Vaheguru Vaheguru
Can you tell me anything about Sikhs?
- Only that they're really peaceful and embrace love.
That's nice.
Anything anything brief in that?
- I'm so sorry, no.
Can I give you three facts about Sikhism?
About the message and what the Gurus might have done to make that message come alive.
- Yes, of course,
So the message is very simple.
We're not here to convert people, so there's no expectation here.
- I'm a Catholic, my mother wouldn't approve it.
That's fine.
We don't look to convert people.
The message is very simple that there is one creator who made everything and is all around us.
- Okay.
Everybody in the human race has a light of that One inside them.
So we're all equal and the One doesn't care about religion.
He doesn't care what religion we are.
He just cares about what we do.
- Yeah.
The idea is that at the top of our head is a center
that we can actually activate we can connect to that One.
So it's not like we're having belief or some being that we don't know about,
we can actually experience this One feel,
and feel the love of that One.
The way to do that is to sing, to meditate and live honestly and serve humanity.
Very simple, righ?
But the Gurus try to spread this message.
They came only in 1469
so it's quite young, even younger than America.
The first Guru traveled to Rome, Tibet, Mecca, Sri Lanka... everywhere spreading this message.
And met all the leaders.
He came back to Punjab because no one's really doing this,
let's set up our own community of people that follow this belief.
and then they can go out there and spread this message of Oneness.
The fifth Guru actually made this amazing building you might have heard about, The Golden temple?
- Yeah.
But most of the people don't that the Golden Temple has four doors.
The four entrance is signified that anybody can go inside.
It's not like a temple for sikhs,
like you couldn't go to Mecca if you are not Muslim.
- Yeah.
Well, You can come here.
There's no expectation.
Anybody's welcome there.
He was persecuted by the Muslims,
and he was killed by some radical Muslim,
but we don't hold hate against Islam.
His son, the sixth Guru, built a mosque for some Muslims that didn't have a mosque.
- Yeah, to show that they're ok
Exactly just show that everybody is equal,
and there's only one God anyway.
So it doesn't matter how we try to pray, right?
- Yeah.
But his son, the Ninth Guru, ends up giving his life to save Hinduism.
So even though we don't believe in Hinduism,
they were being converted by the Muslims.
And they asked him for help
and he actually end up getting beheaded in Delhi, in the center of India.
To save Hinduism.
So even to this day the Hindus honor him as he gave his life to save another religion,
for the freedom to practice a religion.
- Yeah, okay so he took Hinduism as another religion.
Yeah, it's a different religion.
But he gave his life to save them from persecution.
- From spreading the messages...
Yes, from persecution.
And then what we believe in now is a scripture.
So we follow this amazing scripture called the Guru Granth Sahib
It's the eleventh Guru we bow to it.
We don't bow to any specific spot in the world.
We don't bow to any people.
We just bow to the scripture.
But inside that scripture are writings by not just the Gurus,
the Gurus themselves compiled it.
But what it is it took writings from like Muslims, Hindus and people who were on the same kind of level,
spirituality and oneness,
and they put that writings inside there.
The aim was that humanity realizes that actually there's no such thing as religion.
There's Only truth, right?
But what's really cool about this Guru Granth Sahib Ji is that it's not divided by Chapters.
It's divided by music.
So inside there's 31 different sections on different types of music.
So you just meant to sing it.
It's all poetry
So we sing to God, as everybody should, right?
As you see in the Catholic church.
But the idea is that the Guru said to sing in these classical musical measures.
They're far more conducive to the work towards spirituality and
they encouraged us to become musicians.
So they actually were musicians themselves
and actually invented musical instruments.
Because the piano doesn't really speak to the heart as much as a violin does, right?
- That's right.
So they made stringed instruments and then encouraged us to play them.
And one of the ways they try to get that equality to come into us,
make it real, not just a philosophy,
is that every temple has free food.
And it's not just free food like giving out to everybody that walking past.
We all sit on the same level and we eat it.
- Men and women together?
Men and women together!
There's totally equality of men and women.
See these pictures? there are men and women.
We are all one, right?
There's no discrimination.
Women can be preachers, can be leaders, can be even fighters.
We've had women who have been in the infantry at the frontlines.
Even the British army doesn't allow it.
- Yeah.
