Kya 'Saccha' ...Kya Jhoota???

religion n. the belief in a superhuman controlling power, esp. in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship.

Would you believe me if I said I was God?? Would you believe me if I said that I had the power to cure,to heal,to repair and to forgive??Would you believe me if I began preaching a new set of doctrines and rules defining a whole new religion??

I believe that religion is a personal matter and that if u wish to believe what I claim then its really upto you. 'Cause thats what defines religion and faith.. ur OWN personal belief in a set of practices and methods. It is for us to see what is right and whats not. So if a particular individual today claims he can do things which are extra-human and if that has been verified(or not fot that matter!) then its upto the people themselves to decide what they really want. Nobody can force a religion upon us. Its our personal choice, a choice which would define who we are and make us feel a part of something and maybe a feeling of one-ness among a certain group of people.

What was really wrong in the incident that happened in Punjab was that the leader of the "Dera Saccha Sauda" imitated himself as the 10th Guru of the Sikhs-Guru Gobind Singh and called himself as the next Guru. This is probably what infuriated the Sikhs all over the world. What he could have done was not to imitate anybody and preach his own ideas in his 'own' way. This way his followers could do what they want and the Sikhs wouldnt really have a problem.(this is actually what scores of other 'religious leaders' are doing today!)

What went wrong later?? The clashes between the 'sects' which was splashed all over the TV. There was another side to this whole issue. I really wanted to write this blog after watching a TV debate on a popular news channel.Questions were raised whether Sikhism (being one of the newer religions) was too rigid in its beliefs and practises. What was really being targetted was the fact that Sikhism does not encourage its followers to cut their hair and the other practises they follow..(or rather 'we' follow).. Whether a small man like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (the leader of the Dera) can shake the foundations of an established religion and whether Sikhism would really survive the next few generations after knowing fully well that many of the youth in Punjab arent keeping their hair anymore. Another issue which was raised was that many people still continue to call themselves as Sikhs inspite of already having cut their hair.

Its all a matter of self-belief.