Sikh Center Fragments

I visited our local Sikh gurdwara (called a "Sikh Center") here in town about a month ago.

Here are the fragments:

I had called about two weeks prior to inquire about the best worship time to come to. It was an awkward phone call but I didn't let it dissuade me from coming. Most Sikhs I have met have all been friendly folks.

Besides, I was looking to expand my checklist.

 Here are the significant religious places/events I have experienced in life thus far:

• Buddhist Monastery - Chanting Service & Meal (Monks were from Thailand)
• Buddhist Meditation Center - Meditation Open House (a Shambala Center)
• Hindu Temple (Vaishnavism)
• Mosque (Islam, for those that don't know, Sunni for those scoring at home)
• Eid al-Fitr Celebration Dinner  (End of Islamic Ramadan - Turkish Cultural Center)
• Reformed Synagogue (however, I was not there for a worship service)

I arrived early for the two-hour service as I was meeting a few students there for an assignment they had to complete. It was a group six of us and we stood around in the parking lot for a few minutes waiting to see if any additional students would join us (they never did). As usual, I had forced myself into this situation. We all felt awkward but I had to be the leader and pretend I didn't.

This is the Khanda, the symbol of Sikhism. I think it's pretty obvious that Sikhism has the best symbol out of all the religions. It looks like something off of Star Wars. (Runner-up: Yin-Yang)

 
We arrived inside the lobby and took our shoes off. There was chanting going on in what seemed like the large open room right in front of us. I led us inside to find....just a women sitting on the floor alone. I realized we were listening to a speaker we had entered the "langar" the common area around the kitchen for eating after the service.

I approached the woman and found out her name was Regina and she wasn't a Sikh at all - but married to a Sikh that had immigrated here to the states from India. She came to the gurdwara every Sunday with her family (including her in-laws). She told us it was best if we covered our heads while inside the gurdwara as a sign of respect. I felt a little stupid for not knowing that ahead of time, but ya know, it all worked out. She led us to a drawer full of head coverings for men and scarfs for women. I chose a blue one and felt like a pirate. Turns out blue and orange are preferred colors for Sikhs.

She invited us to grab a bite to eat (some corn-bread-like stuffing cake stuff and some other Indian goodies). We were waiting for the 11:00 service to start but it was already 11:00 and about 20 people came out of the worship area into the room we were in. More people started filing in, old people, women with their beautiful saris and groups of kids, running around being kids.

It surprised me when I saw that about a third of the men didn't have a turban or beard.

Love the sense of humor of this t-shirt. I would wear it if I was from India, South Asia or the Middle East.

I had previously thought all Sikh men had to have beards. I knew all about the 5 K's (look it up, I'm too lazy to type it out for you).  It turns out a Sikh male is only required to follow the 5 K's (which includes not cutting hair and keeping your facial hair) only after baptism. Baptism is a choice and only when the believer is ready. So, there were some men even in their late 50's at the gurdwara that had not been baptized.

A little after 11:00 AM rolled around, we strolled into the worship hall, which was divided by gender.  It is similar to a mosque in that everyone sat on the floor. However, at the front of the room was a short stage where three musicians chanted and sung.  More importantly, at the center was a stage like area where the scared book of Sikhism the Guru Granth Sahib was presented. The entire service an older Sikh would wave a feather over the book (ya know, to keep it cool).

Yeah, like this, except imagine the dude fanning the book with a feather (of course, it's hot under all those blankets). Also, this is (obviously?) not my photo. I don't have the gall to take photos of people when they are in their sacred areas. It just feels wrong and awkward. And I usually I feel awkward enough as it is.

 
The only other male student in my group and I went straight to the back where most believers were seated at. At this point, they were all older men over the age of 65.  We found a spot against the wall, as that's what most of the early-birds were doing - getting the early bird seating. So, old people are all the same, no matter the culture.  Indeed, it was the most comfortable spot and that's a good thing because we were sitting there for over two hours.

The first 30 minutes was just one long song. Like one of those praise-and-worship songs that just goes on and on and on. Making it more difficult was the fact that I had no idea what was being sung.

