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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amarpal" data-source="post: 6647" data-attributes="member: 10">Dear Khalsa Ji, My detailed post on this issue is given below. Sikhi tells us how to live a life of householder with spiritual purity. Sikhi applies to men and women alike. Sikhi gives advice only on few aspects of life, i.e. Mental Purity through Naam, Contribution to the society through Kirt, and Seva through Wand Shakkna. Our Panth is a stand-alone modern religion; it does not draw sustenance from other sources.  Sikhi does not interfere with the natural processes of life, which are all place, time, person and situation dependent for the solution; our Guru Sahib knew this very well. How to deal with Menstruation, which is a natural process, is not he task of modern religion; it is in the domain of hygiene and sociology. It has nothing to do with spirituality.You may please inform the individual (the one who has asked for information i.e. the researcher) that religions are neither mirror image of one another nor are they congruent. A religions should not be judged standing on the premise of some other religion, separated from each other by vast time span.  Khalsa Panth enshrines equality among genders. Women are in no way inferior to Men. Please tell the researcher that Khalsa Panth, which is based on Sikhi, is a modern rational religion that has benefited from the progress made by mankind in the domain of knowledge. Menstruation is not an issue to be dealt by any modern religion. Khalsa Panth should not be evaluated standing on the premise of ancient time; it is a religion, which is in tune with modern thought. It is current. It should not be studied with ancient from of mind.There is no restriction on women during her periods. Though there are many Khalsas who have not shed their own past affiliation and still practice certain restrictions. It only means our sociology is lagging behind, nothing more. It is an indicator of our failure, my failure to educate our own members. It is an abrasion in our living.If one says that women is unclean during her periods it is because in the past she had not been provided with the means to remain clean; it is a matter of hygiene and not of spirituality. These days with what science and technology has provided, they remain clean. If some guy says women are unclean, then this man should also tell how he is clean when he is carrying all his shit in his intestine. Shit also is filth; no one wants to touch it. Why no religion talks about these unclean men. The reason is that it is the men who have designed the religion; they have never understood women.See the arrogance of we men. We try to deprive women of her individuality; we say the word man is deemed to include woman also. This position of men cannot be justified; just see the spelling. It is the word women that include men not he other way round. The all-comprehensive word for both the genders can only be woman and not man. Further, if we move away from language and view again this interpretation, then we find that biologically all men were included in women before their birth and not the other way round. Yet we close our eyes to reality shut off our thinking and say the word men is deemed to include women; logic does not support such assertion. Guru Sahib has said ‘Ek noor se sub jag upjaya, kaon bhalai kaon mandai’. The menstruation in women is the results of the same creation. We mortals do not cause it; it is a natural process. It cannot be the basis of discrimination of any kind. If it is practiced, it will be against the teachings of Gurbani. Being clean applies both to men and women alike and today’s science and technology provides products to remain clean. This arrogance is reflected in many of religious practices and social practices. Khalsa Panth does not recognise such discrimination; though in evolving Khalsa society, unfortunately, it exists.Women should not be discriminated. They are the future of our Panth. They give us birth; they give us our ‘Samskaras’.With love and respect for all.Amarpal Singh</blockquote>

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