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Good morning.  As I used to move between school assemblies and attending my local Sikh gurudwara, the image of Joseph’s coat of many colours would be joined another extraordinary garment linked to a day of liberation in Sikh history.  This was not many years after London’s famous Gunpowder plot. It coincided with Divali, India’s festival of lights which this year falls tomorrow - a week before bonfire night.

On that Divali day, the city of Amritsar was lit up to welcome the longed-for return of the sixth Guru of the Sikhs.  The Mughal emperor had confined him in an imperial fort and then eventually agreed to his release.  But the Guru would accept only on condition that he set free the 52 other prisoners, all rulers of local kingdoms, unjustly rounded up by him.  The emperor indicated that whoever could grab on to the Gurus robe could leave; it was a practical challenge and bound to demean members of the ruling elite.  But the Guru then arranged for an over-tunic to be sewn with an ingenious design.  It had 52 long tassels along its hem. Each ruler was able to hold on and join the collective procession to freedom.
During his time in the fort, the Guru had won the fond regard of the others. As we mark tomorrow, Sikh teachings inspire me to look to other remarkable figures, like Nelson Mandela, who’ve likewise endured captivity without becoming prisoners of their own minds.

‘Phooto anda bharam ka, maneh bhaiyo pargas..’ ... May the shell of delusion be smashed, and the mind become illuminated with wisdom. May the fulfilment that comes by learning to go beyond the self keep spurring us on.