July 14, 2006

Conference on Sikh guru will highlight religious tolerance

Martydom of Guru Arjan Dev’s 400-year anniversary will be honored worldwide

By Laura Rheinheimer
Times Intern

The Sikh Gurdwara in Evergreen, along with other Bay Area Sikh temples, will hold a two-day conference to honor the 400-year anniversary of the martyrdom of Siri Guru Arjan Sahib Ji on July 28 and 29.

Guru Arjan was the fifth of 10 Sikh gurus, and is credited with compiling the original version of the Sikh holy book and building the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in the Punjab region of India. He was martyred in 1606, when he was tortured and killed by the ruler of the time.

“This is one of the most significant events happening in the history of world religions,” said Professor Atamjit Singh, coordinator of Punjabi studies at San Jose State.

“It’s being celebrated all over the world, so we wanted to do something,” said Bob Singh Dhillon, vice president of Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose.

Dhillon said he hopes to use the conference to promote Punjabi Studies at SJSU and to outreach to the non-Sikh community.

Sikhism is a 500-year-old monotheistic religion that emphasizes equality regardless of race, religion or gender, recognizes 10 guru masters and holds the Guru Granth Sahib as its holy book.

The two-day conference, held at the San Jose State University Concert Hall, will feature documentaries about the guru and Sikhism on July 28. Topics will cover the growth and development of Sikhism over the centuries, different Sikh communities around the world and contributions of Sikhism to society.

Tickets to the event will be sold at Bay Area gurdwaras, including Sikh Gurdwara-San Jose, located at 3636 Murillo Avenue off Quimby Road. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $15 per person. Students are admitted for free.

Children and teenagers from Bay Area gurdwaras will sing holy songs composed by Guru Arjan, which they have been practicing for months, said Singh.

On the second day of the conference, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Campbell) is expected to speak on his views on Sikhism.
Also on July 29, seminars will be held to discuss if UNESCO should be allowed to take control of preserving the 400-year-old site of the Golden Temple and Guru Arjan’s contributions to interfaith dialogue, along with other topics.

The event is being held in order to present the teachings of Guru Arjan in an academic setting to non-Sikhs and allow Sikhs to learn more about the guru, said Dhillon.

“The new generation wants to hear the ‘ifs’ and ‘whats,’” said Dhillon.

There will be several question and answer sessions throughout the second day.

Dhillon said he is excited to hold the event in order to rally community support for a permanent Punjabi studies chair position at SJSU, which is currently a community-funded program within the department of foreign languages. The program was started at the behest of Sikh students and the Sikh community eight years ago. Currently, the community funds the program, which has held other events in the past to honor other Sikh masters.

Today, Guru Arjan is revered for his teachings of humility, peace, religious tolerance, musical adeptness and inspired poetry, Singh said. “He’s still very much relevant in modern society.”

Sikhs admire Guru Arjan’s poetry, which is thought to be divinely inspired words. One of the most famous is his “Psalm of Peace” or Sukhmani Sahib, which will be read on July 29 by Moham K. Sood, a former SJSU professor, as an exemplar of the guru’s interfaith work and how he promoted religious harmony and understanding in Medieval times.

He was well ahead of his time in practicing interfaith dialogue and included works from various religious traditions in the Guru Granth Sahib, Singh said.

Born in 1563 and named guru 18 years later, Guru Arjan is credited with compiling the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, from writings and prose of his four predecessors and other great Medieval thinkers from various religious traditions, including much of his own poetry and songs. He arranged the poetry and writings according to a style of Indian music that is conducive to introspection and spirituality, called “Dhrupad,” which is still used today, Singh said.

He also built the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which today houses the original Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan established and developed several towns in India, including Amritsar, Tarntaran and Kartarpur. He brought skilled workers from Central India to settle Punjab, which was an economic benefit to the area.

Guru Arjan developed the “rule of humility,” or Halemi, which urged rulers to be humble to their subjects and look after their welfare. He sought to stop lords and rulers from being arrogant and fighting meaningless, bloody battles, Singh said.

“Humility was his hallmark in his personal life and also in his contemplation,” Singh said. “It was the humility of this saint that brought a lot of people from all parts of India.”

According to the Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan was martyred in 1606 by the Mughal ruler, Nuruddin Jahangir, because his growing popularity was seen as a threat to the Muslim fanatics that were in the court of Jahangir. They thought they might lose power because of the guru’s growing popularity. Under Jahangir’s orders, Guru Arjan was tortured for several days and was made to sit on hot iron plates and had scalding sand poured on him.

“He was a saintly kind of person and was providing leadership to all those being victimized by the rulers of those times,” Singh said.