UPLIFT OF MAN BASED ON CHARACTER
Gurbani - UPLIFT OF MAN BASED ON CHARACTER:
This life of praise is not to be of idle mysticism but of active service done in the midst of worldly relations. 'There can be no worship without good' (Japji) action. These actions, however are not to be formal deeds of so-called merit, but should be implied by an intense desire to please God and to serve fellow men.
The Gurus laid the foundation of man's uplift not on such short cuts as mantras, miracles or mysteries but on man's own humanity, his own character as it is character alone-the character already formed-which helps us in moral crises. Life is like a cavalry march. The officer of a cavalry on march has to decide very quickly when to turn his men to the right of left. He cannot wait until his men are actually on the brink of a gutter i.e. nulla or khud. He must decide long before that. In the same way, when face to face with an evil, we have to decide quickly. Temptations allow us no time to think. They always come suddenly. When offered a bride or an insult, we have to decide at once what course of action we are going to take. We cannot then consult a religious book or a master guide. We must decide on the impulse. And this can be done only if virtue has so entered into our disposition that we are habitually drawn towards it, and evil has got no attraction of us. Without securing virtue sufficiently in character, even some of the so-called great men have been known to fall an easy prey to temptation. It was for this reason that for the formation of character the Gurus did not think it sufficient to lay down rules of conduct in a book; they also thought it necessary to take in hand a whole people for a continuous course of schooling in wisdom and experience, spread over many generations, before they could be sure that the people thus trained had acquired a character of their own. This is the reason why in Sikhism there have been ten founders instead of only one.
Before the Sikh Gurus, the leaders of thought had fixed certain grades of salvation, according to the different capacities of men, whom they divided into high and low castes. The development of character resulting from this was one-sided. Certain people, belonging to the favored classes, got developed in them a few good qualities to a very high degree, while others left to themselves got degenerate, it was as if a gardener, neglecting to look after all the different kinds of plants entrusted to him were to bestow all his care on a few chosen ones, which were in bloom so that he might be able to supply a few flowers every day for his master's table, The Gurus did not want to have such a lop-sided growth. They wanted to give opportunities of highest development to all the classes of people.
Women too received their due. "How can they be called Inferior" say Guru Nanak. "When they give birth to kings and prophets?" (Asa-di-var, xix) Women as well as men share in the grace of God and are equally responsible for their actions to him, (Guru Amar Das's, Var Suhi, vi) Guru Hargobind called women "the conscience of man." Sati was condemned by the Sikh Gurus long before any notice was taken of it by Akbar.
The spirit of man was raised with a belief that he was not a helpless creature in the hands of a Being of an arbitrary will, but was a responsible being endowed with a will of his own, which could do much to mould his destiny. Man does not start his life with a blank character. He has already existed before he is born. He inherits his own past as well as that of his family and race. All this goes to the making of his being and has a share in the moulding of his nature. But this is not all. He is given a will with which he can modify the inherited and acquired tendencies of his past and determine his coming conduct. If this were not so, he would not be responsible for his actions. This will again, is not left helpless or isolated; but if through the Guru's Word it be attuned to the Supreme will, it acquires a force with which he can transcend all his past and acquire a new character.
Author : Gurbaani.com
This life of praise is not to be of idle mysticism but of active service done in the midst of worldly relations. 'There can be no worship without good' (Japji) action. These actions, however are not to be formal deeds of so-called merit, but should be implied by an intense desire to please God and to serve fellow men.
The Gurus laid the foundation of man's uplift not on such short cuts as mantras, miracles or mysteries but on man's own humanity, his own character as it is character alone-the character already formed-which helps us in moral crises. Life is like a cavalry march. The officer of a cavalry on march has to decide very quickly when to turn his men to the right of left. He cannot wait until his men are actually on the brink of a gutter i.e. nulla or khud. He must decide long before that. In the same way, when face to face with an evil, we have to decide quickly. Temptations allow us no time to think. They always come suddenly. When offered a bride or an insult, we have to decide at once what course of action we are going to take. We cannot then consult a religious book or a master guide. We must decide on the impulse. And this can be done only if virtue has so entered into our disposition that we are habitually drawn towards it, and evil has got no attraction of us. Without securing virtue sufficiently in character, even some of the so-called great men have been known to fall an easy prey to temptation. It was for this reason that for the formation of character the Gurus did not think it sufficient to lay down rules of conduct in a book; they also thought it necessary to take in hand a whole people for a continuous course of schooling in wisdom and experience, spread over many generations, before they could be sure that the people thus trained had acquired a character of their own. This is the reason why in Sikhism there have been ten founders instead of only one.
Before the Sikh Gurus, the leaders of thought had fixed certain grades of salvation, according to the different capacities of men, whom they divided into high and low castes. The development of character resulting from this was one-sided. Certain people, belonging to the favored classes, got developed in them a few good qualities to a very high degree, while others left to themselves got degenerate, it was as if a gardener, neglecting to look after all the different kinds of plants entrusted to him were to bestow all his care on a few chosen ones, which were in bloom so that he might be able to supply a few flowers every day for his master's table, The Gurus did not want to have such a lop-sided growth. They wanted to give opportunities of highest development to all the classes of people.
Women too received their due. "How can they be called Inferior" say Guru Nanak. "When they give birth to kings and prophets?" (Asa-di-var, xix) Women as well as men share in the grace of God and are equally responsible for their actions to him, (Guru Amar Das's, Var Suhi, vi) Guru Hargobind called women "the conscience of man." Sati was condemned by the Sikh Gurus long before any notice was taken of it by Akbar.
The spirit of man was raised with a belief that he was not a helpless creature in the hands of a Being of an arbitrary will, but was a responsible being endowed with a will of his own, which could do much to mould his destiny. Man does not start his life with a blank character. He has already existed before he is born. He inherits his own past as well as that of his family and race. All this goes to the making of his being and has a share in the moulding of his nature. But this is not all. He is given a will with which he can modify the inherited and acquired tendencies of his past and determine his coming conduct. If this were not so, he would not be responsible for his actions. This will again, is not left helpless or isolated; but if through the Guru's Word it be attuned to the Supreme will, it acquires a force with which he can transcend all his past and acquire a new character.
Author : Gurbaani.com
posted by eprayas | 12:01 AM
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