SikhNet Position Paper: Pure Longing
Guru Gobind Singh did something extraordinarily bold in forming the Khalsa. He declared that those who love God and live the Rehit are equals. Guru Gobind Singh formed the Khalsa with no regard to gender. Our 10th Master dedicated his life to serving and building the Khalsa, and he foresaw that, in the coming time, the consciousness of those who live as Khalsa would be so powerful that 960 million Khalsa would populate the earth.
Our Guru foretold that the Khalsa would create 5000 years of peace upon the earth. This is our destiny, written by the hand of God. We have a serious duty as Sadh Sangat to relentlessly ask ourselves if the actions we take will serve that destiny. We must ask our leadership: Will the decisions you make bring us closer to the destiny given to us by our Guru? The decision before us now is one of those key events that will be examined and judged by history.
Whether or not Khalsa women should participate in the seva of cleaning the floors of the Harimandir Sahib should not be mistakenly combined with the problems of the status of women in India – although this is a huge problem and one that deserves much attention. Who is worthy to perform seva in the Harimandir Sahib is not a question that lay in the domain of women’s rights. The exclusion of Khalsa women from this holiest of blessings is not a violation of woman’s rights because we don’t claim this privilege simply as women. We claim it as Khalsa. To deny women the right to wash the floors or to lead the Sadh Sangat in Gurbani Kirtan in the Harimandir Sahib confronts the right of the whole panth to worship equally as Khalsa. It is not as women or as men that we should be judged worthy to carry out the Guru’s seva, but only as Khalsa.
Guru Nanak planted the seed of the Khalsa. One of his primary teachings was to elevate the status of women. The next nine Nanaks all followed in his footsteps and so throughout history, women have been integral in building the Sikh Panth. Women have been and continue to be preachers, sevadars, raagis, and religious leaders. Khalsa women have served valiantly as soldiers and leaders of men in the Khalsa army. Women receive the Amrit of Guru Gobind Singh, wear the five khakaars, and humbly give their heads in service to dharma. In the way they live and the way they die, those women who have drunk the amrit of the double-edge sword and who live the rehit every day, stand equally as Khalsa. To forbid these women to enter the Harimandir Sahib in the early morning hours is like taking a knife and brutally carving away fifty-percent of a body that is beautiful as whole. And how can this Khalsa body walk towards its destiny with grace and dignity when half of the body is missing?
In our history, whenever there has been a conflict in the direction of the panth, we turn to the authority that lies in Guru’s Bani. Gurbani is the touchstone against which all else is measured, and this blessing is what keeps the panth pure and on the right path. In Asa di Var, we recite daily the Hukam of Guru Nanak Dev ji:
Because of the clear instructions given to us by Guru Nanak Devji and the unmistakable example set by Guru Gobind Singhji in the creation of the Khalsa, a Hukamnama was issued from the Akal Takhat in 1996 casting aside the traditional prohibition against women doing seva in the Harimandir Sahib. This action declared that such a prohibition was based on unfounded rituals and false beliefs. This Hukamnama affirmed the sanctity of Khalsa, the reality of Khalsa, and the indivisible nature of Khalsa.
But old conventions do not easily change, and the archaic view of outmoded leadership denied the reality of this Hukamnama to ever be established. The questions that face us now are these: What will it take for us to move past useless customs that undermine the power of the Khalsa? What must we do to allow Guru Gobind Singh’s vision, formed through Bani and manifested in the 1996 Hukamnama, to prevail in our actions? If we hope to move forward and deliver our destiny as Khalsa, now is the time to change.
This is not simply an institutional issue, but a deeply personal one, as well. Not to be able to wash the floors of the Harimandir Sahib has created a deep wound in the heart of Khalsa women everywhere. As written by Bibi Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa in her poem:
In the West, many women have embraced Sikh Dharma because of the way our teachings honor and elevate the status of women. It is our daily prayer that our leadership in Amritsar has the fortitude to fight useless traditions and establish true Khalsa practices that shall be honored, revered and imitated throughout the world now and for ages to come.
vwihgurU jI kw ^wlsw
vwihgurU jI kI Pqih
vwihgurU jI kw ^wlsw
vwihgurU jI kI Pqih
In 1996 the Akal Takhat issued a Hukamnama lifting the prohibition against Khalsa women performing the seva of washing the floors of the Harimandir Sahib in the Amrit Vela. This was celebrated around the world as an honorable and contemporary shift in the Sikh Panth, positioning the Khalsa for potency and triumph in the 21st Century. Since that time, controversy and opposition overcame this issue, and the Hukamnama was never fully enacted. We applaud the decision of the Akal Takhat to once again open the topic for dialog and it is our prayer that the Sikh leadership in Amritsar validates this righteous resolution.
In 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa, he formed a society of people who were free to live by the calling of their purest heart without fear of oppression. Khalsa knows no gender. It knows no caste. It does not differentiate based on wealth, beauty or status. The Khalsa are those who live fearlessly in the love of God and, through that love, all Khalsa recognize each other as peers.
^wlsw soie guru ihq lwvY
^wlsw soie swr muih KwvY
^wlsw so inrDn ko pwlY
^wlsw soie dust kau gwlY
Khalsa is the one who loves the Guru
Khalsa is the one who eats steel with his mouth
Khalsa is the one who helps the poor
Khalsa is the one who overpowers the enemy.
Tankhah Naamaa, Bhai Nand Lal Ji
Guru Gobind Singh did something extraordinarily bold in forming the Khalsa. He declared that those who love God and live the Rehit are equals. Guru Gobind Singh formed the Khalsa with no regard to gender. Our 10th Master dedicated his life to serving and building the Khalsa, and he foresaw that, in the coming time, the consciousness of those who live as Khalsa would be so powerful that 960 million Khalsa would populate the earth.
