Previous

Next

Ask a Question

Summary of Question:	Why Men And Women Sit Separate In Gurudawara
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Sunday, 8/11/2002 2:28 PM MDT

I am just curious to know why do men and women sit separate in Gurudawara?

Even though according to sikhism all men and women are created equal. Maybe it has nothing to do with equality at all.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Sat Siri Akal.

Many people will give you different answers to this. Humbly, I can share with you an answer based on a yogic understanding of how human consciousness works.

In the yogic traditions, the consciousness is raised through a subtle channel known as the shushumna. The shushumna runs through the center of the body and can be assoicated with the spinal column. The left and right nostrilsare two separate channels, governed by the feminine and masculine energies respectively. So if you look at the Gurdwara, facing out from the Guru, the Guru is in the center, the women sit to the left of the Guru and the men sit to the right of the Guru. The Guru governs the symbolic central channel of the Gurdwara while we, ourselves, in collective consciousness, govern the left and right channels. When we chant together, when we meditate on Gurbani together - the Guru is balancing the masculine and feminine energies and raising the collective consciousness of the entire group.

Think of it this way. Yoga is an individual practice to raise individual consciousness. Meditating on Gurbani in the company of the holy is a group practice to raise group consciousness. So the architecture of the Gurdwara reflects the yogic principles of how to raise consciousness, but in a collective manner with the Guru governing the process.

I hope this is helpful.

All love.

GPK