Suicide and Sikhism?
A few days ago I read news about a woman committing suicide with her children in front of a train in England. This just makes me sad and heartfelt. What I don’t understand is why men and women that are supposed to be "Sikhs of the Guru" would do such acts? What could be that bad in life? I guess her faith in Akal Purakh Waheguru is lost and they feel no one in this world can help them, husband, parents, brothers, sisiters, neighbors, in-laws, Gurudwara and not even anyone in the the Khalsa community which was known for helping raise orphans left behind by Hindu and Sikhs alike and hindu women sex slaves freed from Mughals attacks on India. Those brave Sikh men and women martyrs come to mind that didn't lose faith, sacrificed everything and fought all the way till end. They didn't give up hope. Life is beautiful and let us cherish it. Suicide seems cowardly and I don't think a Sikh of the Guru would do such an act. He or she would fight till death but not give up Our Gurus did not go on hunger strikes or give up. They taught us how to live free life. I know it is easy for me to say and I have not experienced a life of real poverty, but here is my take on it if I ever get into this situation. If I in debt, so what? Let it all go! What is the worst? They could put me in jail or I would have to live on the streets, so what, I am still breathing. This doesn't mean get in to huge debt though. Live within your financial means and don't worry about what people say. And, yes, tomorrow is another day and things could only go upwards and better from this point on. Don't give a crap if you family ignores you, don't give a crap if your boss fires you from the job, don't worry if you don't have any money in your pocket. Satguru is always with you or as a Gursikh will say "Ang sung Waheguru!" You can always go to Gurdwara, do seva, enjoy langar and feel good about yourself for contributing to humanity. Guru's langar will satisfy your hunger while you look for a job and place to live. I also don’t understand why a Gurusikh would also go on hunger strike, since that is almost like committing suicide. Darshan Singh Feruman come to mind who died because of hunger strike in the 1960’s. Don't get me wrong here, I have the utmost respect for him and others for fighting for justice, having compassion for humanity and causes and having the courgae to do it. Who am I to judge anyways? And, when does a Gursikh or Sikh community in general would know that all means have failed and it is now time to pick up the sword to fight against these injustices. Should Bhai Feruman have picked up the sword instead of going on hunger strike? I don't know but these questions do come to mind. True gursikh men and women just don’t commit suicides, they fight for justice peacefully and if that is denied they take up arms as a last resort. I wish the woman had someone to talk to that could show her the Guru’s way. I hope we can learn lessons from all this. A loss of a loved one would be the hardest for anyone! I really don't have anything to say on this except that only listening, reading, reciting Guru's words or advice from a true Gursikh would be able to help cope with the loss.
posted by SikhsRus at 8:35 AM
5 Comments:
Gurinder Ji,
Thank you for the comments. Learned a few things from them. My comments were mainly about suicide among Sikhs. I wish it would not happen.
Well, as per my knowledge, the Sikhs do use weapons for purposes other than self-defense and that is defending others if need arises.
Khalsa is fearless - yes! That's how it is meant to be. If you are fearless you are blessed! But I have yet to know a man who is essentially nirbhau...
About Suicide: Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, irrespective of their religious or cultural background, is something that happens in this world and has pervailed. Thank God, all of us are not aware of such circumstances that could drag us close to that stand ever. Waheguru! Suicide is a very pathetic stage (literally). It is peoples ultimate call for help. I don't know if others will agree, but circumstances are a great force in shaping what we are. And when things go wrong, you have to be immensely blessed to not lose all hope and trust. We are but human. God has but not the meaning which could be identically strong for all. Every one, the very normal, usual us (includes all), get ambivalent about the things happening in our lives. We all need to hear Wahegurus reinforcement, but through a medium more lucrative and real: someones kindness, comfort, and love. So if you are strong, share that strength with those around you: people have a tendency to keep their sorrows to themselves. And also share your Satguru with them and them with your Satguru in your prayers, if you may. Call them not weekend, who are week-willed, for circumstances might have broken those pillars of strength on which their lives and happiness exist.
