SGGS, were there copyrights then

Bani is not copyrighted. Yet the printing and distrubution of the SGGS is controlled. Deras, Fake babas etc use the Bani to teach the people and gather money as if they were the source of the words. The Guru sahib says that this is ok, for in someway you are preaching the thoughts and teachings of the Gurus, but these modern Gurus are preaching one wrong thing — how to breach someone's copyright and put their own name on it. Modern Gurus are examples of the practise as Deras spring up all over the Punjab. (The writer took some of this last line from a page that both condemned and argued for copyrighting.)

A Brief History of Copyrighting

Copywriting was practised in England shortly after the invention of the printing press. It was, at first, not meant to protect an authors right to make any profit from his original work, rather it was to protect a printers right to sell his books and earn a return on the fund he paid a writer for his right to print and sell the author's work. Today the practise of copyrighting has spread beyond mere writing, art and music. Fortunes are made by many from their copyrighted works and Patents. Yet many of these men and women have shared billions of dollars establishing schools and support systems for needy people around the world. The Gates Foundation, Ted Tutner's gifts to Russia and the owners of Patagonia (the Company) who have purchased gigantic tracts of land in South America so that it can never be developed by men, to mention only a few. In Asia the Aga Khan has generously shared the wealth garnered from his followers.

Copywrighting only protects the individuals rights to profit from his work for a certain period and was never considered in the SGGS to my knowledge. Now greed and collecting wealth while starving others are topics that are covered in several stories in the Janamsakhis. A young Nanak given a sum of money by his father, intended to be used to make a profit, freely shared his fathers funds on what he considered at the time a more worthy investment. He used the funds to feed hungry Sadhus who had taken vows of poverty, to eat only what was offered to them as they extended their bowls with their, mudje bukk luggi hai, more often than not without saying the words.

The Importance of Seva or Service

Later Guru ji would try to teach these same sadhus that their methods were no way to have a communion with God. The Guru preached working hard and earning an honest living. He asked his followers, many of whom were wealthy men, to share their wealth with the old, the sick and the less fortunate. Many of his, and the other nine 'Nanaks', followers gifted food, guns, swords, horses, land and built Gurdwaras. The Guru ka Langars around the world depend on those who have enough extra wealth or time to either buy, grow or gift food and labor to the Langars. Maharaja Ranjit Singh. whom i have seen one Sikh condemn as not a Sikh on these pages, was very generous in his support of Gurdwaras adding much beauty to the Harmandir in particular. Yes that fortune in Gold which he gave to adorn the Gurdwara could have been used to feed the poor, but what a grand site it is. Somehow without the Gold it just would not be the same.

Communism and Socialism

Communism and socialism used the old saw that 20% of the people who were rich, capitalists they called them or the 'Have alls', saying that they enjoy 80% of the God given resources of Mother Earth while 20% of the resources (the left overs) were left for the poor of the world ensuring the continuance of ‘World Hunger’ among the remaining 80% of the population - the 'Have Nots'. And all the time they were only showing their envy.

As the soviet system proved, the powerfull still skimmed the 80% for themselves while the workers who toiled and produced, had new ideas and invented things — starved. Long bread lines and empty stores were the common mans lot in Russia and the USSR.

I once had a famous fellow faculty member, he believed that there were resources on the earth that if equally divided would allow every man and woman to be a millionaire (his name was Buckminster Fuller). i asked him if this came to pass who would you get to make your shoes or grind your corn or birth your children or build your house and what would a millionaire charge for doing such things who could you hire to milk your cows, etc.? And why would they ever work. interesting thought. How many billions have the Gates given of their profits from copyrights. if any ones writing could just be copied and claimed by anyone then how could a writer make a living and put bread on the table. The Guru ka Langars depend on those who produce an abundance and share their labor, blessings and time in service of others.

All around the world Sikhs are admired for their industriousness and their hard work ethic as well as their love of color, music and festivity. They have suceeded in any country, to which they have moved, in their efforts to earn a living for their families. But I never have heard Stories of Sikhs who moved to Russia while it was under communism. For when men come to expect and equal share, every ones right, well most just set back, stop working and the whole system grinds to a halt with everyone saying gimme, gimme, gimme.

Nepal, just one example

Sikhs truckers dissasembled trucks and carried them over the mountains to Nepal where they were put back together starting a trucking industry where their was none. They were not allowed to buy land and had to register properties in Nepalese friends names, yet they made money, started schools and built Gurdwaras giving jobs to many Nepalese where their had been none.

Selected quotes from the SGGS

• hukmI auqmu nIcu hukim iliK duK suK pweIAih ] (1-8, jpu, mÚ 1)
• By His Command, some are high and some are low; by His Written Command, pain and pleasure are obtained.

• kQnw kQI n AwvY qoit ] (2-1, jpu, mÚ 1)
• There is no shortage of those who preach and teach.

• DMDw Qkw hau mueI mmqw mwieAw k®oDu ] (19-11, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• Entanglements end, and egotism dies, along with attachment to Maya, possessiveness and anger.

• AMqir gurmuiK qU vsih ijau BwvY iqau inrjwis ]1] (20-19, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• You abide within the Gurmukh. As it pleases You, You decide our allotment. ||1||

• AMqr kI giq jwxIAY gur imlIAY sMk auqwir ] (21-1, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• Know the state of your inner being; meet with the Guru and get rid of your skepticism.

• eyhu mno mUrKu loBIAw loBy lgw luoBwnu ] (21-7, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• This foolish mind is greedy; through greed, it becomes even more attached to greed.

• sbid n BIjY swkqw durmiq Awvnu jwnu ] (21-8, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• The evil-minded shaaktas, the faithless cynics, are not attuned to the Shabad; they come and go in reincarnation.

mn ry haumY Coif gumwnu ] (21-9, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)

• O mind, renounce your egotistical pride.

• hir guru srvru syiv qU pwvih drgh mwnu ]1] rhwau ] (21-9, isrIrwgu, mÚ 1)
• Serve the Lord, the Guru, the Sacred Pool, and you shall be honored in the Court of the Lord.

Saw a Quote

I saw a quote the other day where someone said a True Sikh owns nothing, everything belongs to the Khalsa! Maybe I misunderstand the statement.

I am sure that Aurangzeb was sure that all and everyone belonged to Islam or should and there are, so called Christians, who think that everone should be a Christian.

There was a time when there were only hunter gatherers that the concept of ownership was an unknown thing. A time when you and I were one and everyone shared. A time when indivuality was yet to be realized.

The Great explorer Captain Cook never made it past the Sandwhich Iles, as they were called then, for he died trying to teach the Islanders a lesson on ownership.

We all come into the world with nothing. We are only the care takers of that we call our own. We all leave the world with nothing.

A good commandment from the Bible states, 'You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.'