Reality:
The human brain is a high-performing software evolved over a span of two million years. It is the physical placeholder of all our cognition and cognizance. Sophistication at its peak, the human brain is our greatest tool in the day-to-day war we call living life. It interconnects our minds with our capabilities for awareness and action. Yet being a tool, it is prone to abuse and misuse. As Beings able to accumulate knowledge through communication we are able to imbibe the values, virtues and even vices of our sources of information. What we ultimately select to live by (vice or virtue) decides the trajectory of our lives. Our comprehension of reality is constructed by how we live our beliefs and this is what decides the fruits of our endeavors (irrespective of orientation).
Warrior-Mystics:
The world is a terrible place. Our brains comprehend as much. Genius level intelligence is not required to observe how conflict and violence has permeated human existence throughout history-either as forces of oppression or those of paradigm change. From Guru Nanak onwards the Sikh Gurus did not shy away from utilizing force for altering the political/societal arenas. At the same time they were well aware that their emphasis on autonomy, self-reliance and accepting reality would see attempts made at subverting Sikhi. That the seekers of paradise and Utopias would clash with and oppress their Sikhs. To stiffen the spines of their disciples they cast them as Warrior-Mystics. Possessing the adaptability, discipline and fortitude of Warriors while cultivating the ethicality and virtue of Mystics. An amalgamation incorporating the qualities of resilience and principled living free from all forms of slavery.
Current Period:
Times have changed today. No longer are our physical bodies prone to tyranny. Now our very brains-our most effective tools-are turned against ourselves. Our two million year old functioning software is hacked through the means of mass Seduction. Our brains are seduced with feel-good platitudes emanating from within the minds of individuals who are the very antithesis of nobility. Misled into doing their bidding we fail to question what we are actually committing to and thus detoxify our minds. As it stands, the Sikhs of today are far removed from the Sikhi of the Guru Granth than ever before despite having it compressed in their smart phones. Our seducers spoon-feed us conveniently mistranslated verses to argue that we destroy ourselves in the pursuit of allegedly worthy endeavors which in reality are too far removed from common sense and reality. We, like the fools we are, blindly follow the lunatic fringe into obsoletion.
Equality of Opportunity:
The Khalsa, emblematic of the Warrior-Mystic formula, recognizes two forms of Equality. The first is the Equality of Opportunity. This is a pragmatic initiative-based form of egalitarianism in which the skills required for grasping a particular opportunity are offered to all and sundry. Who finally grasps the offered opportunity in question is decided by the level of development and skill exhibited by the seekers. The victors are offered opportunities of a higher level; the vanquished are encouraged to refine themselves further. In this way the best of the best are selected to lead while the least best are prevented from obtaining positions of influence and power far above them.
From the selection of Guru Angad and the early Sikhs by Guru Nanak to the deputization of Banda Singh by Guru Gobind Singh followed by the selection of Nawab Kapur Singh by the contemporary Sikh leadership council: Sikh history establishes the primacy of Equality of Opportunity. At its political best this means selection over election with the former implying the ascension of a leadership providing for the needs of the masses and the latter denoting the converse ascension of a leadership providing for the desires of the masses.
Equality of Outcome:
The children of Sikhs are not considered Sikhs until they willingly undergo the Khalsa initiation and declare themselves Sikhs by living the Khalsa lifestyle. The Gurus stringently applied a selection criterion to forewarn would-be converts to Sikhi what the path entailed. When Banda Singh initially requested Guru Gobind Singh for initiation into the Khalsa the Guru cautioned him that the path of Sikhi implied the cultivation of a bed of thorns and demanded the proffering of all achievement, mentality and physicality. It would not broker any concessions. Even the institute of Khalsa initiation was bequeathed to the most prepared and the most worthy until its overhyped commercialization and subsequent derailment by the Sant culture of the early twentieth century.
Society today, contrastingly, is beset by a fascination with the Equality of outcome. A form of Equality which perversely argues that initiative and self-development are not necessary for acquiring a positive outcome. That effort should be negated by the fact that all humans are Equal and deserve a total Equality of outcome. Put more succinctly, there should be no grounds to select the most ablest and the best to lead us but rather anything goes. One can easily deduce what would have transpired if Nawab Kapur Singh had been overlooked to appease Equality of Outcome sentimentalities rather than for his worthiness to lead the Sikhs.
Misappropriation:
To reinforce their misleading views, the Utopian apostles of total Equality resort to misquoting the Guru Granth. Their favorite verse, since the past decade, is one of Kabir:
ਅਵਲਿ ਅਲਹ ਨੂਰੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਬੰਦੇ ॥
ਏਕ ਨੂਰ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਜਗੁ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਕਉਨ ਭਲੇ ਕੋ ਮੰਦੇ ॥੧॥
“The supreme Allah installs the divine light in all; all men belong to Creation. From one light the whole Creation emanates so who do we call good and who do we declare bad?”
