I/2018 NAGAARA SPECIAL ISSUE Chardi Kalaa Conference at San Jose, California The Fifth Annual Conference on the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, jointly hosted by the Chardi Kalaa Foundation and the San Jose Gurdwara, took place on 19 August 2017 at San Jose in California, USA. One of the largest and arguably most beautiful gurdwaras in North America, the Gurdwara Sahib at San Jose was founded in San Jose, California, USA in 1985 by members of the then-rapidly growing Sikh community in the Santa Clara Valley Back Cover ContentsSPECIAL ISSUE I/2018 49 Sikh Way of Life as inspired by C the Sikh Rehat Maryada 2 Editorial 27 Human Ideals of Guru Granth Sahib Sukhveer Singh Karlcut Staying anchored, moving forward Dr. Jaspal Kaur Kaang Dr IJ Singh, Gurinder Pal Singh and Inder Mohan Singh 53 “By Walking the Walk with SGGS and our HUKAM: What it is & What it Aint? beloved Gurus, are Sikhs designed to be civic 34 entrepreneurs, public ombudsmen, or future Dr IJ Singh leaders?” Harbir Kaur Bhatia Hukam Rajaaee Chalnaa: 5 living in alignment with Hukam Dr. Inder Mohan Singh 38 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Scripture of Global Concerns Dr. Jaspal Singh Some questions, and answers as inspired by 12 Following the Guru’s path 58 From Human Love to Divine Love Bhai Vir Singh’s novel ‘Satwant Kaur’ Dr. Kanwaljeet Singh Anand Geeta Kaur Karlcut 43 Interconnected Ethics Living as Warrior-Saints for the Freedom and Equality of all, across Centuries, Cultures, 24 The Sikh Way of Life Religions and Continents 62 The Mool Project Harnoor Kaur Panesar Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa Sundeep Singh Bedi Editorial Director Editorial Office I/2018 Dr IJ Singh D-43, Sujan Singh Park New Delhi 110 003, India Printed by NAGAARA Managing Editor Tel: (91-11) 24617234 Aegean Offset Printers Pushpindar Singh Fax: (91-11) 24628615 Joint Editor e-mail : [email protected] Bhayee Sikandar Singh Please visit us at: Published by www.nishaannagaara.com Editorial Board The Nagaara Trust Inni Kaur 16-A Palam Marg The opinions expressed in Monica Arora Vasant Vihar SPECIAL ISSUE the articles published in the Chardi Kalaa Conference Distributors New Delhi 110 057, India at San Jose, California Nishaan Nagaara do not Himalayan Books Associated with necessarily reflect the views or Cover: Gurdwara Sahib at San Jose, 17 L, Connaught Circus, The Chardi Kalaa Foundation California New Delhi - 110001 San Jose, USA policy of The Nagaara Trust. The Timeless, Universal Message of Guru Granth Shib “Staying anchored, moving forward” round September every year, Sikhs worldwide to making a living. How to discover the universal celebrate Guru Granth Sahib as the Living connectivity that fashions communities and nations, Word. Its first compilation was in 1604 by Guru and how to nurture a progressive relationship with AArjan Dev ji and was finalised a hundred years later in the Creator that respects the creation in an inclusive 1708 by Guru Gobind Singh as the repository of Sikh fashion. spiritual heritage. Naturally then, yearly celebrations of the The Guru Granth Sahib is not a catalogue of sins compilation of Guru Granth are not uncommon across committed or contemplated and prescriptions to the world, wherever Sikh communities are found. atone for them. It is not a reference guide with steps numbered and outlined as in an encyclopedia to be A few years ago, a handful of Sikhs from California’s crammed or copied. It is not even a detailed historical Silicon Valley took note of the obvious: The values narrative of the colourful journey of the Sikh people. of Sikhi as revealed by the Guru Granth are unique, Such matters are not totally shunned but they are universal, eternal (timeless), a thinking person’s clearly not central to the message. Such detail would guide and most powerfully expressed in Guru Granth have limited the Guru Granth Sahib and Sikhi to a Sahib. What would be better than initiating a yearly particular time, place, culture and geography – surely Symposium to reconnect with these values where the an ethnocentric existence. focus will remain on contents and teachings of the NISHAAN Guru Granth? The first conclave was hosted by the Instead, the Guru Granth Sahib remains an California-based Chardi Kalaa Foundation and the 2 unparalleled guide on how to make a life as opposed majestic San Jose Gurdwara. This year (2017) was the sixth. Two years ago, SikhNet, the largest Sikh portal to our complex lives. The conference was a joint effort on the Internet also joined as a sponsor. of the Chardi Kalaa Foundation, Sikh Gurdwara San Jose and SikhNet. The Sikh Review (Kolkata) published special issues on the first two Symposia. The New Delhi-based Thumbnail sketches of the proceedings follow: Nishaan took over this responsibility from 2014 The programme opened in the morning with shabads onwards and brings you the proceedings of 2017 today. rendered