MADNESS OF BELIEF IN CASTE: JAAT-PAAT

  Do not be proud of your caste, you ignorant fool! So much sin and corruption comes from this pride.
||1||Rahaaou|| (sggs 1128). In the dwelling of the womb, there is no ancestry or caste. All emanate
from God's Seed (of His Joti Svaroopa) ||1|| Tell me, O Pandit: since when have you been a Brahmin?
Don't waste your life by continually claiming to be a Brahmin. ||1||Pause|| If you are indeed a Brahmin,
born of a Brahmin mother, then why didn't you come by some other way? ||2|| How is it that you are a
Brahmin, and I am of a low caste? Is it that I have blood (in my veins), and you have milk (in your veins)?
||3|| Says Kabeer, one who contemplates God, is said to be a Brahmin among us. ||4||7|| (sggs 324).
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In Gurmat — Divine Teaching or Wisdom of the Gurbani, Sri Guru Granth Sahib — there is no place for the caste system. Baabaa Nanak introduced the concept of a society with no caste distinction - Jaat Paat etc. This concept was followed through by all Sikh Gurus. Yet, the madness of belief in castes has a very strong hold in Sikhs! In one hand the propagators of the Dharma mouth platitudes about a casteless society preached by the Sikh Gurus, but on the other hand, they practice it madly. What a paradox and hypocrisy!

Per Gurmat (the wisdom of the Shabad-Guru), any one who believes in Jaat Paat cannot be a true Sikh; for the castes only relate to the body; not to the True Self (Soul, Spirit, Truth, etc.). In other words, the caste-conscious person is a material being (Manmukh) who has confounded his True Identity for the physical body. Consequently, he identifies himself and others as Jatt Sikh, Saini Sikh, Bhaapaa Sikh, Rorra Sikh, Tarkhaan or Raamgarheeaa Sikh, Mazhabee Sikh, Khatree Sikh, Lavaanaa Sikh, Kookaa Sikh, Naamdhaaree Sikh, Nihang Sikh, Nirmalay Sikh, Brahmin Sikh, list goes on and on. Now, there seems to be a new class of Sikhs called Caucasian Sikhs (Gore or white Sikhs)! Consequences of this foolishness is as follows:

What a false pretension! The Gurbani (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) roars that the madness of false pride of caste results in two things: Sin and corruption. In spite of such strong warnings and consequences, majority of the Sikhs are inflicted with this grave disease of Jaat-Paat. Having said that, it should not come as a surprise to see the prevalence of sin and corruption in the society; including the so-called religious places. In this context, this Gurbani Reflection will attempt to reflect on the following. Origin Of The Pride Of Caste

Those having the false pride of caste are called "fool" and "ignorant" in the Gurbani. To put it otherwise, as the Gurbani indicates, those who practice caste distinction and feel pride of their belief in Jaat-Paat are foolish and spiritually ignorant beings.

But, what is ignorance? Material or body-consciousness, which gives rise to false ego (Haume), is the ignorance so much talked about in the scriptures. Opposite of the body-consciousness is the spiritual Consciousness.  Therefore, according to the Gurbani, spiritual ignorance or mntal blindness is the root cause of this madness called Jaat-Paat or false pride of caste.

All living entities are under the influence of the three modes of Maya's material nature (illusion, conditioned mind, ignorance, duality, etc.). It clings to everyone except the spiritual beings. It affects mortals many ways. And one of the ways Maya snares us into its illusion or hallucination is through our false pride of caste. Does God, Soul, or the Self Has a Caste?

Before we seek answer to this question, let's find out if there is any relationship between God, Soul or the Self. According to the Gurbani, in reality, there is no difference between these three. They are virtually synonymous.

The Gurbani declares that God has no caste. Accordingly, our Soul or the Self is also casteless. If the Spiritual Father is casteless, so are His children. Thus names, shapes, forms, castes, religions, birth, death, etc., are of the temporary material body only. One's Pure Self is free from such limitations. We are time and again reminded by the Gurbani to know this Truth — we are the casteless Joti-svaroopa.

