October 2004 - Special
The Man who Made the River Run
Upstream
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On the big stage of this
world, mortal men and women appear like actors and actresses,
destined to play their assigned (roles) acts and then ultimately
depart. During their predetermined and assigned stay in this
universe, most of them primarily keep themselves engaged in steering
the wheels of their lives for daily needs and personal comforts.
There is no denial that such behaviors are essential as they cater
to the fundamental necessities of our lives as well as of our
families and children whom we bring in this world. Yet only a few
amongst us are charismatic or disciplined enough or have the
insight, courage and determination to break this mold and think
beyond in reaching out to others so as to bring a change in their
lives for the better. It is through the actions of such individuals,
that this world is made a better place to live in for them, their
future generations as well as their fellow human-beings. S.
Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi also known as Yogiji was one such
person.
His soul recently left for
heavenly abode on Oct 6th at the age of 75 at his home in
Espanola, New Mexico. He came to this earth with many extraordinary
God-given gifts. After spending early life in present-day Pakistan,
then a part of undivided India, he had to leave everything behind
due to partition of India and migrate to New Delhi as a refugee. In
1968, he immigrated first to Canada, then to US and started testing
the waters to the extent never tested before by sharing his
foresight and wisdom for Sikh faith with the people of west. Apathy,
lack of sincere efforts and skills as a result of cultural and
language barrier of the Sikh hierarchy had kept the doors of the
Sikh path locked shut to the outside world. Those responsible for
the propagation of Sikh faith beyond the boundaries of India had
thus far failed miserably. He ventured successfully in difficult
avenues and treaded paths that were considered unsurpassable in
opening these doors to the westerners.
The Sikh religion did not fall
within the guidelines established by the majority faith in western
countries hence it was mostly labeled alien. The misconception and
ignorance about the outwardly visible unique Sikh identity didn’t
help either. It kept on putting the Sikh life-style at a cross road
with that of the majority people of the western world leading to an
ongoing and constant battle for its mere survival. Oftentimes, the
practitioners of the Sikh way of life found the attitude of their
new host countries to be somewhat unfriendly. It was not unusual for
many of the Sikhs to get swayed by an easy-going culture of the west
while ignoring the fundamental principles of their own faith. In so
doing, the short term goals appeared to them within reach and life
superficially felt comfortable. In such environments, it took a
great amount of conviction and strength just to survive as a
complete Sikh. But kudos to this man who not only lived himself as a
complete Sikh, in fact implored others to do so by providing much
needed moral strength and financial support.
Not only did he persevere in
believing and carrying through with the dictums established by Sikh
Gurus but made them available to other western spiritual seekers
beyond India who desired to follow Sikh path. At the same time he
continued to teach the ancient Indian art of yoga to the seekers of
higher consciousness. Many people of the west in those times had
absolutely no inkling about India and Indians, not to mention the
Sikh way of life. To expect from someone of western culture to trade
materialist and easy-going life-style for the disciplined spiritual
Khalsa values that demands maintaining highly visible “Articles of
Sikh faith” with uncut beard and a turban, was to say the least, a
Herculean task. To convince western-women to adopt a conservative
dress that included wearing modest and mostly white Punjabi clothes
with turbans was no less than a miracle, rather equivalent to “making
the river run upstream”
Furthermore, he became highly
successful in changing the food habits of those who listened to him,
gone were the steaks and hamburgers associated with the
western-lifestyle, instead vegetarian food became the norm.
Interestingly, the medical profession has not been fast enough in
changing the habits of many as this man was. Chanting “Satnam
Waheguru” became the passion of these so-called “Western Sikhs” who
came to Sikh-fold through his teachings. They continuously worked
hard to learn Punjabi in Gurmukhi Script so as to understand Sikh
Scriptures especially Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the “Ultimate
Authority and Eternal Guru” of the Sikhs. In fact some of them
easily surpassed their counterparts from India. They became so
proficient in the true understanding of the message contained
therein that one of the best translations in English, Spanish and
other western languages comes from individuals influenced by him in
adopting and practicing Sikh faith.
Several of the westerners
initiated as Sikhs by Yogiji achieved great success in the field of
medicine, law, yoga, business, accounting, literature and political
careers. They earned prominent names not only for themselves but in
doing so brought a great deal of respect to the Sikh faith the world
over. They went on to establish highly successful corporations
including Yogi Tea, Peace Cereals, Golden Temple Foods, Akal
Security and many more. In fact Akal Security, based on the Sikh
philosophy of Saint-soldier, as per a recent article in New York
Times, is “wholly owned by Sikh Dharma and is one of America’s
fastest growing security companies having over 12,000 employees and
over one billion dollars in federal contracts. Akal specializes in
protracting vital and sensitive government sites from military
instillations to federal courts to airports and water supply
systems.” While talking to the New York Times, the writer of that
article, co-founder and senior vice-president of Akal Security made
a statement truly describing the success of many Sikhs “There is no
stigma in being financially successful amongst Sikhs. Prosperity
does not take away from spiritual net worth. You can have both.” (N.
Y.
Times).
In the aftermath of 9-11 when
Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh with uncut beard and turban lost his life
in Arizona due to misdirected hate, it was an American-born Sikh
woman inspired by S. Harbhajan Singh Khalsa who spearheaded one of
the best and well organized campaigns in the entire US about the
Awareness of Sikh identity and Diversity of the people of America.
