This institution of the Khalsa entails a certain additional disciplinary out fit in the shape of baptismal forms and vows, which are often misunderstood. It is true that (f religion were only a matter of individual concern, there would be no need of forms and ceremonies, Bur religion, as taught by the Gurus, is a force that not only enables individual but also binds Them together to work for nobility in the world. Organization is means of enlarging the possibility, scope and effectiveness of this work, In Grier that an organization itself May work effectively, it is necessary that the individuals concerned in it should be able to keep up their attachment to the cause and a sufficient amount of enthusiasm for it.
It is, however, a patent fact that men by their nature are so constituted that they cannot keep their feelings equally high strung for a Jong time at a stretch, Reaction is inevitable, unless some means are devised to ensure the continuity of exertion. This is where discipline comes in, which keeps up the spirit of individuals against relaxing in times of trial and maintains their Loyalty to the cause even in moments of ebb. This discipline, or what is called esprit de corps, is cured by such devices as flags, drills and uniforms in armies, and Certain forms and ceremonies in religion, Uniformity is an essential part of them. They create the necessary enthusiasm by appealing to imagination and sentiment and work for it in moments of depression. They are a real aid to Religion, which is essentially a thing of sentiment. Man would not need them if he were only a bundle of intellectual and moral senses; but as he has also got sentiment and imagination, without which the former qualities would be in some forms appropriate to sentiment.
These forms must not be dead bot a living index of his ideal, waking up in him vivid intimations of the personality that governs his religion. They should be related to his inner belief as words are to their meaning, tears to grief, Smiles to happiness and a tune to a Song. It is true that sometimes words become meaningless, when we no longer heed their sense, or the language to which they belong becomes dead. It’s true that some limes tears and smiles are only cloaks for hypocrisy, and a tune mere meaningless jingle. But there is no denying the fact that, when their inner meaning is real and we are sincere about it, they do serve as very helpful interpreters. Forms are the art of religion. Like Art in relation to Nature, these forms impose certain limitations on the ideal, but at the same time they make the ideal more real and workable for general use.
Sometimes, however, when the forms are determined, not by the necessity of uniformity which is to essential for discipline, but by local or racial causes, they narrow the applicability of the ideal and Create division and exclusiveness where they should have helped men to unite, When the spirit in which they had been originally conceived dies out, they become mere handicaps to religion, and the people who use them would be well-advised to abandon them. It was such forms that Guru Nanak asked people to Leave. “Destroy that custom,” he said, “which makes you forget dear God.”
But the Sikh forms were not conceived in a spirit of exclusiveness, or as essential to the advancement of individual souls. They were simply appointed to serve as aids to the preservation of the corporate life of the community, and any man who likes to serve humanity through the Sikh Panth can wear them.
It is possible for a man to love God and cultivate his individual Soul without adopting these forms; but if he wants to work in a systematic manner, not only for his own advancement but for the good of others as well in the company of Sikhs, he must adopt these disciplinary forms of their organization. The Sikhs, who are the soldiers of Guru Gobind Singh and whose religion is surcharged with his personality, find the uniform worn and ordained by him as a real help in playing their part as units of the Panthic organization. This help comes from the appeal made to sentiment by the process of association and not through any inherent efficacy of the forms themselves. This association is not with places or things, but with an ever-living personality that is Itself a symbol of the Highest Personality.
As is God, so is the Guru and as is the Guru, so must be the follower. Wearing a Knicker ensuring briskness of movement at times of action and serving as an easy underwear at times of rest, and iron ring on his right arm as a sign of stamens and constraint and a sword by his side as an instrument of defense, offence, and as an emblem of power and dignity, the Guru presented an impressive picture of a simple but disciplined soldier, He, however, combined in him the saintliness of the old Rishies with the sternness and strength of a knight, Therefore, like his predecessors, he kept long hair, which all the world over have always been associated with saintliness. A comb was a simple necessity for keeping the hair clean and tidy, These are the forms with which the Sikhs are invested at the time of their initiation to the Khalsa in order to look exactly like their master, as they are to behave exactly like him.
From the history of Sikhs in the past as well as in the present, it is quite evident how effectively these articles of faith and forms, with the accompanying vows of purity, love and service, have aided them in keeping themselves united and their ideals unsullied even in times of the greatest trial, While keeping the Sikhs associated with their Guru and maintaining his spirit amongst them, they have not produced any narrowing effect on their beliefs or modes of worship, All worship and ceremony, whether in Gurdwara or home, whether praying and chanting hymns Could anything be simpler? (From Sikh Doctrinaire by Sant Teja Singh).
Article extracted from this publication >> August 12, 1994
