I had a dream, a rather interesting one.

I am in attendance in a Montreal Gurdwara in the year 2030. The ceremony is conducted by a Bhai Sahiba – an elegant lady who conducts the service with grace. I am pleasantly surprised. All the Bhai Sahibas I had seen thus far were from the so called “American Sikhs” of Caucasian origin.

Bhai Sahiba has a PhD from the University of Chicago’s School of Divinity.  The school’s Dean has spent a year studying Sikhism at Punjabi University in Patiala. Punjabi University offers courses on Sikhism, and postdoctoral opportunities to prepare for ministry in Sikh congregations.

I am fascinated by Bhai Sahiba and impressed by her credentials and knowledge. I asked her several questions about the Sikh youth who come regularly to the Gurdwara. How has she attracted them back? What is their quest? Are they committed to their Sikhi?

In response she opens her heart and shares some revealing facts. Let me group sections of the conversation for clarity.

Sikh Youth Commitment

She tells me that our youth are returning to Gurdwara after a long hiatus. Many of them are in the process of checking out the new Gurdwaras we have started. Bhai Sahiba is their counselor and guide. They confide in her and trust her.

“Our youth are lonely”, she reflects… “Their lives are empty and boring, irrespective of how much money they earn. They are dealing with issues like the purpose of life, death, lack of meaningful relationships in their life.”

“Our clergy failed to notice that middle-class men and women live in a highly individualistic and competitive world. They are bombarded daily by a consumer culture that tells them they are what they purchase, consume or simply possess. I am searching for a middle-class theology to address our emptiness and praying to the Guru to inspire us”, she continues.

University Education Was Help

Bhai Sahiba told me that she uses her university education in Divinity and knowledge of the Sikh scriptures to .address the concern of the youth in meaningful ways. Many tear up during her service, especially women. They experience a sense of returning home after their self-imposed exile. After they are here for a while, they reach deep places in their consciousness that they weren’t even aware of.

Hesitation to Commit

Bhai Sahiba shares with me Sikh youth are afraid that they might be asked for commitment to their ancestral culture. They want to make the commitments when they are ready to do so, not under pressure. They rebel and run away from a dos and don’ts culture. She feels that they were not necessarily anti- commitment. They weigh in on every issue dispassionately. “Perhaps something is lost. Perhaps something shall be gained”, she muses.

“Essentially they approach a congregation looking for spiritual sustenance and for some means of dealing with the emptiness within them. Sometimes they get caught up in their emotions, overwhelmed by their own reconnections with a religious heritage. They do not understand the ethnic Punjabi culture. They have no time for clergy who spoke to them in a language and idiom that is alien to them.”

“We expect our youth to “fit in” to our centuries old programs and structures when their professional cultures have nourished them to tomorrow’s technology and customs. Consequently, the young Sikhs often experience a gap between what they are looking for and what is offered to them by our organized religious institutions.”

“Missing from many congregations is any real sensitivity to their deeper religious concerns, or a structure designed to help them to grow spiritually without first conforming to the religiosity aspect.”

“The youth are suspicious not just toward religion, but also to social attachments as a whole. But they are not anti-commitment, nor are they narcissistic in the self-absorbing way that the term is often used. They appear to be that way, as a result of the high levels of individualism and self-reliance within the middle-class youth culture.”

Congregations – Desired and Undesired

Bhai Sahiba shares with me her perception of Gurdwara programs.

“In our Gurdwaras today often programs aren’t very well integrated with spiritual and technological worlds, or if they are integrated, they are not very persuasive.”

“Many Gurdwara congregations lack a unifying perspective that links the personal and the social aspects of life with faith. Traditional models of piety and spirituality are often tied to outdated dualisms of body and spirit. They fail to nurture both according to our Guru’s teachings as imbibed in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.”

“Many of the existing programs and activities in Gurdwara congregations do not speak to youth and leave them without much intellectual nourishment and little reason to make a serious commitment to the institution.   Gurdwaras are not tolerant and closed on lifestyle issues.”

“The overwhelming majority of Gurdwara attending young Sikhs, whether theological liberals or theological conservatives, prefer a congregation that is tolerant. In their opinion a desirable model for a Gurdwara would be to lean in the direction of widely accommodating rather than overly strict attitudes on dress and life styles.”

“Most young Sikhs oppose imposition of absolute Punjabi morality in favor of a more individualistic, open, and common sense approach to morality. These trends toward greater openness and tolerance lie largely within the broader youth culture in North America. Thus, changes towards these characteristics must occur in the religious traditions of  contemporary congregations to attract the new generation.”

A Dream

“With dreams upon my bed thou scarest me and affrightest me with visions”, said William Blake.

We live in more than one reality, that of what is and that we dream of. I leave it to the readers as what to make of my dream.