Wednesday 29 June 2011

Ek Onkar Uncle !

Ek Onkar ! is Sikh principal words belief, meaning just One God. And today accidently I found the Guridwar near my hotel. I think its muslim mosq, that’s why i wanna go there, want to know how muslim community in INDIA.

But when I reached the door, I just smile its not a muslim mosq, but Sikhism place to pray. Because I never go to Guridwar before its make me interesting to go inside. From the book that I read all people man or women that wanna go inside Guridwar must cover the head.



So after cover my head with veil, I clean my foot with the water, leave my shoes than go inside. I see a temple (Akal Takht) in the center like a tomb with a man sit pray and read with holy book. I sit front of them and listen what the priest read.



After the priest end the book, he come to me. His name is Mr. Jasbir Singh, he ask me directly, what i want to know and what reason that make me come inside the Guridwar?

It’s interesting, Mr Jasbir Singh is very open minded priest he gave his time to explain all about Sikhism, almost 1 hour.

The origins of Sikhism teaching by Guru Nanak, He teach emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles do not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.

Sikhism is a monotheistic and a revealed religion. In Sikhism, God termed Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term Ek Onkar. Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Its hukam (will or order).[ When God willed, the entire cosmos was created. From these beginnings, God nurtured "enticement and attachment" to māyā, or the human perception of reality.




Nanak stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Guru Nanak Dev emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.God has no gender in Sikhism, (though translations may incorrectly present a male God); indeed Sikhism teaches that God is "Nirankar" [Niran meaning "without" and kar meaning "form", hence "without form"]. In addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which God has created life.



ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purkh nirbha'u nirvair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṅ gur prasād.

One Universal Creator God, The Name Is Truth, Creative Being Personified, No Fear, No Hatred, Image Of The Timeless One, Beyond Birth, Self Existent, By Guru's Grace.






Guru Nanak stressed now kirat karō: that a Sikh should balance work, worship, and charity, and should defend the rights of all creatures, and in particular, fellow human beings. They are encouraged to have a chaṛdī kalā, or optimistic, view of life. Sikh teachings also stress the concept of sharing—vaṇḍ chakkō—through the distribution of free food at Sikh gurdwaras.




Im lil bit confused, than Mr. Jasbir invite me go to Sikh Langar, a free place to eat for everyone. Its inside the Guridwar.





Everyone can eat here, the rule is :



I think sikh community is very friendly, at least from my first experience , when some uncle give me a hot chai before I leave the Guridwar …Ek Onkar uncle !



To be continued...

1 comment:

  1. Excellent post! That must have been a very special day and experience for you. I very much appreciate your detailed explanation of the Sikh teachings. There are many Sikhs here in New York City, and some faced unfortunate discrimination by ignorance people after 9/11 attacks. From what you explained, it sounds like a religion of love and fairness.

    You always take excellent photos!


    Question: What did you eat?

    ReplyDelete