- Sep 24, 2004
- 139
- 395
VIVA LA VAISAKHI 2013
I.J. Singh
The 25 million Sikhs around the world remember Vaisakhi 1699, the historic day that Guru Gobind Rai
appeared at a massive conclave of the Sikhs at Anandpur Sahib, flashed a naked sword and demanded a
head.
History tells us that after much trepidation one Sikh, Dya Ram, offered his head. The call was repeated
until five volunteers materialized. The Guru then initiated the five into the new order of the Khalsa.
Then they initiated the Guru who became Guru Gobind Singh.
This, we believe, was the final step in the evolution of the Sikh movement started by Guru Nanak two
centuries earlier. Thus were the Sikh lifestyle and world view clearly and fully delineated with an
independent identity.
One can elaborate on this very skimpy outline and a slew of scholars and critics have weighed in on it
over the past three hundred years; many will continue to do so until the end of time.
I come at it today from a radically different direction.
When we talk of Vaisakhi, as we do every year, we recognize the finality of the message in 1699 and
hardly note any changes in our structural framework, mission or message by the passage of time.
We treasure Vaisakhi 1699 as the year of the birth of the Khalsa but hardly note that every child’s birth
depends on a year or so of preparation before a newborn is delivered to the world.
We remember the birthday and its date but fail to take into account that the newborn is now over 300
years old.
Obviously the birth of the Khalsa in 1699 was made possible, even necessary, by the 200 years of
growth in the Sikh movement and its identity made possible by the personal mentorship of the nine
Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Tegh Bahadur, that preceded Guru Gobind Singh, as well as the Sikh
institutions and worldview that evolved during those two centuries of the Guru period.
I have taken more detailed stock of these matters in an earlier 2012 essay titled “Vaisakhi Redux” and
will sidestep these matters today. Let me come from a tangent instead to the post 1699 period today.
What brought this home to me was a recent panel on the tube. I was listening to some talking heads
on television passionately dissecting the meaning, purpose and mechanics of the American Revolution.
These events date from the 1770’s. To some the Founding Fathers were no less than prophets who had
been touched by God and set on a divine mission. Hence the society founded by them was no less than
a holy Church and we could do no better than to preserve the structure that has been bequeathed to us;
one does not mess with perfection.
Others had a more Earthly take on the perfection and the pristine purity of the nation’s Fathers, their
message, motives and their mission.
The words that continue to haunt me are of Chris Mathews, an iconoclastic liberal political Pundit,
rational but not always reasonable. He said, “The (American) Revolution started well over two
centuries ago but it continues today. It did not end then and it hasn’t ended now.”
Of course, he and others like him rest their case on how the nation’s reality has changed from its
beginning on matters like slavery, racial and gender equality, the ideas of what it means in matters
like equality of opportunity when we speak of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are, of
course, not easy matters; just look at issues like immigration reform, universal health care, and gender
issues that continue to rile up the nation even today.
There are those who look at the way the societal reality was during the revolutionary days and
forcefully want to reject any modern expansive interpretation of the words of that time. They forget
that words reflect the context, and meaning of the time and societal values extant then. Life does not
stop; it is not fixed forever in anything – not the way we live, eat, travel or relate to the rest of the
world. And words change meaning and application; language, too, evolves as our lives change. That is
how I look at the inevitability of all the amendments to the Constitutions of nations, including this one,
that have resulted over the years and will continue to arise as needed. The idea is to evolve into a more
fruitful, more egalitarian and a just society with more transparency, accountability, integrity and self-
governance at the core.
Yet there remain excellent minds that seem frozen in time. I point to some scholars and legal
luminaries like Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court and a razor sharp intellect. He and many
like him appear to be totally wedded to the idea that in interpreting the laws of the country we must
remain faithful to the original intent of the founding fathers of the nation; any re-interpretations of their
words that take into account the intervening two centuries and the transformation of society must be
rejected.
It seems to me that such a self-limiting view must by nature become a prison that holds us back in
time and limits us. A lively debate, of course, continues. Witness the hot and heavy disagreement that
focuses on the meaning of the Second Amendment even today.
For parallels of such thinking explore any religious tradition where newer interpretations and analyses
are discouraged because such intellectual processes would “diminish” the sacred nature of doctrine
and tradition. I can supply such examples from secular non-religious literature as well, more from the
liberal arts and less from science.
