- Jan 31, 2011
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Gurfatehji
My parents visited me last week, they brought some 3D pictures that they had brought over from India with them and asked if I wanted to choose one. I settled on a picture of all 10 Gurus, which I then hung up in the shop.
There is something that makes me feel very uncomfortable about the picture, firstly, I think there is some doubt over whether the pictures are a true representation, if that is true, then I have pictures of 10 random men in turbans and beards on my wall, if that is not true, then even if I have 10 faithfully depicted pictures, what am I supposed to do with it?
My father was telling me about a Gurdwara in India where the tenth master tethered his horse to a tree. That tree is near enough worshipped these days, with people rubbing hands on it and then on their face, Matha Tekking it, joining hands etc. The tenth master was specific in his opinion on the matter, 'whosoever worships me will go to hell' is a statement I recall, is there a fine line between humility/respect and worship? Can you show humility to a picture, should you show humility to a picture?.
Mentally I found myself watching my language in front of the picture, in the end, I had to give the matter hard thought, conclusion of which, was that the Gurus were the link between Creator and humankind, and as such, should be shown huge respect, as should the 11th master. However, the temptation to forget about Creator, and concentrate on the Gurus is overwhelming for a lot of people. In my view, the Gurus were normal men, without the ability to perform miracles or magical acts, they were just men who perfected the ability to tune into Creator, and left behind a legacy for us all to do the same, I find it quite saddening that despite Guru Nanakji's splendidly witty methods of attempting to educate us, by questioning the throwing of water towards the sun, the presence of God in Mecca, we persist in forgetting that Creator is everywhere and in everything, and that being in tune with such is, in effect, the meaning of life.
So the question is, does the presence of pictures of the Gurus actually take us backwards, is it doing the exact opposite of what the message is? If Guru Nanak was alive today, would he validate the practice, would he say it is a good thing? or would he wittily show us how foolish we are being?
Mind you, having said all that, the last person I noted had a house full of Sikh pictures, ended up getting quite upset when I pointed out that God was everywhere, even in a Dog turd, he was adamant that 'his God' could never be present in something so disgusting, so maybe its me that has it wrong, again
My parents visited me last week, they brought some 3D pictures that they had brought over from India with them and asked if I wanted to choose one. I settled on a picture of all 10 Gurus, which I then hung up in the shop.
There is something that makes me feel very uncomfortable about the picture, firstly, I think there is some doubt over whether the pictures are a true representation, if that is true, then I have pictures of 10 random men in turbans and beards on my wall, if that is not true, then even if I have 10 faithfully depicted pictures, what am I supposed to do with it?
My father was telling me about a Gurdwara in India where the tenth master tethered his horse to a tree. That tree is near enough worshipped these days, with people rubbing hands on it and then on their face, Matha Tekking it, joining hands etc. The tenth master was specific in his opinion on the matter, 'whosoever worships me will go to hell' is a statement I recall, is there a fine line between humility/respect and worship? Can you show humility to a picture, should you show humility to a picture?.
Mentally I found myself watching my language in front of the picture, in the end, I had to give the matter hard thought, conclusion of which, was that the Gurus were the link between Creator and humankind, and as such, should be shown huge respect, as should the 11th master. However, the temptation to forget about Creator, and concentrate on the Gurus is overwhelming for a lot of people. In my view, the Gurus were normal men, without the ability to perform miracles or magical acts, they were just men who perfected the ability to tune into Creator, and left behind a legacy for us all to do the same, I find it quite saddening that despite Guru Nanakji's splendidly witty methods of attempting to educate us, by questioning the throwing of water towards the sun, the presence of God in Mecca, we persist in forgetting that Creator is everywhere and in everything, and that being in tune with such is, in effect, the meaning of life.
So the question is, does the presence of pictures of the Gurus actually take us backwards, is it doing the exact opposite of what the message is? If Guru Nanak was alive today, would he validate the practice, would he say it is a good thing? or would he wittily show us how foolish we are being?
Mind you, having said all that, the last person I noted had a house full of Sikh pictures, ended up getting quite upset when I pointed out that God was everywhere, even in a Dog turd, he was adamant that 'his God' could never be present in something so disgusting, so maybe its me that has it wrong, again
