can someone tell the basics of the religion pals. Ive had a look on line and still a little confused about it. who is their god,what is it they believe in etc.
been on Viki
SAM i dint care about your religion. if i did i wouldn't be asking about Sikhism
Some guy was around in the time when Muslims and Hindus were always bickering. Instead of being on just one side he understood both sides and believed in them both. So to try and unite them he Create his own religion (Sikhism) which is a combination of the two.
5Th popular
they wear a turban, special underwear and carry a knife.
Sikhism (Pronunciation: /SikkimI'melp?info) or /?s?k?z?m/ ; Punjabi: ?????, sikkh?, IPA: [?s?k??i?] ), founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab, is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world.[1] This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root ?i?ya meaning "disciple" or "learner", or ?ik?a meaning "instruction".
The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in waheguru?represented using the sacred symbol of ik ?a?k?r, the Universal God. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God
The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. Nanak disapproved of many religious beliefs and practices of his time. The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living". Sikhism believes in equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and sex. Sikhism also does not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, God?termed V?higur??is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: ranker, aka, and alack. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"?signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term eke Ankara. Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and his hokum (will or order). When God willed, the entire cosmos was created. From these beginnings, God nurtured "enticement and attachment" to Maya, or the human perception of reality.
While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings, Nanak described God as not wholly unknowable. God is omnipresent (Sara VIPs) in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Nanak stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Guru Nanak Dev emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings. God has no sex in Sikhism, though translations may incorrectly present a male God. In addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which God has created life.
Worldwide, there are 25.8 million Sikhs and approximately 75% of Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they constitute about 60% of the state's population. Even though there are a large number of Sikhs in the world, certain countries have not recognised Sikhism as a major religion and Sikhism has no relation to Hinduism. Large communities of Sikhs live in the neighboring states, and large communities of Sikhs can be found across India. However, Sikhs only make up about 2% of the Indian population.
In addition to social divisions, there is a misperception that there are a number of Sikh sectarian groups[clarification needed], such as Namdharis and Nirankaris. Nihangs tend to have little difference in practice and are considered the army of Sikhism. There is also a sect known as Udasi, founded by Sri Chand who were initially part of Sikhism but later developed into a monastic order.
Sikh Migration beginning from the 19th century led to the creation of significant communities in Canada (predominantly in Brampton, along with Malton in Ontario and Surrey in British Columbia), East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom and more recently, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Western Europe. Smaller populations of Sikhs are found in Mauritius, Malaysia, Fiji, Nepal, China, Pakistan, Afganistan, Iraq and many other countries.
The practise and religion. Most of Punjabis in India, are Sikhs, and the most common surname is Singh which means lion. Male Sikhs never get their haircut, and they grow long mustache. They cover their head with black scarf. UK has the largest Sikh community in Europe. They are against Caste system which has been passed down from generations to generations, and it's based on the teachings of gurus.
Sikh communities also can be found in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia and Mauritius.
SIKHISM - is a great offshoot of Hinduism. Read this site http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Sikhism/... AND WNW.sikhnet.com
SIKHISM -
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.
sikhism what is it????????
