In the Khalsa there is no secret. One asks: "So-and-so Singh Khalsa, on this day to this day have you lived as a Khalsa? Answer me in the presence of the Siri Guru Granth." And the same way, with the naked sword in his hand, he calls on his being, on his own self. And thus humanity gets the chance to elevate itself in consciousness. There is nothing to worry, my friends, there is no reason to wonder how many we are. When God chose Guru Gobind Singh there were many rishis and brahmins and swamis and god-men and gurus and Sat Gurus of that time who were all meditating in perfection. He could only select Rishi Dusht Dawan. And it is true that Guru Gobind Singh came from the Truth of the self, from the word of Sat Nam, His writing must be dedicatedly truthful, and he says that God persuaded him. "Upanay tudh tohey nivaja," - "I've ordained you as my son to do this job." And it is a very common thing we always say: "Hey, you being my son, you are supposed to do this." It is a very ordinary situation which can be seen. A son is supposed to live to the legend of the father, plus more. And thus Guru Gobind Singh was selected.

Now, according to all figures available today, in 34 years it will be the year 2011, and in those years these shall be 4.2 billion more human beings on this earth than we have today.The estimate is between 4 to 4.6 at least. That means by the year 2011 we will be 8.6 billion human beings on this earth. As we have multiplied in 4 million years, that amount we are going to double, come what may. They have taken into account all the self-precautions you use. We are now 4.2 billion people on this earth and we do not know how to handle ourselves. Our inter vibratory neuroses and psychic phenomenon has reached to a point of freaking out. Can you imagine when there will be 8.6 billion people? There will be psychiatric wards and hospitals and doctors and sociologists, and imagine what fashions a woman will create to attract the men? Have you ever thought, have you ever extended yourself into the thought wave length of what shall happen to us as human beings?

That is why Guru Gobind Singh gave us the humanity, as directed by God Himself, a very committed, very excellent discipline as a human, so that the man could experience his highest excellence. He gave us bana, bani, seva, simran; and over and above all he gave us undaunted fearlessness. That is why on the day of Baisakhi we are created from the two-edged sword. Our soul is freed that day. A person only sins and lies and does wrong things when he is afraid. But then, with vows of Khalsa, we become deathless.

Once I was asked, "What is the difference between a Sikh and a Khalsa?" And I answered, "Sikh is the seeker of the state of consciousness of deathlessness. Khalsa lives it." Today we have sat together to enjoy, to remember, and to remind ourselves. We are not going to be just a handful any more. We are going to be millions, billions and zillions of human beings. And we are going to practice the path of Guru Gobind Singh because this is our privilege, to be here and hereafter. He is not only our Guru, but he is also our father. He took away from us the orphanhood. We never can be orphans. He gave us not the promise of heaven, but he gave us the heavens. He never gave us the message of Son of God - he made us sons and daughters of God. We do millions of fashions and trillions of tricks to be known, to be recognized, and this is one of the human natures, human weaknesses. He accelerated us so that among the thousands and hundreds of thousands, we are unique, and shall continue to be unique, and shall never be in a position to hide ourselves. He took away from us any place of retreat and he set us on the path where we have to just experience everlasting life. "Jivan mukht hoey so jeeah." We are deathless. We have bowed ourselves before our Guru, before our God, and thus we have earned the right to call: Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!

[1] In his prior incarnation, Guru Gobind Singh was known as Rishi Dusht Dawan. Rishi Dusht Dawan spent his life in meditation in the mountains at a place known as Hemkunt. Guru Gobind Singh wrote about his previous incarnation, his merger with God, and God's direction that he take another human birth to fight tyranny and bring the Light of Dharma to the world.

[2] Guru Teg Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh's father, gave his life to defend the rights of people in India to practice their religion freely. He was beheaded at the orders of the Mughal Emporer Arangzeb.