Sikhism is like Hinduism but they have a distinct feature of a non-pantomimicICConcept of god, to the extent that they can inter pet god as the universe itself
for more info look at this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism
The word Sikh means disciple or student (from Sanskrit sis ya, Pali Sikh). Sikhism is traced to the person and ideology of Guru Nanak, who was born in the Punjab in 1469. The religion developed through Nanak?s nine successor Gurus within the historical and geographical parameters of Hinduism and Islam. In the early twenty-first century there are twenty million Sikhs. The vast majority lives in the fertile plains of the Punjab, with agriculture as a major occupation. But with their spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship skills, many have migrated to other parts of India and around the globe. Sikhs follow the teachings of their ten Gurus?from Nanak to Gobind Singh. They believe in the oneness of reality. They revere their sacred text, the Guru Granth. They conduct public worship in a hardware, with the Guru Granth as the center of all their rites and ceremonies. Both Sikh men and women keep their hair unshorn and identify themselves in the code given by their tenth Guru.
The Sikh religion believes in One God, his name is truth, hes the creator, without fear, without hate, timeless, Unborn / Not-incarnated, self existent. Sikhs believe in Karma, what we sow we reap, in order to wash our past sins, we have to mediate on gods name and live under the Gurus will. The "Sikh" means learn, and a Sikhs goal in life is to connect with the One god and gain salvation. And get rid of the 5 evils - Anger, Lust, Greed, Wordily Attachment, Ego. Once a Sikh conquerors these 5 evils, the name of the lord meditated upon takes place, and one realizes the one God. God is everywhere, in all, through out the universe. We don't believe any religion is false, Sikhs respect every religion and believe there are different paths in connecting with god. But one has to be true to his religion and practice it with a pure heart and intentions. Sikhs don't believe in idol worship, caste system, we believe the human race is one because we all have the same light with in us. The Sikhs only bow down to the 10 Gurus and the last eternal Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru Granth Sahib is 1430 pages long which are composed by the Sikh Gurus. Hymns of 15 Bhagats are also contained in the Guru Granth Sahib, who were from the Hindu/Islam background. These hymns could only be added in the Guru Granth Sahib with the Sikh Prophets approval. So yes, with the Guru Granth Sahib do contain some teaching of Hindu/Islam but only the teaching the Gurus approved off. The Tenth Guru of the Sikhs Gobind Singh created the Khalsa (Pure Ones) around 300 hundred years, which gave Sikhs their own entity. One has to be baptized to join the Khalsa and wear 5 articles of faith. There Gurus were beyond any human beings, they were one with god, anything that was spoken by them, was in fact spoken by god himself. Sikhism is the youngest religion and has a very deep history to it. This is only an brief outline in what they believe in. Hope this helps thanks!
Sikh religion is based on teachings of Guru Granth Guru Nanak who founded Sikhism was very respected by all sections of society. At that time Hindostan (modern India, Pakistan, Bengla Desh, Burma and Sri Lanka) had four prominent religions namely Hindus, Muslims, Jainism and Yogis called Sidhas (A mixture of Hinduism and Buddhism). Buddhism had disappeared from India but Lamas were present in Tibet. All these religions were corrupted. People were being robbed on the name of religion. He was borne in a small village in Punjab and started his mission around 1500. He had four long missionary journeys during which he travel led about 70000 mks. He went to religious places of Hindus, Buddhist, Muslims, yogis and Jains and taught people the true religion. He even converted thugs, cannibals, witches etc. condemned caste system and untouchable in society. He preached equality of man and woman. He boldly said that in God's eyes no one is Hindu or Muslim. He looks at deeds. Nine more human Gurus followed him. People who followed him were later on called Sikhs (Disciples) There after Guru Granth Sikh scriptures was declared Guru of the Sikhs. Five basics tenets of Sikhism are:
Name of Lord
Truth
Contentment
Contemplate
Humbleness
Charity is an integral part of Sikh religion. Every Sikh Gurduara (place of worship) has a facility of Langar in which free food is provided to every visitor. This was started by Guru Nanak to bring equality, remove untouchability, educate people and feed the hungry. The practice is still continuing. The Sikhs are encouraged to participate in charity work including charity work done by other religions. Sikhs are also encouraged for blood donations. In fact they are the world record holders in blood donations done in a single day. Sikhs are forbidden to take any intoxicants. They are very strict in case of tobacco.
Guru Granth is the holy book of Sikhs. It contains versions of Sikh Gurus, Hindu and Muslim saints and even rebels of these faiths and people who were considered untouchables. All these saints, Gurus had realised God in their life. It is poetry and can be sung. To understand fully we need to pay attention to Rahao or pause, which contains the gist of shabad or song. In versions where there is no pause gist normally is in last lines. Gurus/bhagats talked with the Hindus and Muslims and used their vocabulary in order to teach them. Guru Granth is full of love and logic. More you dig into it, more you will love God. It does not matter what path you choose. It also comes heavily on fake rituals like practicing celibacy, begging, creating Parallel gods, believing in fasts, pilgrimage. Sikhism does not believe in imposing anything but accepts Sehaj, which means everything should come as a result of love.
Read a song of Guru Nanak on woman by clicking
http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=KeertanPage&K=473&L=8&id=21 410
To know more:
www.sikhnet.com
www.sikhiwiki.org
To read translations of Sikh scriptures in English:
www.srigranth.org
others:
www.sikhs.org
www.sikh-philosophy.net
what is Sikhism? and what do they believe?
thanks!