- iCAwnvYN kRoV Qwlsw sjygw
Kwlsw rwj krygw
960 Million Khalsa there will be
And the Khalsa will rule
Traditional Sau Saakee
Our Guru foretold that the Khalsa would create 5000 years of peace upon the earth. This is our destiny, written by the hand of God. We have a serious duty as Sadh Sangat to relentlessly ask ourselves if the actions we take will serve that destiny. We must ask our leadership: Will the decisions you make bring us closer to the destiny given to us by our Guru? The decision before us now is one of those key events that will be examined and judged by history.
Whether or not Khalsa women should participate in the seva of cleaning the floors of the Harimandir Sahib should not be mistakenly combined with the problems of the status of women in India – although this is a huge problem and one that deserves much attention. Who is worthy to perform seva in the Harimandir Sahib is not a question that lay in the domain of women’s rights. The exclusion of Khalsa women from this holiest of blessings is not a violation of woman’s rights because we don’t claim this privilege simply as women. We claim it as Khalsa. To deny women the right to wash the floors or to lead the Sadh Sangat in Gurbani Kirtan in the Harimandir Sahib confronts the right of the whole panth to worship equally as Khalsa. It is not as women or as men that we should be judged worthy to carry out the Guru’s seva, but only as Khalsa.
Guru Nanak planted the seed of the Khalsa. One of his primary teachings was to elevate the status of women. The next nine Nanaks all followed in his footsteps and so throughout history, women have been integral in building the Sikh Panth. Women have been and continue to be preachers, sevadars, raagis, and religious leaders. Khalsa women have served valiantly as soldiers and leaders of men in the Khalsa army. Women receive the Amrit of Guru Gobind Singh, wear the five khakaars, and humbly give their heads in service to dharma. In the way they live and the way they die, those women who have drunk the amrit of the double-edge sword and who live the rehit every day, stand equally as Khalsa. To forbid these women to enter the Harimandir Sahib in the early morning hours is like taking a knife and brutally carving away fifty-percent of a body that is beautiful as whole. And how can this Khalsa body walk towards its destiny with grace and dignity when half of the body is missing?
In our history, whenever there has been a conflict in the direction of the panth, we turn to the authority that lies in Guru’s Bani. Gurbani is the touchstone against which all else is measured, and this blessing is what keeps the panth pure and on the right path. In Asa di Var, we recite daily the Hukam of Guru Nanak Dev ji:
- BMif jMmIAY BMif inMmIAY BMif mMgxu vIAwhu ] BMfhu hovY dosqI BMfhu clY rwhu ] BMfu muAw BMfu
BwlIAY BMif hovY bMDwnu ] so ikau mMdw AwKIAY ijqu jMmih rwjwn ] BMfhu hI BMfu aUpjY BMfY bwJu
n koie ] nwnk BMfY bwhrw eyko scw soie ]
“From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman.”
- Siri Guru Granth Sahibji, 473
Because of the clear instructions given to us by Guru Nanak Devji and the unmistakable example set by Guru Gobind Singhji in the creation of the Khalsa, a Hukamnama was issued from the Akal Takhat in 1996 casting aside the traditional prohibition against women doing seva in the Harimandir Sahib. This action declared that such a prohibition was based on unfounded rituals and false beliefs. This Hukamnama affirmed the sanctity of Khalsa, the reality of Khalsa, and the indivisible nature of Khalsa.
But old conventions do not easily change, and the archaic view of outmoded leadership denied the reality of this Hukamnama to ever be established. The questions that face us now are these: What will it take for us to move past useless customs that undermine the power of the Khalsa? What must we do to allow Guru Gobind Singh’s vision, formed through Bani and manifested in the 1996 Hukamnama, to prevail in our actions? If we hope to move forward and deliver our destiny as Khalsa, now is the time to change.
This is not simply an institutional issue, but a deeply personal one, as well. Not to be able to wash the floors of the Harimandir Sahib has created a deep wound in the heart of Khalsa women everywhere. As written by Bibi Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa in her poem:
- Pure Longing
Harimandir Sahib long for the touch of Thy mother,
Thy Sisters, daughters, and all the others,
Who bow each day to Siri Guru Granth,
Following the path of the Khalsa Panth,
Who enter freely through all four doors,
Except when it is time to clean the floors.
In those holiest hours when it is such,
A beautiful time to serve and touch
The marble where the saints have walked,
Why must those gilded doors be locked
To women alone, the Guru’s daughters,
Cleansed by Thy Word, and Thy Holy Waters?
The women of Bibi Bhani’s line,
And those descended from Mata Sahib Kaur’s time,
Gather as one to utter this prayer:
“O compassionate Guru of infinite care,
Let all Sikhs enact this holy rite,
As all are immaculate in Thy sight.”
In the West, many women have embraced Sikh Dharma because of the way our teachings honor and elevate the status of women. It is our daily prayer that our leadership in Amritsar has the fortitude to fight useless traditions and establish true Khalsa practices that shall be honored, revered and imitated throughout the world now and for ages to come.
- ^wlsw ^ws khwvY soeI
jwN ky ihrdy Brm n hoeI [
Brm ByK qy rhY inAwrw
so ^wls siqgurU hmwrw [
Khalsa is known as the one who excels.
There is no doubt or hesitation in his heart
In the midst of cynicism and dishonesty, he remains distinct, separate and pure
Such a pure Khalsa is my True Guru
Sainaapat – Guru Sobha
vwihgurU jI kw ^wlsw
vwihgurU jI kI Pqih
Feeds