Sharing Joy and Sorrow
Community means being present in both celebrations and difficulties of fellow beings.
Vand Chakna includes emotional support. Sikhs are expected to share in the joys of weddings and births, as well as the sorrows of death and hardship, as one spiritual family.
Pain and pleasure are Your blessings, Lord. Both are given by Your grace.
Emotional sharing strengthens community bonds.
Guru Granth Sahib
Written about in
- What Sikhism says about compassion
Being at the wedding and at the funeral. Presence in grief is counted alongside the sharing of food and money.
- What Sikhism says about hope
Vand Chakna extends past food to presence — Sikhs are expected at the weddings and at the funerals, as one family. The verse quoted here goes further than comfort: pain and pleasure are both called blessings, which is a harder claim than most mourners will accept.