Vasakhi....it's ringing, will you answer the call?

[JSinghnz]

April 9, 2013 by princeofpunjab Source: princeofpunjab.blogspot.com

Vasakhi....its ringing, will you answer the call?

Monday, April 08, 2013: The truth is often bitter, so to escape it we deny, we dodge and we duck. Yet at some point there is nowhere to hide and you are left standing face to face with the reality. All that time that was wasted in trying to deny the obvious then starts stinging as missed opportunities to change, to update, or fix what we were running from.

They say sometimes experience is required to understand, however we have hardened ourselves so much that even experience rolls off of us like water on oil.

Vasakhi is the most prestigious time of year for Sikhs. In Sikh history, Vasakhi holds such a special place as deep meaningful transformation of the Sikh psyche. It was the culmination of the religion as a whole, the last Guru in human form, Guru Gobind Singh blasted such energy and life into the followers of the faith that it directly changed the course of history not just for India, but for many nations around the world.

The Khalsa was formed upholding rights of all, fighting against injustice and people who laid tyranny on the oppressed. They were hunted, tortured, killed, yet still the community was constantly inspired and growing, because the belief system and heritage was unparalleled to anything known to mankind.

There was never a forced conversion, there was never even any advertising or selling of the religion yet people were in awe of what the Khalsa stood for. They were in awe of Guru Gobind Singh’s sacrifice for the faith, community and nation. They put their lives on the line to be a part of it, to experience that life style which was full of challenges in a worldly sense but ultimate peace from a spiritual standpoint.

The showmanship at Indian weddings is intense. There is a typical scene at an Indian wedding, the bride and groom are on the dance floor and one of their family members comes up with a handful of cash , circle’s it around their heads and throws it in the air. We call this Varna (sacrificing), since money is the most prized position it is saying to the audience and the new couple that even this money is nothing compared to our well wishes and love for you. Sometimes it even becomes a competition where another family member will come with a larger wad of cash and do the same thing, everyone is wowed and the DJ’s who receive this cash in the end are very happy.

Money is considered love, the closer the relation the better the more we spend, because we want that person to know how close we are to them. Then we must start to think how much love, beyond measure, beyond words, beyond explanation Guru Gobind Singh had for his Khalsa, when he sacrificed his children, (4 son’s) for us. How close did he feel to that Gursikh, that instead of throwing money, he //’d his children for the love of his community and nation?

It is mind blowing and very difficult to think in that terms. We are used to superficial acts of love, we get more money from someone and think wow they must really like me, we devise ways to be able to reciprocate and appreciate that love back. We will think about that person, contemplate how can I also show my appreciation/love for them. Yet have we ever thought about reciprocating the love that Guru Gobind Singh showed us? Have we ever thought how can we pay this love back? How can we even comprehend this love, which unlike any that we have experienced in our life?

All he asked was become a better person by becoming a Khalsa. He did not lay any conditions for his sacrifice as many of our friends and family members do, the unsaid loyalty has to exist. I scratch your back you scratch mine, all these relationships are based on some fulfillment of our needs, our desires, or our wants which we try to receive. Becoming a Khalsa, taking Amrit and living a lifestyle which can uplift us as it did so many others is the only way we can begin to understand, the vastness of the Sikh faith.

But today, there are excuses, since we cannot comprehend such love. We have our list of reasons we cannot acknowledge what is needed. Some need time, some need space, some want experience whatever the reason that unconditional love is rejected by us. In our worldly desires and motivations we forget that someone //’d their most invaluable possession’s so that we could live free today, free to even reject that gift of Amrit, free to even reject that we need to be a Khalsa ourselves, even that choice, that every individual should be able to choose what they believe is part of the essence of that love that was given to us.

In our area three of the largest Gurdwara's have to pool together to do Amrit Sanchar a handful of people are urged and encouraged, some inspired yet the numbers are very low. Meanwhile we are easily selling out concerts of Jazzy B, Yo Yo Honey Singh where thousands of our community members turn out and show their 'support/love'. Today our pockets and bank accounts may be full, because that has been our focus, but in doing so we have lost/are losing our deep, rich and unparalleled heritage.

We openly and unashamably regret this gift. We knowingly in our full conscious are able to put it on the back burner, that ‘one day’ I will commit, ‘one day’ I will answer the call. Nothing can describe our disrespect towards that love more than our excuses of rejecting it.

Worrying about a better job, worrying about acceptance from others, worrying about our image, the way we look, the way we fit in the way we may get treated, we run away. We choose ourselves to live in our petty hang-ups, rather than experience something so great that it was worth sacrificing your life at one point. Forget our lives, we can’t even sacrifice our sleep, our comfort, our material possessions and our falsely high image.

Then we wonder why there are no results. Why our lives may feel empty, or why our community is in disarray.

In taking Amrit we make the first step towards acknowledging that we are meant to be something more, not the last step in a pursuit of perfection. You do not get married because you already know what a perfect marriage is, you get married to commit, to make mistakes to understand, and to grow. The same way Amrit is not the end result, it is the beginning of our commitment, yet even that first step we are not willing to take.

Of course we cannot learn standing outside of the school. We did not even enter the building, and then we complain that we do not understand what it’s about.

We know the call, we hear the call, but will we answer the call? Here in lies the most important truth, that when we reject a love that is so pure, when we fail to acknowledge a debt that is so large our lives no matter how materially fulfilled remain empty. Wherever we run, wherever we hide, whatever we choose as our ‘excuse’ we are unable to completely deny the fact that we let go of something so great that others flocked to it without consideration of their existence.

Those few souls taking Amrit this Vasakhi I congratulate you, and though I myself have been a failing member in this institution for years, I would not trade it for any other experience out there!