A humble journey into Sikhism
Let me start by taking you back to the place where this journey began for me.
It was not so long ago on Vaisakhi this year when my mother decided to go to the Gurdwara and I guiltily tagged along as I hadn’t been for such a long time. There, I saw huge yellow posters and someone enthusiastically handing out flyers for an organisation called Basics of Sikhi. I learnt they did Katha at that same Gurdwara every Sunday, this was an explanation/exploration of scripture, in English, for people like me. The thing that really got my attention however, was the Youtube channel.
For someone whose whole day revolves around a state of the art, multitasking, singing and dancing smartphone in their hand, this channel was a GOD SEND for me. Bite size videos on everything Sikhi. From a video on why Sikhi is like an iPhone? To explanations of the Guru Granth Sahib in English, this channel has almost everything covered, with more videos being added all the time.
Days of constantly watching the videos whenever I had a minute spare, liking the group on Facebook and soaking up all this information like a sponge, led me to the Why? Guru Course. Taught by the amazing creator of Basics of Sikhi. This 12 week class has changed my life.
I have never understood Sikhi in this way before, and I am still learning new things all the time. I was incredibly nervous on my first day, expecting everyone to be much more advanced than I was, and expecting to be the class ‘coconut’ (brown on the outside, white on the inside). But the loveliest most surprising thing about this place, what I later found to be typical of true Sikh spirit, was the acceptance of people from all walks of life. The man who knew his scripture inside out may not have known about his history. The girl who already knew of the massacres of Sikhs over the years certainly learnt a thing or two about the philosophy of Sikhi.
There is something for everyone here.
My advice, for anyone on their path to this beautiful religion, would be to begin with the Youtube channel.
The main website is here at http://www.everythings13.org/
More posts to come. Join me on my journey and feel free to leave any suggestions or comments.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh