Monday, March 20, 2006
SIGNIFICANCE OF HOLA MAHALLA
Guru Gobind Singh Ji had a marvellous foresight; he wanted his Sikhs to have a strong soul, which we achieve by our prayers. He also wanted us to be physically fit and have a disciplined life and Hola can be taken as a symbol or a day, which would remind us that Sikhs need to be physically fit also.
Also, Guru Patshaah wanted us to seek for active forms of entertainment. When one is involved in horsemanship, soldiery, swordsmanship and archery or any other form of sport of today we are actively involved in it as against the passive forms of entertainment like watching television, playing computer games and so on and so forth.
Physical fitness flows from discipline skills. These skills include the ability to organize our life to meet our basic needs adequately, rest, diet, health, hygiene, exercise, reading, prayer, etc. It will help if we draw up an action programme for the acquisition of self-discipline skills. Two important moments of the day are when we get up in the morning and when we go to sleep. In the morning, when we are fresh from sleep, we can resolve to practice this self-discipline and at night we can ask ourselves an account of how have we practised them. Then we may resolve for the following day and go on disciplining ourselves.
Of course, some of you who are reading this are already doing all these because you are at a higher level of functioning and are trying to actualize your potential but this is just a humble effort to share some of my views with all of you.
For Sikhs this is what HOLA day signifies, to make our self externally and internally strong and not by merely wasting our life and doing the things blindly what others do that bear no fruits.
So, let all of us try to be Victorious by overcoming our evils, our own enemies Kaam, Krodh, Lob, Moh & Aanhkar.
|| kaam kroDh lobh moh jeetahu aisee khayl har pi-aaree|| (Ang 1185 SGGS)
Conquer sexual desire, anger, greed and worldly attachment; only such a game as this is dear to the Lord.
|| janam padaarath jin chali-aa naanak aa-i-aa so parvaan thi-aa. || (Ang 1007 SGGS)
Those who depart after having been victorious in this priceless human life - O Nanak, their coming into the world is approved.
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