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What would you ask Guru Nanak?
Balmeet Singh
 If
you had the opportunity to ask Guru Nanak one question, what would
you ask?
This was the
opening statement of a workshop I recently attended, along with
about 50 other Sikhs at the Lankershim Gurudwara in
Los Angeles.
Titled “Asa Ki
Vaar: Beyond Duality”, the workshop explored multiple facets of this
often neglected Baani through presentations which were reminiscent
of college lectures. These comprehensive presentations covered
everything from the “Structure and Poetics of Asa Ki Vaar” to “The
Legend and Message” behind the Baani, and offered me a new
understanding and appreciation of Asa Ki Vaar.
Sikh Research
Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission statement reads,
“To facilitate training and development while inspiring Sikh
values”, organized the event.
Moreover, as
they hoped to accomplish, I found that the defining difference that
inspired me with this new appreciation is that instead of a dry
recitation of facts, the workshop transformed into discussions about
Love.
With phrases
such as, “love is an act of will, not just a feeling” and other gems
of wisdom, presenter Harinder Singh was able to highlight the
creation of Asa Ki Vaar as the living embodiment of the Sikh mindset
with its one unifying focus: Love.
 The
central message that I understood after attending the presentations
is that Asa Ki Vaar is about shattering ignorance with truth.
Through this process, a person is able to move “Beyond Duality” into
an oneness in their thoughts, conducts, and with society.
Going back to
Guru Nanak and what other workshop goers would ask, questions ranged
from the often asked ”What do you think about Sikhi today?” and “How
do we make Sikhi more in line with your vision?” to the insightful
provoking question of “How did you have the courage to start a new
religion?”
Through Asa Ki
Vaar, Guru Nanak provides us with the answer to that last question.
If we have the courage to move beyond our internal greed and accept
that we have been graced we can achieve anything.
If this is the
case, then upon leaving I was plagued with another type of
question. It wasn’t about how we can bring Sikhi back to Guru
Nanak’s vision, but instead: How do the 50 attendees of this
workshop embody the Love expressed in Asa Ki Vaar, and then inspire
50 other people to do the same? This is our true challenge. (The
author is based at
Delano, CA)
25
June, 2008
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