麻豆约拍

Good morning. There are just 10 days until Christmas, and this year, December 25th will be a very special date for Sikhs too. It鈥檚 Guru Gobind Singh鈥檚 birthday, his 351st to be precise. He was born three and a half centuries ago in Patna in Eastern India, and the last 12 months have seen celebrations around the world to mark the life and times of this deeply inspirational man. As the 10th Sikh Guru, he oversaw massive changes to the faith which included developing its ability to defend itself against assaults from the Mughal, and he established the Khalsa, the band of the pure ones which became the inner core of the faith. This ensured the survival of Sikhi over the following decades when the community was coming under direct attack from various groups who saw the faith as a threat. The concept of the Saint-Soldier was born, with Sikhs encouraged to be saintly in their thoughts and soldier-like in their actions, and defending the rights of everyone in society, regardless of their background or religion. That concept of protection of humanity remains an important one for Sikhs, and in our daily prayers Sikhs pray for the blessings and good fortune of the entire human race and not just for Sikhs alone. As this year鈥檚 celebrations draw to a close, it seems only apt to recite this prayer from Guru Gobind Singh about the universality of faith and the oneness of the world: Someone is Hindu and someone a Muslim, then someone is Shia and someone is Sunni. Recognise the whole of humanity as one. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

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