Will I too achieve Salvation?

Let me return to the world of blogging after my long absence by posting this question from one of my guests on the blog. I will also use it to introduce the ‘Guru Jhal Ceremony’ to my readers.

Question from seeker.

veer ji are u saying without taking amrit i can still attain oneness with the creator??? i must admit that with grace of waheguru i do my daily banis eventhough i'm crop and only maintain one kakkar that is kara.In the gurdawaras we are told to take amrit and no amount of worship is accepted unless we partake amrit and become guru ka sikh. Can a person like me who is born a sikh but not amritdhari still attain salvation or is taking amrit the key to salvation.i do believe in guru granth sahib Ji as our living guru and subscribe to the 3 conditions stated in your blog.I humbly seek your reply and apologize for any shortcomings.satnam

My Reply:

Dear seeker,
You are absolutely correct in your understanding. If you satisfy the 3 conditions, you are a good Sikh. If you follow the next 3 rehnees of Naam, Dhaan and Ishnaan, you are an even better Sikh – Rememberence of the Almighty, earning a truthful living and giving to the needy, practicing purity of thought and purity of action. (this is the rehat instructed by Sahib Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is sometimes stated as Naam japo, kirt karo, vandh shako.) It is this that will deliver you and bring you salvation and ‘Nirbaan’ or nirvana.

Salvation is not limited to the Khalsa only. The Khalsa lifestyle is an added choice made by a Sikh. It is a path of higher commitment. Therefore, and of course, it brings higher benefits. But Gurpuri, the paradise created by the Guru, is for both Khalsa and Sikh.

Jin keh pohtai punn hai, Se Gurmukh Sikh Guru peh jaateh.
The beloved Sikhs of the Guru who have purity and charity in their hearts, upon their death, go home to be with the Guru. GGS Pg 648 Line 18

Whenever the word ‘rehat’ is spotted, people immediately zoom in to the Khalsa rehat. They only tie ‘rehat’ to the Holy Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Why should that be. Guru Nanak is the founder of our dharma. It is his rehat that all our Guru’s refer to wherever the word ‘rehat’ appears in the Holy Granth. Why does everyone ignore Guru Nanak’s given rehat?

Yes. It is true that Holy Guru Gobind Singh Ji then went further to launch the Khalsa, a warrior saint. So, a new set of rules (also ‘rehat’) now had to be drawn up. But that is not to mean that the original rehat is now superseded or made redundant. And neither should both the rehats be jumbled and bundled up into one. If that was ever the case, Holy Guru Gobind Singh Ji would have given all present at Holy Anandpur Sahib in 1699, an Ultimatum. Take the Warriors Amrit or else leave. I have no further business with you! But that never happened. As a matter of fact, the Holy Guru continued to hold ALL his followers, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, as his disciples. The confusion has come about because of over-zealous Khalsa, who over the last few centuries have started to insist that people are either Khalsa or nothing!

Guru Nanak, the FOUNDER of our faith never spoke about maintaining emblems and form as a precondition before God will accept you in Gurpuri or Sachkhand. Out of the community of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh Ji then created a unique fraternity that we call the Khalsa. They are ‘knights’, crusaders in the name of God , Akaal Purakh, in the full time service of humanity. For those like me who have chosen that path, there is a uniform to be worn, emblems and insignias etc. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to join. but all must understand that at any one time, there will always be orthodox folks and casual folks. For heavens sake, not all of humanity is cut out to be knights and crusaders. There will always be regular folks who just want to enjoy their Sikhi and leave it there. There’s nothing wrong with that.

In the good ol’ days of our Guru’s times, you, dear seeker, in your existing form, could have gone up to the Gurus and sought the ‘Charan Amrit’, just like all the ppl of that time. What Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj did was to create the Khandeh da Amrit, for the members of the ‘Sikh Salvation Army’. That is also why a weapon is used to stir the holy water. You are now a soldier for God.