I was in the army so I know.
In infantry, you can't have women.
The message is very simple.
If we sit and eat together the same food and is served and cooked by volunteers
then we can experience that oneness.
Rather than just talk about it.
- Yeah. So what's today about?
So today is more about a political event.
In 1984, the Indian Government invaded that beautiful place
that you've seen there
and they killed thousands of Sikhs.
It was designed to teach Sikhs a lesson
because the Sikhs had been fighting.
- What is the reason for that?
Basically, Sikhs have been fighting against injustice in India,
especially Indira Gandhi who was a prime minister at that time,
and she decided to teach us a lesson
by actually subduing us.
One of the main things they did is to attack on the day of a big festival.
And they trapped everybody inside.
And basically they just came in with guns and..
- When was that?
1984.
29 Years ago, I was only five years old.
- Gosh!
Yeah, it's horrible
- many people died that day?
On those four days probably about eight to ten thousand people died.
- Gosh
- So today I saw some poster about people still in prison, like political prisoners?
- Is that why you campaign for?
Since 84 the Indian government's been suppressing the Sikhs,
who obviously got very annoyed about what they did in 84,
and there was like a kind of what you call a freedom rights, like a human rights movement.
But they called it a separatist movement.
Because obviously to defame something you just call it something else than what it was.
And they've got loads of Sikhs still now in prison, and who have never been charged.
They have been there for 29 years.
No one's ever been charged.
- Is what today is about?
Yes, about raising awareness,
about what's going on about that.
But actually I think that the problem
is that the Sikhs are very good actually telling people who they are.
- No
So what we're doing is telling the message of who we are.
- Can I ask you about people with the orange turban?
It's very distinct.
- Yeah.
But the thing is that most people say about Sikhs that we wear turbans, beards and carry a sword.
But no one knows what we believe in.
I mean if I said to you "What do you know about Islam?"
You probably say that they believe in one God
and there's a Prophet Muhammad, right?
Or the christianity you would say they believe in Jesus.
- What do you think of Jesus? Do you recognize him?
For us Jesus is like a Saint.
- A Saint, yeah.
Remember inside the Guru Granth Sahib Ji,
there's loads of other Saints' writings in there.
So, for example Jesus' Lord's prayer is a really poignant.
- So is it recognized?
No, we don't recognize it as is not written down.
But with the idea that Jesus was a saint
and was one with God, we have no problem.
Because people can become spiritually one with God.
- but he is a sample for people?
Right. We don't give him the exclusivity.
In fact you could argue that when Christ said" I am the light and no one will get to God except through me."
He didn't exactly mean him maybe,
but the light and the way in the Truth.
So it's kind of arguable whether it's exclusivity
or it's like this is the way.
So if you follow this way, then you can get it.
Rather than follow him specifically.
So we're more about inclusivity.
- So when you're teaching children of your faith,
- what sort of morals are you teaching?
- And what's the big message about being forgiving, love and all the key questions?
Exactly, forgiveness and compassion.
For us are the main thing is justice.
The only way justice could ever come about in the world is if we have compassion
for our fellow human beings.
So that's why serving people food is a really good way to build compassion.
Because when you see somebody hungry you want to feed them.
So that's what we're doing the Gurdwara.
We make food.
Even now, if you go out there now there'll be people giving out free food.
- Where?
If you go that way and turn left.
I mean the idea is compassion and equality.
- Do you work with Charities or anything like that?
- Like catholics have Cathode
We have our own like Khalsa Aid.
It's doing projects at the moment
where that the big hurricane happened in Haiti.
They're over there.
They've been to Sudan.
We've got United Aid Libya.
So we do humanitarian stuff.
For us wherever there's injustice,
Sikhs have to step in.
In fact the 10th Guru he gave up his form of the Turban and the beard.
He also gave us a sword
So we have to carry like a weapon at all time.
It's called a Kirpan.
- I think I'm confused with something else.
- What's this about? (pointing the camera)
We have a YouTube channel
We just tell people about Sikhism.
That's the next part so we have this youtube channel called Basics of Sikhi,
where we just tell people about Sikhism in English.
And if you want to find out more, feel free to go and watch some videos.
- Yeah.
We're not really as trying to convert people,
but anybody can become a Sikh like my wife is white.