-Guru Granth, 1349.
However, they conveniently omit the second part of the verse which concludes it and another explanatory verse by Kabir below the first.
ਅਵਲਿ ਅਲਹ ਨੂਰੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਬੰਦੇ ॥
ਏਕ ਨੂਰ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਜਗੁ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਕਉਨ ਭਲੇ ਕੋ ਮੰਦੇ ॥੧॥
ਲੋਗਾ ਭਰਮਿ ਨ ਭੂਲਹੁ ਭਾਈ ॥
ਖਾਲਿਕੁ ਖਲਕ ਖਲਕ ਮਹਿ ਖਾਲਿਕੁ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਸ੍ਰਬ ਠਾਂਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
The Rahaao (gist) verse translates as:
“The Creator is synonymous with Creation and Creation with the Creator. The Creator is Omnipresent and Omniscient.”
When looked at in full:
“The supreme Allah installs the divine light in all; all men belong to Creation. From one light the whole Creation emanates so who do we call good and who do we declare bad? People, do not fall into doubt. The Creator is synonymous with Creation and Creation with the Creator. The Creator is Omnipresent and Omniscient.”
Yet prior to this verse Kabir exhorts,
ਅਲਹੁ ਏਕੁ ਮਸੀਤਿ ਬਸਤੁ ਹੈ ਅਵਰੁ ਮੁਲਖੁ ਕਿਸੁ ਕੇਰਾ ॥
ਹਿੰਦੂ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਨਾਮ ਨਿਵਾਸੀ ਦੁਹ ਮਹਿ ਤਤੁ ਨ ਹੇਰਾ ॥੧॥
“If Allah lives solely in a mosque than what of the rest of the world? The Hindus claim divinity resides in their idols but both these claims (of Hindus and Muslims) are totally false.”
-Guru Granth, 1349.
So is Kabir contradicting himself here? Are Hindus and Muslims not worthy of equality? The mystery is only resolved when the aforementioned explanatory verse is comprehended:
ਮਾਟੀ ਏਕ ਅਨੇਕ ਭਾਂਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਸਾਜੀ ਸਾਜਨਹਾਰੈ ॥
ਨਾ ਕਛੁ ਪੋਚ ਮਾਟੀ ਕੇ ਭਾਂਡੇ ਨਾ ਕਛੁ ਪੋਚ ਕੁੰਭਾਰੈ ॥੨॥
ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਸਚਾ ਏਕੋ ਸੋਈ ਤਿਸ ਕਾ ਕੀਆ ਸਭੁ ਕਛੁ ਹੋਈ ॥
ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਨੈ ਸੁ ਏਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ਬੰਦਾ ਕਹੀਐ ਸੋਈ ॥੩॥
“The mud is one but the forms shaped from it are multifarious. Neither the mud nor its shaper are at fault. The one sole truth resides in everyone and is the directing force behind whatever happens. The one who realizes the command of his Master is the one said to be the Master’s man.”
-Guru Granth, 1350.
In essence what Kabir is saying is that Creation emanates from its Creator. The Creator forms everything and everyone perfectly. The Creator installs the capacity for truthfulness in everyone. This capacity acts as the catalyst for directing the affairs of mankind who interact with it on a day-to-day basis. However only a few ever recognize this order of things. The majority only ever pay lip service to the concept while failing to grasp the full capacity for truthfulness within them. They suffer accordingly while the minority who acknowledge reality are in equipoise even when subjected to the greatest of sufferings. By implication, not everyone is equal except those who recognize the truth. Physicality alone should not decide our assessment of others but rather their beliefs and values. Not all beliefs and values are equal as Kabir acknowledges. Some are better than others.
Conclusion:
So where does this leave our Utopian Sikhs? Where they were at the onset. Nowhere. It is crucial that we comprehend the Guru Granth in its entirety before jumping to appease whatever gravy train crosses our neighborhood. Let us not blindly fall into the trap of claiming all paths are valid for Sikhs. Such falsity is negated by Gurbani itself which explicitly makes clear that judgement should be passed on belief and the resultant actions arising from it rather than on appearance alone.
I cannot help but draw significant parallels to freedom based philosophies. Be it libertarianism, austrian economics, Humanism, etc. Even when considering documents such as The U.S. Constitution, which implies the availability of opportunity to all, does not guarantee it to all (The right to pursue happiness). The common denominator amongst all being that these philosophies are all students of reality. A natural order of existence is observed and followed, and instead of being at odds with it, disciples of freedom align themselves with it. As such, they are aligned with Sikhi. I’d like to see an article on not just the right, but the responsibility of a Sikh to bear arms. I’d like to refer you to some literature as well “Death from a Distance and the Birth of a Humane Universe” by Professor Paul Bingham.