A Community of Tigers we were, A Community of Dogs we've become

I was reading a weblog entry by MrSikhNet, because a friend introduced me to that site today. He wrote some very interesting thoughts that spurred some of my own. http://www.mrsikhnet.com/index.php/2008/01/06/judgement-criticism-the-mind-being-a-sikh/#more-3028
These thoughts of mine are not written in a poem, but a rare essay-format. Enjoy or Hate, as you wish. =)

I think we tend to forget that Guru Sahib told us to do Naam Japna, Vand Chakna, and Kirat Karni, but no hard-fast rule on how to do it, so there is no one correct way of doing those things.
I guess when Guru Sahib liberated our souls from the tyranny of existing religious thoughts, we would rather have remained slaves to a set of rules of how to live our lives than have become free and independent to make our own choices leading to our salvation.

We bow our heads down to the Guru every Sunday like good little Sikhs we are, but I sometimes wonder for what and why we're bowing. The difference between the Brahman and the Guru lay in the fact that the Brahman wanted to enslave you in his spiritually bankrupt and corrupt kingdom, while the Guru wished to liberate you so you may see the beautiful spiritual kingdom of heaven that He sees. When we bow down to the Brahman's Mat, we bow in slavery due to the fear the Brahman instilled in us. When we bow down to our Guru's Mat, we bow down in love due to the freedom of our souls the Guru gave us. It would be applicable to have Prof. Puran Singh's quote here from The Creation and Purpose of Khalsa, where he speaks of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and what he did for the people. "He poured into our veins that life which could not love without song and freedom. We rose as individuals and as masses shouting for our liberty and victory. He gave us freedom of the soul, and we cried for the freedom of our life. We died for it, never mind, if we never got it. Touched by his inspiration, we could no more remain slaves."

Now, if I maybe excused of being ex-communicated from the Panth for making this statement, we wish to make our Guru our Brahman; for we no longer seek a liberator, we seek a tyrant. We do not want the freedom of our soul, for we no longer know what freedom is. We are so used to our minds being enslaved by the influences of society, people, politicians, goverments, so called religious saints, all telling us exactly how to live our lives, that we no longer know what it means to be conscious of our own mind. We wish to be trained and fed like dogs on this spiritual experience we wish to have, and so we go to whomsoever claims to know this beautiful spiritual kingdom of heaven the Guru sees, and we bow down to their Mat. We have bowed down oh so often that we forget for what we really bowed down for.

So now, when we see our Guru, when we bow to our Guru, we wish for him to give us set in stone rules like the 10 commandments of how to live our life, and then we become confused when the Guru refuses to give us these rules, for the Guru only tells us Naam Japna, Vand Chakna, and Kirat Karni. The Guru only tells us to bring the virtues of Vaheguru in our lives and with love in our hearts enter the journey to the beautiful spiritual kingdom of heaven. That is not good enough for us, we wish to be treated and fed like dogs, and so like dogs with our tongues wagging we run to the several different Jathe-bandis in our Panth to give us a set of rules of exactly how to do what the Guru told us to do. So the masters of those Jathe-bandis, like the Brahmans, are ever so ready to enslave us under their own Mat. Then we like foolish dogs loyal to our own "masters" bicker amongst ourselves for the other dog doesn't follow the same set of rules, and we continue to rip at each other's throat, while the Guru sits there amused how those he liberated enslaved themselves.

Honestly, we are like the foolish old dog whom the master cut the leash from. The dog no longer knows what it once meant to be free, he only knows to do what he is told to do and not know that he has the freedom to make his own choices. The Guru's love for us is so beautiful, He wishes to set us free so we may experience the journey to the spiritual kingdom of heaven. The Guru did not ever wish to enslave us in bondage, he wished to free us so we may experience for ourselves what He experienced. Yes, I know, many great so called religious saints would argue with me here for they feel that only through bondage may we experience salvation, and many misinterpreted quotes from Guru Granth Sahib Ji would be wound up in a bouquet of ignorance and delivered. The bondage the Guru speaks to us of is not slavery, it is a bond of love. The bondage is that of a lover to her beloved. It is like the love of Heer towards Ranjha, where Heer no longer felt seperated from Ranjha through the distance, for she felt her and him were One. Guru Sahib told us "Jo tho prem khelan ka chao, sir dhar tali gali meri aao, eith maarag pair dhareejai, sir deejai kaan n keejai." He did not say "bondange khelan ka chao," he said "prem khelan ka chao," and the bondage often referred to, in Gurbani, is metaphorically speaking of love, except we're so used to being enslaved that we think it is us being attached in chains, rather than us in love.

Alas, the Guru seeks to liberate us and make us Singhs, tigers, but we love being sheeps and dogs too much to become Singhs.

Lastly, stay in chardi-kala! =)

Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa,
Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh!