By Karminder Singh Dhillon | OPINION |

A gurdwara goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to gurdwara every Sunday. He wrote:

“I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 days of Kirtan and Katha, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the granthis are wasting theirs by doing kirtan and katha”

This started a controversy in the Letters to the Editor column. It went on for a week until someone wrote the following response.

“I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to gurdwara for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”

The editor of that particular newspaper described the above response a “clincher,” and declared the matter settled conclusively. Gurdwara goers across the world breathed a sigh of relief that someone had finally restored their faith in their regular visits to their gurdwaras

CLINCHER OR OUT OF CONTEXT ANALOGY?

Nevertheless, this so called “clincher” does need a critical look. After all a “clincher” is a fact, argument, or event that settles a matter conclusively. Examining the response critically will help put the debate into a proper perspective.

In essence, the original complaint by the gurdwara goer was that he had wasted 30 years of his life going to the gurdwara because he got no spiritual nourishment from the 3,000 days of Kirtan and Katha. In the “clincher” reply the example of a husband getting physical nourishment from his wife’s 32,000 meals cooked over 30 years is a great analogy, but it needs to be applied correctly. The husband got nourishment for his body because he consumed and digested the food. These two acts brought change, growth and development of his body.

PART ONE: Roles and functions of a gurdwara

Part TWO: Are our Gurdwaras Dysfunctional? The Assessment.

Part THREE: Are our Gurdwaras Dysfunctional: The Root Causes. 

The nourishment of the gurdwara is supposed to be for the mind. It’s supposed to be ruhani food. Or food for the soul as some would like to term it. This ruhani nourishment is in the form of Gurshabd vichar or in the form of inculcation of the messages of the Shabd Guru. Nobody in the gurdwara is preparing this ruhani food. No one is serving it. No one is consuming it. No one is digesting it. Hence no one is getting any spiritual nourishment.

However, everyone in the gurdwara is going through the ritual of preparing, serving and consuming this ruhani food. Everyone is going through the motions of it. Recitations of Akhand Path, Sehej Path, Sukhmani Path, Kirtan, Ardas etc are all rituals. These acts are akin to going through the motions of ruhani activities. Everyone is pretending and going through the pakhand of serving and consuming ruhani food through these rituals. But not a single message of the endless path that is being recited is getting across to the listeners through these ritualistic acts undertaken by professional and paid actors called clergy. As a matter of fact, the messages are not even getting across to these professional and paid reciters. For if they did, these reciters would know the futility of their actions. What a great act. But no one is calling it out. Not unlike the emperor without clothes.

The reality then is that no one is consuming and digesting this ruhani food in the gurdwara, because it is non existant in the gurdwara. That is why there has been no change, no growth and no development of the spirituality of gurdwara goers. We are exactly where we were 20, 30, 40 or 50 years ago when we started going to the gurdwara. Nothing has changed within us.

Now, consider this: if my wife did the ritual of preparing 32,000 meals, went through the motions of preparing 32,000 meals, play acted serving 32,000 meals to me (but never actually prepared any real meals) and I pretended to consume them – then the 30 years of my life with my wife would be a waste – on account of having been fed nutritious food. That is because I would not have actually consumed and digested the nutrients of it.

So this is the correct way to apply this analogy. We need to compare apples with apples. Guru Arjun ji says (SGGS, 1429):

ਥਾਲ ਵਿਚਿ ਤਿੰਨਿ ਵਸਤੂ ਪਈਓ ਸਤੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਵੀਚਾਰੋ ॥
Thaal Vich Tin Vastu Payeo Sat Santokh Vicharo.
ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਨਾਮੁ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਕਾ ਪਇਓ ਜਿਸ ਕਾ ਸਭਸੁ ਅਧਾਰੋ ॥
Amrit Nam Thakur Ka Payeo Jis Ka Sabhs Adharo.

And then he says:

ਜੇ ਕੋ ਖਾਵੈ ਜੇ ਕੋ ਭੁੰਚੈ ਤਿਸ ਕਾ ਹੋਇ ਉਧਾਰੋ ॥
Jay Ko Khavey Jay Ko Bhunchey Tis Ka Hoey Udharo.

The two actions of ਖਾਵੈ Khavey (Consuming) and ਭੁੰਚੈ Bhunchey (Digesting) of the ruhani food, of spiritual food in the form of Gurshabd vichar are not happening in the gurdwara. The reason is they are not being served in the first place. The truth of the matter is that the gurdwara is not a learning and sharing centre for Gurshabd vichar. The gurdwara is not the Dharamsaal (Learning Centers of Dharam) that our Gurus intended it to be. The messages of the Guru are not being disseminated in our gurdwaras. The outcome of it is that the gurdwara has relegated itself to being no more than a worship or pooja centre. It is a center for the pujaris who lead and guide us into the pooja, it is their means of living.

We have been served rituals for 30, 40, 50 years that we have been going to the gurdwara. We have thus consumed (ਖਾਵੈ Khavey) pooja and digested (ਭੁੰਚੈ Bhunchey) rituals. The result is that our gurdwara-going has become a ritual. The outcome of it all is that and our spirituality has become a ritual. And we falsely think all is well – both with the gurdwara and our spiritual status.

So not only is the original question by the gurdwara goer “why do we go to a gurdwara then?” still standing, but it is clear that the so called “clincher” of the reply about someone’s wife cooking 32,000 meals isn’t a clincher after all. This “clincher” is penned by a regular gurdwara goer – by his own admission. It’s not surprising. Because these are the kind of “clinchers” that our sangats are served in our gurdwaras by our clergy – granthis, ragis, kirtanias, dhadees and katha vachaks in their messages.

I am reminded of the last “clincher” that I heard in my local gurdwara some time back. The committee had decided announce the sale of Akhand Paths and instructed the granthi to make the pitch. After extolling the “benefits” of sponsoring the ritual, he delivered his punch line. “Some people say it is wrong to hire or pay other people to recite the path for them. Well, if you can’t cook your own meal, which is better – going hungry or letting someone else cook it for you?” May the good lord deliver us from such “clinchers.” The correct question ought to be “which is better – paying someone else to consume and digest the meal for you or doing it yourself? The message by Guru Arjun is ਜੇ ਕੋ ਖਾਵੈ ਜੇ ਕੋ ਭੁੰਚੈ ਤਿਸ ਕਾ ਹੋਇ ਉਧਾਰੋ ॥ Jay Ko Khavey Jay Ko Bhunchey Tis Ka Hoey Udharo. The benefit is to he who consumes, and he who digests.

Sikh thinker, writer and parcharak Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston), is a retired Malaysian civil servant. He is the joint-editor of The Sikh Bulletin and author of The Hijacking of Sikhi. This article appeared in The Sikh Bulletin – 2022 Issue 3 (July-September 2022). Click here to retrieve archived copies of the bulletin. The author can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com. 

RELATED STORY:

Roles and functions of a gurdwara (Asia Samachar, 11 Dec 2015)



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