Then, why so many living entities are engulfed by the razing fire of madness of false pride of caste? It is so because the mortals, due to ignorance, identify themselves with the material body instead of the real Self. A spiritually blind cannot understand this. Why? Because the casteless Infinite Consciousness that the Gurbani talks about is not the subject of unmeaning rituals, lip worship, garbs, ceremonies, mundane history, culture, outer looks, material logic, scholarship, and speculations. Only a Gurmukh or a True Sikh — a Self-realized person — knows it.

The above verses of the Gurbani make it very clear that God is casteless. Also, God has no ancestry or family. Therefore, the Self or the Soul made in His True Image is also casteless. After reading this, it should not be surprising to anybody as to why Baabaa Nanak introduced the concept of a casteless society! Does Caste Help After Death?

In the end, the body of a Gurmukh (Spiritual being) as well as a wicked person meets the death. But there is a difference in the death of both entities  — a pure devotee (Gurmukh) dies in God-Consciousness and links back to the Original Source. However, to the contrary, a wicked person full of worldly nonsense dies in Spiritual blindness (or material consciousness) and suffers repeatedly.

According to Indic scriptures, death means destruction of the material body, not the Spirit Soul. Upon death of the body, the bundle of memories or energy move on to the next field of experiences. And that new experience very much depends upon one's state of being at the time of death. The state of mentality at the time of death is determined by what we practice throughout our life!

Physical body, caste, material status, titles, power, beauty, name, fame, and so on, do not go along one's Soul. The Gurbani compares the pride of caste with poison. Since the poison's function is to kill, whoever tastes the poison of this false pride of caste dies in Spiritual blindness, and suffers the consequences. Why is it that the body, pride of caste, etc., do not count in the world hereafter? The reason being is that these things are external, hence, not the Real Essence. The Real Essence is the Truth, Waheguru, who is the Divine Substance in all things and beings. He is all there is. Therefore, focusing on external things would be meaningless if this inside Reality is ignored.

Manmukh And Jaat-Paat

According to the Gurbani, one who believes in Jaat-Paat is a Manmukh (egotistic or material being). He is Spiritually blind; hence, without Intuitive Wisdom. His life is perplexed due to ignorance of his True Nature, which is Pure Consciousness. In such a perplexed state of mind, a materialist thinks that this world is solid or permanent. However, the inside reality is to the contrary. The only thing that is permanent is the Spirit (Infinite Consciousness) that pervades within everybody and everything.

People in material perplexities are called in the Gurbani by different names. Such names include Manmukh, Saakat (faithless cynics), Kusang (bad company), Aatam Ghaatee (self-murderer), Chor (thief), Mayadhaaree (Maya-stricken), Bimukhan (nonbeliever), Jhooth or Koorh (false or fake), nondevotee, demon, beast, idiot, fool, animal, material-being, spiritually ignorant, etc.

Thus, a Manmukh is a stubborn fanatic. Consequently, he suffers from the ailment of duality (Doojaa Bhaav), resulting in his separation from his Source, which resides in the cave of his heart. He has no Intuitive Understanding of the Shabad (Naam, Bani, Hukam or God's Will), the purpose of life, his relationship with God, and the Way of life. Due to such egotistic life, he suffers repeatedly.

Gurmukh And Jaat-Paat

A Gurmukh is a Self-Realized person, completely free of the false ego-sense (Haume) and its menacing faults such as the madness of believing in Jaat-Paat. The Manmukh is the opposite of the Gurmukh. Since the Gurmukh has killed his ego, he is the most humble being who is jealous of no one. Ever engaged in meditation on the Divine (Jap or Name-Simran), he is completely immersed in the Infinite Consciousness, Waheguru. Hence, a Gurmukh is a casteless being. As the Infinite Consciousness or Waheguru is casteless, so is he. All his actions are selfless; for he is purified in and out. He sees the All-pure in all. Being spiritually wise, he knows the Essence of the Divinity as all there is; in everything, everywhere, and beyond measures. That's his casteless caste! This is the sign of a true Sikh. No other mundane qualification matters.

Thus, a pure Sikh (a Self-realized person) is beyond any mundane caste and related false pride. Because of his pure love and devotion for God, he depends only on God. For that, God is his caste, honor, glory, family, etc.

Low And High Caste: What Does It Mean?

