Talk:Anger or tolerance
We all admire the great teachers of religions, we praise their behavior and perhaps raise 'an arrow or two in salute of their teaching or memories of their deeds' and though others don't ask us to pay a fine -- we almost always pay one with the weight we add to our souls, like the father in this story.
No one has ever recorded a story of Guru Nanak acting in anger, even though he had bolders hurled at him.
Jesus as best we know never cursed the Romans who ripped his back open with a whip or nailed him to the cross.
Bhai Mani Singh is said to have reminded his executioner that he had forgotten to sever the joints in his fingers first-far from cursing them.
Guru Arjan took all his tortures, refusing the payment of a fine and not allowing any one to interfere with what he is said to have called part of God's plan. There are no reports of him blaming others, cursing or yelling at them.
The same for Guru Tegh Bahadur and Bhai Banda Bahadur who is recorded (by contemporary reporters-Mughal and British witnesses) to have told his executioners that they were only doing their duty , as he had done many things he shouldn't have done or allowed to happen and they were only speeding him to his 'marriage with God'. Even the Sikhs who were executed in the days before him, are recorded to have yelled 'me next, take me next--calling their executioners 'deliverers'.
Guru Gobind Singh did not hate Aurangzeb-he questioned his behavior and called him to task and just quite possibly, if we believe in the Zafarnama, saved his soul by guiding him to see his behavior as ungodly and seeking forgiveness before his death. He did not seek revenge or blood money from Bahadur Khan-he helped him to win his quest for the Mughal throne.
And Moses who got angry and broke the Tablets on which Good had written the 10 commandments was never allowed to see the promised land and had to wander for forty years on a journey that should have taken only one or two months--it is written that such was his punishment by a God angered at his arrogance.
Anger is all about not seeing oneself as responsible, wanting to blame someone else.
A Sufi thought
Once Hazrat Ali, the son-in-law of the Muslim Prophet, was fighting on the battlefield with one of the most powerful champions of the enemy. He finally managed to strike the warrior's sword from his hand. As he raised his sword to take the enemy's life, the man spat in his Ali's face. Ali stopped and sheathed his sword. His enemy said "I don't understand. You were about to kill me, and after I spit at you, you spare my life?
Ali replied: "I was going to take your life in battling for God's sake, but when you spat at me, it angered me. Had I killed you then, I would have been a murderer, for I would have struck in anger. I will fight for God, but I will not murder for my ego." (I have to wonder if the Enemy had attacked him)
The plight of Jagmohan Singh Ahuja is a good example of the first anger response to this page. He may never realize that his anger and beating of his wife caused his being shamed in such a way. Since when did any Sikh have the right to beat his wife as he said he had the right to do in Afganistan without arrest.
He was after all living in a county which apparently has had this policy for some time. Rather than seeing himself as a victim he might take notice that he has played an important part in focusing the world's attention on Florida doing this. Do we think that God is not involved in this matter at all? Was this is the Hukam of Vaheguru or not?
If the county has ever provided Halaal and Kosher meals to Jewish or Muslim prisoners or vegetarian meals to Hindus or vegetarians it should be no trouble to get this arcane practice stopped. Most likely this will quickly be changed and he might even win a great deal of money for his suffering.
Sikh war veteran writes to President Bush
Reading the page on the vet who had become a Sikh and wrote the President I was taken to a link to a woman who related that she (a Canadian Sikh) was arrested even though she was no where near the Golden Temple in 1984. Her tale was one of real horror, as Jagmohan's may also be for him, but reading it I was touched by a line her father had taught her which she remembered as she was about to have her hair cut off or far worse:[1]
- My dad's words came to me: 'No one can humiliate me without my consent.'
reading the story about Jagmohan last night there was a paragraph which bothered me:
- Florida prisons do not allow these prisoners to serve their sentences with their faith intact.
Surely Bhai Mani Singh, Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Banda Bahadur all died with their faith intact.
Allenwalla 08:42, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
Great comment posted
Hi Richard,
Just to say I like the detailed comments that you have made here. I did not read what the Sikh prisoners offences were - obviously he is guilt of these and should serve his sentence - may be he has got away lightly considering his action. The authorities, however should know better than to shave his hair despite his offence. regards, Hari Singhtalk 15:50, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
