Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Poem: A Sikh Woman

A poem written by Bibi Kamaljit kaur at Yuba City Sikh Youth Camp Dec 2009:



A Sikh Woman

I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light shines through me,

He is the living Guru - Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me to read Gurbani.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me about Seva,

Which is selfless service to humanity.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me to do Simran,

Which brings peace to my mind, body and soul.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me to listen to Keertan,

which is inspiration in the darkness of Kalyug.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me that the Shabad Guru lives forever.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me that Sikh History is unbeatable.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me that Sikh bibi`s are equal to Sikh men.



I am a Sikh Woman,

The Gurus Grace is with me,

His light taught me that Vaheguru is One and He lives in Everyone.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Talk about 'His light thought me that Sikh Bibi's are equal to men' then why:
Sikh Bibian not allowed to participate in Seva of panj piarey? Clearly cz v r still seen as dirty and unpure, spiritually blinder than men etc
Not allwed Kirtan Seva in harmandir Sahib
Not a single women was Head Granthi of the 4 takhts
More men are present in the gurdware than women because women are losing interest
certain sampardas dnt even let women to take art in elections...list is endless
http://thelangarhall.com/general/sikh-women-at-the-bristol-gurdwara-“were-not-going-anywhere”/
Beatiful poem though ; )

Anonymous said...

your definitely a women

Anonymous said...

"Talk about 'His light thought me that Sikh Bibi's are equal to men' then why:
Sikh Bibian not allowed to participate in Seva of panj piarey? Clearly cz v r still seen as dirty and unpure, spiritually blinder than men etc
Not allwed Kirtan Seva in harmandir Sahib
Not a single women was Head Granthi of the 4 takhts
More men are present in the gurdware than women because women are losing interest
certain sampardas dnt even let women to take art in elections...list is endless
http://thelangarhall.com/general/sikh-women-at-the-bristol-gurdwara-“were-not-going-anywhere”/
Beatiful poem though ; )"

we are not in any of the punj piyare becasue when gurur gobind singh ji asked for five heads no women rose
we are not alowed to do kirtan in harmandar sahib because women have periods and that makes them unclean
many sikh women are still into sikhism. we were on the front cover of toronto star for seeing most bibia with dastar
so please know you history before you say stuff
no offence taken and beutiful poem

Anonymous said...

So what if bibian have periods? Bibian do keertan at rehansbhai r they not unclean there? So what, the monthly wasnt the bibians idea, Vaheguru made us perfect the way they r, therefore Bibian arnt allowed to do keertan de seva at Harmandar Sahib because of what Vaheguru has made them like????? I no a lot of Bibian hu r dying to do keertan de seva but arnt allowed, simply because they were born as a female?/!!!!!! Also u will find some bibian in the panj pyare in USA, just not in other countries, as in USA they hav more equal rites than other countries do, no bibian rose wen Guru Sahib asled for one head, but because of those Bibian, all the Bibian arnt allowed to b part of the Panj Pyare????? Ok i understand that they cant go to Sachkhand wen they r on their monthly and not tale part im any Seva, hence y they cant becomes Head Granthis !!!!
Bul Chuk Maaf Karnee
vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji kee fateh jee

Unknown said...

1. Sikh Rehet Maryada clearly states women are able to do seva in Panj Pyaras. This was arrived at by Panthic Decision. Therefore, it's not our Guru Ji who is looking down on Bibis and stopping them, it's Sikh males who want to preserve that seva for themselves (a reason to feel superior over women).
2. Sootak concept was condemned by Guru Nanak Dev Ji when he said:
"As a woman has her periods, month after month,so does falsehood dwell in the mouth of the false; they suffer forever, again and again. They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies. Only they are pure, O Nanak, within whose minds the Lord abides. ||2|| (SGGSJ Ang 472)
Impurity is not found in any natural biological function, and merely washing the physical body will never make someone pure. Impurity is found within the mind and through our deeds. So keeping Bibian from seva of kirtan at Darbar Sahib, due to some concept of spiritual impurity from a natural biological process which GIVES LIFE, is ridiculous! If worried about physical hygiene, simply wear a sanitary pad or tampon and problem solved!
3. The issue is not of women being impure, unclean, inferior, etc. The issue is that a whole younger generation of Sikh males are being brought up to think they are superior to females. The thought of women doing seva on equal level to them revolts them, not because they truly believe that Guru Ji sees women impure etc. But the real reason is that those Singhs who think like this, want to maintain their superiority. They want to turn powerful and strong Singhnis, some of which have made huge strides in science, medicine, etc. And they want to turn Singhnis into submissive housewives only, while they reserve all the notable positions in society and religion for themselves. Part of the problem is Mothers treating sons with more privilege than their daughters. Also, sampardas like Damdami Taksal teach that wives are to see their husband as a God over them. So they perpetuate this view that women are subordinate to men. It must start at home, Mothers must teach daughters they are equal. Teach them about Mai Bhago etc. And teach Sons to respect women on equal level. Teach the boys that wanting to subordinate women, is an Ego desire, and will only serve to slow their spiritual progress. Gurbani says: As Gurmukhs, look upon ALL with single eye of equality, for in each and every heart the divine light is contained!