I suppose such is human nature. Interpretation, analyses and change are threatening like shifting
ground. In stability and unchanging realities there is comfort. But then these matters need to be
balanced – without change there is no progress and no life.
Unquestionably when matters come to religions we take a few more regressive steps back. To us the
message, its interpretation and meaning is etched in stone, and any change is blasphemy, pure and
simple.
We forget that religions, no matter how old or new, were often radically revolutionary when they came
to be. That’s why their founders often suffered at the hands of the powers to be, even lesser despots.
Religions and their founders often challenged the existing order. And we treasure the message for they
give us a way of life and define for us a social order – a community or even a nation. Nations need
borders much as neighbors need fences, to define “us” and “them” and “ours” and “theirs” so as to
reduce conflict between them but never ever to seal one from the other.
The borders help us protect and preserve; the idea is not so much to worship but to live the life style
that a religion asks us to do – that is the best worship. Again, as in civic society, the social fabric –
religious or secular – must operate with transparency, honesty, accountability and self-governance at
the core. To me that's the primary purpose of a religion – to define a way of life and a framework of
social mores and ethics, and not so much to worry or obsess about a life hereafter. To neglect the here
and now for a fanciful and imaginative tomorrow is not the purpose at all -- certainly not at all in Sikhi.
And it seems to me each new generation must reinterpret, re-explore, re-examine and rediscover the
way of life, not merely to follow it slavishly. The message of Vaisakhi every year must start with
the 200 years that preceded 1699, continue to explore the 300 years that followed it and then take us
forward to what will be – our hopes and dreams of tomorrow here on Earth.
The point is that the significance of Vaisakhi did not start with 1699 nor did it end that day. The
revolution of Vaisakhi continues apace and undiminished today. We need to move our heads into the
21st century to see it. That, if anything, will make religions relevant and thus sacred.
Hail Vaisakhi 2013
April 13, 2013
Based in part on the esay “Vaisakhi Redux” from the book “SIKHS TODAY: Ideas & Opinions,” 2012
by I.J. Singh. Ethnic Island, California
I.J. Singh
The 25 million Sikhs around the world remember Vaisakhi 1699, the historic day that Guru Gobind Rai
appeared at a massive conclave of the Sikhs at Anandpur Sahib, flashed a naked sword and demanded a
head.
History tells us that after much trepidation one Sikh, Dya Ram, offered his head. The call was repeated
until five volunteers materialized. The Guru then initiated the five into the new order of the Khalsa.
Then they initiated the Guru who became Guru Gobind Singh.
This, we believe, was the final step in the evolution of the Sikh movement started by Guru Nanak two
centuries earlier. Thus were the Sikh lifestyle and world view clearly and fully delineated with an
independent identity.
One can elaborate on this very skimpy outline and a slew of scholars and critics have weighed in on it
over the past three hundred years; many will continue to do so until the end of time.
I come at it today from a radically different direction.
When we talk of Vaisakhi, as we do every year, we recognize the finality of the message in 1699 and
hardly note any changes in our structural framework, mission or message by the passage of time.
We treasure Vaisakhi 1699 as the year of the birth of the Khalsa but hardly note that every child’s birth
depends on a year or so of preparation before a newborn is delivered to the world.
We remember the birthday and its date but fail to take into account that the newborn is now over 300
years old.
Obviously the birth of the Khalsa in 1699 was made possible, even necessary, by the 200 years of
growth in the Sikh movement and its identity made possible by the personal mentorship of the nine
Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Tegh Bahadur, that preceded Guru Gobind Singh, as well as the Sikh
institutions and worldview that evolved during those two centuries of the Guru period.
I have taken more detailed stock of these matters in an earlier 2012 essay titled “Vaisakhi Redux” and
will sidestep these matters today. Let me come from a tangent instead to the post 1699 period today.
What brought this home to me was a recent panel on the tube. I was listening to some talking heads
on television passionately dissecting the meaning, purpose and mechanics of the American Revolution.
These events date from the 1770’s. To some the Founding Fathers were no less than prophets who had
been touched by God and set on a divine mission. Hence the society founded by them was no less than
a holy Church and we could do no better than to preserve the structure that has been bequeathed to us;
one does not mess with perfection.
