Coming from Birmingham, in the West Midlands, Uk, i have some Hindu and Muslim friends, and also SIkh. I know about Hinduism and Islaam as both 'major religions', but never understood Sikhism, and i would love to. I'm from British descent, coming onto 18, and some may find this strange i suppose ha ha. But i love culture, so if there are any Sikhs who are reading this, i would love your help
Use your anger, young one. Let the hate flow through you. Let it consume you. Feel your rage flow through your fingertips. When you have done this, not even the Council of Jedi will be able to stop you.
Sikhism is over 500 yrs old. Sikhs believe in 1 god and follow the teachings of the 10 guru's and the Guru Granth Sahib Ji which contains holy scriptures . There has been Muslim and Hindu saints along with the Sikh Guru's who have contributed their scriptures...The founder of Sikhism is Guru Nanak Dev Ji.. Sikhs to go worship in a Gurdwara and every1 and any1 is welcome to a Gurdwara ...
The truth is that to understand Sikhism you don't have to understand Hinduism. Hinduism has originated from various rituals tribal customs and social life over the centuries. Hinduism has 1000?s of Gods and Goddesses and various diverse thoughts.
But , Sikhs don't believe in idol worship , 1000's of gods and goddesses and hence they are a distinct religion.
Not so predominant amongst Hindu thoughts is a way of life called "Hindutva" which Brahmans ( 2% of the Hindus ) follow, and this is generally mistaken as Hinduism, and the other thoughts are treated as offshoots of Hinduism. The real truth is that Hinduism means Sanatan Dharma AND all the other thoughts.
Sikhism is not one of these thoughts.
The British did not create political turmoil and hatred between Hindus and Sikhs .The idea of a separate identity in the mind of us Sikhs is since time of Guru Nanak.
I am a Hindu ; some of my misguided co-coreligionists will say that Hinduism is same as Sikhism but there is no truth in these claims . We are different in ways but there are 50 ? 100 major different thoughts within Hinduism and Sikhs are NOT one of them.
Do you understand ? Whereas fundamentalist Hindus say that Sikhs are 1 amongst 7 great world religions the fact is that there are actually many great religions. One - Christianity has various branches - Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Adventist, etc. Second ? Islam has various branches - Shia, Sunni, Ahmediya etc. There is Judaism , Hinduism ( which is a collection of various beautiful thoughts like vaishnavism , saivism , etc ) and finally Sikhism.
So Sikhism is neither born out of Hinduism nor is it a sect of hinduism . Guru Nanak neither born a hindu nor was he a hindu , he was a traveling holy man who followed a custom of Sant Mat ( or Saint Tradition ) quite popular amongst saints those days. It was a thought he inculcated in his believers and told them to learn it. His believers were called Sikhs as Sikh means ? ?to learn? We had 9 more Gurus.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion which started in Punjab around 500 years ago . It is one of the youngest organized religions of the world .
Sikhs have had 10 human gurus . Tenth human guru appointed Adi Granth as the 11Th and eternal guru of Sikhs .
To know more about Sikhs / Sikhism , kindly refer :
To understand Sikhism you have to understand Hinduism. Hinduism is not Christianity and Islam which are codified religions, and have a book and a prophet. Hinduism has originated from various rituals tribal customs and social life over the centuries. Hinduism has 1000?s of Gods and Goddesses and various diverse thoughts.
Predominant amongst these thoughts is a way of life called Sanatan Dharma which more than 60% of the Hindus follow, and this is generally mistaken as Hinduism, and the other thoughts are treated as offshoots of Hinduism. The real truth is that Hinduism means Sanatan Dharma AND all the other thoughts. Sikhism is but one of these thoughts.
Firstly, the British with their policy of divide and rule, and secondly, political turmoil and hatred between Hindus and Sikhs has put the idea of a separate identity in the mind of us Sikhs. Many of my co-coreligionists will say ? but we have different ideas as compared to Hinduism. Sure - I agree that we are different in ways but there are 50 ? 100 major different thoughts within Hinduism and we are BUT one of them.
Do you understand ? Whereas fundamentalist Sikhs we say that we are 1 amongst 7 great world religions the fact is that there are actually 4 great religions. One - Christianity has various branches - Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Adventist, etc. Second ? Islam has various branches - Shia, Sunni, Ahmediya etc. There is Judaism and finally Hinduism ( which is a collection of various beautiful thoughts like Buddhism, Sanatana Dharma, Sikhism, Jainism, Arya Samajists, Vaishnav, Shaivaites Manbhum, Santhal etc )
So Sikhism is born out of Hinduism. Guru Nanak was born a Hindu, he was a traveling holy man who followed a custom of Sant Mat ( or Saint Tradition ) quite popular amongst saints those days. It was a thought he inculcated in his believers and told them to learn it. His believers were called Sikhs as Sikh means ? ?to learn? We had 9 more Gurus. Yes Guru Nanak also took some minor feedback from Islam but that is the nature of Hinduism ? to absorb from everyone.
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
Sikhism : I Want To Be Taught!?
