Gobind Sadan
Gobind Sadan sangat has recently celebrated Passover of Jews and Good Friday and Easter of Christians with their usual loving appreciation of the holy days of all religions, by the blessings of Baba Virsa Singh Ji. On 19 April, the sangat gathered at Gobind Sadan’s “Sh’ma Place” to honour Passover and Good Friday, which both fell on the same day this year. Fourteen children from Gobind Sadan and surrounding areas read the Passover story in which Moses freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by God’s blessings. Charoset prasad was distributed in memory of the bricks that the slaves used to be forced to make. Hardip Singh welcomed the sangat and told that Gobind Sadan celebrates all holy days according to Maharaj ji’s hukam. Geeta Singh noted that the same day was also Hanuman Jayanti, and related some stories about Hanuman JI. Mary Fisher explained that “Good” Friday refers to the holy day on which Jesus was crucified, but that the truly “good” day happened on Easter Sunday, when he rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples.
Easter was celebrated at Jesus’ Place on 21 April. Three girls from Gobind Sadan read the story of Easter from the Hindi Bible, and Russian sevadars sang two uplifting songs for the occasion. Gurdev Singh explained that just as Jesus re-appeared to his disciples in physical form after his death, Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Guru of Sikhs, had done the same. One of the people to whom he appeared was a saint who was still living at a very advanced age when Bhupinder Singh, now manager of Gobind Sadan’s farm in Pilibhit, UP, sat in his lap as a child and received great blessings from him.