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Summary of Question:	Re: Swear (Promise)
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Friday, 8/03/2001 8:25 PM MDT

Dear DKK,

Thank you very much for your answer.

Well, noted! The word Swear I am using is for Promise I would just like to
ask a very clear answer from you that is as under:

I would like to know that if a person swear / promise, if he / she break
the
promise or cannot fulfill the promise, does the guru punish this person?

I am asking this question because alot of women says that if someone break
a
promise he/she will be punished by the guru are this words really the the
guru or are they all made by our sikh soicety only.

Secondly, I would like to know it is state in the Shri Guru Granth Shaib
that if some break this promise he / she will be punhised and what are the
ways that the god could forgive and would not punhised us if we break the
promise?

Please advise

******
REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal Ji:

Keeping one's word is the Khalsa way. It is also a value held by many societies. Promises should not be made lightly. The one who flippantly makes promises and doesn't keep them will find himself or herself unliked and untrusted by others. I cannot quote you lines from Siri Guru Granth Sahib on this matter.

But Guru doesn't punish anyone!! We punish ourselves by the karma that we reap. Guru Nanak said this in p. 20 of Japji "aapay bhij, aapay he kao, Nanak hukamee avaho jaa-o." As you sow, so do you reap. So, if someone makes a promise and breaks it, they are 1) likely to encounter such a letdown from someone else, and 2) very likely to get the disapproval of their friends or family and/or (3) lose the trust of the very ones with whom they need or want a trusting relationship with. That is the punishment. A promise-breaker is someone who both makes us aware of the importance of keepingn promises, and who has the karma of learning the importance of keeping promises for him/herself. As one grows to become trustworthy, that is the 'forgiveness." Moreover, sincere practice of the NAAM by ANY person results in Guru clearing the account of a person's past actions.

Now, one has to be fair. Sometimes Guruji interferes. There are times when promises simply CANNOT be kept. For example, Person A promises Person B that they will take them to Gurdwara on Sunday, and then Person A gets really sick, or Person A's car breaks down. Person A then has a responsibility to at least inform Person B of the change in plans, and/or make an effort to find a third person to get Person B to Gurdwara. Do you see? If a person cannot keep a promise because of events beyond his/her control, then one cannot say that such a person is not trustworthy.

The issue, as with all one's actions, centers on INTENT. Person A did not INTEND to break the promise, nor did s/he make the promise INTENDING to have it broken in some way, nor did s/he make it hoping s/he wouldn't have to keep it. When a Khalsa makes a promise, they (1) make it with the INTENT of keeping it, and (2) make EVERY effort to keep it.

Forgiveness is key to letting go and moving on from the pains we suffer at the hands of others. Either to their face or in one's heart, a person vibrates a forgiving nature on the matter at hand, and lets it go.

-DKK