Why hasn't Sikhi spread? St Georges uni Q&A #1

History - obviously everything
has a reason

History is one of the major reasons.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj
they came with a message.

They spread it.
There was no sikhi before them.

There were people that were talking
philosophies that were similar to this.

But it wasn't a holistic approach like
Guru Ji bought.

They spread it.

All the Gurus’ spread it.

Guru Amar Das Ji set up 150 preachers -
52 were women.

They sent women out
to preach Sikhi.

Their daughters were preachers.

So the Gurus are very big preachers.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji went out preaching to
Assam - places far far away from Central

Look at Patna Sahib, it's not near Punjab.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji set that up

Hazur Sahib - Guru Gobind Singh Ji
set that up around that area

as a place for loads for Sikhs
at Patna Sahib

So, the Guru’s all travelled.
They went out spreading Sikhi

And they sent people out to Afghanistan
and places like that to spread Sikhi.

Now, what’s happened since 1745,
The 1740s, is -

Baba Deep Singh Ji for example, they
wrote out Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Arabic.

They sent It out -
they were keen to preach Sikhi.

Sikhs didn’t used to say we don’t preach.

Now what’s happened is, most of us say
"we don’t preach”.

Do you agree with that?

Nowadays most Sikhs say
“we don’t preach”.

Who do you think told us
we don’t preach?

Our Gurus’ never said it.
The Guru’s actually went out to preach.

They travelled everywhere.

Guru Ji went to Sri Lanka.
They went all over.

So who told us that we don’t preach?

The British.

The British came to Punjab.
Took over the Punjab Kingdom in 1850s.

So from 1745, from the Guru’s time -

what you see from 1708 is the Sikhs’
being persecuted.

And even when they’re persecuted
they’re still bringing it up.

So for the next 100 years -

Let’s say you go upto from 1400s to 1700.

It’s the Guru Period.
Sikhi is growing, it’s great.

For the next 100 years upto 1800
you have got persecution.

Sikhs being killed everywhere.

1900s - what you’ve got is the
British coming over in the

In the 1850s, they took over
and what did they do?

They started to destroy Sikhi.

They started to kill all the Nihang Singhs
- as many as they could.

That believed in the
ShastarDhari Khalsa way.

They killed a lot of them.

They fought against them and
they killed them.

Also, they started to preach Christianity.

And they told us lot -
like a Jedi mind trick

Have you seen Star Wars?

Where he goes
“these are not the droids you seek”.

They go
“these are not the droids that we seek”.

It's a Jedi mind trick. They say
“you guys, don’t preach your religion”.

And we went
"we don't preach our religion”.

And that was it.
It became a Punjabi religion.

It no longer became an Indian religion,
spreading out in the whole of India.

It became a Punjabi religion.

The British made us into Punjabis.

They moved us away from Sikhi
into Punjabis.

They said you guys all live in Punjab,
you guys have got your geography.

Because the British were very good
at categorizing what people were

And then you got votes based upon who
you were.

So they were like "you guys are Hindus,
you guys are Sikhs"

You don’t want to spread out here -

and take over the Hindus
or become bigger.

You stay where you are - Punjab.

Basically the British told us
we don’t preach.

So one of the biggest things -

For the last, since 1850 when they
took over Ranjit Singh's Raj (Rule),

then they said
"you guys join the British army"

Become Sikhs in the Army, so now
we got institutionalised.

Took Amrit but we follow the British way.

The British said "you guys are warriors”
we said “yes we’re warriors”.

We had Mahapurkhs and Sanths,
but they said you guys are warrior race,

so we started believing
we're a warrior race.

But we’re not a race.

We’re a Dharam.

Punjabis might be a race.
We are not a race.

We are people that follow the philosophy
of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj.

The teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

We are a Chela.
We are Chele of the Guru.

We are not a race.

We have characteristics, we have a culture
that comes from our Gurus.

But anybody can join -
you can’t change a race can you?

You can now if you become a Sikh.
It’s a weird system.

Anyway the point is that Sikhi was
constricted by them

and limited off to one place.

