Witnesses of Mercy for Peace and Reconciliation

14 “Mercy is the most important attribute of God” Bibi Kiranjot Kaur ood afternoon. I would like to thank Pope Francis for this initiative of convening an interreligious dialogue on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy, because mercy is one quality that we don’t really reflect upon. So, this is an opportunity for us to go back into our tradition and reflect on what it really means to us. Sometimes it happens that communities have projected a certain image which they then live up to. If that image is of a martial commu- nity it’s not easy to think about values such as mercy and forgiveness if the alternative belief is more mainstream.  When I was reading my daily prayers it suddenly struck me that, in Hindu mythology, there’s a story that the world is held on the horn of a bull and, when the bull gets tired, it moves the earth from one horn to the other, creating an earthquake. The Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, reinterpreted the story and he said: “It is not the bull which is holding the world, it is dharma . Dharma means discipline, the basic principles of the cosmos, and this dharma is the son of mercy, which in Punjabi we call Daya . Dharma also means religion. So, religion emerges out of mercy. Mercy is a very visible characteristic of a religious person. It gives birth to both love and selfless service. In the Sikh com- munity, it’s very important to offer selfless service that reaches out to others, irrespective of their ethnicity or religion, and recognises a human being as a human being. Mercy is also closely related to forgiveness. It is not a symbol of weakness, but the quality of the brave. The Sikh religion is a way of life that is lived every day. One can learn to have mercy and compassion when living in a soci- ety, when living among other people, learning to live in harmony with others and increasing mutual understand- ing. Unlike some other eastern traditions, Sikhs acquire their spirituality while living in a family. The most quoted example is of the lotus, a beautiful flower that blooms in muddy waters, unblemished by its dirty roots. Learning to love creation helps the acquisition of spiritual love. Mercy is the most important attribute of God and the most important quality for humans to acquire. Without mercy, a person can become a cruel tyrant. Mercy does not arise from so-called peace or non-violence in certain circumstances, for instance, the use of brute strength to contain a cruel tyrant could also be a face of mercy. Sometimes toppling one tyrant could spell relief for hundreds of thousands of people. This morning Bhai Mohinder Singh presented a Sikh kirpan to Pope Francis. In ordinary language, a kirpan would be understood to be a sword, but this is not a good transla- tion because it is a weapon of mercy. It is never, ever to be used in offence; it is to be used only in acts of mercy. Our scripture motivates us to have mercy on living beings. The Sikh belief is that of Jeean ka jee ahaar , which means that living beings eat other living beings in order to survive. If a lion shows mercy to the animals she hunts, she will die of hunger. The laws of nature to survive do not comprise mercy. G THE FOUNDAT IONS OF MERCY