So-called literate and modern Sikhs have very common and small excuses for not practicing the Sikh Rehat Maryada. These include that 5 K's have lost their relevance with time in the modern world or that there is no mention in Guru Granth Sahib for keeping hair. Some of us even go to the extent of citing examples about the wrong conduct of other baptized Sikhs, hence stating that Guru's suggested appearance does not necessarily imply righteous conduct. But modern intellectual Sikhs, in their own might, have not been able to provide any new sights of spiritual or even scientific dimension to mankind. We go all-out to cite numerous examples of misconduct by our fellow Sikhs in order to flimsily establish the notion that our chosen path of not adhering to the Guru's path is superior than the path followed by those who in our view "fallaciously" maintain the identity bestowed by the Guru. Even though Guru obeyed the command of the Panth and bowed His head to the five beloved, yet today's intellectual minds only doubt the vision of the Guru, stating that Guru's gifts to us (5 Ks) are no longer valid in our modern times.

The key notion here is that of "Responsibility" which is associated with our turban, towards our Guru, hence, in not doing anything profane since it is Him that we are representing, through our physical mien, at all times by adorning our heads with the turban. The act of wearing turban keeps us committed to an honest life, and this responsibility is also a protection in itself. We need to understand that the Guru and his path cannot be seen in bad light, if many others are not realizing and living this responsibility along with their turbans. If we nurture a dream of drenching mankind with the dewdrops of love, then we have the responsibility and also the right to be a Sikh of our Guru.

Any Sikh's irresponsibility towards practicing Rehat does not mean that the Guru has failed to lead us through the correct path. This conduct of irresponsibility by others should actually incite more conscientiousness in us to bring light to the whole universe and uphold our own conduct to lead those who have gone astray. The Guru shines like a Sun in the sky. On closing our eyes or turning away from the light of his wisdom, the Sun does not disappear. It is we who have ceased to acknowledge and imbibe the Guru's Word. We do not resign our job because a fellow Sikh colleague is not performing his job right, but we submit our resignation to our religion and our Guru because someone else is not able to perform according to Guru's expectations. Our thinking and intellect is not higher than that of our Guru. Nor have our contributions towards humanity been in any way equivalent to our Guru. The question is: do we question ourselves everyday in our own responsibility towards ourself? The recitation of our prayers everyday reminds us of this responsibility.

To a certain extent, all reasoning that we put forward today is a revolt against the Guru's authority. Materialism in human psyche today, which has heavily dominated human life, is both the cause and the effect of this revolt. If we analyze it from history then we understand that the race of materialism has originated from the point when all things that could be touched and seen were understood to be the only objects that could be believed.

It was the great renaissance followed by the industrial revolution in Europe that brought about a race to accumulate possessions and wealth. After observing through Galileo's telescope, the world understood that it was not the earth, but the Sun that was the center of solar system and all the creations of Almighty were reduced to mere objects named as planets and satellites. The human psyche was turned towards object orientation instead of divine phenomenon. Today when a normal person understands, he sees these wondrous creations as just other objects. All that started as a revolt against the feudalism and wrong priestly practices became a fanatic obsession to go against the Church and then Jesus and finally the Almighty in the name of rationalism.

The world today has turned its face towards physical objects and phenomena. All is seen through the lens of science, and mankind believes in that which can be seen and touched. Life is seen in terms of physical matter without taking life energy itself into consideration. Today we do not see day and night with awe, nor the air we breathe as "The fan of Almighty". Almost everyone sees the Sun and the moon and the earth through a telescope, while Guru Nanak is helping us to see it everyday as one of the million creations that are praying their Aarti to the Almighty.

Ah! How poor are we rich Sikhs? We take these gifts as obvious; as if they are some kind of governmental insurance that is bound to be there. The Guru is bringing life to the Almighty's creations, and our petty minds are taking the life out of them.

Spiritual and physical living exist in perfect harmony when the Sikh Rehat Maryada is practised. The life of Khalsa is born in a world that is both earthly and cosmic at each moment.

While performing our prayers a spiritual state state of union with the One in Everyone can be achieved. The physical world that we see around us, its glamour, its beauty, its substances and its sensuousness have no real affect on the spirit of a Sikh. In this state, one is able to realize the Almighty in every particle of this universal creation. One finds enthusiasm in sacrifice and discovers the underlying cosmic relationship with his turban.

All physical features or the beauty of the body is understood to be completely in synch with the spiritual beauty. The inner self, bathed in the love of the Guru, helps us radiate that beauty in our physical features. The so-called scientific temperament of reasoning and questioning fades, outshined by the art of living life in the love of Guru. One realizes that all sciences and all fashions travel within the Guru, and that the Guru cannot be seen by the light of science and of time. How can the light of stars and of lamps be seen in the light of the Sun? When the Sun rises all other lights are dimmed. When the Guru rises within his Sikh, all sciences and all fashions of all times are seen to exist in a small and passing way within Him. It is our own short-sightedness that in the broad daylight we wish to cling to a lamp.

Our Guru has given us a complete system to develop both our spiritual life and our physical life. The whole prayer of the flower is that its fragrance be an offering of sweetness to bring joy and touch the heart of a passerby. She is contented only with that, because her whole motive for being a flower is thus served. As Sikhs, the complete purpose of our prayers is served if we are of some use to mankind. There is no meaning to the life if it is lived for just our own selves. As the wearing of an expensive garment cannot beautify the body, similarly the wearing of unethical spirit cannot give a better look to our physical structure. The house in which we live becomes a home only with the Guru's love in it, not by being decorated with objects d'art. One loves the body for the spirit living within it, otherwise the body of any animal can be more beautiful than that of a human being.

Our prayer can reach the ears of the Almighty only when we bring the fullest meaning to our lives and blossom like a flower in the garden of the Almighty, where each flower is unique, but the beauty of each adds to the others and the full, bouquet is beautiful beyond description.

The culmination of service to humanity is what Guru Teg Bahadur has given to us in the form of the pooran Khalsa. He has brought both personal living and community living into synch with spiritual life and physical life. As Sikhs we have to ask ourselves this question every day: "Are we fulfilling our responsibility of being a Sikh of Guru Teg Bahadur?" Can we together take the entire humanity to the feet of the Almighty so all feel the shower of His love? Are we living Sikhi with each breath, or are we just pretending Sikhi?

Let us be more responsible to ourselves and to Him and light the wick the inner lamp of His light within ourselves.