I personally believe that the extremely difficult times when the Khalsa was created and our fledgling dharma was fighting for it's survival did not allow Guru Gobind Singh Ji the peace and tranquility to manage the changing situation in our community’s development. His light too merged with the Perfect Light at the young age of only 42 years. Just like history records the Sikhs at Nanded, Hazoor Sahib asking Guru Ji many questions about what they should do after He is gone, I wish someone would have asked Him about what we could do to address the need to initiate the thousands who may simply want to remain as loving Sikhs of the Guru and not choose the path of the crusaders!

How we addressed this need today.
Meaningful ceremonies are very important. They help us to anchor important events in our lives. That is why our holy Gurus instituted the Anand Kaaraj Ceremony, the Amrit Ceremony, the Antim Sanskaar or death rites. And when the Sikhs realized that we did not have a birth ceremony, it too was added on by the Sikhs even as late as the early nineteenth century, and became known as the 'Janam Sanskaar'.

Similarly, seeing an urgent need, we too have initiated a ceremony. We call it ‘Guru Jhal Ceremony’. (jhal means water). In English, we call it the ‘Affirmation of Faith Ceremony’.

Every year we conduct this ceremony so all of us can renew our faith. As part of our schools Vesakhi celebrations, we have our Guru Jhal Ceremony. Actually, it's nothing new at all. It's simply an adaptation from the ‘Janam Sanskaar or birth ceremony. It is exactly what the granthi of your local Gurdwara will do if you take a new born baby to be baptized.

The whole Sikh population of our school gathers in the auditorium. It is all decorated with flowers, tinsel, scented candles, soft lighting etc. all students and staff then enter and take their positions. We say a short prayer to invoke God’s and Guru’s blessings for the preparation of Guru Jhal. We pour water into a crystal vessel, add sugar cubes and stir it with an ornamental golden dagger. We recite the Japji Sahib, together, as a congregation.

When the paath is complete, we serve spoonfuls of Guru Jhal to all our students and staff, who receive it in their cupped hands. The decorum, protocol and solemnity is observed exactly as per the sanctity of the Khandeh dha Amrit. Even members of our Chinese and Indian staff ask to be blessed with the holy jhal. It is a very uplifting moment. Everyone who wants it is given Guru Jhal. And now, everyone belongs to the Guru. No differentiation is made over who has long hair, wears any K’s or not, or even what religion etc.

This is actually the extension of the ways of Guru Nanak Ji, who channeled Akaal Purakh’s blessing to all who came to Him. When rain falls, it falls on everyone. Let everyone receive the Water of Life. Everyone receives equally the life-giving drops of rain. So too with the Guru’s blessings. Everywhere in the world He went on His four journeys, Holy Guru Nanak blessed all who came to Him, with no discrimination whatsoever. For Sikhs to discriminate or deny this nectar of blessings is to go against the teachings of Sikh dharma! (If any Sikh today challenges this approach, they are challenging the essence of Sikhi.) A Sikh is one who follows the example of his Guru. It may not be perfect, but it is in the spirit of our father, Guru Baba Nanak.

(I will keep repeating myself, that as long as Sikhs keep insisting on keeping Sikhi as an exclusive club only for the ‘chosen ones’, we will wander in the wilderness and never achieve any success on the world stage. But the day we stop being exclusive and become inclusive, open up our hearts and souls to all the people of the world, Sikhi will start to grow into a phenomenon worldwide. The only reason Sikhi is stunted today is because of the narrow-mindedness of us Punjabi Sikhs. I am, just like everyone I know, tired of being a minority in this world. I am going to preach what I have to preach, to spread the dharma of the Gurus!)

What we do at the Guru Jhal Ceremony is simple. I cannot describe to you the excitement, beauty and grace it brings to all present. Repeating it every year at Vesakhi is very very important. It brings renewed energy in our commitment to our faith and community. It is a beautiful and meaningful ceremony. Out of a need and a practical necessity, we have solved our problem by searching for a solution within the framework of Sikhi.

