The Sikh practice of Langar

[LuisDantas]

A while ago Breathe taught me of that concept. In a nutshell, it is the religious tradiction (as practiced by the Sikh) of insisting in treating everyone in much the same way as both participants and subjects of a common meal with no differentiation of status.

It sort of "clicked" to me and I have hardly forgot of it since.

It just makes so much sense to me.

People can and should always be able and willing to simply share meals in discreet yet participative acknowledgement and respect of their common needs and common heritage. Everyone, no matter how noble or rotten, how succesfull or how desperate, should meet common ground often and solidly in the blessed meeting of need and duty that is the basic act of making a meal a concrete reality.

Not only that, but I see lots of merit in the idea that people should leave aside any social status at least once a day and just sit in mutual acceptance and acknowledgement. It seems to me to be even wiser than the concept of the "Sabbath".

People all too often attempt to avoid each other and refuse to acknowledge each other, to seek protection and hiding in social differences.

I don't think that is really a good idea to follow those impulses, though. People can hardly bring themselves to trust each other without a certain degree of mutual acknowledgement and accessibility, after all.

Yet for all the wonder and bliss the idea brought to me, I found out that a friend of mine - a particularly heartwarming one at that - feels unease with the concept. I was surprised and failed to quite understand the reason, but she gave a general statement of unease about the feeling of "need".

I feel confused by that, so I was wondering if anyone around here would be so generous as to give me some input. What are the downsides, both real and perceived, that you may see on the Langar practice?

 

[GURSIKH]

It just makes so much sense to me.

People can and should always be able and willing to simply share meals in discreet yet participative acknowledgement and respect of their common needs and common heritage. Everyone, no matter how noble or rotten, how succesfull or how desperate, should meet common ground often and solidly in the blessed meeting of need and duty that is the basic act of making a meal a concrete reality.

Not only that, but I see lots of merit in the idea that people should leave aside any social status at least once a day and just sit in mutual acceptance and acknowledgement. It seems to me to be even wiser than the concept of the "Sabbath".

Well said luis ,Langar is wonderful concept that leads toward the Universal brotherhood/Oneness . it fulfills both the Physical as well as Spiritual needs .Serving and eating both are Uplifting .


you visited Langar ever ?

British Prime Minister David Cameron flip chapattis baked at the Golden Temple community kitchen (langar).

US Ambassador to India, Timothy J Roemer along with his wife Sally, performs voluntary service in the community kitchen during his visit to the Golden Temple

 

[Aupmanyav]

I feel confused by that, so I was wondering if anyone around here would be so generous as to give me some input. What are the downsides, both real and perceived, that you may see on the Langar practice?

Unease perhaps because in Hinduism association with evil people is considered bad (But there is a Gurudwara effect, even the evil people (most of the time) act good at least within the gurudwara). In addition to what you have stated there are other important points. One is about giving. Nanak never refused a request. Actually he gave all grain under his control to mendicants and poor people and got himself chucked out of job. And the last thing is devotion to God. When accepting rotis (tortillas), everyone is expected to receive them like a beggar in open palms. The idea is that food is a gift from God that sustains everyone and should be accepted with thankfulness and in his remembrance. Gursikh has already mentioned service.

 

[GURSIKH]

Australian pacer Glen Mcgrath s Wife SaraLeonardi-McGrath tweeted on Aug 7

one of my favourite things to do in India #sikhtemple pic.twitter.com/ORbkWXyMCt

her tweet..

https://twitter.com/saramcgrath11/status/497615103198392320

 

[LuisDantas]

Sorry, I should have answered you earlier, Gurkish.

No, I never had the pleasure of participating in Langar. There were a very few comparable situations, but not Langar proper. I might consider changing that.

 

[GURSIKH]

No, I never had the pleasure of participating in Langar. There were a very few comparable situations, but not Langar proper. I might consider changing that.

No issues brother ,

there are many different ways to serve humanity , All are Well as Buddha told

just googled ,there are negligible Sikhs in South America ,but there are few in Chile . They have a website "LANGAR CHILE" ,it seems to be in some Chilean language , but from Video there it seems they are doing good work .link below..

Video - Langar Chile

 

[Aupmanyav]

Wikipedia has a page of Sikhs in Latin America.