by two groups of students from Guru Nanak This Editorial provides a quick and brief summary of Khalsa School San Jose. True to the spirit of Guru the day. Granth Sahib, the shabads were rendered in the Raags as prescribed in Gurbani. Students also used Sikh Our speakers remain an eclectic mix in age, heritage instruments like the Rabab, Dilruba and Taus. geography, commitment to Sikhi and this year (2017) was even more of a captivating mix. For the past Kirtan was followed by three short talks by students two years, a short segment by very young voices, from Guru Nanak Khalsa School who had received usually early teens have opened the day. They bring first positions in their respective age groups at the Sri us delightfully thoughtful voices about Sikhi; many Hemkunt International Youth Symposium held in have also mastered complex traditional instruments Sacramento a month earlier in July 2017. Harnoor of classical Indian musicology. For about an hour and Kaur outlined the Sikh way of life as prescribed by a half they connected us to Sikhi in a very sensitive Guru Nanak Dev. Geeta Kaur presented the Sikh Way rendering that is often touching. This also cuts of life as depicted in Satwant Kaur, the classic novel by across the barriers of age that seem to come between Bhai Vir Singh, and Sukhveer Singh led us into the Sikh children and their parents when talking about Sikhi in way of life as prescribed in the Sikh Rehat Maryada gurdwaras and at homes. The second part of the day (The Sikh Code of Conduct). that highlighted oral presentations and conversation about them showcased Sikh speakers from across the Dr Inder Mohan Singh, Chairman of Chardi United States as well those who are India-based. Kalaa Foundation then opened the scholarly adult presentations by one on ‘Living in Alignment with It was a day of short speeches and often profound Hukam’. He emphasised that the universe was created comments with sometimes strongly opinionated with Waheguru’s Hukam and that all physical and exchanges. The idea is to identify issues from our spiritual laws are manifestation of Hukam. Whatever complex lives and then connect them to selected lines we do, happens due to his Hukam. Living in alignment (and their meaning) from the Guru Granth. This with Hukam includes recognising and cheerfully connection is the main idea here. Clearly, the Guru accepting all that happens as His Hukam, and living in Granth must speak to us today in New York, California, tune with His Hukam which is inscribed deep within us London, Rome, Bangladesh or wherever, as it did to and is revealed to us through Gurbani. countless Sikhs in the Punjab 10,000 miles away and centuries ago. The worldwide connections of Sikhi Coincidentally, the last talk of the day by Dr IJ must be explored, clarified and nurtured. Singh, a professor of Anatomy at New York University was also on Hukam. He emphasised that Waheguru The theme of the conference as in previous years is not a micromanager. Waheguru has blessed us with remains: intellect (some less, some more) to discern between good and evil and a degree of free will to make productive “Applying the timeless, universal message of Guru choices. In his view, while macro things happen with Granth Sahib, across centuries, cultures, religions and Waheguru’s Hukam, responsibility for our actions rests continents - in today’s world.” on us. The onus to create a better world is ours. NISHAAN A galaxy of Sikh scholars presented their insights Dr. Jaspal Singh, ex-Vice Chancellor Punjabi into the message of the Gurus and how to connect them University Patiala delighted the audience with a 3 powerful presentation. His thesis was that the concerns in the Mool Project in New Delhi. He showed an audio- of Guru Granth Sahib are truly global. He quoted visual presentation of Arti (Gagan mein thaal ravi….) extensively from Guru Granth Sahib to emphasise and of Sidh Gosht. Both compositions of Guru Nanak that its message transcends all cultural, linguistic, and remain fantastic examples of interfaith dialogue in geographic bounds to remain universal and applies the 15th century. equally to dimensions of spirituality, space, time, gender, religion, race, economics, including political Dr. Kanwaljeet Singh Anand, a professor of medical and social concerns. sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, put everyone in a state of anand with his talk on ‘Love’ Dr. Niranjin Khalsa, Professor of Jain and Sikh as a foundational value. Like the taste of honey, true Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, love can be experienced but just cannot be conveyed focused on the message of universal brotherhood through words. By raising our consciousness, we enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib in the context of the can intuitively realise more transcendent, subtle, present world, where forces of hate and separatism are and enduring meanings of Love.