It's not the family of birth, material wealth, name, fame, power, education, knowledge, external religion, titles, etc., that makes one low or high. Who is low and high depends solely on one's deeds and how he lives his life. For example, by merely taking birth in a so called Sikh or a Brahmin family, one does not become a Sikh or a Brahmin. If both of them act in material consciousness, they are not any better than a so called Shoodra (low caste beings). In fact, according to the Gurbani, one does not even become qualified to be called human being just because he is born in a human form, what to speak of low and high caste heredity!

In the Gurbani, a Spiritually blind person is defined as a "low caste" or a low class wandering person, who is bewildered by the dualistic principle of the material nature. The intellect and other faculties of such person are characteristically confined to gross matter and concerns of materiality. The Gurbani compares such person with the worm of ordure. Such Spiritually blind individual is so very much attached to the world and its objects that he has no time or longing to practice true love for his Pure Self. In all sincerity, God's Name has no appeal to him. Thus, he is a first class hypocrite. According to the Gurbani, a Gurmukh (Spiritually wise) is the best among all. He has the Pure Intellect and capacity to comprehend the Source of the universe. He is the True Being, the knower of the Divine. His perception is through intuition. Such Gurmukh or a true Sikh or a true devotee is the Self-realized or God-intoxicated person. Except for the Waheguru, he knows that everything else is of impermanent nature. A person who is spiritually so elevated is wisdom-guided; for he lives in Shabad-Surti (Unconditioned Consciousness). He sees God within and without. Such individual expresses God through his God-guided intelligence, discriminative thoughts (Viveka), and God-centered activities.

The True Caste

The preceding discussion reflects as to what constitutes a low class and a high class being. With the help of this understanding, we can try to know the real nature of a "true caste" or true class. It is not the family caste, social status, or the ancestry that gives a person the status of Supreme Dignity. It is the Unconditioned Consciousness — Shabad-Surti or God Consciousness — that determines the true status of a person. Simply put: A person immersed in Divine Name (Pure Consciousness) is of High Class; to the contrary, a person immersed in material consciousness is of low class.

The Gurbani teaches us that there were no castes or social classes, no religious robes, etc., before the rise of the material world (Maya or conditioned consciousness). The so-called four castes — the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shoodras or Dalits — came into being afterwards. Like the Gurbani, no where in Vedic literature has it been stated that one is born Brahmin or Kshatriya or Vheshya or Shoodra or Dalit. So called four castes are nothing more than four general divisions which totally depended on quality of the person. Therefore, had nothing to do with the castes, race, creed, and skin-color as these are understood today. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the real meaning of this diversity has been lost. 

In spite of the fact that no true scripture or spiritual teacher supports the caste system, there is a rigid caste system among the Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jain, and so on. For instance, in their villages, Shudras or Dalits are not even allowed to draw water from wells used by so-called upper castes, or enter the temples managed by the upper caste. What a shameful hypocrisy!

What went wrong? The weakness of our religions is that their propagators do not practice what they preach. As a result, what has remained of the great teachings of the Masters and the scriptures is the unmeaning rituals, lip worship, showoff spirituality, religious robes, dogmas, and so on. People indulge in so-called religious activities but hardly ever bother to better themselves, mend their ways, change their mentality or know "Who I am?". Consequently, the man is unable to embrace all mankind as one so preached in the scriptures.

Due to this stupidity of the propagators of religions, many people become converts, particularly those deprived, discriminated against and destitute tribal and lower castes. It's equally shameful for other religions to manipulate and exploit such people by converting them into their respective religion for ulterior purposes. Is this the solution? No. Because, by converting others, all they are doing is magnifying the problem by creating more divisions, differences, discrimination, fanaticism, and hatred in the world. At the present, all organized religions are inflicted with error. In the words of a great one, "But religion is not always purely known — and even less often purely practiced — which gives rise to differences."

The sage Tulsidaas says: "At the touch of the philosopher's stone, metals become gold. Likewise all castes, even the butcher and the untouchable, become pure by repeating the Divine Name. Without the Name the people of the four castes are but butchers."

