From Punjab to British Columbia

Last updated on: March 23, 2017 at 12:53 pm by Jason M. Brown

From Punjab to British Columbia 2017-03-23T12:53:57-08:00 Jason M. Brown

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Today on ‘Experience the Sacred: Where Spirit Meets World in Vancouver’ the radio show I host with a few other collaborators, I interviewed three members of the Sikh community who volunteer with Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen, a weekly soup kitchen that sets up on the corner of Main and Hastings here in the city.

What amazes me about the Sikhs is their devotion to selfless service. They put on fundraisers, blood drives, feed the homeless etc. They are also passionate advocates of Interfaith Dialogue and understanding with fiercely pluralistic view of God and religion. They do no proselyte, but their lives preach beautifully of the transformative power of faith.

Sikhism is one of the youngest World Religions, but boasts almost 30 million adherents worldwide. It was founded in the mid 1400s by Guru Nanak who taught of God’s oneness and the unity of humanity. The word Sikh means disciple or learner. Sikhs follow the teachings of Guru Nanak, and his ten successors, which were written down as scriptures and chants in the Guru Granth Sahib. The scriptures are venerated as sacred, and placed on a central altar in the Gurdwara or Temple and chanted at each service. They also serve free meals to all who show up in a practice called Langar. They do not distinguish between color, creed, caste or gender.

Sikhs have suffered from discrimination here in the Northwest since their arrival in the 1890s, with white settlers even rioting over their immigration. They were banned for many years. In 1914, a ship named the Komagata Maru was turned away because its passengers were largely Sikhs.

Sikhism is now the second largest religion in British Columbia, with almost half a million Sikhs calling Metro Vancouver home. This is practically unprecedented in other places in the world.

In 2007 several Sikhs wanted to bring the practice of Langar to the streets, and so they set up a tent on Main and Hastings and have been serving food every week since then. Volunteers pay for, cook, transport and serve the food. They serve about 4,000 meals per month.

Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen is online at: http://www.gnfk.org/

Listen to the episode here: http://www.coopradio.org/station/archives/53659

Religion and Spirituality

Experiencing the Sacred

Sikhism

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