Free Langar, Blessing of the Sikh
S.S.Gurujodha Singh Khalsa
Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.
The History
The serving of a vegetarian meal prepared with love and the vibration of the Holy Nam is a Sikh tradition dating back to the time of Guru Nanak , the founder of the Sikh faith. At Kartapur, Guru Nanak established three important elements of the Sikh religion: seva, langar, and sangat.
Formulated in direct contravention of the Hindu caste system, the meal was prepared and served to everyone seated on the floor regardless of their caste or station in life. Brahmin and Untouchable sat shoulder to shoulder and received the Guru’s langar. This was and still is a revolutionary concept in social interaction.
This tradition has been continued by Sikhs in the United States in communities like Los Angeles, California. For example, in the late 1970’s at the Broadway Ashram, a Sikh Dharma - 3HO Community in South Central Los Angeles, a free langar program was begun which provided for the serving of a free weekly vegetarian meal to hundreds of hungry and homeless individuals in downtown Los Angeles. Three to four hundred men, women, and children were fed each week by this program.
In 1989, the program became a daily langar program. Food was prepared each day in West Los Angeles and served at Guru Ram Das Ashram. This program continues today serving a free vegetarian meal each day, in front of the Guru Ram Das Ashram on Preuss Road.
The Power
The power and effect of free langar is immediate and real. For those who have the privilege to prepare the meal there is the special vibration and experience of preparing the Guru’s Langar. Each person has the experience of chopping, stirring, cutting, blending, pouring, and cleaning up, all while chanting God’s Name. It is a profound and elevating experience.
For those who have the blessing to serve the langar and experience the intense sincere, heartfelt gratitude of hungry people, there really are no words to describe this experience. There is just the knowledge and revelation through the experience that the essence of all great religious teachings and spiritual philosophy is contained in the simple act of serving food to another human being who needs it.
The Lesson
Like any other aspect of spiritual life, preparing and serving the Guru’s Langar has an objective impact and a subjective lesson.
The lesson of langar is that human existence is a lot like being an onion with a great destiny. You can be skinned, sliced, and chopped and placed in boiling hot water to be cooked along with other ingredients and the Holy Nam to form a tasty food that will truly nourish and heal another human being. Or you can miss the pot (your destiny), fall on the floor, and get tossed in the garbage to go through the recycling process to become an onion once again.
The langar program is a simple, effective, low cost method of putting spiritual awareness into action. The joy and benefit for those who serve in this capacity is immediate, powerful, tangible, and everlasting.