Hence, to classify or identify a person with certain caste based on his heredity or family of birth is shear ignorance. The quality of the Jeeva (individual being) depends on one's attributes and actions. In other words, one's quality is determined by how he responds to the three modes of the material nature, not by heredity, race, caste, color, or some other nonsense notions.

As indicated in the Gurbani, all are equal in respect to the Spiritual Teachings. Therefore, the one who, as a Spiritual being (Gurmukh), chants and meditates on the Divine Name attains liberation while living in the body and obtains the Supreme Status. Other mundane qualifications do not matter a bit.

The Gurbani lists many Enlightened Beings who came from the so-called "low caste" families, but through the Divine Name, they all attained the Supreme Status. For example, Naamdeva, a calico-printer of little material worth, became worthy of Praise; Kabeer was of weaver caste, but by cherishing the Divine Love, he became the Treasure of Virtue. Ravidas, the cobbler, who carted the dead animals, abandoned the love of Maya; and became renowned; Sain, the barber, who was engaged in doing odd little things, became known when he enshrined the Transcendent Consciousness in the Mind; Dhanna, the farmer, also became dedicated to the God's Way, and he was ushered into the Divine Presence within; Bidura, the son of a maid-servant, became realized through the Name; Baalmeek became a sage; the list goes on and on. Cure From The Disease of Jaat-Paat

In the mother's womb, no one knows one's caste. It is from the Seed (Shabad) of the same One Divine that the whole Creation comes into being. True is the One; and no one is separate from this Infinite Consciousness. He is here, He is hereafter. His form is One, but manifestations are many. That casteless Essence abides within the body of each and every one of us as the Pure Self. Therefore, the one who calls himself a high caste loses the Merit of his human birth.

Thus, we know from the scriptures that we are made in the True Image of One God. Still, we behave to the contrary. Why? Because our false ego-sense or pride stands in the way as a formidable wall. Contrary to this, those who are free of egoism, for them the Truth (Waheguru) is the easiest thing to know! They live in it, "here" and "now".

Therefore, one cannot know the Truth if his actions are egotistical. In other words, it is impossible to know the Truth by constantly feeding the fire ego (Haume). Therefore, the Gurbani teaches us that, in order to know the Truth, one has to starve the false ego. Unfortunately, instead of starving it, most of us continually feed it!

The deluded mind creates divisions. Consequently, the ignorant mind is the greatest enemy of an egotistical person. To the contrary, the same mind is the best friend of a person who has eradicated his false ego from within. Accordingly, to realize the Self, the deluded mind needs to be dissolved. As long as there is this contending mind, one will be controlled by the ego. How can one free himself from all these road blocks in the Way to realize Truth? One thing is for sure: The outer looks, mere focus on mundane culture and history, empty rituals, and all superficial and shallow practices compared to the Real Essence will not do the trick! If anything, such egotistical practices will sink one more and more and more into "darkness".

The Gurbani provides us with the sure cure and remedy. It teaches us as to how one can turn the "inverse lotus" upwards, and awaken the inner Light and see the All-pure in all. As time and again indicated in the Gurbani, the key is in becoming Spiritual Being — immersing in God Consciousness or Shabad-Surti.

Those turned God wards belong to the caste of the True God; for they abide in their True Nature, their bosom-friend.  Accordingly, the Gurbani teaches us to ever abide in the Divine Name. By singing, hearing, remembering, and contemplating the Divine Name, one is saved, caste or no caste. The madness of cast distinction can be eliminated by the true love of God; for the God's true lovers are ever casteless! Through the Divine love the "low caste" becomes pure, and no longer remains bewildered. How can we attain this love of God? By removing the "dirt" of hatred, desires and fear from our heart. The Gurbani declares that loving devotion is the only essential thing. That is to say, one attains Divine love by constantly keeping the Divine Name in his mind with faith and sincerity; which purifies the Inner Shrine of the Heart within. We cannot see our reflection in a dirty water. However, once the dirt is removed from water by a purifying agent, one sees his reflection in it! The Divine name is the purifying agent!

God is one, but His names are many. Therefore, what is to be remembered is that there is only one God, and that He dwells within all hearts equally. If this simple truth is realized, then the entire humanity will become a one family of single race and caste!

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org

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Updated on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 4:03 PM (PST)

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