Then since India Independence
you've seen what's happened in Punjab.

The race thinking was stuck there,
people thought we’re Punjabis.

And then Indian people when they
got independence,

they messed the Sikhs over.

Took away the land and then split Punjab.

Punjab used to look a bit
like a butterfly.

Now guess how much of it remains.
First they chopped off

First they chopped off two wings.

Then from this wing they chopped off
here and there.

Now you got this much -
like the left hand side.

Even Lahore, the Capital of the Sikh
Kingdom in Ranjit Singh’s time -

is now in Pakistan.

Ranjit Singh’s Raj was in Lahore.

Amritsar was a Spiritual Capital for us.
It was the Sikh Capital.

But not the Political Kingdom of the Raj.

So they're basically massively split and
since 1984 you’ve seen what’s happened.

Sikhs are basically - they’re trying to
kill Sikhi off in Punjab.

So firstly we've had external enemies
suppressing us.

Also internally our thinking has changed.

They changed our thinking to not think
that we are an expansionist religion.

But Guru Sahib was very expansionist.

You don't appoint 150 preacher if you
don’t intend to expand.

You don’t send Bhai Gunda Ji to
Afghanistan to preach,

if you don't want to bring in people from
Afghanistan into Sikhi.

Guru Ji did that.

Look around us, what are we doing?

Us British Sikhs -
the bastion of Sikhi in the world.

We are really doing great stuff here
in our Gurudware, aren’t we?

The youth don't understand Sikhi.

The committees are too involved
in fighting amongst themselves.

Every Gurudwara is trying to build
an even bigger Gurudwara,

rather than teach classes.

You can go to a Gurudwara nowadays
and you will have amazing halls

and amazing glass windows,
amazing wooden architecture.

You can't find a classroom.

You're like "hold on,
you say Guru is my teacher"

“You say a Sikh is a student"

Where’s the classes?

How many of you can go
to your local Gurudwara

and sign up for a course on Sikhi?

Say a 6 week course, 12 week course -
can you sign up for one?

How many of you think you can
sign up for one of those in a mosque?

How many institutions do you think
exist in this country

to teach Islam to newcomers?

Quite a lot.

How many exist to teach
Sikhi to a newcomer?

Very little. Nothing.

People are white and Sikh and
people are black who are Sikh -

but they are only through luck.

None of them ever got approached by
someone and said " you should be a Sikh”.

“You got the right mentality"

We never approach them.

Maharaaj goes around traveling,
looking for Gurmukhs.

We are scared to follow Sikhi ourselves.

We're not those kind of people that walk
around saying the praise of our Doctor.

If you go to a doctor in the world
and he fixes you,

100% if you meet somebody else who’s
got the same disease as you,

you're going to tell that person
go to that doctor, aren’t you?

Of course you will.

We don't believe in our doctor
all the time.

We don't follow our doctor.

We find it very hard to go and tell
other people to follow this doctor.

But if we really cared about that person
and they are diseased and they have Ego.

What’s the solution then?

You will earn the Guru's words,
the Guru’s Bani.

What does it mean to earn Bani?

It means to live it.

You’ve got the instructions,
now you follow them.

So we don't really believe in
spreading this either.

In this class, most of you guys know
about Dasam Duar?

Obviously who are you to blame?
Who’s to blame?

Our leadership.
our leaders who say that

Our leaders who say that "we are
the caretakers of the Guru's school."

Because the Guru is a teacher
so it must be a school.

They said we’re the school caretakers.
Guess who runs the school?

Not a head teacher.

The only person worthy of running a school
is a head teacher.

You agree with me?

Would you put the administrators
in charge of a school? No.

Who should run a school?

Somebody who's worked on the ground
all the way up to become a head teacher.

Who is concerned about teaching.

How many people in their Gurudwara have
seen their Pardhaans talk about Sikhi?

How many Pardhaans, on a regular basis,

come into the Gurudwara and
teach Sikhi to the Sangat?

How many of them are involved in running
charities or Seva projects?

So how come they run the Gurudware?

