"The past can teach us many things." I.J. Singh has provided a sympathetic explanation (Letters: 'Maybe He Didn't Know Better', Jan 12) for Dalip Singh (Saund)'s religious attitudes when viewed with today's prism. We should, however, not rush to congratulate ourselves on the basis of already having "developed a clearer sense of Sikhi and the uniqueness of its message."

We may have veered back from of an unnecessary excursion towards Hindu practices, but that does not necessarily mean we have made great strides back towards Sikhi as is transmitted to us in the Guru Granth Sahib.

We are still smitten with the adulation of form over content. This includes the veneration of the physical Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji over the Word itself. The misplaced priority of the gold-leaf dome covering at the Harimandir Sahib overtaking the importance of cleanliness at the site. The ritual of building and attending Gurdwaras without paying attention to the precepts of our religion. It includes the judgment of other Sikhs based on appearance, social position, wealth etc. rather than on the less immediately obvious characteristics of honesty, kindness, and courage.

There are many who want to make our religion an exclusive club. There are many who seem to have to justify their outward appearance - either having, or not having, particular forms. This is an unnecessary distraction from our real goal. Each Sikh has to decide for themselves the issue of outward form. To arrogantly insist, that one is better than the other, misses the whole point of God's creation. It is also directly contrary to the principle ofess to all, the acceptance of all beings, insisted upon by the Gurus, time and again.

If God is within everyone, who are we fallible mortals to restrict entry to our faith? We should concentrate on attracting rather than restricting co-religionists. No, we have not come a long way. There is much work to be done, most of it inner work. We can hand out the kudos when we at last live up to the ideals formulated 500 years ago.

We have to appreciate and return to thefundamentals of Sikhi - not as exhorted by people who have vested interests in one form or another, but from the original source itself. We can consider ourselves fortunate to have the oracle still available. Let's begin to live up to the message instead of mindlessly adorning the book and other physical illusions.

Anont Singh