Protest over Bhindranwala Movie in UK and the Legacy of Guru Nanak

Last updated on: January 19, 2010 at 1:51 pm by Desh Kapoor

Protest over Bhindranwala Movie in UK and the Legacy of Guru Nanak 2010-01-19T13:51:31-06:00 Desh Kapoor

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A BBC film on Operation Bluestar has angered Sikhs in UK. The protests have been severe against the host of the movie – Sonia Deol, such that she has had to close down her Facebook page.

The Sikhs in UK feel that their leader – basically Khalistan backing miltant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala – was depicted as Osama Bin Laden instead of the Saint he was. He is ostensibly shown in the movie as holding gun with a turban and long robes. Personal prejudices aside, anyone who remembers those times and Bhindranwala in those days, this WAS his regular demeanour.

And I find it really sad. I still remember those massacres of innocent people in buses when these militants from the Bhindranwala camp would bring them down and shoot in cold blood. To call him a “Saint” is completely travesty of justice! Not that Sikhs had it easy – they had their own share of travesty, which should be fought…. but NOT with the blood of any innocent kid, woman or man!

What happened with Sikhism is one reason why I have a standing question for most Gurus of the kinds. which is “When will my offsprings and their follower’s offsprings fight and kill each other – and it is not a question of IF but when!?” Every sect and every Guru who comes leaves behind a legacy that his followers cannot match upto.

A different religious lingo or ritual doesn’t make ANY difference in Spiritual progress or journey, but it messes up the masses for ever.

I know many may Sikhs may not agree with me but I consider Guru Nanak Dev to be part of the pantheon of a tradition of Yogis and Rishis over the centuries. Just as Buddha and Jesus were.

Somewhat akin to as shown in the movie, Avatar, where Eywa – the Goddess was nothing more than a “theoretical” center (hub) of the complete consciousness of the generations of Nav’i people saved through networks of intelligence, and anyone could access that larger “database” and experience if one was “Open” to it and “Listening”…..

……similarly, I am convinced that Yogis can access the larger Consciousness experience (we all can), the different nuts and bolts of which have been passed on from every generation of Rishis/Yogis down. So whether one gets formal education or not, the experiences and “Grace/Guidance” beyond a certain point is always from that “Network of Yogic Consciousness”. Even J. Krishnamurti access Buddha’s consciousness and he knew it during his enlightenment in Ojas, CA.

Buddha, on his part, tried many paths and rejected them until he found his moment.. but to say that he became what he became on his own is nonsense. He was what he was because of what those paths that he didn’t sync up with did to him. Answer comes for the question you ask. If an answer leave you with more questions, then it has done its work. Spiritual guidance or Grace as people call it, is just that. A series of answers that leave you with more questions. But those questions arise if (i) you don’t just hold on to that answer as the truth (ii) Dont attach yourself to the messenger.

Every Rishi and every Yogi has to be cognizant of this anomaly of enlightenment. In my view, Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira, and Nanak have been lost from their religions and it is a great lesson for all the “Akal Purukhs” to create an Open ended spiritual experience.

Buddha created 30,000 enlightened human beings in his life time (which is amazing for any Yogi) it is said, but his followers just killed Tamils in hundreds of thousands in Sri Lanka. Can Buddhism have another Buddha who rejects the religion and rituals of Buddhism and go on his own just as Buddha did when he rejected the rituals of his local Hindu priest? No! Following Buddhism means END to any more Buddhas from that tradition! Buddha has finally made sure that no more like him can happen anymore, at least if you follow his teachings!

Similarly with Sikhism. Ditto with Christianity. And that is the irony. Souls whose VERY message was to be “Free” like they were, are today the reasons why people following them don’t want to be free. One ritual has been replaced by another. One idol with another. One temple with another. Words have changed.. practices and mindsets have not. And now, the fight is between one set of vocabulary and another. Just that is going on.

Moreover, how does saving of Golden Temple help create another “liberated soul” like Guru Nanak Dev? Even if it was without the taint of killing hundreds of innocents in absolute cold blood, which Bhindranwala was WITHOUT doubt responsible for!

If someone like Nanak or Buddha cannot inspire another liberated being.. then why keep their images around? And that was exactly their point about all the idols in the temples. Jo bachana tha wo to hum bacha nahin paye.. aur jiska koi mol nahin tha uske liye duniya jalane to tayyar ho gaye.. 🙂

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BBC’s Sonia Deol is forced off Facebook by Sikhs furious over TV film

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