Why There Are No Sikh Missionaries

[Neutral Singh]

Teachings of Guru Nanak transcend any religious barriers... I sometimes feel ashamed that the sikhs, have miserably failed in His mission to spread the message of universal brotherhood, by hopelessly intangled ourselves in petty sect bashing within Sikhism... Sikhs have hardly spread the message of Guru Nanak with deligence...

I was wondering, if we see the life pattern of Guru Nanak Ji, we would realise the His grand mission was nothing short of great missionary project... a grand project of spreading the Name of God beyond the semetic bounderies of religions...

Now, my question is why Sikhs never had missionaries spreading the word about Sikhism ?

Best Regards

 

[Arvind]

Sikh missionaries spreading the word about Sikhism fail due to:
1. Already mentioned reasons in ur post
2. No movies allowed, or character play etc.
3. No sikh is going to tolerate seeing their Guru ji at the door steps, as just another book
4. Cost of avlbl books
5. Examples from own home - to be a sikh
6. No buying of people done, as that wont yield 'sikhs'
7. Gurudwaras taken as a social place of gathering instead of Gurmat Vichar, and other forward thinking activities
8. Openly done misuse of the deposits, by committes

In short, Good citizens elect bad politicians or leaders. so let us not be So Good, and root the incompetencies out, to bring out a changed better environment, so that next generation of sikhs feel better about the work done by present ones.

Some of us are working on a 'Sikhism Information Booklet' which has got big plans for the future, and this would be a sort of contribution to spread Guru ji's word in different languages. I am trying to give a final touch to this sooner.

Best Regards.

 

[Tejwant Singh]

No Snakeoil to sell, Only Goodness to share!!

Now, my question is why Sikhs never had missionaries spreading the word about Sikhism ?

Neutral Singh ji,

A very thoughtful question. Lets try to disect it with our very limited abilites.

Missionaries were nothing but snakeoil salesmen who used carrot and stick approach to entice the poor and the downtrodden. Missionaries were sent around the world for not to spread the word of God but to lasso the poor so that they become totally dependent on the church for all purposes hence made people feel that there was 'God' looking after them. Missionaries consider themselves as brokers-go betweens or better as Bouncers standing out side God's Gateway. We all know that IK ONG KAAR needs no broker, no bouncer.

Why does not Sikhi have missionaries?

Sikhi does have missionaries in a very unique way. It is more a 'Calling'(Main Entry: call·ing
Pronunciation: 'ko-li[ng]
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence).

Sikh is 'Apei Guru Chela'. Sikhi believes in 'Sabh Gobind Hein'. Sikh practices 'Nan koi Beri Nahin Beghana'. Sikh believes that all have their rights to seek ONE GOD the way they want and those rights should be protected no matter how much they differ from Sikhi or any other religion. The proof is in the sacrifice of our 9th Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur ji.

Our mission is not mere lip service but in REHAT - doing good deeds and sharing goodness. We should go and do Seva in the society we live in. We should find one day a month if not a week to visit old people's homes where lots of people are lonely, orphanages, soup kitchens etc etc so that the world can find out who the followers of GURU NANAK are.

Sikhi created the concept of 'Sant Sipahi- Peace warriors'. Every person who seeks ONE GOD through GURBANI is the torch bearer of ' Namm japnah, Kirat Karni & Vand kei Chaknah concept. In other words we are all missionaries but the best part of our mission is that we have no snakeoil to sell, only goodness to share.

Tejwant

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji KI fateh.

We originally had "missionaries" of sorts...these were the MANJIS established by Guru Amardass ji...originally about 24 in number these were established as Centres of Sikhi in far away places...to "represent" the GURU, do parchaar, collect monies etc for the Guru's Darbaar..and live EXAMPLARY LIVES so that Sikhi could spread by EXAMPLE.

These Manjis (Masnads - Chairs) were initially very successful in spreading Sikhi far and wide...but slowly over a period of time.....many weaknesses crept into the system...Many of the Manjis became CORRUPTED by the POWER ( Guru's Representative), and the GREED of MONEY ( Guru's Golak, valuable things donated for Guru Ji began to be coveted by these reps)..By the time of GURU GOBIND SINGH JI the Corruption had reached unprecedented levles...Manjis turning into MASANDS and GURU JI took stern measures to ABOLISH the system.