The dministrators have got into the
Gurudwara and started running Gurudware.

Admin people.
What do you think a Secretary is?

Admin person.

President is not a president.

He's the main person who runs all
the admin people.

The real people who run a Gurudwara,

are the people that are either teaching
Kirtan or singing Kirtan

or reading the Paath, explaining the Paath.

Or making the Langar, or doing all the
dishes and cleaning and washing up.

They're the people that make the
Gurudwara run.

These people that sit up in an office,
they don't make the Gurudwara run.

They’re the admin people.
Now the admin people run the Gurudwara.

So we got "the tail wagging the dog”.
You heard that saying?

They’re supposed to be wagged by the dog
but unfortunately they’re wagging the dog.

dog they tell the party the party who

knows more part than them they tell

him this guy knows more B than all those

people sitting on the table and he's

bringing them Cups of

Tea

you can see what's happening now so it's

our fault as well it's G completely

messed up we're not doing anything

ourselves and it's on you guys I'm sorry

to put it on you because I see it's upon

me as well but I don't see myself as

different from you guys the only

difference me me you about 10 years

that's nothing really right I see you

guys having the same responsibility that

I

have learn some of this knowledge I

didn't get this from Magic it isn't not

that hard 13 years ago I didn't know I

didn't understand a single bit

of years from now here you could be

teaching people across the globe as

well or can he come M makes everything

very easy sik is easy to follow and live

or key and simple as well yeah it's both

can't be classified to

key it's on your responsibility as well

if you see a problem solve it we saw a

problem no one knew what he was we made

those leaflets yeah goining sitting here

did all the graphic design done the

words made it

up could have put anything in there

really nothing's complicated in there by

the way one God one human race you can

connect to

God

traveled made a MOS gave that's just

Basics a it and that's why it's called

Basics yeah people don't know the

basics have l

gur job done go on YouTube and learn

more you see a problem in this house of

g g try to fix a problem don't they say

how come siki is not spread say how can

I spread siki yeah and it's not that

hard people buy siki we've had people

become siks would you believe it white

and black people started watching these

videos and they go I want to be a seek

how do I become a seek we people

messages and say I want to be a

seek I read that email out to you

recently some guy from California

emailed us y i watch your videos man I

want to be a seek he was amazing he

changed my life now I didn't change his

life did I who am I to change anybody's

life he changed my life I'm plugging the

doctor I'm

saying yeah and they say I want to have

that doctor as well that's what is

happening here people are coming on and

saying I want to have that guy is my

doctor I think he can fix me and he can

fix

them but this just just just one channel

how many channels do you think exist to

preach

Islam how many channels do you think

exist to preach

Christianity the major religions let's

look at the major religions how many of

the the Zen um Buddhist people who are

how they travel around the world meeting

all the top leaders yeah Buddhist is a

big religion as well they got a billion

of them how many thousand years did it

take them we only been around for 500

years most of that has been under

conflict and where we are now we're not

teaching the meaning of it to most

people our g r by the wrong people if we

change that around the next 100 years

siki would

fly change the leadership into people

that follow

siki make the focus about spreading and

explaining sec to everybody else like we

do stre parar have you seen those videos

about Street yeah do that in every city

every town have open days bring people

in invite them teach them about the

meaning explain it to Simply like this

this is your disease Mister this is

where you miss you're going to this is

the problem you're suffering the real

root cause is this hom and you will be

able to solve this if you connect to God

you have this on top of your head let's

meditate why don't you do some Savor

have some go serve some food to some

people you feel better about

yourself you feel good if you do savor

they do this they do this and they go

you know what siki really works I feel

connected to God I feel like I'm a

better person I'm starting to lose my

connection and when I say I feel great I

feel

blessed the won't be it won't be the

bottom of someone's shoe like it is

now it will rule the

world

who

will question is and the question

is we

say

will but do we even know what the Kaa is

this is what the Kaa starts off with a

diseased person that wants to get better

goes to the guru and says sort me

out make me like you make me free of

this

disease it's

uh it's history it's our problem and the

solution is there as well how to solve

[Music]

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