It is my dream that this ceremony with whatever improvements necessary, should be incorporated into the Sikhi way of life. Imagine Sikhs all over the world going to a Gurdwara near them to renew their vows every year at Vesakhi. It will energise the Sikhs of the world. Do it and see.

As a matter of fact, this Guru Jhal Ceremony should not be restricted to Vesakhi alone, but encouraged at major gurpurabs that are celebrated by a Gurdwara. However, a pre-condition is recommended. The sanggat who wish to partake should be present for the preparation of Guru Jhal. This is in comparison to the Amrit that we keep in our homes, the holy water we bring home from an Akhand Paath, which is what we serve as a parshaad after daily nitnem etc. (Guru Jhal must never be a closed door affair, but there should be NO movement of persons during the ceremony. Sanctity is of the essence.) All present must join in the recitation of the Japji Sahib. This would also then become the initiation rite of all those of us who are Sikhs, those of us who are not, or not yet, Khalsa. After all, the Khalsa already have a ceremony unique to themselves. We need a ceremony for the Sikhs! And the Guru Jhal Ceremony is perfect to let everyone partake of the joy of being a Sikh.

People of other religions who are looking to enter Sikh dharma should be given Guru Jhal as their conversion or ‘birth rite’ into Sikhi. In the absence of a ceremony today, many people in Malaysia who wanted to become Sikhs at the ‘entry level’ Sikhi, eventually did not because they could not take up the vows of the Khalsa, as was insisted upon by Gurdwara officials, the majority of whom themselves had never ever taken these vows themselves. We lost many Chinese and Indian converts to ‘entry level Sikhi’ because our religious community does not recognize or understand that in this new age and new world, there are many people who are attracted by the beauty of the Sikh teachings and want to join the dharma, but are not willing or able to wear turbans or kirpans because it is just so alien to their culture. As a matter of fact, if you go on to the ‘Discussion’ section of Sikhnet right now, you will find mail posted by 3 persons, one Abdus Salaam, another who sounds Spanish and one girl who sounds American, who are all asking for guidance to practice the Sikh way of life. At the same time, they say they are not ready to tie a turban etc. so this is a perfect example of what I am trying to say. If we don’t cater for this need, we are the ones who will lose.

Our wise Gurus adopted the then rite of conversion of ‘Charan Amrit’ to all those who wanted it. It was these practitioners of ‘entry level Sikhi’, (like many Punjabi Hindus and the Sindhis) and their subsequent generations who later became so inspired as to answer the call of the Guru and take the vows of the Khalsa. If today we open the doors to all the people of the world through this kind of a simple ceremony, I have no doubt at all that in the years to come, they will exeed and excel, just like the American and European Sikhs have taken Sikhi to such amazing new heights.


In response to my blog - Hey, You're No Sikh!, I had stated that it was time to re-package, re-brand and re-market Sikhi. One guest wrote a comment, suggesting that I was not just doing that, but i was actually attempting to re-write Sikh history. I remember I had replied that is not what I am trying to do. What I am in fact doing, is attempting to re-write the future. Writing this blog brought that exchange to my mind. I wanted to say that out loudly, for all of us to hear, so we can all be free to do the same.

Dear Readers. The future of the magnificent Sikh Dharma is in our hands. The Holy Gurus have given it to us to nurture this holy seed to fruitition. We are all empowered to think and act to take the dharma to the future. So many sakhis tell of our Gurus attempts to teach their followers to take appropriate and correct action. when thought necessary (Refer the sakhi of how Holy Guru Gobind Singh Ji tested the independence and upright conduct of His Sikhs by saluting the grave of a Pir with His arrow and how He was made to pay a fine By the Khalsa for that act). Guru has tested us for our wisdom, to empower us, to give us the ability and confidence to act whenever action is required. It does not mean that for the thousands of years to come, we cannot improvise and improve, invent and create and continue to only do things exactly as they were left by our Gurus. That would be ruinous. Anything that stagnates, nature destroys.

Ideas and improvements can be discussed and evaluated. What works will prevail. Ours is to give our energies so that we may aspire to a greater panth in the years to come. Satnam