- I was going to say that. Can we be Sikh as a white woman?
Everyone can become a Sikh.
There's no special words you have to say to become a Sikh.
Because that's like more of a belief system.
So if you believe in something,
some people think you become part of religion.
We'd already think that believing in something makes you a part of it.
It's how you live, right?
So if you live in equality and oneness
and you meditate
then you're living as a Sikh.
So Sikhism is a way.
As opposed to a belief system.
- Because I struggle with my faith,
- and I know it sounds very disrespectful to say.
- But I'm aware people who talk to talk and don't walk the walk.
- And I find it incredibly frustrating.
- because they they say all these things in church.
- And then I witness their behavior,
- and it's completely opposite to what they say.
- But they don't recognize that.
- and I find it quite hard.
It's hard to deal with the hypocrisy of the world. we call this,
We call this age we're going through right now as a age of darkness.
Like no one's aware of the light of God inside them.
Most people won't tell you that God is inside you.
They say believe in God.
But no one tells you that if you sit down,
take deep breaths and meditate upon God
you can actually connect to God.
That message of connection is kind of gone.
- But that's a skill, isn't it?
- because I find quite hard to get into that state.
- I mean that's something you have to work out.
- I don't think
Don't you think it's more because we're not taught it from a young age?
- yeah, possibly.
I mean if we all got told from a young age how to meditate,
we probably would be experts at it by the time were 12 or 13, right?
- yeah.
I think the problem is that society doesn't want you to become a non-consumer person.
Because if you meditate,
your happiness comes from inside you.
You're not going to go and spend so much money .
You're not going to go out and spend all your money on random stuff.
You're going to Harrods, maybe!
- I know!
I'm not cursing you guys, by the way
I'm just saying that we're against consumerism.
- I'm teaching my children that whenever an advert comes on
- they always say "Boo!, we don't want your stuff!"
- "We don't need your stuff."
Exactly. tv is all about selling you stuff.
It's not really about you watching something,
they try to keep you hooked to watch adverts.
We might think they're making programs for this
but actually what they're doing is going to make us buy stuff.
And it's been proven.
If you put the kids in front of hamburger ads and McDonald's ads,
even if they are not hungry,
they'll get hungry.
because of food idea and makes them hungry.
So we are actually overeating simply because
we've been plugged this idea of overeating and wrong food.
- yeah.
So we're kind of more about waking yourself up inside.
And actually one of the things
that people don't realize is that humanity is one.
Even if you look at people
It's a bit strange.
But people tend to divide the world into religions.
And what that makes is there is no such thing as religion.
When you go in front of God,
you don't have this religion card.
He doesn't care!
He'll ask "What did you do?"
And so your book is not judged upon like what you believed,
but in your actions.
So religion itself is like a social construct.
- My husband firmly believes that.
- Yeah
- It's in terms of population,
- like I was once looking at quiz, I think,
- and in terms of population,
- and the percentage that is Sikhism and Catholicism or the rest of it
We are the fifth biggest.
Just in terms of numbers, we are higher than the Jews.
- Yeah.
So they'll be the sixth.
But we don't really talk about religion much.
- No, I know. I was just wondering how many.
It's probably about 29 million.
It's pretty small in that sense.
I don't think we care about numbers in that sense.
- Oh God, I know. I'm not saying you have to be big.
I know.
- Because to me, it sounds like there should be more people in your religion.
- It's a really great message.
- In a way, I think you're not getting out there enough.
Exactly, in our YouTube channel we are trying to get out there and tell people what we believe.
Because I do think there's loads of people
that would follow Sikhism if they knew what it was,
but they never heard of it .
- And also they think you are sort of like, you know..
that I am a Muslim, right?
-Yeah.
- But I knew because of the turbant
- I knew you were Sikh not Muslim .
- But I think that white people would think that they could be.
- I'm quite sure.
My wife is actually white.
She's a Russian from background.
But she became a Sikh and so my little boy he's not here,
but he's half white so, you know.
If you look at the picture,
there are these guys here.
They're all white.
Some of these guys are black.
- Yeah. It's great.
- This is about the message of everybody is equal.
The thing is male or female or whatever colour, the light inside doesn't change.
We believe in reincarnation.
So you could have been a brown person in your previous life.
you could have been a male in your previous life, who knows?
