Browsing Tag: News

There is a tug of war between those who want to maintain the status quo and those who want to bring in drastic changes in its structure, theology and institutions. What is a paradigm shift?... proposed to carry out surgical strikes to reform the functioning of Gurdwaras. I believe it will cause more harm than good and cause schisms in Sikhi. A representative body of Sikhi, “Global Sikh Network Organisation” for coordinating activities of Gurdwaras all over the globe, is the need of the hour. The beginning can be made by reinterpretation of GGS using modern techniques of hermeneutics.

All religions provide a ray of hope for their followers. Hope has been a blessing in disguise. It is an inbuilt characteristic of human nature. Humanity evolved to the present stage based on hope despite the dictum: “survival of the fittest”. Hope is linked to desire and expectation. If desires are not fulfilled, one becomes pessimist. The difference between hope and desire is palpable.

The contents of the opening Chapter of Book One: “Ponderings that Make up My Credo” can prove to be eye-catching and mesmerizing for any reader who dares to ponder over it. It has many quotes worth its weight of gold: “Nature is God’s manifest might”. “Five senses (visual, audial, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile), which provide the necessary material to Mind, have been given to Man to enjoy Beauty”. “Man is a pain-avoiding, pleasure-seeking, myth-making animal who wanders life after life in the illimitable Desert of Existence”. “Beauty supplies the raw material for aesthetic experience without which the contemplation on the nature of Reality cannot come about”. “The four faculties of Reason, Emotion, Imagination, and Intuition are Man’s chief gifts bestowed on him by God”.

Towards the end of this volume, there are six analytical essays contributed by Harinder Singh, Inni Kaur, Ishmeet Kaur. Jasleen Kaur, and Surender Pal Singh in critical appreciation of the Guru’s life and legacy. Harinder Singh has critically examined the historical sources to establish Guru Tegbahadar as Sultan-ul Duniya Wal-Akhirat (The Sovereign of the World and Hereafter). Inni Kaur tries to render three Rag Devgandhari Sabads by using transcreation to bring out the hidden meanings to establish the Guru’s way to freedom. Ishmeet Kaur delineates the Guru’s ideology...

The place was abandoned after the partition of Punjab in 1947 hence half a century later, the author was unable to apprise on the exact location of this Gurdwara. To make the matter bit complicated, no reference was mentioned, and it was not straightforward to find out from the bibliography, given at the end of the book, which manuscript or book would have these details?

To my surprise and delight, we then see 20 more profiles of contemporary Sikh women, some young and some old, told with loving anecdotes of their lives.  This is a wonderful book - inspiring, real, and long overdue! All of our sons and daughters should read this book and appreciate the contribution of their sisters and mothers with love. It is my prayer that we see many, many more books about this important topic. 

...He was pleased that the medium of communication was in two languages during the seminar and that was a significant step towards confluence of two ways of understanding and experiencing, which he believed was potentially very fertile in further development of Sikh Studies...