at a local hospital and I convince her to allow me to meet her there to ensure that she got the help needed. I breathe a sigh of relief, she made my job and her life a little easier, and usually calls of this nature do not always go so smoothly. In rare cases, the police have to be called and students feel betrayed.

My mind races with a million thoughts as I get into my car to drive to the hospital. Even though I have made similar calls in the past, there is nothing routine about responding to someone who wants to end it all.

What glimmer of hope can I offer? How can I use my limited knowledge of gurbani to offer words of solace? What would gurbani say about this?

Surely some people in the times of the gurus, (the ones so blessed to be on earth at the same time) must have suffered from mental health issues? How would the Gurus offer solace to someone so desperate that they felt life was not worth living.

Especially in light of the fact that gurbani often reminds us that the human form has been achieved through suffering and pain, transmigration and the pain of birth and death. That the body is a gift and temple devoted to God and that death is not a choice/ right that we humans exercise. I asked my Guru to guide me.

Aman has been battling depression and schizophrenia for the past 30 years, s he has been in and out of the psychiatric ward more times than she can remember. Her disability is an invisible one, people tell her it's all in her head.

That is true. Chemical imbalances have origins in the brain and there is a genetic pre-disposition as well.

"There is no God. If there was, I would not be here suffering like this".

At that moment, her words weighed heavily on my own shoulders. I have pondered and struggled with this very question myself.

I remember a verse by Guru Gobind Singh that life is a battlefield and that we must leave the earth fighting the good fight.

We all have a cross to bear, I tell Aman, remnants of past lives that affect us in the present one and which we must go to battle with, to overcome. "I must have bad karma" she replies. Karma is neither good nor bad, we as humans attach meaning to it.

"I am going to take pills. If I had the guts, I would jump in front of a subway train but I don't!" Aman offers.

She looks at me and I know at that point she does not really want to die.

People who are suicidal are severely depressed, some may be trying to end the pain, others think that life is futile and their ability to cope is dramatically diminished.

Most people in this situation have made at least one previous attempt. When people are suicidal, they feel helpless and trapped. Their normal coping skills and problem solving abilities may be impaired, preventing them from being able
to think creatively of the many options they have.

One of my future projects is to look at the rate of suicide in our own Sikh community. It does happen but it is a topic we are very uncomfortable discussing. We often dismiss it as fate or karma. I remember many years ago, the sangat was really shaken: a teenager who used to do seva and who attended kirtan classes regularly had killed himself. So very sad, devastating for the family, the pain so unbearable ... so unlike that of a relative lost to age, disease or natural causes.

In retrospect, we wondered about any clues or signs that we could have been more attuned to help this particular individual. People who commit suicide do not fit a mold, they are just as likely to have a psychiatric history or be the honour-roll student who appears to have their ducks lined up in a row. The commonality is that they at some point have cried out for help, sometimes very subtle things such as giving away their favourite belongings, talking of giving up and wishing they were not on
earth. They may begin to withdraw from family and friends and isolate themselves from the world thinking that their support system won't care or will be better off without them.

Aman and I are standing outside the intimidating glass partition that separates the patients from the nursing staff. Security guards are a common sight here since many people do not seek help willingly. After we meet with her doctor, who admits her for the weekend, Aman turns to me and says "Parveen, you are just delaying the inevitable."

Walking away from the hospital, I wonder if I had really helped her. Temporarily yes, but what about the next time? What if she goes through with her plan after being released? I hope for the better.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Aman walked into my office on Monday to say she was feeling much better. I write a few quick e-mails to her professors to get extensions for assignments and extra time for exams. This may seem like a small thing but this is the glimmer of hope applied in practical terms. I caution myself to check-in with Aman on a regular basis, her disability is a permanent one and this type of scenario is likely to play out again.

