As we come to the Christmas season a thought appears in my mind that I can’t help but think as an inherent human syndrome. Ever since the creation of mankind, man has always chose to leave his fate and destiny in the hands of others, in his own mind resolved in one way or another that someone will come along to rescue him from his misery and solve all his troubles and heal all his wounds. Man has had a great need to feel comfort in this, The Messiah Syndrome.
The Jews were enslaved for centuries by the Egyptians and suffered their fate in the hope of a great Messiah who would lead them out of slavery. When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt to become free men with free will to control their own destiny, he declared that he was an ordinary man of God who planted the seed of freedom in their minds, the rest was their own will that led them to freedom and that the real power is the people. Out of this great thought evolved a great and powerful nation that ruled for a long time. But over the years the priestly class saw it fit for their own designs to inject the idea of a messiah once again into the minds of people. This ultimately led to the tragedy of Israel, the Syrians came and conquered and ruled, but the Jews did nothing, still awaited the arrival of Messiah who did not come. By the time the Romans invaded Israel the Jews had completely resolved in their own mind that they could do nothing to rudder the ship of their destiny in the right direction. Only a Messiah could steer them on that course. But, alas, no Messiah could steer them on that course. But, alas, no Messiah came and Israel became a nation of the past, and once proud people of Moses got scattered across the world to wander nationless, to be looked down upon and ridiculed as people still awaiting the Messiah. They made great strides in business and commerce but failed to win respect of others for they were 4 nationless entities who were not masters of their own destiny.
Guru Gobind Singh ji understood this syndrome of man well. He knew that if the Sikhs were to survive they had to be taught a lesson that they are the masters of their own destiny. That it is man alone who creates his own circumstances, as long as the goal and objectives are clear in his mind, as long as he is aware of his fate and destiny he will wait for no one but move forward to achieve his destination. How then did Guru Gobind Singh ji tackle The Messiah Syndrome? By creating the Khalsa Panth Guru Gobind Singh ji made us the Messiahs of our own destiny and masters of our own fate. He gave use set of rules to live by, set of conditions to live for, and set of reasons to die for. He informed each and every one of us that in each and every one of you is the capacity to lead, for you are all the children of Akal Purkh. So The Khalsa took this great message and carved out a great empire. Panth became the way of life, all that was worth living for was the Panth; all that was worth dying for was the Panth.
As long as the Panth remained the way of life and its message was clear in everyone’s mind, the Panth flourished. As soon as we gave up that birthright we became slaves of others will, and lost our individuality and became servant to others biddings awaiting the Messiah to come and deliver us. Many false Messiahs came forward promising deliverance but one by one their falsehood came through, be it Tara Singh, Fateh Singh or Longowal. At the hands of these false Messiahs we suffered great humiliation. Alas we became the victims of The Messiah Syndrome. We were awakened by the bugle that was sounded by the sewadar of the Panth Sant Jarnail Singh Binderwale. That sharp resonant voice which said awake O Khalsa and take position for the Panth is in danger. Once again we woke to the call of the Panth, and the glory of the great Khalsa Panth was seen around the world. Once again the world saw the true Messiah, The Khalsa Panth rose to deliver itself to become the master of its own destiny.
Of late it has sort of become a fashion amongst most of the Sikhs to say that Sikhs are really very much like the Jews. I do not take much comfort in that thought I would not like to see our children wander nationless for two thousand years. What we must do is learn a lesson from the pages of their history that when a nation resigns its fate and awaits deliverance, it wanders in darkness for a long time.
Khalsa ji, it is time we take charge of our own destiny and start working for the glory of the Khalsa Panth, for you alone are the true Messiah of God and victory will be to God through you. Stop and think, it is not you who daily recite:
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KE FATEH
Article extracted from this publication >> December 27, 1985
