Submitted by: Hari Kaur

A common trend in our youth today is the continual gossiping, judging, and delineating of others. Although it is true that even adults and parents in our community partake in this judging, it has become a plague that all of us are engrossed in. Are you pretending that you have no involvement in this poison? To further clarify, “well, my friend’s friend actually saw Baljinderpreet Singh at the mall with his white girlfriend. What a disgrace!” or “Harsharanpreet Kaur? She’s so full of ego, you can see it all over her face” or “Dilbaghjit Singh? He seems so lustful…”, or “Parjit Kaur? She probably does not even wake up at Amrit Vela.” or “Manmandar Singh? He wears such fancy clothing to the Gurdwara, there is no way he can be religious!” or “That Lumpreet girl? Well, she cuts her hair. Obviously she has no love for her religion” and the list of judgment goes on. Who are we fooling? Do we really think that just because we wear long Bana or Shining Kirpans, we have the right to look into the eyes and faces of other people and assume that they have evil intentions?

Have we become so egotistical that we believe our opinions of others are always right? Are we that blinded by our ego that when a single person hurts us or refrains from respecting us - we begin to make judgments of them? Khalsa ji, we must stop judging others, just because they have hurt us, or because we want to make ourselves feel better. Unless you, yourself, would like to be judged, how dare you judge others?

We ruin the reputations of others, because of our own insecurities and gossiping. Our gossiping is doing nothing more than harming our own souls. Judging others occurs through false ego and only worldly individuals judge others. When one wears the garbs of a Saint but looks down upon other children of God, what example are they living? None other than jealousy, corruption, falsehood, and selfishness. Why waste our time and precious breaths by ruining the reputations of others, simply because we are unable to see God in all?

Look into yourself before you put others down. Recognize your own faults before you search for them in others. Before hurting other souls and discouraging people from the path of Truth by making them feel horrible, look into yourself and ask: why am I even looking at another person to think of and look for faults? Why do I not look into my own sins? How can we judge our fellow brothers’ and sisters’ intentions, without living in their shoes?

O Nanak, if someone judges himself,
only then is he known as a real judge.
If someone understands both the disease and the medicine,
only then is he a wise physician.
Do not involve yourself in idle business on the way;
remember that you are only a guest here.
Speak with those who know the God,
and renounce your evil ways (Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, Ang 148).