Dear Sir of Madame,
Recently I read about a ban on clean shaven Sikhs in a Gurdwara in Australia. This got me thinking about how the original message of Guru Nanak is being altered by certain individual interests. It is true that Guru Gobind Singh asked Sikhs not to cut their hair and that is the correct Sikh religious principle. However Sikhism has always and will always be a non-denomination religion. That’s what makes Sikhism special. In our Gurdwaras, we allow everyone to enter, whether they’ve done something bad in their life, whether they are Punjabi, Hindu, White or Black. It does not matter. All we ask is that men and women sit separately and cover their heads so that the Gurdwara become a holy and prayerful place. You do not need to wear Punjabi clothes, or wear white, or wear blue and orange. You do not need to even be Punjabi to come to a Gurdwara and eat some food from the langar. That is how most Gurdwaras operate around the world, in America, Canada, Europe or India. However, recently some Gurdwaras like the ones in Australia are banning clean shaven Sikhs. I tried to research more about this issue but I could no longer find the news article. I hope that the Sikh community in Australia becomes more active and demands that their Gurdwara allows anyone to enter. Or if they do not want to they have to declare themselves as practicing a different kind of Sikhism. People cannot be confused into thinking that these are the original Sikh practices. Slowly as we enter the future we begin to realize what are Gurus may have meant when they preached that this is a Dark Age. Maybe they meant that even a religion like Sikhism will change in the wrong direction overtime if people do not want to stand up for the true religion. I know of people who have been convinced to follow holy men, and people who have been convinced in so many things that are anti-Gurmat. I remember in a book which I was just trying to find, but it has disappeared temporarily from my house that 3HO would claim that wearing white for 40 days would make you soul pure, and your mind pure, and clean your character. So for people who tell me “So what if they wear white!.” Like on sikhsangat.com. I am sure that people are missing my point, just look at some of the claims in Yoga Secrets for Business success by Darshan Singh Khalsa you will understand a little bit of what I mean that these are not Sikh beliefs. That’s all, people can believe them but a Sikh is not suppose to. This is really the essence of my message. So in a long story cut short, now is the time to bring Sikhism back to what it was. If you do not feel that people who are clean shaven are following Sikhism that is your choice but they deserve to go to Gurdwaras the way a person who is not even Sikh does.
Thanks and Sincerely,
Suntink
Recently I read about a ban on clean shaven Sikhs in a Gurdwara in Australia. This got me thinking about how the original message of Guru Nanak is being altered by certain individual interests. It is true that Guru Gobind Singh asked Sikhs not to cut their hair and that is the correct Sikh religious principle. However Sikhism has always and will always be a non-denomination religion. That’s what makes Sikhism special. In our Gurdwaras, we allow everyone to enter, whether they’ve done something bad in their life, whether they are Punjabi, Hindu, White or Black. It does not matter. All we ask is that men and women sit separately and cover their heads so that the Gurdwara become a holy and prayerful place. You do not need to wear Punjabi clothes, or wear white, or wear blue and orange. You do not need to even be Punjabi to come to a Gurdwara and eat some food from the langar. That is how most Gurdwaras operate around the world, in America, Canada, Europe or India. However, recently some Gurdwaras like the ones in Australia are banning clean shaven Sikhs. I tried to research more about this issue but I could no longer find the news article. I hope that the Sikh community in Australia becomes more active and demands that their Gurdwara allows anyone to enter. Or if they do not want to they have to declare themselves as practicing a different kind of Sikhism. People cannot be confused into thinking that these are the original Sikh practices. Slowly as we enter the future we begin to realize what are Gurus may have meant when they preached that this is a Dark Age. Maybe they meant that even a religion like Sikhism will change in the wrong direction overtime if people do not want to stand up for the true religion. I know of people who have been convinced to follow holy men, and people who have been convinced in so many things that are anti-Gurmat. I remember in a book which I was just trying to find, but it has disappeared temporarily from my house that 3HO would claim that wearing white for 40 days would make you soul pure, and your mind pure, and clean your character. So for people who tell me “So what if they wear white!.” Like on sikhsangat.com. I am sure that people are missing my point, just look at some of the claims in Yoga Secrets for Business success by Darshan Singh Khalsa you will understand a little bit of what I mean that these are not Sikh beliefs. That’s all, people can believe them but a Sikh is not suppose to. This is really the essence of my message. So in a long story cut short, now is the time to bring Sikhism back to what it was. If you do not feel that people who are clean shaven are following Sikhism that is your choice but they deserve to go to Gurdwaras the way a person who is not even Sikh does.
Thanks and Sincerely,
Suntink