The fact is that the society makes you think that you're limited.
Depending on your background you raise you have to stick to this.
But the philosophy is very simple.
There's just one God.
Now meditate and find Him or Her.
We don't really think that God has a gender, by the way.
People think he's like male
- A man with long beard and white hair.
Yeah, exactly.
That's funny! It looks like someone like me!
But we don't believe in that.
We believe that actually it's like more a energy source.
Like electricity.
It can power different machines,
but they're all powered off the one thing, right?
So, some people are more inclined to do social work;
other people just want to meditate.
But they're all kind of due to the same power source.
And you can't see electricity.
But you can feel it.
- So what's about the afterlife?
- what's your view on that?
- What happens when you die?
So when you die
- Hold on, we have a train to catch and need to be quick.
What we think is that if you have connected to the One,
as you connect you purify because God is pure.
So as you connect to God you get purified.
That means that your soul has less sins upon it.
Sins are like dirt upon your soul.
And as the mirror gets clean, you see God back.
Because the light is God, right?
So it's just about purifying that mirror.
So if you don't do it enough in this life,
you have to come back again.
- But if you do it, then you get back to him?
Right, then you then you go into eternal spirit world.
So basically, you're a spirit in the presence of God.
It's a great place.
- But if not, you're reincarnated to try again.
Right. But you can't always come back as human being.
- Oh so you can be something else.
Yes, all animals have the same light, God inside them.
So we don't really believe that human beings are like special.
We are special because we can connect to God,
but at the same time all animals have the same light inside them.
So we do believe that animal cruelty is
actually just cruelty upon other beings
that have the same right to live.
- So are you vegetarian then?
Most of the sikhs are vegitarians.
We have some people that do eat meat,
but it's never killed in the halal way,
which is like by sacrificing and leading it to death kind of thing.
Our 7th Guru set up a center for injured animals.
He was really into herbal medicine and animals.
So every Guru had like a different facet to teach people.
He was more about you know nature and stuff.
- Did the Gurus keep continuing?
No, the 11th Guru is scripture,
from 1708 we've stuck to scripture.
- Okay.
But we do believe that the people that follow this way,
they like the manifestation of our Guru.
So how do we find our Guru now?
We find him in what he wrote because they wrote it and compiled themselves.
Also we find him in the people that lived up.
Because it's like energy, right?
Sometimes you see energy in the mains
and sometimes you have energy in batteries.
- Yeah.
They can be in a portable.
So it's like that.
- And how often do you worship or meditate?
We should meditate first thing in the morning about an hour,
and then in the evening and at night time.
So it's three times a day.
- Do you wake up yourself in the night?
Yeah, you wake up and meditate and pray.
The prayers are written by our Gurus.
They're more like songs.
If you sing these songs written by them,
they get you thinking to think in that way.
Because it's very hard to change your thinking, right?
If you keep repeating them enough,
you can change your thinking.
But the main thing that we do is we say God's name.
So like Jesus said "Our father who art in heaven·
It's "our" father, not only his.
"Blessed be Thy name"
What does that mean?
For us the name is the way of meditating.
So we actually just call God.
If you see look at the first picture,
we say 'Vaheguru' as a name given for God.
But that doesn't mean that God only has one name.
We just say that again and again.
We chant it.
So we just say Vaheguru.
Vaheguru
- Say that again.
Vaheguru
We just say again and again.
And then we try to connect to God through that name.
And then hopefully you can start to feel the bliss of God,
the spirit of God you might call it.
It's a really blissful experience.
Sometimes you get very tearful
because you feel that connection to the One.
It's just about meditating.
As you do that more and more, you get purified.
It's like hard to say what purification means,
but it's like God is pure.
So the more you get connected to God the more you get godly.
- Yeah
So things that we're trying to fight in the real world are these five things:
lust, anger, greed, pride and attachment.
Those are our five voices.
So our aim in life is to kind of stay away from those things
and then embrace stuff like truth, compassion, justice, equality.
It's a few more.
You get the idea.
Service to others,
helping people help selflessly is a big pot.
- That's a fantastic message in this age.
- So thank you so much.
No problem.
There's one for you as well.
- Thank you.
- It's great to learn about it.
- We take it with us.
Thanks your time. Okay. Bye. Bye