 

[ShivBhakta]

Sikhism A Religion For All Service For All And Worship for All .
Langar is one of the practice that makes Sikhism superior than Christians ,Muslims etc and even Hindus ( even us Hindu believed in community meal but it was still barred to only on caste)

 

[ShivBhakta]

One of my favorite sikh practice and us sikh families love to hold at least hold one Langar a year ourselves and donate goods to the gurudwara on birthdays and other events .

 

[GURSIKH]

Langar is one of the practice that makes Sikhism superior than Christians ,Muslims etc and even Hindus ( even us Hindu believed in community meal but it was still barred to only on caste)

thanks for your comment ,but i must say No one is Superior or inferior as Guru sahib says ....

“He is within - see Him outside as well;
there is no one, other than Him.
As Gurmukh, look upon all with the single eye of equality;
in each and every heart, the Divine Light is contained. ((2))”
(SGGS p599​

 

[Sha'irullah]

This is a reason I admire Socialist/Communist ethics in terms of how to maintain a society. Of course it falls flat at a point.
I am perhaps one of the few people who puts equality into praxis in that I treat people the same regardless of their status as I strongly abhor such things. This is why I have never cared about things like wealth or needless desires. It just creates division and disharmony.
A noticeable quirk is that I always admit to people I am atheist and oppose religion. I make my intents clear but I show people the same compassion regardless of this. Many people have issues of course with this and I often get rejected but in most cases I leave people confused.

When it comes to equality I always base it off of honesty first and find it to be the basis for fair conduct. After this I find the rest will naturally follow.

The notion of equal conduct, treatment and acceptance of people is actually a motivating ideal.


The massive issue is social differences whether it range from politics or religion. I am very neutral on the vast majority of these things including religious tolerance believe it or not. Without clear intent and expression there is no basis for any sort of equality.
I can easily sympathize with any party in any given matter. Without clear expression and cultivation of character there is no effort being made in order to promote equality. You cannot keep differences bottled up and lay them to rest. Dislikes are best made clear and understandable while also being void of emotional intolerance.

I honestly think this whole notion of "tolerance" has blinded western society in how to treat others. It is this notion of keeping the skeletons secret

 

[LuisDantas]

Do you have an idea of what attending Langar (or better yet, participating in making it) would feel to you? I would like to know.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Do you have an idea of what attending Langar (or better yet, participating in making it) would feel to you? I would like to know.

Tome it would feel like an old tribal practice. Ancient tribes all across the world were survivalist by nature. The idea of Langar from what I am reading is the exact same thing. It is the expression(not spreading) of wealth to promote survival and survival although being very innate and biological is linked with hope.
Langar to me feels like the practice of promoting peace through hope and character development.
Almost all societies use food to promote peace because peace is heavily linked to the notion to survival for some reason. I know it is weird but this is even a norm in numerous Chinese customs and philosophies. Food is peace

That is about all I can say

 

[LuisDantas]

I must say, Langar seems to be perceived in ways I did not expect it to.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I must say, Langar seems to be perceived in ways I did not expect it to.

I sort of thought of m opinions as typical to be honest. I am sort of brushed up on the specifics of a lot of cultures and this practice of Langar is just common in every culture. This is what is called Primitive Communism actually. It is the concept that the sharing of wealth was used by more primitive societies to promote peace and stability.
Langar is just a practice of this tradition which in my opinion is far from primitive and should be done to this very day.

 

[LuisDantas]

Oh, Langar as I understand it is supposed to be very much universal, in meaning if not in frequency of practice.

I would say that it is primitive, which is why no society should be at peace unless it has mastered it and feels at ease practicing it.

But to me it is above all a safety net and a purification system. It assures that people keep capable of seeing each other as people, of looking directly in each other's eyes, and of not feeding silly fantasies about being too good to share space with any other random person.

Those are IMO extremely necessary things to practice in any religion, or even in any healthy culture.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is a nice practice. But when people are asked to line up outside the Gurudwara and those who want more are reprimanded, then it looses its meaning. It is sharing and not giving. Sometimes I have seen the other to happen. Sri Guru Nanak would not have liked it.

 

[LuisDantas]

Not long ago I described the practice to a dear friend of mine with a very big heart.

Much to my surprise, she was shocked and put off by the perception of it as a practice for "needful people", which I guess is ultimately correct; we are all creatures of need, after all.

It is such a powerful practice that even the description of same can shake people that way!

 

[GURSIKH]

Much to my surprise, she was shocked and put off by the perception of it as a practice for "needful people", which I guess is ultimately correct; we are all creatures of need, after all.

:namaste