Anti-Sikhi Parchaar (Part 4): Topic - Dietary Bibek (4 of 4)

Continued...

Below are some questions relating to the topic of dietary Bibek that have been asked by other people at different occasions and the Gurmat based replies:

#13. "Sikhi believes in equality. Are Amritdharis that keep Bibek really promoting equality? Equality means you should be able to eat from anyone."

RESPONSE: Bhai Bijla Singh provides a well explained answer about Bibek has got nothing to do with inequality:

"Gurmat irrevocably advocates equality of all humans. No one is born low or high, superior or inferior, bad or good etc. All are children of Vaheguru (God). Thus, refusing to eat from the hands of others on such a basis is unjustified, immoral and anti-Gurmat. All Sikhs are supposed to uphold Gurmat principles unequivocally. Therefore, in Gurmat the practice of eating from only Amritdharis is not grounded upon inequality but something else. Amritdharis refuse to eat from others (non-Sikhs) because they lack qualification and merit to prepare the food that would imbibe spiritual qualities. Anyone can take Amrit, become a Sikh and earn the merit of preparing food for langar. 

Take the example of preparing Amrit. Only five Amritdharis (who keep rehat) are qualified to prepare Amrit by following strict guidelines prescribed by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It cannot be considered Amrit if five non-Sikhs follow the same methods. At the same time, it cannot be considered Amrit even if only one of the five is a non-Sikh. Not only this, all five must be physically healthy to have the privilege and blessing of preparing Amrit. Any person who does not have a good eyesight, cannot sit in a required posture, is missing any of the ten fingers, and cannot recite Gurbani from memory is disqualified. Even a slight lapse in rehat (code of conduct) by any one of the Amritdharis does not bear the same results. But we never consider it a discrimination against non-Sikhs or disabled because the matter is not about their inferiority but lacking physical and spiritual qualifications. Similarly, preparation of food also requires the same rules to be followed.

Only Amritdharis have the qualification of instilling Naam in the food because they have had the blessing of Naam implanted in them by the Satguru. They must recite Gurbani while preparing food. Those who lack Naam cannot spiritually bless the food. Thus, they remain unqualified. This is no different than educational institutions selecting the best candidates for admission based on the qualifications. When qualifications are the main criteria, nothing else matters. In Gurmat, any person can be blessed with Amrit and become qualified to prepare food. Just because all are equal does not mean all are equally qualified. We must not mix the two together."

#14. "Brahmins believed that if any non-Brahmin touched their food it would get defiled. How are Sikhs who portray they superior by not eating from non-Amritdhari any different?"

RESPONSE: Bhai Bijla Singh provides a well explained answer how Gurmat Bibek is totally different from brahmanism:

"Brahmins believe the food gets defiled if it is prepared by non-Brahmins and is thus filthy. On the other hand, Sikhs do not believe the food gets defiled if prepared by non-Sikhs. Food is food and it remains so regardless of whoever prepares it. The food can still be eaten by anyone for their health.

The reason Amritdharis refuse such a food is because it gets affected by the qualities of its preparer. Not only the thoughts and words of the person affect the food at the time of cooking, but also the inherent qualities of the person. A lustful, angry or greedy person would obviously impart the same qualities to the food he/she is preparing. A person may be a good hearted, kind and generous but if he is not a Sikh, he lacks the essential ingredient for the food, i.e. Naam. Gurbani instructs Sikhs to consume food that is filled with Naam/Amrit.

The two main criteria for selecting food for consumption are given in the following verse:

ਬਾਬਾ ਹੋਰੁ ਖਾਣਾ ਖੁਸੀ ਖੁਆਰੁ ||
ਜਿਤੁ ਖਾਧੈ ਤਨੁ ਪੀੜੀਐ ਮਨ ਮਹਿ ਚਲਹਿ ਵਿਕਾਰ ||੧|| ਰਹਾਉ||     
“The pleasures of those foods lead to ruin; eating which, the body becomes diseased (i.e. unhealthy), and wickedness and corruption enter into the mind. ||1||Pause||” (Siree Raag M:1, 16)

We see that the two conditions require that the food must be good to the physical health and must not induce vices in the mind. It clearly proves that the food that we consume does affect the mind and can have the power to induce vices such as lust, anger, greed, ego etc. in the mind. Thus, it becomes of utmost importance to carefully select the food for consumption. This can only be done by inquiring who prepared the food because only the preparer can impart good or bad qualities in the food.

While most Sikhs can easily discern which food is good for their health by picking and choosing items from the langar, they are completely oblivious to the spiritual properties of the food which affect the mind and thereby their physical health. Those who lack Naam Simran are already under the full force of the vices and hence cannot realize any difference. Only those who practice Naam Simran can realize the effects of spiritually unsuitable food because they can intuitively know that their mind is affected. This is why Sikhs must ensure that they consume food that is spiritually healthy and does not affect the mind negatively.

Brahmins refuse to eat from others by looking down upon others while Sikhs do it to help increase their spirituality." 

#15. "I understand that food should be cooked whilst reciting Gurbani and if someone doesn't do that then an Amritdhari has a right to not eat that meal. However, if a non-Amritdhari prepares food whilst reciting Gurbani then shouldn't this be acceptable to eat for an Amritdhari who follows Maryada? There are lots of people who are not-Amritdhari but have better characteristics and qualities than many outwardly appearing Amritdharis. Isn't it better to eat from someone who has good qualities but is not Amritdhari rather than someone who just looks Amritdhari but lacks good qualities?"

RESPONSE: Bhai Bijla Singh provides a well explained answer:

"This person making this argument is respectfully asked if they would ever go to an unqualified doctor for their medicine? Their answer would be an obvious no. Then how about going to a doctor who is corrupt, immoral and prescribes medicines that harm his patients? Their answer again would be a no. Then how about going to a qualified doctor who is immoral but the patients do not know this fact? In this case, those who do not know would have no problem in going to see this doctor. In first two cases, the fault lies with the patients but in the third case, the fault is in the doctor only. All three analogies can be applied to Gurmat bibek.

Eating from the hands of a non-Amritdhari is similar to going to an unqualified doctor. Eating from the hands of a person who maintains the GurSikh appearance but does not practice Gurmat is analogous to going to an immoral doctor. Eating from the hands of an Amritdhari whose misdeeds are not known to others is like going to a reputable doctor but not knowing how corrupt he is from the inside. Again, in first two cases, GurSikhs are at fault but in the third case the GurSikhs are not at fault because they are optimist that the person who looks like an Amritdhari is also a practising Amritdhari."