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Reviews
Mystique
Magic Miracles
A Review by Dr Gurbakhsh Singh*
Author : Gajindar Singh
Published by : MS Manbir G Singh, # 2983, Sector 61, Mohali
- 62
Pages : 182; Price : Rs 220/- ($ 18)
The
philosophy of the hymn,
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B fwfbU, ;/t Bk fwfbU, fwfbU nkfJ nfuzsk ..
ikeT[ dfJnk eoh w/o? mke[fo, fsfB r[ofj ewkB' wzsk ..
given at the head of the book, explains the key message
of gurbani, the Sikh faith; it is His grace that puts an
individual on the path of peace and His realization. It
saves the believers of this philosophy from self-imposed
fears. The hymn also outlines the objective of writing this
book, that is, to guide an individual suffering from baseless
fears of the Unknown and get him out of practising the hollow
rites and rituals.
It was a great reward for me to study the gurmat philosophy
as explained by the author; every page keeps the student
interested in the subject to read further to benefit himself
from his analysis of the prevalent social and religious
rituals and rites.
The study of the origin of the major religions practised
by us today anywhere in the world tells the same story.
Early humans assumed some gods (devtas) as favourable and
some other gods as unfavourable (demons). They worshipped
devtas to obtain spiritual and worldly gains from them.
Demons were propitiated to protect themselves from their
bad influence. This culture has more or less stuck in the
psychology of faithfuls all over the world.
The book explains that contrary to the latest scientific
gian and spiritual awareness, some rites and rituals were
introduced to overcome the fears and harms likely to be
done from the un-known powers (spirits). The purpose of
adopting those rituals by the common man was to live a peaceful
and happy life. Their actions were not based on any Truth
but were misguided because of the mindset of the social
leaders of those days of early human history. Such assumptions
ingrained in their psychology interfered and impeded the
development of an individual.
The present publication Mystique Magic Miracle by the author
discusses this complex phenomenon. He has written half a
dozen such interesting titles including In the Witches'
Cauldron, A God made to Order, etc.
For elucidating his message, making it clear and understandable
to the readers, the author has quoted many episodes of his
personal life. For introducing the reader to the subject,
he refers to the common experience of all people, believers
and non-believers alike, who undergo many good and bad incidences
in their lives. They attribute most of those happenings
to their good or bad luck because they cannot assign any
rational explanation or a logical cause for those happenings.
To be able to face such happenings, human beings designed
some magical methods, mantras, tantras, jantras. Such rituals
have been in vogue since the known history of man in case
of all cultures, ethnic groups and nations. People worshipped
sakar objects, visible and physical entities, like sun,
moon, fire and also some trees, animals, birds, etc. Worship
of graves and statues in one or the other form are also
practised all over the world.
The purpose of the author to pen down his interpretation
of Gurmat philosophy is to guide people and thus help them
to overcome such unfounded inhibitions, fears, and dogmas,
etc.
After reading the index, I jumped to the chapter titled
Five plus Five, page 141. It was not clear to me what the
author wants to tell the readers. We all know the importance
of five but I never heard of the philosophy of Five Plus
Five in Sikh faith. It is really interesting to read it.
The author has ably shared with the reader the message of
gurbani. Gurmat guides us to live a life of Charhdi Kala,
optimistic attitude and not to suffer from Dhenhdi kala,
pessimistic attitude. This principle has been well-explained,
it is refreshing to go through it because one is reminded
of his /her own experiences.
Same is the case with other chapters; not just a look at
the title of the chaptes but one has to read them to know
their contents.
The author justifiably regrets the immense bloodshed caused
by the politicians for the desire to increase the sphere
of their authority over large territory and more people.
He also regrets the claim of those fighters who end their
present life as a ghazi, vir, yodha, or soora, hoping to
be honored after death and provided with swarg, bahisht.
However, he justifies the similar death of a Sikh martyr
because, “.....he dies as and when necessary as a
matter of shahadat for the cause of a perfect society and
social and political justice as intended by his Masters.”
The readers will not agree with his observation that only
a Sikh martyr dies for the freedom and justice. There were
and are such martyrs in every nation and religion. Sikhs
are not the only community who can claim this great honour.
Along with this, the author should have also referred to
the sacrifices made by members of other nations and communities
for the protection of their human rights. There are some
other statements in the book which will be more acceptable
if qualified. In the end one feels satisfied that the time
spent for the study of this book was fully justified.
¤
©Copyright Institute of Sikh Studies,
2007, All rights reserved.