I know the comment is way longer... But a couple of things more. This woman who killed herself with her kids, might be suffering from Postpartum Depression and it is very very serious and pretty common.
About my lifestyle change, all I can say is that it was my calling. It has not been a sudden change but a gradual one. I look at it as a new journey or a new chapter in life. A lot of good things have come out of it. I used to hate the whole world, depressed, but somehow realization came that it was me not the world. There was always this inner desire to go back to Punjab all the times and hated life here. I can't believe my wife (a non-sikh American) even stayed with me during those times because there were fights all the times. But somehow she stuck around and I thank her and God for all this. Anyways, what I want to say is that God just works mysteriously. If my life was changed, I am sure anybody's can.
This year attended a Sikh camp, and both my boys (11 and 7) became vegetarians on their own without any pressure. It shows their leadreship and strong will of not to just go with the flow. I am hoping my daughter (14) and wife will make this change one day.
I am trying to teach kids Punjabi at least 20 minutes a week. They are like sponges and pick up pretty quickly. I hope to have them be able to read and write by next year. Goal is that if they can learn to read and write, vocabulary will come slowly thru reading. I wish there was a good Punjabi to English dictionary. Punjabi is so easy to teach. For reading and writing, just 35 letters and "lagan matra" need to be memorized. Rest is just building vocabulary.
Sorry too long of a post!
Wow! Gurinder Singh, this is great stuff and pretty deep. It does sound like the movie "contact" with Jodie Foster but I think it would be wrong to compare it like that. It simply shows that you are soul searching and a seeker of higher Truth. I like your views about higher education among Sikhs and goal towards unity. Yes! we do need a lot more of thinkers and doers in all fields, ranging from philosophy, art, science, religion, space and especially a will towards unification in order to survive in world. Being a minority everywhere on this earth, we definitely need each others support and encouragement in all fileds. I also believe that sikhism is on the verge of a major breakthrough especially in the western world. The next 100 years will be very interesting to watch. I would not be surprised to see the next wave of great scientific discoveries and researches coming out by Sikh scientists, great Sikh artists, Sikhs moghals owning and running mega projects all over the world, Universities, medical hospitals being named after Sikh gurus in the western world. I think Sikhs have a really really bright future ahead of them and it is a great time right now since they are not at a major war with anyone except little internal rifts. If we don't take advantage of this window of opportunity during peace time to accomplish things such as getting higher education, doing discoveies, opening companies and being succesfull at what we like to achieve, we will be left in the dark ages like the middle east. The most important part of it all being is how to defend our faith during aggression from a majority government/society. We need to support more organizations like the United Sikhs, SALDEF or others, that can help Sikhs during peace and war times with medicine, food, shelter and may be even defense research to safeguard Sikh men, women and children. Given the right opportunity, we can really shine. Like Dr. Manmohan Singh's famous quote "the idea whose time has come". Sikhism is going to go places where it has never gone before, may be not in my lifetime, but definately in the next 100-200 years.
Even, no matter how controversial Yogi Bhajan may be, I am sometimes amazed at what one person was able to accomplish. It is not an easy thing to have somebody follow and believe in what you are talking about. I also believe that even one of the western Sikhs or Sikhs from other cultures such as Japan/China which have embraced Sikhsim will one day outshine even Sikhs from India and become one of the great leaders in the world and change Sikh history for ever. This may be farfetched dream, but it can definitely happen.
Again thank you for the post and hope one day yours (future) and my kids or grand kids will be part of the world where Sikhs are as common as any other major religion on this earth. I guess I am rambling as well, but these are good thoughts.
God knows what was going through her mind :o(
I'm from a Sikh background and I've had days where I think it would be a blessing if I didn't wake up the next day. But for some reason, I am absolutely loathe to actually do anything to harm myself because I don't have the right to do that (if God wills that I die in my sleep or fall off a building so be it).
I have hope. I believe that God is helping me to stay sane for a reason - because He wants me to succeed :o)
Sorry - turned into a little soapbox moment there ;o)
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