Sikhism is the most beastliest religion ever. they worship a book. its one of the religions in the Pakistan/india area, but its spread all over the world
Sikhism, symbolized by three swords and a circle, is the religion of over 17 million people. Most live in the Punjab. The Sikh Golden Temple, set in the midst of an artificial lake, is located in Amritsar, the Sikh holy city. Sikh men are easily recognized by their blue, white, or black turbans, the wearing of which is an essential part of their religious practice, as is their letting their hair grow long.
The Hindi word Sikh means ?disciple.? Sikhs are disciples of their founder, Guru Nanak, and followers of the teachings of the ten gurus (Nanak and nine successors) whose writings are in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. The religion got its start in the early 16Th century when Guru Nanak wanted to take the best of Hinduism and Islam and form a united religion.
Nanak?s mission can be stated in one sentence: ?As there is only one God, and He is our Father; therefore, we must all be brothers.? Like the Muslims, the Sikhs believe in one God and forbid the use of idols. (Psalm 115:4-9; Matthew 23:8,?9) They follow the Hindu tradition?of believing in an immortal soul, reincarnation, and Karma. The Sikh?place of worship is called a hardware.?Compare Psalm 103:12,?13; Acts 24:15.
One of Guru Nanak?s great commandments was: ?Always remember God, repeat His name.? God is spoken of as the ?True One,? but no name is given. (Psalm 83:16-18) Another commandment was ?Share what you earn with the less fortunate.? In line with this, there is a Lang, or free kitchen, in every Sikh temple, where people of all kinds may freely eat. There are even free rooms where travelers may spend the night.?James 2:14-17.
The last Guru, Gobind Singh (1666-1708), established a brotherhood of Sikhs called the Khalsa, who follow what are known as the five K?s, which are: mesh, uncut hair, symbolizing spirituality; Janka, a comb in the hair, symbolizing order and discipline; Koran, a sword, signifying dignity, courage, and self-sacrifice; kara, a steel bracelet, symbolizing unity with God; kachh, shorts as underwear, implying modesty and worn to symbolize moral restraint.?See The Encyclopedia of World Faiths, page 269.
There is enough material available on net to know about Sikhism. A very good website is WNW.sikhnet.com. Sikhism is important because:
It is modern means it does not conflict with science. It does not believe in any kind of superstition. It talks about universal brotherhood. It does not have any fairs or infidels. There is no Satan, hell or heaven. There is no fasting or any importance of rituals. It talks about service of mankind and sharing your wealth(worldly as well as spiritual). It does not categorize humans based on birth like caste system in India. Man and woman are equal and God does not have a gender. It talks about fighting against injustice. It brings peace to heart. It talks about music and its good use. It is only religion among major religions(fifth in number, Jews are sixth) where you get first hand information written by Sikh Gurus and Bhagats rather than written by someone else after several years of death of their prophets. It does not give any special importance to priests. It is also important because of wariness,SSikh Gurus made those people who were weak and downtrodden to fight with mighty rulers and high caste for their rights. They are only 2% of indian population but they have won awards for bravery which are tens of times of their population size. Another significant contribution to humanity are Sikh farmers. They provide food to whole of India. There are very popular in USA, Cananda, Italy, Australia and Newzealand and very respected because of hard work involved in it(not in India though where their movement to other states have been halted because of religious and caste hatred and also because of selfish intrests. States of Rajisthan and Himachal Pardesh have placed a bar on property purchases by outsiders and do not support Punjabi in schools inspite of the factor that Punjabies are largest community in these states whereas western countries provides grants to promote their language). Sikh taxi drivers are also very much trusted particularly in big cities of India like Mumbai and Delhi where people will wait in order to get a sikh as a taxi driver. Sikh engineers, doctors and nurses are also playing their part in making sikhism important.
Its a great religion -Read WNW.sikhnet.com . Its a good source but bear in mind that it is guided by recent political feelings of ill well against Hindus so some of the website is distorted.
WHAT I FEEL is that 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.
KHALSA
Was created about 200 years later by the 10th Guru in 1699 to give Sikhs a unique identity and some more wonderful beliefs. The Guru's first 5 Khalsas were called Panj Pyaras. However this wonderful concept of Khalsa has been reduced into a mockery by Khalsas themselves.
Because almost every 'Khalsa' breaks his religious laws. Of the 5 K?s the Kesh ( hair and beard, eyebrows, body hair ) is shorn by a massive ( maybe 99 %, yes 99 % ) majority of the young 'Khalsa', weather they are in the UK or the fields of Punjab . Even the 'Khalsa's who keep the hair will reject 3 other physical symbols. For convenience sake - without batting an eyelid. Ask a religious 'Khalsa', - if you take so much trouble over maintaining your hair at the right length, do you keep ?the Kacha? ( large undergarment / drawers ) or do you wear a Calvein Klein brand of underwear. Do you keep ?the Kanga? ( comb ) of the right length or only a miniature Kanga ? for convenience sake ? The ?Kara? is convenient so almost everyone ( including I ) wear it.
SIKH REHAT MARYADA - Closely connected to the concept of Khalsa is the Sikh Rehat Maryada - See how these archaic these rules have become.
Rule 1 - CUTTING HAIR: Cutting hair is strictly forbidden in Sikhism. Sikhs are required to keep unshorn hair.
Already answered
Rule 2 - INTOXICATION: Consumption of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and other intoxicants is not allowed. Intoxicants are strictly forbidden for a Sikh.
Answer - Sikhs are known to be the biggest drinkers in India - its literally a trademark stamp - Sikh and the bottle
Rule 3 - ADULTERY, HAVING PREMARITAL OR EXTRAMARITAL SEXUAL RELATIONS : In Sikhism, the spouses must be physically faithful to one another.
Answer - This depends on the Dick versus the brain - and most men are ruled by their *****. I have the occasional romp in the hay with my wife's friend who is also a Sikh - so i guess Sikh women too dont care a damn for the Sikh Rehat Maryada.
Rule 4 - BLIND SPIRITUALITY Superstitions and rituals should not be observed or followed, including pilgrimages, fasting and ritual purification; circumcision; idols, grave worship; compulsory wearing of the veil for women
Answer ? Partly true. A 5 ? 10 day trip ( depending on where you stay ) to Hem Kund Sahib is a pilgramage ? even if the hypocrytes choose to define this act differently. Sikhs throng Vaishnodevi. In the recent landslide in a Hindu Mandir in Himachal, there were photos of pilgrims and there were tons of Sikhs amongst them.
We treat the Guru Granth Sahib Ji like an idol by covering it every night, putting it to sleep with prayers, waking it up with prayers, even if the hypocryte
EDIT - BHAWAN - my answer deals the various practice and rituals followed by Sikhs like the caste system, fasting etc though we are not supposed to. Human beings will not conform to rules made 400 years back, however good they may be and ....................and therefore my point is that instead of spending your time on following, believing in a utopia of a true religion a person will be better developed by getting himself a real life in this real world.
But as far as the theory of Sikhism is concerned Steel Boy has given an excellent answer - worthy of the best answer. I just wish Steel Boy would junk his Khalistani fantasies
What is sikhism and why is it important?
