Photo Credit: Website - Rosa Park Facts
Rosa being arrested and her fingerprints taken
A Gursikh sent me a text this morning mentioning the 'mother of the civil rights movement’, Rosa Parks, who on this day in 1955 caused quite stir. I read her story further via BBC: On This Day which I highly recommend as a way of soaking-up some very interesting history upon a daily basis.
At the end of his text he wrote:
"Was she 'anti-social', 'extremist' or 'fundamentalist'? Or was she 'sava lakh se laroan' [able to take on a legion of opponents], following a much higher law than artificial human law?"
A light bulb shone inside my little brain - why not write about a series of non-Sikh individuals who imbibe a particular component of the Khalsa Spirit? By recognising and appreciating these Khalsa sparks within our brothers’ and sisters' hearts, perhaps we can all truly start understanding how Vaheguroo lives within, and ultimately inspires, every single heart.
Let's first try and define the word Khalsa. Khalsa is an Arabic word which can be translated as ‘pure’ and ‘untainted’. It was also apparently used to refer to land belonging to a King or Emperor, which could not be taxed. These definitions converge to construct a beautiful concept. Khalsa represents The Pure Unrestrained Truth which cannot be challenged or defeated. It is the un-taxable land of Truth belonging to Vaheguroo and it's aim is to constantly manifest.
Since 1699, it has come to be known as The Satguroo’s conferred title for those people who live, breathe and meditate in complete unison with The Satguroo, so much so, that The Satguroo describes the Khalsa as His Satguroo, to whom He unconditionally submits. In 1699, the fraternity of the Khalsa was born as we know it, and this land has continued to manifest since...
Recognising The One Light manifest in all beings, the Khalsa are able to imbibe lessons of Truth through all things and all people. Now, let us travel back in time exactly 53 years ago, and learn a lesson...
Rosa discarded her concerns and boarded that bus, her resolve unshakeable. She decided that day she would live The Truth despite others’ attempts to deny her it. It didn’t bother her that the driver was the same man who threw her off a bus 12 years earlier because she had refused to enter through the back door, specially allocated for blacks.
She sat down upon her seat, tired after working long and hard manual hours, only to be confronted by a white man who requested she give-up her seat. Rosa refused and in doing sos violated American segregation laws, which stated at the time that a coloured person must give way to a white person if no vacant seats remained upon public transport vehicles.
Historically, her actions represented not the single defiant voice of a young black woman but the consolidation of a collective statement; that Blacks would not accept such degrading treatment and were willing to break any man-made law to prove it. Led by Dr. Martin Luther King, American blacks everywhere boycotted buses soon after Rosa made her stand.
Photo Credit: Eege Vot Fum
The bus that Rosa sat in that day
Rosa’s actions are in complete resonance with The Satguroo’s teachings. Vaheguroo expects us all to challenge any so-called laws which treat one person as superior and the other inferior. For the Khalsa in particular, whether it was the Mughal Emperor Arungzeb forbidding our ancestors from riding horses, or a modern-day democratic nation deciding that Blacks couldn’t always have a bus-seat, there is no difference.
In my mind, Guroo Gobind Singh Jee points to her, and says to me: “You see that soul, learn from its virtue, a Truth being lived. A worthy lesson for the Khalsa”. In this way, I feel inspired by such figures and feel hope, in a day and age when so many 'Sikhs' reveal that their garbs and practices are mere religious rituals, devoid of spiritual inspiration. Why? Because their words and actions do not match the glorious spiritual heritage and relevance that their outer image portrays. I don't feel disheartened though, because the Khalsa is beyond such a façade and will always live, as a spark, waiting to ignite in any heart.
Whether it’s the boy who stands up to the playground bully, the teacher who inspires her pupils with self-belief, or the lady on that bus in 1955 who refused to give-up her seat, they all illustrate the same thing. They remind us that The Satguroo transmits lessons to His Sikhs through all things and all people, if only we are willing to receive them.
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Atma Singh - everyday sikhee
1 comment:
i honestly think Rosa parks is a hero. she is the reason y blacks are now respected and treated like ordinary people that they are
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