Under his inspiration and with the full cooperation of local
dedicated Sikhs, she then launched a Sikh advisory board to help
guide the local Police and law enforcement agencies in matters
pertaining to the Sikhs. This step later on became a model for the
rest of the country. Many of his inspired Sikhs have put their
entire lives, minds, bodies and souls into spreading the Sikh faith
in the four corners of the world. One of the most important, largest
and sought after modern day tools for the dissemination of
information about Sikhs happens to be the original Sikh website,
www.Sikhnet.com. It was launched by Amar infinity Foundation
supporting a young Khalsa Sikh, both under the inspiration and
direct guidance from S. Harbhajan Singh Khalsa. This has put Sikhs
faith on the world map in a way never done before. He was also
instrumental in establishing many Sikh Gurdwaras and Ashrams all
over the western countries. In order to run Sikh religious
institutions in a proper way, he initiated a process of formal
training for Sikh ministers, preachers, Raagis and Sikh Volunteers
in this part of the
world.
A good number of western-born
Sikhs have been making sure to send their children to Miri Piri
Academy, a Sikh Boarding School established by Yogiji some years
back in a small village of Chheherrta in Punjab close to the city of
Amritsar. His purpose was simply to train the Sikh children in their
formative years in the true Sikh life-style. The idea has been to
teach the children first hand the Sikh traditions while living in
the close vicinity of most sacred place of the Sikhs, the Harminder
Sahib. By sending their children to foreign and somewhat crude
environments, western parents had to make supreme sacrifices both
financially and emotionally through long separations from their
children lasting for decades. He wanted the Sikh children to have a
practical experience of harsh life in Punjab without all the
comforts of their homes in America, Canada and England. This way, he
felt they would become truly ingrained in the history of their
religion by living in the midst of it and thus develop the intellect
of both east and the west.
Prior to arrival of Khalsa
Yogiji on the western scene, there were not many individuals of
other races except South Asian Indians who adopted and followed the
Khalsa life style. In order to make it easy for non-Indians to
embrace it, he concurrently taught them the science of yoga,
meditation, yogic philosophy including Kundalini yoga. According to
many Sikhs, such philosophy may not conform to mainstream Sikh
Philosophy thus often putting many Sikhs from India at variance with
their western-born counterparts. However, my personal discussion
with S. Harbhajan Singh Khalsa and several other “western” Sikhs
with whom I had the opportunity to work closely over a quarter of
century convinced me that such an approach was used by him primarily
to bring many amongst westerners to the experience of Sikh-fold, its
life-style and values. Yogiji went on to establish many non-profit
organizations with the primary being Sikh Dharma and 3HO Foundation
(Healthy, Happy, Holy organization) that later on opened hundreds of
branches world-wide.
I will never forget a statement
made by one of my “western-born” Sikh friends in a meeting some
years back when a few of India-born Sikhs tried to depart their
company. He said very passionately “We left our parents, our
relatives, our friends and abandoned our inherited faiths to join
Sikh Dharma or religion that was totally foreign to all what we had
known thus far. Now when you also have decided to abandon us, what
on earth are we supposed to do?” Then he went on to say “if an
American finds an Indian Sikh walking down the lane in a small town
of a western country, he or she might simply ignore that person
thinking, ‘Well this strange looking individual belongs to a
different race, different land, different country and different
culture and is beyond my comprehension’ On the other hand observing
a western Sikh on the road side with a turban and other Sikh
Articles of faith on his or her body often makes such an observer
really confounded who might think ‘There must be some thing wrong
with this queer looking soul to dress this way. Painful but true,
isn’t it?’ And then he added “It hurts further when India-born Sikhs
try not to mingle with us, the so called-western Sikhs and keep
disowning us, their own Khalsa brothers and sisters”
Amongst the list of many world
leaders, both Political and religious, that had the opportunity to
meet with S. Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi, the name of Mikhail
Gorbachev stands atop whom he met while establishing the treatment
for drug addiction in Russia. Other dignitaries with whom Yogiji
conferred at different times include President Clinton, President
Bush, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, the
Archbishops of Canterbury, Swami Satchidanda, and Swami
Vishnudevananda and many Indian Political leaders. Yogiji took part
in many interfaith events including World Parliament of religions
and served as director of several international religious bodies. In
June of 1985 he established an annual International Peace Prayer Day
in Espanola, New Mexico so that individuals involved in various
peace movements around the globe could assemble each year under one
roof. In the presence of thousands of people, volunteers who had
worked tirelessly the year-past for bringing peace on earth are
honored annually with hefty amounts of prizes sponsored by the
proceeds of Peace Cereals and other Sikh Dharma Corporations. For
these events several dignitaries are also invited from India year
after year for which his estate would bear the expenses. Regardless
of the status, whenever any visitor arrived at his place, he would
open his ranch, personally making sure that the visitor is served
and treated well not less than a king. Free breakfast, lunch, dinner
and place to stay would always be upon the host, the Yogiji, who
would try to shower a feeling of closeness to such an extent that
one always felt at home.
His unique service in bringing
many westerners to Sikh fold and its continuous propagation through
modern means has elevated the Sikh image on the world scene as a
religion of great richness and abundance, both spiritual and
otherwise. His guidance and training of western Sikhs transformed
many of them into great Sikh religious leaders. They in turn have
made Gurdwaras at-par and in fact better than many other religious
institutions for maintaining discipline, cleanliness and keeping
atmosphere apolitical so as to avoid the conflicts that often plague
many other religious places. This certainly makes our coming
generation proud of their religious heritage. His continuous
involvement for peace on earth and his championship of the yogic way
of meditation including Kundalini will always keep on glowing in the
minds of those who believed. Finally I must finish by saying that in
his life time, he made many ordinary peoples rich, even super rich,
some financially, other spiritually and many both. Yes Khalsa
Harbhajan Singh Ji, it was a pleasure to have you amongst us and now
it is our turn to pray for your soul to find peace at the feet of
Waheguru and our Gurus, the mentors, spiritual guides and God-Gurus
of the Sikhs, the world over.
By: Dr. Jaswant Singh
Sachdev, MD (Phoenix, AZ)
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