This paper is about the psychology of a productive and spiritually
inclined Khalsa who is realistic, rational, lucid, coherent, integrated,
goaloriented, pertinent, articulate, independent, persistent and altruistic.
He / she has a high degree of self-control and a highly developed sense
of values and faith in Satguru and His Huksm.
The productive Khalsa is unique, both in himself and in the
contributions he makes to society. He excels in academic / professional
achievements, spiritual creativity, and Icadership qualities.
A productive-spiritual individual has a sense of identity. He
knows who he is and where he is going. He is confident in his unique
role, and feels comfortable with himself and what he is doing. He / she
has a clear sense of gender identity and social responsibility. The
contributions of productivespiritual Khalsas are motivated by a
mature sense of social awareness, empathy, and altruism for humanity
in general. The Khalsas express these qualities in spontaneous
sensitivity, friendliness and interpersonal skills because of
the productive-spiritual person's concern for others. Khalsa
suffers dissonances due to his inability to resolve the large
social problems of inequality, suffering and injustice. He
is troubled by the discrepancy between 'what is' and 'what
ought to be' ! He does not feel guilty, but has an empathic
concern about humanity as a whole.
A productive-spiritual Khalsa grapples with the problems of
life rather than retreating from them. Through hope, he
extends himself into the future. His freedom to observe
the environment sharpens his cognitive skills, intellectual
curiosity and helps him appraise various courses of action.
A productive-spiritual Khalsa learns to master his
life situation before becoming effective for others. His
involvement is not an escape from life. He brings strength
and courage, sound physical health and high self-esteem in
any field of endeavour. It produces in him a solid sense
of identity, social competence, maturity, empathy and
excellent coping skills.
An evolved spiritually productive Khalsa moves from
egoism to altruism, and eventually his slogan becomes
bive for others'. From egoism through applying norms of
'reciprocity' (help those that help you)
he comes to true altruism.
It has been emphatically shown that empathy is a
powerful mediator of altruistic hehaviour. It is
intrinsically motivated and produces reciprocity to self.
A productive-altruistic Khalsa, because of the evolution
of his Big Wisdom, overcomes the little wisdom of the
ego, and performs productive acts, which benefit society.
The self of a productive person develops through
stages and reaches a stage ot propriety. Through appropriate
striving, he gains functional autonomy through which he seeks
new challenging goals, extends his self with zest, enthusiasm,
insight and humour He develops a unified philosophy of life
and uses it in directing his life harmoniously.
A productive-spiritual Khalsa develops compulsions for
self-actualisation and self-transcendence. He avoids
meta-pathologies of boredom, cynicism, and lack ot inspiration.
He gets committed to his meta-needs, and is willing to undergo
all folms of deprivations for realising them.
A productive-spiritual Khalsa through his 'self-actualising
creativeness' experiences lite fully, vividly and selflessly with
full concentration and absorption. These selt:actualisers stay
realistic, problem-centred, and generally accepting themselves
and others. They are also spontaneous, independent, creatively
identified with humankind. Most of them report having had
mystical or ego-transcending peak experiences.
Peak experiences of a productive Khalsa are episodic,
powerful transcendental states of cosmic consciousness. In
this state, the person experiences a sense of heightened
noematical clarity, intense euphoria, appreciation of the
holistic initiative, integrative nature of the universe and
one's unity with it. He may develop an altered perception of
space and time because 'his doors of perception have been
cleansed'. These mystic states produce long-lasting beneficial
effects on the personality functioning of a productive person.
These states produce in him treedom from fear and making him
almost truly God-like, recognising and identifying with a
wholly unified world in which oppressors have to be challenged.
In other words, he becomes a Khalsa.
The productive self-actualising Khalsa starts believing
in 'Perennial Philosophy' (Khalsa-centric) and attempts to
become trans-personal, transhuman, centred in the cosmos
rather than human needs and interests.
Writing for his book, A Sense of Cosmos, Needleman, a
famous North American philosopher, feels that a productive-spiritual
person not only has a strong ego Capable of living with and
adapting to the existential realities, but trans-personally
transcends through the expansion of spiritual awareness and
identity.
Sustained states of this expanded awareness and identity have been
well documented in Sikhism and by some Western psychologists
such as R.M. Buck, Maslow, Jung and Wcbcr. A considerable body
of psychological and sociological evidence suggests that those
who have cosmic conscious experiences (R.M. Buck), peak
experiences (Maslow), numinous experiences (Jung), or satories
(Suzuki), tend to be more healthy and productive than those
who do not.
Trans-personal psychology dealing with productive-spiritual
personality feels that Khalsa can operate at linear as well
as altered states of consciousness. In an evolved person (Gurmukh),
the self appears to die. Once he gets rid of the ego, a
feeling of solemnity-exaltation and well-being is developed.
A deeply felt positive state of mind is his prize possession.
His ignorance disappears because he stops identifying with
maya or illusions ! He becomes a practising mystic using wise
passiveness and transcendental experience as methods of
breaking his ego chains. Sitting in a quiet environment
with passive attitude, he learns to dwell on Waheguru by
repeating Naam. Because he has reduced his extroceptive
stimulating motor activity and has decreased alertness of
critical faculties, he moves to altered states of consciousness
A productive Khalsa gains awareness that his outer
life is a mere reflection of his inner conditions. The Khalsa
may have to learn to turn off the brilliance of the day, so
that ever-present sources of Khalsa-centric energy within him
become visible. Then the productive Khalsa comes to his senses
by losing his linear ego mind. He becomes a Gurmukh who has
reached the mystic Sufi stage of Fanah. Hc becomes Khalsa in
which the Guru lives (Niwas).
Shouldst Thou enter my courtyard, the whole earth An aspect
of beauty shall wear.
Separated from the Spouse that I am, None now cares for me.
All objects are embellished with beauty, As the Lord-spouse
in my courtyard has settled. From such a house no wayfarer
empty-handed returns.
For the Spouse have I spread my couch, And fully decked
myself, Even such a gap from Him I bear not, As wearing
a necklace would bring.
—Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1095
Written by SS Sodhi.
From the book "Abstracts of Sikh Studies"
Published by Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh 1998
