Lal Ded: The Saint Who Refused Sides

Lal Ded: The Saint Who Refused Sides

A spiritual reflection on Lalleshwari

History remembers those who chose sides.
Spirituality remembers those who refused them.

Lalleshwari, revered with affection as Lal Ded and Lal Arifa, lived in a land—and a time—where identities were hardening into boundaries. Faith was slowly becoming a badge, belief a dividing line. Yet she walked through this tightening world without picking a camp, a colour, or a cause. Not because she was indifferent—but because she had gone deeper than difference.

To refuse sides is not to be neutral. Neutrality is often fear dressed as balance. Lalleshwari’s refusal came from clarity. She had seen the source from which all sides arise—and once you stand at the source, arguments downstream lose their urgency.

She did not ask, “Which path is right?”
She asked, “Who is walking?”

In her presence, Hindu and Muslim did not dissolve as communities; they dissolved as conflicts. Her Vakhs did not preach harmony as an idea. They revealed unity as an experience. She spoke from a place where identity had already loosened its grip, where truth was no longer threatened by difference.

Lalleshwari understood something rare: sides exist only when the self is fragile. When identity needs protection, it seeks allies and enemies. But when awareness is steady, it does not need reinforcement. She did not defend her faith because she was rooted in her knowing.

This is why both Shaiva yogis and Sufi seekers recognised her as their own. Not because she blended traditions, but because she stood prior to them. She did not occupy the middle; she occupied the depth. From that depth, all paths looked like sincere attempts to remember the same forgotten centre.

Her refusal to take sides was deeply inconvenient. Societies prefer saints who endorse them. Power prefers spirituality that confirms its worldview. Lalleshwari offered neither endorsement nor opposition. She offered exposure. Her words quietly revealed how quickly devotion turns into division when ego enters the sacred.

She showed that spirituality does not begin by choosing the right belief—it begins by questioning the need to belong at all.

In today’s world, where outrage travels faster than understanding, her stance feels almost rebellious. Everyone is asked to declare a position. Silence is mistaken for apathy. Nuance is seen as weakness. Lalleshwari stands as a reminder that wisdom does not shout from barricades; it waits at the root.

Her life was not about unity as a slogan. It was about undivided living. Thought, word, and being were aligned. That alignment made sides irrelevant. When inner conflict ends, outer conflict loses fuel.

She did not reject religion. She rejected reduction. She refused to let the infinite be compressed into labels. In doing so, she protected the sacred from becoming a weapon.

Perhaps her greatest teaching is this:
You don’t heal division by choosing the “right” side.
You heal it by outgrowing the need to stand against another at all.

Lalleshwari did not stand between Hindu and Muslim.
She stood beneath both—like the earth—supporting all, arguing with none.

And that is why she still belongs to everyone.

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Practical Daily Toolkit: Living Without Sides

1. The Trigger Inquiry (Daily)
When you feel defensive, ask:
“What identity of mine feels threatened right now?”
Awareness dissolves reactivity.

2. Language Cleanse
For one day, avoid “us vs them” language—even mentally. Notice how often division is habitual, not factual.

3. One Shared Humanity Practice
Each day, consciously recognise one quality you share with someone very different from you.

4. Inner Alignment Check (Evening)
Ask:

• Where did I act from clarity?

• Where did I act from belonging?
  No judgement—only observation.

5. Weekly Rooted Silence (10–15 min)
Sit without affirming any identity—profession, belief, role. Just breathe as presence.