carolineislands
SPNer
Re: How many sikhs have married out of Caste/Race
Thank you. And thank you for your explanation of maryada. When I compare things, it is not meant to criticize one or the other. I am an anthropologist and I look for differences and similarities because I love both. It's no different then when two people are getting to know each other and one says, "I love walking in that park at dusk." and the other says excitedly, "Really? So do I!!" By the same token, one may like pickles and the other hates them.. well, that's fun and interesting too. It doesn't mean you're bad because you like pickles and I don't. It just means you get extra pickels when we eat at the deli. :ice: And so, in that spirit, from your explanation I think perhaps the maryada is more like what some faiths call their "doctrine." It's sort of a common code of conduct that binds them together, and sometimes defines them in various groups.
I love what you said about taking a step towards God -- one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard was something a Sikh man said in a lecture on Sikhi. It was also one of the things that really drew my heart to Sikhi. He was a university professor and he said one of his students was a strict Christian. One day he got into a discussion with her about what she believed and he asked about heaven and hell. She told him only people who believed as she did would go to heaven. He asked her, what about the others? She replied that they would be going to hell. The Sikh asked, what about the Sufi who practices his religion to the best of his capability all his life and does good in any way he can? Hell, she replied. And the Sikh then asked about the Hindu who practiced his faith with all his heart and soul and never veered from it. The Hindu as well. So the Sikh asked, what about me then? Sorry to have to say this, she replied, but you will go to hell too.
He said he thought for a minute and said that, if hell was where God wanted to send him then he would go because all a Sikh wants from God is to love Him.
I love Sikhi for many reasons, mainly because of what I understand to be it's fluidity at its roots. I often think of the famous words of Guru Nanak when he said, there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim... Because, for me, I've never been able to find a religious path that was stretchy enough for the kind of love I want to be able to give to God. I think Sikhi might just be the one. Of course, as any religion, there's people in it. :shifty: But people are fun too... that's probably because God has such a wonderful sense of humor.
Really though, don't we just think too much of ourselves? Isn't that the funniest thing of all? And perhaps the saddest as well. Like thoughts and opinions are based in reality and reality is some sort of unbendable fence that nobody can change or go around. Like there's no warps in it! LOL
I have been corresponding with a very learned Sikh scholar who is one of the humble humans I've ever known. I ask him all sorts of nutty questions about Sikhi and he answers them so patiently and beautifully. And one of the most profound things he's ever said to me was when he had written a very deep explanation of Sikhi structure, history, ideas, etc.. He ended the message with the phrase, "Please ignore what you deem is not healthy or beneficial!"
I was awestruck. I had never encountered that kind of pure confidence in one's faith. That's when I really started seeing Sikhi as fluid and stretchy -- not rigid and unforgiving as so many of the faiths I had known heretofore.
I just want to root out the true original message because it seems like the only vehicle I have found that is kind enough to let me love God like I need to love God.
If that makes sense. All the other is just superflous bits of human vanity. But that is just my opinion -- please ignore what you deem unhealthy!
Thank you. And thank you for your explanation of maryada. When I compare things, it is not meant to criticize one or the other. I am an anthropologist and I look for differences and similarities because I love both. It's no different then when two people are getting to know each other and one says, "I love walking in that park at dusk." and the other says excitedly, "Really? So do I!!" By the same token, one may like pickles and the other hates them.. well, that's fun and interesting too. It doesn't mean you're bad because you like pickles and I don't. It just means you get extra pickels when we eat at the deli. :ice: And so, in that spirit, from your explanation I think perhaps the maryada is more like what some faiths call their "doctrine." It's sort of a common code of conduct that binds them together, and sometimes defines them in various groups.
I love what you said about taking a step towards God -- one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard was something a Sikh man said in a lecture on Sikhi. It was also one of the things that really drew my heart to Sikhi. He was a university professor and he said one of his students was a strict Christian. One day he got into a discussion with her about what she believed and he asked about heaven and hell. She told him only people who believed as she did would go to heaven. He asked her, what about the others? She replied that they would be going to hell. The Sikh asked, what about the Sufi who practices his religion to the best of his capability all his life and does good in any way he can? Hell, she replied. And the Sikh then asked about the Hindu who practiced his faith with all his heart and soul and never veered from it. The Hindu as well. So the Sikh asked, what about me then? Sorry to have to say this, she replied, but you will go to hell too.
He said he thought for a minute and said that, if hell was where God wanted to send him then he would go because all a Sikh wants from God is to love Him.
I love Sikhi for many reasons, mainly because of what I understand to be it's fluidity at its roots. I often think of the famous words of Guru Nanak when he said, there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim... Because, for me, I've never been able to find a religious path that was stretchy enough for the kind of love I want to be able to give to God. I think Sikhi might just be the one. Of course, as any religion, there's people in it. :shifty: But people are fun too... that's probably because God has such a wonderful sense of humor.
Really though, don't we just think too much of ourselves? Isn't that the funniest thing of all? And perhaps the saddest as well. Like thoughts and opinions are based in reality and reality is some sort of unbendable fence that nobody can change or go around. Like there's no warps in it! LOL
I have been corresponding with a very learned Sikh scholar who is one of the humble humans I've ever known. I ask him all sorts of nutty questions about Sikhi and he answers them so patiently and beautifully. And one of the most profound things he's ever said to me was when he had written a very deep explanation of Sikhi structure, history, ideas, etc.. He ended the message with the phrase, "Please ignore what you deem is not healthy or beneficial!"
I was awestruck. I had never encountered that kind of pure confidence in one's faith. That's when I really started seeing Sikhi as fluid and stretchy -- not rigid and unforgiving as so many of the faiths I had known heretofore.
I just want to root out the true original message because it seems like the only vehicle I have found that is kind enough to let me love God like I need to love God.
If that makes sense. All the other is just superflous bits of human vanity. But that is just my opinion -- please ignore what you deem unhealthy!
I'm real happy about that. 