If you have a family member or friend you are concerned about, please tell them so. You will not encourage thoughts of suicide by just asking this question. You will have a chance to offer some hope to this person and to talk them out of it. ]]> Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/151-suicide-and-sikhism.html India, Pakistan and the Musical Gurus of Peace http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/147-india-pakistan-and-musical-gurus-peace.html Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:00:24 GMT In July, India and Pakistan will begin a new round of talks in hopes of reviving their diplomatic efforts and renewing their peace process. While there are many pressing political issues to... In July, India and Pakistan will begin a new round of talks in hopes of reviving their diplomatic efforts and renewing their peace process. While there are many pressing political issues to discuss, these talks could also be a remarkable opportunity for an innovative public diplomacy initiative between the nuclear neighbors. Although public diplomacy is often thought of as a form of state-to-state engagement, it also has the power to engage populations on a person-to-person level as well, especially in the age of social media and networking. Given the fact that many Indians and Pakistanis sing the same songs and listen to the same music, there is a unique opportunity now to promote popular music as a form of public diplomacy. Although India and Pakistan are politically divided, their cultural roots still bind them together. Nowhere is this more apparent than Punjab -- a region that was partitioned to create the modern nation-states of India and Pakistan in 1947, and further divided into the Indian states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in the 1960s. Despite these geopolitical divisions, Punjabis in both India and Pakistan remain united by "Punjabiyat," a shared cultural heritage that has developed over millennia.

The historical Punjab is the only region in South Asia where Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs are all represented in large numbers. Even as Punjab's history is one of conflict and communalism, it is also one of overlapping musical and religious traditions. For example, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh canonical text, contains within it not only the devotional compositions of Guru Nanak and his Sikh successors, but also verses from poets now considered Hindu and Muslim, such as Namdev and Baba Farid. Likewise, the Sikh devotional music of kirtan draws from similar lyrical sources and employs a similar instrumentation as Hindu bhajan music and Sufi qawwali music. For contemporary musicians, the devotional syncretism of Punjab remains a powerful model for how music can provide an encompassing framework for both unity and diversity.

Earlier this year, I interviewed the Sufi rock star Salman Ahmad as part of a USC book launch series focused on religion, popular culture, and diplomacy. As the founder of Junoon, Pakistan's most popular rock band, Ahmad discussed his experiences performing in both India and Pakistan and explained how rock and roll empowers and connects the youth in both countries. In the name of rock-and-roll diplomacy, Ahmad organized last year's Concert for Pakistan at the UN General Assembly Hall as a way of raising money and awareness for the three million internally displaced people of the Swat Valley in Pakistan. Inspired by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar's famous Concert for Bangladesh, the Concert for Pakistan brought together prominent Indian and Pakistani musicians, diplomats, and entrepreneurs in solidarity and support for Swat.

Another powerful moment in India-Pakistan musical diplomacy occurred in August of 1997, when India and Pakistan celebrated their fiftieth anniversaries of independence as nation-states. In order to commemorate this occasion, the virtuoso Indian music composer A.R. Rahman recorded with the late great Pakistani qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Together, the most famous musician from India and the most famous musician from Pakistan composed "Gurus of Peace," an impassioned plea for peace between India and Pakistan. "Gurus of Peace" proved prescient, as the following year both India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons, prompting President Clinton to call the India-Pakistan border the world's most dangerous region. But A.R. Rahman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had reminded the region the year earlier that India and Pakistan could unite through musical fusion instead of divide over nuclear fusion.

In the 1950s, the US State Department began sponsoring jazz luminaries, such as Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, to perform concerts overseas and serve as American cultural ambassadors. This public diplomacy initiative was aimed at winning the hearts and minds of potential allies in the Cold War, but the concerts also connected communities and ideas at a person-to-person level, and inspired artistic movements throughout the world. Likewise, India and Pakistan should sponsor and promote a series of musical concerts, workshops, and exchanges as a way of creating connections and engaging communities on a non-state level. Musical diplomacy certainly has its limits and should only be one part of a broader public diplomacy strategy, but after more than 60 years of missed public diplomacy opportunities, it's time for India and Pakistan to follow the lead of A.R. Rahman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and give music a chance. ]]> Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/147-india-pakistan-and-musical-gurus-peace.html Meaning of Life http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/46-meaning-of-life.html Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:05:56 GMT When we were kids, we celebrated birthdays with our families & friends,
When we were young, we celebrated ours and friends marriages.
When we are old, we celebrate death of those friends and families... ]]> Aman Singh http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/blogs/aman-singh/46-meaning-of-life.html 0