After Guru Gobind Singh Ji, when the Khalsa Ji was too busy fighting for its very survival, another "missionary system" took over control of all Sikh Shrines, Guur Golak etc...these were the Udasis. Not being the "Warrior Khalsa" they were NOT prosecuted by the Govt..and allowed to take over the Gurdwaras..... These Udasis did a lot of Parchaar and contributed to the spread of Sikhi and kept the Gurdwaras in good shape...... until over time they too became corrupted and began to treat the Gurdwaras as their PERSONAL PROPERTY and became MAHANTS..leading to the bloody confrontations and the SINGH SABHA MOVEMENT to clear them out of the Gurdwaras...

Now GURDWARAS are the "personal" properties for the local Pardhaans and Gurdwara Committees..many gurdwaras...many pardhaans....some go so far as to be "jealous" of each other as well...each wants the maximum GOLAK and Chharrawa for their own Gurdwara.....and money is "saved" for gurdawra extensions, beautifications, renovations...NONE is deemed necessary for Parchaar..WHAT PARCHAAR ?? dont you call raagi jathas Parchaar ?? but then Raagi jathas mean MORE GOLUK for the Gurdawra !! so WHAT ?? if that is also "parchaar" then why worry ?? Dovenh hath laddoo..naleh parchaar naleh goluk !!!

Gurdwaras tody need to be "rescued" from these Parbhandaks and Pardhaans...by a NEW Singh SAHA MOVEMENT.... we need Computers, the INTERNET, Forums like SPN supported by the Gurdwaras ( and not funded by individual sikhs struggling to feed their families as well as serve Sikhi parchaar), we need Animated Movies like the recently launched "Chhotteh Sahibzadeh", we need newsletters, newspapers, radio stations ( free of censorship ) via the Internet
We need to make the life of a Sikh Missionary worth while...GIGO is unavoidable ( Garbage IN - Garbage OUT)..IF totally useless persons make it to the misiionary colleges due to low pay, etc..then we cant expect top knotch missionaries...pay peanuts and you get monkeys...( attract monkeys..and you need to pay only peanuts is also correct)

We need not worry about "books at the door"...GURBANI is not that easy to "desecrate"....we can leave TEACHINGS at the door, we can leave our personal lives at the door as examples..

Christianity is 2005 years old....FOUR times our age....but wonder of wonders...the other day when I attempted to send my condolences to the churches in my locality ( on the death of the Pope)..I found that MOST of them didnt have any email address/web page/internet presence or just DEAD Pages on the websites....GURDWARAS definitley have a HEAD START on them in this regard.

Jarnail Singh

 

[Sher Singh]

i think its just the fact that we dont care anymore. Yes, some peeople care but others (maybe mostly the Sikh population doesnt care). As you all have seen, it may be that the majority of all SIkhs are mone, or have hair cuts. Thus, some people/leaders may think it would be a bad thing for us to spread Sikhi when the majority of us alreeady aren't.

 

[Arvind]

Sher veer,

I take that as your opinion based on your observations.

Regards.

 

[Sher Singh]

Sher veer,

I take that as your opinion based on your observations.

Regards.

lol, true, but what i said also includes my ideas about what some Sikhs may be thinking.

 

[vijaydeep Singh]

Gurfateh!



Gyani Sahib ji are correct.But by mercy of Akal this khot(wrong things) in Sikhism is getting reduced day by day as coming Generation of filthy(Malechh) Prabandhak(managemnt) is going far from Sikhi and becoming Patit(apostate).As young one get wrong impression of thier wrong elders and tend to se Sikhism as wrong due to these old wrong Sikhs.

Well people like Badal etc.want ritualisitcs Jatha more popular so that they have no brain and let them be misguided as politicians want.This lead to gem of Panth Sirdar Sahib Kala Afghana Out of Panth wrongly.

But soon Das will write the glory Panth via neo converts and role of Missionaries in other parts of the world.And Das is happy to tell that Kala Afghana types of missioaries are also on conversion spree.Das will give detalis within a week.So let us all be in high spirit.

Gyani Sahib let us try about Malayas,chinees and Tamils understand Sikhi in Maleshiya and Akal may help them in Sikhi way there.

