Recently, I've been looking at my local gurdwara community and started questioning, whats the necessary causes to keep Sikhi alive and prosperous. Why are we in state of always facing defeat, and how can we fix it? What puts us in this position, and what elements do most Sikhs rely on to carry them through life? Notice : I will be talking only of average Sikhs, so you [the reader] may very well be above the definition of an average Sikh and have an enormous amount of courage and nothing will stop you in your way to becoming a perfect Sikh. But, also please take into consideration an objective viewpoint, and disregard your past experiences which have led to your enormous amount of courage. The following list is ONLY in order of what causes the most damage to Sikhism with their general behavior, this ONLY concerns Sikhs and not other types of idealogious, religions, or philosophies.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/1752-the-4-classes-sikhs-destruction-sikhism.html
The four classes of a Sikh include : (I will later define my terms of the classes)
1) The mona, the anti-Sikh
2) Kesh-wala / Sehajdhari
3) Keshdhari
4) The Khalsa
By the term mona or the anti-Sikh, I mean the person or people who go out of their way to destroy Sikh heritage, principles by either methods of liberalism or plain intimidation. Not many people fall into this category, but these are the Sikhs you see that only go to Sikh events to speak out about how stupid the Khalsa is, to only create events which help distort the image of the Khalsa or the real Sikhs, and then go on to add liberal viewpoints which destroy the image of Sikhs over the past hundreds of years only for their self-satisfaction and for their own personal desire to feel as if they committed no wrong. These are the types of people that you see at gurdwara who continually claim that Sikhs in 2005 do not need Kesh anymore, that hinder other individuals from pursuing the pleasure of Amrit. They never admit their wrongs or hold the values of the Gurus teachings to heart, yet they claim to be of the same type and Sikh as anyone else is and will fight in order to have that claim soldified. This is the number one reason and type of people that cause the detioration of Sikhs.
The next two classes are the most critical in making the Sikhs more prosperous and keeping the heritage and tradition of Sikhi going. These classes rely on each other heavily, and class #2 has a much larger quantity that class #3.
Class 2 is the type of people that may or may not keep their hair, but do realize their mistake in choice, yet still hold certain values of the Gurus words to their hearts and try to put it to their life. They are mostly secular, and less religious than any of the other classes. They do not engage in philosophical or deep-meaning debate, and only take Sikhism and Sikh history on the outer surface of what they were either told or read as a child. They often wear the Sikh symbols and regard themselves as Sikhs. They rarely admit that they are the best Sikh like Class #1 does all to often. They will usually defer you to someone who they claim is a better Sikh then themselves, and usually tell you they will either hopefully become a true or better Sikh one day, or only follow it because their parents told them to. As of now, in my gurdwara community, this class holds the largest number of individuals. Some may tie pughs, but have no real reason to, or don't know the purpose of it except that their parents do the same. Some may cut their hair, but often admit they are wrong, and still wear a kara and a Khanda around their neck. They never impose their belief on others and usually claim that they are not the best Sikhs, but hope to be some day. They take pride when other Sardars succeed or Sikhs make a step forward, and they greet other Sikhs, even those who are strangers. This is what we call the reserve-Sikhs. They can be broken down into Pugh-wala and Sehajdhari. Very inter-linked terms, the difference only being on the identity one holds.
Class 3 includes the Keshdharis, one who know reasons why they keep their hair, why they beleive in certain principles of Sikhism, and why they reject the mainstream "religion or trend or fashion". They are active in their community, but have not yet become Khalsa. This is the most wavering class, this is the class that will make or break Sikhism.
Class 3 are the individuals who have already become Khalsa. Once this step is taken, very few go back, although some do, but those are mostly individuals who became Khalsa at too young of an age to handle the societal pressure that it comes with. No point to discuss this class, as everyone is well-aware of the Khalsa.
Now, I bring to my point, Why if my Gurdwara is anything like that of the global Sikh community, why Sikhism will destruct.
The Keshdhari youth, the ones who know reasons why they keep their hair and identity but are confronted by various images of fashion and society either by the media or friends are the ones that can determine the future of Sikhs. But, only if the Pugh-wala and Sehajdharis aide in their help. Every Keshdhari youth needs to be able to see other Singhs, or Sardars, even ones that are not good sikhs, and only superficially Sikh. They need to be able to walk around, and realize other people are part of this struggle, and you are on that is succeeding. The pugh-wala's are like reserves, they don't practice much Sikhi, but they are there for the ones who do practice it, to rely on for evidence and support that Sikhism has not died yet. The Sehajdharis that wear Khandas and go say sat siri akal to a Sardar are ones that also help keep Sikhism alive, because the Keshdhari youth realizes there are people who actually respect him for his choice, rather than either the media or friends who make fun of him and ridicule him for wearing a turban in 2005. Without the help of others, one can not make the journey by himself. I'm sure Guru Nanak or Guru Gobind wouldn't have been nearly as influential or thought-provoking or Charismatic had it not been for them to walk around and see loyal disciples and followers. (It's actually a trick-statement for anyone pondering this...you can't be influential if you have no one to influence, and you can't be charismatic, if no one is able to define it).
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=1752
But, now is where the slip begins. The Pugh-Wala or Sehajdhari group eventually raises their children without kesh, as they don't even know the reasons themselves of why they keep it, but just that it is tradition and it never mattered in their life. The children of the Pugh-wala or Sehajdharis eventually go down to becoming monay (the Anti-Sikh), as they try to define to themselves and their friends and to the gurus that they are just as equal of a Sikh as any Khalsa, and that you do not need to keep the traditional elements of Sikhism intact, and the Guru's word can be used liberally, and as years progress, the 5 K's and religion can be changed. They often become more secular than their parents, and of course, their parents dont mind, because the parents don't even notice this trend, they think the child is just like them. Due to the lack of Sikh-knowledge from the parents, they don't have much tools to teach their children, and so the children just pick up what they can. Once you begin to diminish this group, you dimish the Keshdhari youth, who growing up, never see anyone that respects them, or gives them motivation that a future for Sikhs still exists, all they see is their Parents.
And of course, once the Keshdhari Youth diminishes, the Khalsa only lasts for a generation longer. It's a much slower process than the one I depicted here, but I can tell you, it's happening at my Gurdwara, and I can easily point out the cases.
The Generation of my parents were the ones that were pre-dominantly Pugh-wala, who had not enough knowledge of Sikh philosophy or reason to teach their children, and never took offense if their child gave up the Sikh identity. The cause of the state of youth is a direct reference to how the Parents of this generation held onto Sikhi. But, you may use examples of how you know individuals that were pure Khalsas and yet their child cut their hair against the parents will. This is because, the child was a Keshdhari-youth, but had no one to even look to, not for guidance, but a peer for re-assurance. He does not look for help, because he knows the answers and where they lie, all he looks for is someone or a shadow he can see, a light that shows that you can be normal and yet Sikh. Many of times, this is not found, so the child gives up and returns to things of material interest. Keshdhari-Youth in India influenced by what their cousins do abroad and so on. This is not a problem that suddenly sprang up with the youth, but a problem that was easily started by the parent generation, and has been continuing for 2-3 generations.
I did this research on my Gurdwara by breaking up each individual I knew, into the classes and then comparing it with reasons for either why my friends cut their hair, or why they began to keep it, and why the majority of the youth don't really mind Sikhism that much anymore.
I wonder, would you think this applies to Sikhs in the global community?
I'd most likely say no, as its more relevent in my gurdwara than some others around the area, but it's just a little bit of research I did that I wanted to share with you all.
I also ask, how do we stop the trend? How can I stop it at my gurdwara?
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