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Samagam Devotees of the Sant Nirankari Mission UK gathered on 26 October 2008 in mass collective prayer at the London Congregation Hall, in Sipson Village. Together, they reflected upon the question : ‘Why…God ?’. The question is a pertinent one in today’s day and age, where churches of all Christian denominations are reporting an erosion in congregation numbers up and down the British Isles. People at large shirk at the name of religion, and avoid conversing with anyone who seems to have an affiliation with faith groups. Wars fought in the name of God, seem to be at central to these reactions. Natural calamities also cause people to question whether a loving Creator can exist. Belief is further squeezed by scientific challenges to the notion of God.
This context did not stop attendees at the Samagam from singing prayers, that they may ‘never falter in their faith’. One individual, Nitesh Alagh, spoke about the misguided idea that different faiths believe in a different God to one another – rather, there is One God known by different names. Whenever people engage in worship, it communicates a craving to know their maker. However, this realisation only becomes possible, when God descends in human form and reveals Himself to the seeker.
A teenage girl, Naveeta Muman, pondered as to why we question God when life seems to take a turn for the worse. ‘People blame God for their misfortune’, she said, ‘but they fail to recognise that their choices and practical behaviour lead to happy and unhappy consequences’. Perhaps the question is not ‘Why God ?’, Naveeta posited, but ‘Why Child ?’.
Kiren Toor– a young solicitor – spoke about why we need God. She delivered an interesting commentary on the most powerful impulse we have as human beings – ‘to know ourselves’. Kiren said we cannot truly understand ourselves or the world around us, until we begin a journey of spiritual realisation. Another sister, who was visiting from Australia, shared her feeling that human beings are no different to animals if all that they do is eat, drink, sleep and pro-create. Samroop spoke of the defining characteristic of human birth – the opportunity to know who we are.
Surjit Dhami, in his usual poetic vein, talked of the confusion humans have made about ‘welfare’ and ‘warfare’. He felt our interaction with one human being, reflected a deeper image of how we interact with humanity at large. Quoting His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji, Surjit shared the fact that man has learned enough to hate, but not enough to love. Another legal mind, Rupi Jandu, spoke of the free choice we all share to have faith and belief in a Creator. Rupi argued that when questioning stops, faith begins. ‘It is not the soul which seeks explanations’, said the young man, ‘but this is a requirement of the mind’. He went on to share a powerful story of God speaking to a person in distress at many points, but the man declined all support sent by God, as he had faith that God Himself would save him. Such is the state of man – we fail to see God in the human temples He has created around us.
Rumi Ahuja contemplated the meaning of life, and why we are here. ‘Surely it is to grow…to better ourselves’. Rumi explained very eloquently that the sign of true growth is when we understand and practice compassion; when we accept the rules of noble living, and then apply and share these rules with others. ‘Man is not purely a product of social conditioning’, he spoke, ‘as each one of us has individual choice and responsibility also’. ‘In learning about God, or developing a thirst, the intellect may need to be employed initially, but then the heart must take over’.
Dr Bobby Sura shared excerpts from the spiritual prose of the late Nirankari saint-poet Bhupinder Bekal – ‘devotion is not the domain of clauses and pre-conditions, but it is about submerging our will, in the will of God’. ‘When difficulties arise in our lives’, Dr Sura said, ‘we should always ask what may be learned from this situation’. As an example, should someone steal from you, it is a reminder that all that we have is gifted, and must be returned one day, sooner or later. If someone ridicules or humiliates you, then it is a reminder that we should accept and respect others. Whatever we receive, can be transformed into something more positive, before we reflect it back into the world.
In the concluding discourse, Rev Bhupinder Anand (SNM UK) shared the truth that intellectuals have made many arguments for and against God over the centuries. Their theories are subject to change, but the proof is in the experience of the divine. This personal experience is possible, in the company of an enlightened guide who Himself is living in awareness of God. Such a person has tasted this bliss, is enjoying it, and can share it with others. Bhupinder Ji went on to say that each devotee is like a small puddle of water, but God is an endless ocean. When as small puddles we merge with the almighty ocean, we take on the attributes of that ocean, becoming stronger and more cleansed than before. He went on to say that human beings often ask ‘why’ of God when something unfortunate seems to take place in their lives. However, do we ever ask ‘why’ when the countless blessings take shape in our lives ? Every day, there is so much that we have to be grateful for. We should focus on what is, rather than what we want or prefer. The blessings of the sadhsangat (congregation) are a tremendous pillar of strength in the life of a devotee – an anchor in stormy seas. Let us therefore visit the sadhsangat often, and remain recipients of these blessings.
As ever, many musicians and singers graced the Samagam with their talents, to contribute to what was a memorable spiritual occasion. We look forward to further events of this kind, in the coming months. * * * |
