Let me share a lovely poem I came across. A poem which started me thinking – whether perhaps we need more trees than “Gurdwaras” – perhaps some of them should be called Sikh ‘committee-dwaras’, ‘ritual-dwaras’, ‘gurudom or saadhdom-dwaras’, ‘jaat-paat-dwaras’, ‘Jang-dwaras’, or even just Sikh centres for political infighting.

But first, let us enjoy the lovely poem titled ‘Trees’ by Joyce Kilmer (1914).

                   I think I shall never see
                   A poem as lovely as a tree
                   A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
                   Against the earth’s sweet-flowing breast
                   A tree that looks to God all day
                   And lifts her leafy arms to pray
                   A tree that may in summer wear
                   A nest of robins in her hair
                   Upon whose bosom snow has lain
                   Who lives intimately with rain
                   Poems are made by fools like me
                   But only God, can make a tree!

My late venerable father, Giani Harchand Singh ‘Bassian’ who, in his quest, to do Panthic sewa in Malaysia (formerly Malaya) from 1948 to 1969, unfortunately also had some very traumatic and sad experiences at the hands of Gurdwara committees as a Granthi Sahib.

He had a saying in line with his experiences, “when Gurdwaras were modest and made of wood, to serve the spiritual and community needs of the local sangat, Waheguru visited and Guru Ji resided in them. When committees became ambitious, and Gurdwaras improved to imposing stone and marble buildings, Waheguru Ji stopped visiting and Guru Ji resides in body only in the form of Guru Granth Sahib but not in spirit any more, and prem (love) took flight!”

I was, virtually, born in a Gurdwara, as Bapu Ji was a Punjabi school teacher, missionary, ragi and unfortunately, due to economic circumstances, a Granthi Sahib. Now I travel worldwide doing kirten - sometimes in gurdwaras. I have, no doubt seen some ‘love-filled’ Gurdwaras, especially amongst small ‘sangats’ but generally, the large Gurdwaras, especially the very imposing buildings of stone and marble, in major Sikh centers of the world appear ‘loveless’ and friendless. They are hotspots of trouble, factional bickering and political infighting. They are, nevertheless, filled with 24 hour ‘service’ of food, ‘Akhand Patths’ and ‘kirten darbars’. We have Sikh temples (for these cannot claim to be “Gurdwaras”) for ‘Ramgharias’, ‘Ravdasias’, ‘Pothoharis’, ‘Rodays’, ‘Sehajdharis,’ and other ‘Sikh denominations. ‘Sants’ and “gurudoms” have their own ‘taksals’ or ‘thaats’ and denominations like Radha Swamis, Namdharis, Nirankaris, Sewa Panthis etc. have their own ‘ashrams’ or ‘deras’.

Perhaps we need smaller, ‘modest’, localized, non-denominational ‘guru-ghars’ filled with Guru Ji’s blessings and love, to cater for the spiritual and also perhaps social needs of our Sikh communities and lovingly open to all who want to attend.

In a small village called Woodford in Queensland, an hour’s drive north from Brisbane is the Woodford Folk Festival, held every year after Christmas. We have been doing kirten in this festival for the last decade.

The highlight of this festival, normally on the last day of the year, is the ‘Fire Event’. Neil and Farida Cameron and their team of volunteers build a ‘theme’ over a period of six days while the festival goes on, and on the final day, in a very elaborate and moving ceremony, with live music and dancing, the ‘theme’ is set on fire with an elaborate fireworks display. It is a great two-hour spectacle for a crowd of sometimes 35 to 40 thousand.

At the end of Year 1999 ushering in Year 2000, the theme was a five storey high wooden Buddhist Pagoda with 5000 candles in it. It was set alight at the end of the night to a spectacular display of fireworks and our group with a five hundred strong ‘non-Sikh. Non-Indian’ choir singing ‘Aadh Gur-ay Namaih, Jugadh Gur-ay Namaih, satgur-ay Namaih, Sri Guru dev-ay Namaih”. I asked Neil after the event, as the flames were dying down, and we were standing around celebrating another very successful event, what was the significance of burning down a beautiful and lovingly built Pagoda?

His answer was profound. We build monuments to remember God, or seek ‘nirwana’. But in time, we become prisoners to the buildings leading to in-fighting, corruption, and many other ‘ungodly’ actions. We forget why we built these monuments in the first place – they become ‘power bases’ for those interested only in power, intrigue and foul-play. So, once in a while, perhaps we should burn down these monuments to remind ourselves why we built them in the first place and that we have not become prisoners to them and fallen into political intrigue or ritualistic pursuits or encouragement of rituals in the pursuit of making money to upkeep these buildings..

Yes, I have seen and visited some ‘soul-less’ Gurdwaras in my time…

Strange I thought, Darbar Sahib (and Akal Takhat) have been destroyed, sometimes razed to the ground, a number of times in the short history of the complex … but do we learn our lessons as to why we (or our Guru Ji) built them in the first place?

Here is Joyce Kilmer’s poem again but with some ‘changes’ by me …

                   I think that I shall never see
                   A temple as lovely as a tree
                   A tree that looks to God all day
                   And lifts her leafy arms to pray
                   A tree knows no restrictions or limitations
                   Of race, religion, cult, color or denomination
                   All the great sages, in nature and wilderness free
                   Sought enlightenment and held discourses
                   On the ‘mound’, by rivers and under the Tree
                   Temples are made by fools like me
                   But only Waheguru, can make a tree.

May we have the blessings of Waheguru Ji to go back to ‘basics’ – why we build temples in the first place and try to understand why, what happens in them in a very short period and perhaps attempt to eliminate these malpractices… perhaps sit under a shady tree once in a while and sing Gurbani or hold discourses on Sikhi – like Guru Nanak did!

Dya Singh CD’s available for sale now at www.ethnicisland.com

Copyright ©2002 Sikhpoint.