 

[Sher Singh]

Thanks Vijaydeep singh

 

[Singhstah]

in my opinon if we were true khalsas, we wudnt need missionarys, poeple will around true khalsas wud convert straight away, sich is the effect of a true khalsa, so first before getting missionarys, we shud become khalsa oursleves, then others will naturally be drawn to sikhi

 

[vijaydeep Singh]

Gurfateh

Dear Brother Singhstah Ji,

Das is very happy that you know that since ages this has been happening that by being as a role model a Sikh charector makes other attracted to be as a Sikh.

Yet as we have a large store of divne words called Gurubani that we must share with all.So preaching must not be kept at the back burner.

Das wants to remind you that when Bhai Sahib Bhai Randheer Singh Ji underwent Amrit Sanskar he had another Sikh also becoming a Sikh.That Sikh was infact a maulvi of a mosque previously.

Bhai Sahib was slapping the face of those ideaost who were not allowing lower castes in Darbar Sahib as at that time in temple of Hindu deties lower caste were not allowed and Darbar Sahib has a good lot of idols.Solater idos were removed but ture image of Guru all humas were welcomed.

And to those fools who said that Muslim can not be converted to Sikhism as if Gurmat is only a servent of hindu race.

In his life Sixth Guru Converted Muslim lady Mata Kaulan into Sikhism.
Tenth Master also converted Ibrahim Shah(Called Bahimi) into Sikhims by amrit Sanskar Calling him Ajmer Singh thence(Suraj Prakash).

So Gurmat is open door for all.Once das met his suppeiror officer who is Tamil.He had seen Das as a Hindu and after finding Das as a Sikh his question was DO SIKH ALSO CONVERT A PERSON INTO SIKHISM AND IS IT INCOORECT THAT SIKHS ARE ALWAYS FROM BIRTH.

Well this is sahmefull that we have made our Panth which is always missioanry into a sort of race.Britishers called Sikhs as Martial race and we accepted it.

It is wrong.It is martial faith and nothing racial about our faith.We nned to rethink and come out of racialism,jattism,punjabism and then we can be tru with Sikhism and like Das sees Chrsitians,Hare Rama Hare Krishana or other preachers going door to door to preach and by attempts winning converets.We nned to have such preachers of Sikhs.

Say they nned to be local ie in hindi Area no need to get them from Punjab so is the case in south east Asia or Africa or west but make the preachers from local ,who can easyly make a rapport with loacals knowing thier nneds spritual,mental or matterialitical and using Sikhism to remove problems of locals and if someone want then to conveert that one.Akal Bless.

 

[luthra_sumeet]

Teachings of Guru Nanak transcend any religious barriers... I sometimes feel ashamed that the sikhs, have miserably failed in His mission to spread the message of universal brotherhood, by hopelessly intangled ourselves in petty sect bashing within Sikhism... Sikhs have hardly spread the message of Guru Nanak with deligence...

I was wondering, if we see the life pattern of Guru Nanak Ji, we would realise the His grand mission was nothing short of great missionary project... a grand project of spreading the Name of God beyond the semetic bounderies of religions...

Now, my question is why Sikhs never had missionaries spreading the word about Sikhism ?

Best Regards

Yes its partially true that sikhs didnt have misssionaries but there are many missionaries coming up now . i am taking gurmat classes in one such effort supported by www.nishkam.org in delhi.
One aspect is also that since sikhs population have decreased in past years it is an added responsiblities on shoulders on sikhs to let the sikhi attain its position in world that it truly deserves but this is not easy as we all have to leave the comfortable confines of our homes, offices (me including) and to spread the word across about the beautiful tenets of sikhi.Untill we do that and hope that some SGPC or other management committee would do that we cant expect sikhi to be rightly propogated.
Please believe me money alone will not solve problem, at various forums i have seen that people pouring out money but not their time.

-Sumeet

 

[dalbirk]

Dear Sadh sangat Ji ,
WJKK WJKF
I feel as far as Misssionary work in Sikhism is related , Sikh Missionary College , Ludhiana is doing hell of a good job , perhaps the largest & the only missionary institution in the preaching of Sikhism in India & abroad . Anyone agreeing with me should definitely post their views . Visit them at www.sikhmissionary college.org
Regards ,
Dalbir Singh

 

[spnadmin]

dalbirk ji

I am in agreement -- The Sikh Missionary College for me has been a dependable source of reliable, intelligent and inspiring information.

