Here in the Northern hemisphere I write this message on the darkest day of the year. I love this day and this night above any. It is the day when the balance shifts from increasing darkness to increasing light.
There is always darkness and there is always light. We can't have one without the other. In 1499 Guru Nanak saw the world suffering in hatred, fanaticism, falsehood and hypocrisy and he decided that he had to travel and spread the message of love and oneness. He set out on foot with his companion Bhai Mardana and traveled in all four directions - more than 28,000 Km (over 17,000 miles) in five major tours of the world during the period from 1500 to 1524.
Guru Nanak mixed with everyone. He ate and lived with men and women of the lowest castes and classes. This was something socially and religiously unheard of in those days of the rigid Hindu caste system sanctioned by the scriptures along with the religiously approved notions of untouchables and pollution. It is a matter of great significance that at the very beginning of his mission, the Guru’s first companion was a low caste Muslim.
The offerings he received during his travels were distributed among the poor. Any surplus collected was given to his hosts to maintain a common kitchen, where all could sit and eat together without any distinction of caste and status. Everyone, high or low, sat together, and ate and talked together. Kings and Brahmins side by side with dung sweepers and beggars. Everyone the same.
Now, in the 21st century, these times echo Guru Nanak’s time all too clearly. Now, more than ever, the world needs to experience the light of his teachings.
Guru ji traveled to be with people where they lived and he connected with them in the context of their everyday lives.
SikhNet honors this and strives to follow in those footsteps through the internet, which is what reaches into so many people's lives today. SikhNet’s mission is the Guru’s mission - to touch hearts through Gurbani and to inspire and elevate people in different walks of life to see each other as equals, connect with and serve each other.
SikhNet’s mission only thrives because people like YOU share your Dasvandh to support the seva we are blessed to be able to do. It is your kindness and contributions that allow SikhNet to serve the Guru’s mission year after year.
As we approach the end of 2016, please donate to SikhNet today. Help the Guru’s teachings continue to spread so that hearts around the world may be touched, enlightened and elevated.
