Leroy's Art Blog

I’ve been attending the Sikh Gurdwara in Mwanza pretty regularly for several months now. I’m there to meditate and enjoy during the hour of music that precedes the service, and because I do feel comfortable there. Slowly, I am beginning to pick up a little of the Sikh symbolism and belief system. Their articles of faith, the Mool Mantor, consist of:

1. There is one God
2. His name is Truth
3. He is the Creator
4. He is without fear
5. He is without hate
6. He is beyond time
7. He is beyond birth and death
8. He is self-existent
9. He is realized by the Guru’s grace

The teachings were given by nine prophets, or Gurus, and the ninth one, Guru Gobind Singh, said that there weren’t going to be any more so the Holy Book was complete and is therefore a Guru itself, the Guru Granth Sahib.

The Sikhs carefully preserve their history of periodic persecutions - rather like the Jewish culture in that. Their ideal is the warrior-saint. Their emblem, or Khanda, is a double edged sword (one edge is Justice, the other Freedom and Authority), surrounded by a circle and two more interlocked swords. The sword on the left, Piri, represents spiritual sovereignty, and the one on the right, Miri, political sovereignty. Sikh men carry five symbols: Uncut hair under a turban, a comb, a dagger, and wear a silver or steel bracelet and some sort of special underwear that I am reasonably happy that no one has troubled to explain or demonstrate to me. Most of the Sikh men I meet do cut their hair and only some wear turbans, so I suppose the Mwanza Gurdwara is rather on the liberal side.

This is a big week for the Sikh. Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent in reading the Holy Book. Thursday is the Holy Day, the day of remembrance for the Gurus. The whole city is invited to a lunch. The flagpole is lowered and cleaned after its cloth wrapper is removed, then a new wrapper is installed and it is raised again.

I will try to be there.