Others had a more Earthly take on the perfection and the pristine purity of the nation’s Fathers, their
message, motives and their mission.
The words that continue to haunt me are of Chris Mathews, an iconoclastic liberal political Pundit,
rational but not always reasonable. He said, “The (American) Revolution started well over two
centuries ago but it continues today. It did not end then and it hasn’t ended now.”
Of course, he and others like him rest their case on how the nation’s reality has changed from its
beginning on matters like slavery, racial and gender equality, the ideas of what it means in matters
like equality of opportunity when we speak of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are, of
course, not easy matters; just look at issues like immigration reform, universal health care, and gender
issues that continue to rile up the nation even today.
There are those who look at the way the societal reality was during the revolutionary days and
forcefully want to reject any modern expansive interpretation of the words of that time. They forget
that words reflect the context, and meaning of the time and societal values extant then. Life does not
stop; it is not fixed forever in anything – not the way we live, eat, travel or relate to the rest of the
world. And words change meaning and application; language, too, evolves as our lives change. That is
how I look at the inevitability of all the amendments to the Constitutions of nations, including this one,
that have resulted over the years and will continue to arise as needed. The idea is to evolve into a more
fruitful, more egalitarian and a just society with more transparency, accountability, integrity and self-
governance at the core.
Yet there remain excellent minds that seem frozen in time. I point to some scholars and legal
luminaries like Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court and a razor sharp intellect. He and many
like him appear to be totally wedded to the idea that in interpreting the laws of the country we must
remain faithful to the original intent of the founding fathers of the nation; any re-interpretations of their
words that take into account the intervening two centuries and the transformation of society must be
rejected.
It seems to me that such a self-limiting view must by nature become a prison that holds us back in
time and limits us. A lively debate, of course, continues. Witness the hot and heavy disagreement that
focuses on the meaning of the Second Amendment even today.
For parallels of such thinking explore any religious tradition where newer interpretations and analyses
are discouraged because such intellectual processes would “diminish” the sacred nature of doctrine
and tradition. I can supply such examples from secular non-religious literature as well, more from the
liberal arts and less from science.
I suppose such is human nature. Interpretation, analyses and change are threatening like shifting
ground. In stability and unchanging realities there is comfort. But then these matters need to be
balanced – without change there is no progress and no life.
Unquestionably when matters come to religions we take a few more regressive steps back. To us the
message, its interpretation and meaning is etched in stone, and any change is blasphemy, pure and
simple.
We forget that religions, no matter how old or new, were often radically revolutionary when they came
to be. That’s why their founders often suffered at the hands of the powers to be, even lesser despots.
Religions and their founders often challenged the existing order. And we treasure the message for they
give us a way of life and define for us a social order – a community or even a nation. Nations need
borders much as neighbors need fences, to define “us” and “them” and “ours” and “theirs” so as to
reduce conflict between them but never ever to seal one from the other.
The borders help us protect and preserve; the idea is not so much to worship but to live the life style
that a religion asks us to do – that is the best worship. Again, as in civic society, the social fabric –
religious or secular – must operate with transparency, honesty, accountability and self-governance at
the core. To me that's the primary purpose of a religion – to define a way of life and a framework of
social mores and ethics, and not so much to worry or obsess about a life hereafter. To neglect the here
and now for a fanciful and imaginative tomorrow is not the purpose at all -- certainly not at all in Sikhi.
And it seems to me each new generation must reinterpret, re-explore, re-examine and rediscover the
way of life, not merely to follow it slavishly. The message of Vaisakhi every year must start with
the 200 years that preceded 1699, continue to explore the 300 years that followed it and then take us
forward to what will be – our hopes and dreams of tomorrow here on Earth.
The point is that the significance of Vaisakhi did not start with 1699 nor did it end that day. The
revolution of Vaisakhi continues apace and undiminished today. We need to move our heads into the
21st century to see it. That, if anything, will make religions relevant and thus sacred.
Hail Vaisakhi 2013
April 13, 2013
Based in part on the esay “Vaisakhi Redux” from the book “SIKHS TODAY: Ideas & Opinions,” 2012
by I.J. Singh. Ethnic Island, California