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Good morning. How far would you go to stay true to your values? Would you be willing to give your life for what you believe in? Those are the questions that Sikhs will be asking themselves today as they mark the festival of Vaisakhi. When he became the 10th Guru, the young boy Gobind Rai had a dilemma. His father, the 9th Guru, had been executed on the streets of Delhi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor. The Sikh community was at risk of severe persecution, perhaps even genocide, and the Guru knew he needed to instil his disciples with the strength to cope with the difficult times ahead. Each year, Sikhs would travel from far and wide to gather before their Guru on the day of the harvest festival of Vaisakhi. In 1699, the now-adult Guru Gobind Rai summoned his Sikhs to come for what he promised would be a very special Vaisakhi. From his tent pitched in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Guru stepped out on the crisp morning with a sword in his hand and an incredibly shocking request. He wanted a Sikh to offer their head to him. The leader of the faith was asking his disciples to give the one thing that was probably most precious to them. Their own lives. After some trepidation, someone did step forward. He went with the Guru into the tent, and the sound of a swooshing sword was heard by the gathered crowds. The Guru re-appeared and asked for another head. One by one, four more people followed the Guru into his tent. The crowd was stunned. Some ran away, whilst others tried to find the Guru’s family to see if they could stop him. Then, all of a sudden, the five men emerged hand in hand with the Guru, dressed in saffron orange clothes and reborn as the Panj Piare or Five Beloved Ones. They were the first initiates into the order of the Khalsa, the Pure, and it became the inner core of the faith. Men took on the name Singh, and women Kaur. The Guru himself was initiated into the Khalsa by the Five Beloved Ones and became Gobind Singh. This deeply provocative test may seem beyond the pale viewed through a modern lens, but for Sikhs, it speaks of the tangible threat to the identity of the faith. The Khalsa was created to be brave and courageous in the face of adversity, challenge oppression in society, and serve others selflessly, no matter the personal cost. I can see similar sacrifices being made by Ukrainian soldiers as they protect their nation against the continuing Russian onslaught. Most of us will never have to make the ultimate sacrifice for our principles, but the values of the Five Beloved Ones have come to define the Sikh faith. By stoically putting others before oneself.