However they do not answer their email when people inquire about taking their online Gurmat course.

One final point -- Sikhs do not evangelize the faith and try to convert non Sikhs. So the Sikh idea of missionary is decidedly different from the Christian idea of missionary. Sikhs preach to other Sikhs. The idea of A Sikh missionary is to strengthen the faith of the sangat and to educate the sangat in the face of so many challenges to our way of faith, worship and life. Apologies if this has offended anyone.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Sikhism is "unique"..in the sense that the Gurus Sahibaans taught that..
1. Akla Purakh is the wisest..kindest..all knowing..doer of everything..His HUKM transcends everything. Thus IF AP has seen it fit to make "A" be born in a HINDU Family...we would be trying to "improve" on AP by preaching to A to change his religion ?? THus GURBANI and GURMATT is all about....A has to be a BETTER HINDU..the BEST HINDU....so as to fulfill AP's HUKM fro him.
Gurbani is replete with shabads describing Guru jIs reflections on how a HINDU can be "THE BEST HINDU"..a Muslim can be the "Best Muslim" etc.
And the very best thing that shines out so clearly in Gurbani is that a "SIKH"..and The BEST HINDU/MUSLIM is not contradictory/exclusive. Thus we have the "Best MUSLIM..in Sheikh Farid Ji who is also the best SIKH....and so on. No other religion/religious text/holy book of any others has this...UNIQUENESS.
Hence Sikhism is about EXAMPLARY LIVING...lead and others will follow...all good Sikhs in history have led examplary lives which drew others to follow them...Once a "sikh" approached Guru Arjun Ji sahib and wnated to know exactly how many SIKHS were in his congregation. Guru Ji replied 4 and half.... One Sikh is Guru nanak Ji, second Sikh is Guru Angad Ji, Third Sikh is Guru Amardass Ji, Fourth Sikh is Guru ramdass Ji..and myself said Guru Arjun Ji am just HALF a Sikh as yet. Today we have various figures for SIKHS..running into the MILLIONS !!!???? really ?? I fear not if we use the YARDSTICK used by Guru Arjun JI sahib.
Thus SIKHS donot have the kind of "missionaries" that Christians and Muslims have...we just dont work that way...even Hinduism doesnt have such missionaries.
2. What we do need to do is begin living as SIKHS....examplary lives of KIRT karnee, waand shhakhnna..naam jappna...then others will automatically look up to us..otherwise empty words dont make firm beleivers...
Regards
Gyani jarnail Singh

 

[Archived_Member_19]

:happy:

Gayani ji

best post :happy:

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Guru Piayario jio,
amarsanghera ji,

Thanks.

Gyani jarnail singh

 

[Archived_Member_19]

Gyani ji

is calling one self a Sikh a way of boosting the ego?

i wonder....sometimes....:hmm:

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Gyani ji

is calling one self a Sikh a way of boosting the ego?

i wonder....sometimes....:hmm:

you wonder right veer ji....i have seen "ego trips..calling themsleves "Amrtidharees"...Bibekis ( we dont touch a sip of water even from non-jatha amritdharees even...let alone Sikhs or non-Sikhs..heaven forbid....ya no Deg from Gurdwara as well if its not a Jtha gurdwara with deg made by jatha singhs !!!..a lot of ego boosters now a days...as common as steroids..and booster drugs...
Lets be as humble and unimposing as GURU NANAK JI who wasnt even "recognised" by Bhai lehnna Ji....when they first met !!!..even though he had come to meet Him....and REMAINED HIS FOREVER as ANGAD JI !!!
Guur nanak ji gave us the SAME POWER...to RETAIN our own "ANGADS"...have we done so for any one ?? Thats what we must PONDER over ?? or do we DRIVE AWAY...the Bhai Lehnna jis who come to meet us..????

Gyani JS

 

[Archived_Member_19]

Thank you Gyani ji

your words comfort me that i am still sane

so instead of the shouts o - "hum hindu nahin" or "We are diffrerent"

shouldn't it be "hum kuch nahin" ?