Turns out the mind wanders when the entire service is in Punjabi.

I noticed a young couple that sat in the back together on the female side, breaking the division of gender in the room. No one seemed to mind but it seemed audacious to me all the same. I was like, yeah, man, I would be that Rebel Sikh guy, too. Fight the POWER. He was a baptized believer and his girlfriend/wife/partner was Anglo. I was going to talk with them later but felt a little too eager to talk with them and then it made me feel silly and maybe even a little racist as I felt like talking to them only because he had a Anglo girlfriend/wife/partner. So, I was lame and didn't.

One of the musicians spoke for a few minutes and then another long half hour song began.  Some parishioners seemed to quietly sing along, but the music was so loud I couldn't tell how many were singing along.

Finally, there was a sermon. I was left guessing what was being said. Mostly, to my foreign ears it sounded like rhetorical question after rhetorical question, with the accompanying pauses and the occasional eye-brow raising. He seemed like a seasoned pro - even watching him was a little entertaining. He got a few pleasant but authentic guffaws from his congregation from time to time.



So, the Sikh Center here in town is in a non-descript building but this the Golden Temple in Punjab. Why am I posting a picture of it? Because I can't do a whole post on Sikhism and not show a picture of this amazing building. It would be a internet sin.  This is definitely on my bucket list. It's also close to Dharamsala as well, which would be cool to check out. AHH - I gotta get to India-Nepal sometime in the next decade somehow.


Later, it was explained to us that the sermon was about loving God and all of God's creations, including our fellow man. To love others is to express one's love in God and for God. A pretty nice thought.

After the sermon, you guessed it, another SONG (which thankfully only ran for 15-20 minutes). This final song was followed by a prayer in which we all stood up. Standing up felt great after being on the ground for about 2 hours.  The prayer was issued and I prayed myself, hoping God was listening to the Sikhs around me. As you may or may not know, I am not one of those strict, mean old Christians but this got me thinking about the nature of God, prayer, the purpose of prayer and the importance of prayer on the believer.

Finally, after the prayer, a part of the service happened that was in English! Three children read from short essays they wrote about their "camp" experienced from a youth event they recently attended.  Good introductory Sikh stories that I actually already knew. We were formally welcomed and our names were read out loud and we stood up as they called our name. Then another prayer was said and sweet bread was passed around to all. It felt a little like communion.

The congregation was dismissed but a group of young Sikhs were quickly around us to welcome us and answer any questions we had. They were pretty cool and they helped answer the question I had about facial hair. I was also encouraged to hear that they hadn't really experienced any direct or explicit discrimination here in town.  I was pleased to hear that a group of Christians came by after the terrible shooting in Wisconsin to offer their support. I wished I had thought about doing that too.

It was then time to eat, while we were having our questions answered the congregation filed into the langar (or what Christians might call the "fellowship hall") for lunch. The Sikh tradition includes lunch after service for all. Everyone sat on the ground and servers came around with buckets of food.

Okay, this is from a gurdwara in Dubai but yeah, it looked like this. The only thing kinda weird was the bare feet so close to your plate. That sounds more gross than it was, it didn't bother me.

It was Indian vegetarian fare. Not bad. Lentils were very good, the other stuff was okay. However, when you get free food, everything tastes a little better.  The students that stuck around for lunch were (honestly) a little boring. I ended up walking over to Regina and talking with her and it got very interesting as she considers herself a Christian but still attends here every Sunday. She talked about feeling the Holy Spirit among the believers and wondered if I thought it could be possible. I couldn't complete my thought as her in-laws came by, as did her husband. It seemed like this conversation was for more Christian "insiders" than the whole fam from the look on Regina's face. After a short conversation it seemed like it was "time to go" (and much of the congregation was making for the exits). I hope to meet her again next semester, but my answer is yes, I think it's possible.

It was an interesting experience I was happy to participate in.  For me, I love "hands on" experiences with other religions and cultures. I look forward to another visit in the coming months.