The
traditional turban-tying ceremony is one of the important events in the Sikh
religion. Its significance
is as much as the tradition of a young Buddhist male entering monkhood, that
is, it is time for the young Sikh boy to turn into adulthood and begin to
imbibe in the teachings of our Gurus.
One could definitely understand
the happiness of the boy's parents when their son crosses the threshold from
childhood to adulthood. Thai parents have traditionally marked their son's
turning of age with gongs, drums and dances. Like our Thai brethrens, we Thai-Indians
parents have shown our joy in a similar pattern of festivity. The only difference,
one could safely comment, between a Buddhist male becoming a monk and a Sikh
male tying his turban is that the monk starts living in the temple to study
the scriptures for a certain period of time but the Sikh boy continues to
live in his social world and applies the teachings of the Gurus in his daily
life.
Adulthood
should not be taken lightly. Now in his teens, the young Sikh boy must prepare
himself for bigger responsibilities. Consequently, he should be conscious
of his human form, his mental ability and more importantly his spiritual dimensions.
The turban tying tradition have
for ages signified the Sikh's total obedience to his Guru. Total obedience
here means completely obeying the Guru's dictums without questioning. In those
days when the Guru commanded that all Sikhs wore turbans - it was so. There
were no doubts in His disciples. They did not ask "why?". Furthermore, I believe
the turban-tying ceremony of past ages had a solemn and tranquil atmosphere
to it. Compared to today's ritual, the tradition has been infected with indulgence,
lavish gives and takes and a complete disregard or knowledge of the essence
of tying a turban.
One
must accept the fact that it has become money-oriented affair. The parents
of the child can be compared to social slaves because they have no other choice
but to do as the Romans do. Those who can not afford the cash investment borrow
from relatives and friends in an effort to save their faces. Pride is a high
interest rate to pay for. The succeeding generation will have no other choice
than to follow this example we are displaying for them.
Is the real purpose of the turban-tying
tradtion being lost? Is Maya becoming the dominant force? Is the spiritual
meaning behind this ritual being lost? Does the young boy who is turning into
a man know the real purpose of tying a turban?
These are a few questions that
needs to be pondered on.
Wheel
of Karma - What goes
around comes around
Take a look at the Wheel of Karma animation below. Each one of us is born with a load of karma (the bin labelled "store of karma") and while we strive to live in this world we can not excape performing additional karmas ("current life's karma").
