Sikhism?

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I really don’t know hardly anything about Sikhs. I did learn from this thread that they are monotheistic. I already knew that they wore turbans and carried daggers but that was about the extent of my knowledge.
 
Holly3278 said:
I really don’t know hardly anything about Sikhs. I did learn from this thread that they are monotheistic. I already knew that they wore turbans and carried daggers but that was about the extent of my knowledge.
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Yeah, the turbans and daggers are part of the Five Ks, which are worn by all faithful Sikhs. They consist of a small metal bracelet (kara), uncut hair (kesh), the dagger (kirpan), kanga (comb) and kachha (undergarment). All of these have special religious significance. The kara has no end or beginning, representing the essence of God and also a reminder to not do sin and as a reminder of Sikh unity, the comb and uncut hair are because of the signifiance of hair as a symbol of strength and also non-concern for purely worldly matters, the underwear is a symbol of chastity, whilst the kirpan is a reminder of a Sikh being a warrior-saint. All of these have other significances too, but these are the main ones.
 
I learned from a friend I just met from Chandigarh that Sikhism originated 400 years ago. Interesting…for some reason I thought they were a type of Hindus. Something new we learn everyday 😃

MJ
 
TheAtheist said:
At least in America and Canada, the general population can’t even pick them out from followers of Islam - hence the occasional outbreaks of violence perpetrated on Sikh communities since 9/11.
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Yes, how exactly does one manage to confuse South-Asian Sikhs with West-Asian Muslims?
 
RyanBlack said:
Well, it is a monotheistic religion. Polytheism is not one of the features Sikhs have taken from Hinduism.
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Firstly, Sikhs have taken much more from Hinduism than they have taken from Islam. Things such as ceremonies and styles of prayer are all very close to Hindium (and remember that within Hinduism itself there is quite a broad range of approaches so you could even consider Sikhism within that fold - I know a Hindu who says that both Buddhism and Sikhism are really just forms of Hinduism, a bit like Southern Baptists and Russian Orthodox, as different as they may seem at first, are just branches of Christianity)

Monotheism is a term that really only has a meaning within the scope of Christinaity/Islam/Judaism. It doesn’t really measure against Hindusim as you’ll find that it’s just twisting words. The Hindus I know claim Hinduism is monotheistic, with the concept of polytheism being really attributable to poor translation, and many of the lesser deities effectively being more angels than gods.
 
Mystophilus said:
Yes, how exactly does one manage to confuse South-Asian Sikhs with West-Asian Muslims?
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People see the turban and assume Muslim. I have to admit that before the shooting at the Sikh temple I had never heard of them before.
 
Cirdan_XII said:
Firstly, Sikhs have taken much more from Hinduism than they have taken from Islam. Things such as ceremonies and styles of prayer are all very close to Hindium (and remember that within Hinduism itself there is quite a broad range of approaches so you could even consider Sikhism within that fold - I know a Hindu who says that both Buddhism and Sikhism are really just forms of Hinduism, a bit like Southern Baptists and Russian Orthodox, as different as they may seem at first, are just branches of Christianity)

Monotheism is a term that really only has a meaning within the scope of Christinaity/Islam/Judaism. It doesn’t really measure against Hindusim as you’ll find that it’s just twisting words. The Hindus I know claim Hinduism is monotheistic, with the concept of polytheism being really attributable to poor translation, and many of the lesser deities effectively being more angels than gods.
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Well, I suppose some would consider Sikhism to be a branch of Hinduism, but I certainly don’t think you’ll find more than a very, very tiny number of Sikhs (if any) who would agree with that. As foir Hinduism being monotheistic, I’m aware of the logic behind that. Those who claim that Hinduism is monotheistic would say that all of the millions of different gods are just different manifestations of the one universal brahman. However, it is not necessary to use that sort of logic to classify Sikhism as monotheistic (at least not as far as I’m aware). Sikhism doesn’t have multiple gods of multiple manifestations of the one universal brahman.
 
RyanBlack said:
Well, I suppose some would consider Sikhism to be a branch of Hinduism, but I certainly don’t think you’ll find more than a very, very tiny number of Sikhs (if any) who would agree with that. As foir Hinduism being monotheistic, I’m aware of the logic behind that. Those who claim that Hinduism is monotheistic would say that all of the millions of different gods are just different manifestations of the one universal brahman. However, it is not necessary to use that sort of logic to classify Sikhism as monotheistic (at least not as far as I’m aware). Sikhism doesn’t have multiple gods of multiple manifestations of the one universal brahman.
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Slightly off topic, but the term for Hinduism I remember from history class is “monistic” instead of monotheistic or polytheistic
 
RyanBlack said:
Well, I suppose some would consider Sikhism to be a branch of Hinduism, but I certainly don’t think you’ll find more than a very, very tiny number of Sikhs (if any) who would agree with that. As foir Hinduism being monotheistic, I’m aware of the logic behind that. Those who claim that Hinduism is monotheistic would say that all of the millions of different gods are just different manifestations of the one universal brahman. However, it is not necessary to use that sort of logic to classify Sikhism as monotheistic (at least not as far as I’m aware). Sikhism doesn’t have multiple gods of multiple manifestations of the one universal brahman.
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It only requires a look at the opening pages of the Gri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, which has as its opening verse the Iik Onkar (the symbol in my avatar is the special written form of this) which means ‘One Creator God’.

Sikhism has always sought to distance itself from Hinduism, particularly in recent times, and also Islam, along with what it terms ‘blind traditions’. Sikhs believe that religion should be about faith alone, and not rituals and practices simply done for their own or some ancestral sake.
 
Razanir said:
Slightly off topic, but the term for Hinduism I remember from history class is “monistic” instead of monotheistic or polytheistic
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Not that I’m an expert, but from my study of Hinduism, I agree with labeling it as “monistic.” However, on the surface, it certainly appears to be polytheistic.
 
Mystophilus said:
Yes, how exactly does one manage to confuse South-Asian Sikhs with West-Asian Muslims?
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Skin tone and turbans. It reminds Americans of the Arabian Nights and flying carpets. And anything Arab most Americans regard as Muslim.

An interesting note is that most Arab-Americans are Eastern Rite Catholics and not Muslim. But that’s because most Arab-Americans are Lebanese.

Some of the cultural elements to Sikhism seems pretty cool to me. Like the long hair, gold, and swords. But then East Indians in general love to wear gold.
 
Kouyate42 said:
It only requires a look at the opening pages of the Gri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, which has as its opening verse the Iik Onkar (the symbol in my avatar is the special written form of this) which means ‘One Creator God’.

Sikhism has always sought to distance itself from Hinduism, particularly in recent times, and also Islam, along with what it terms ‘blind traditions’. Sikhs believe that religion should be about faith alone, and not rituals and practices simply done for their own or some ancestral sake.
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Then why do they have them and why even the existence of Sikhism?

I mean… why not just believe in God and leave it at that. No need for swords, long hair, temples, or a special identity.

Personally, I like traditions. There is something particularly human about them and they are often the glues that bond communities or even nations.

The secular and atheist world loves them too, and that’s why they embraced the non-Christian Santa Claus in the secularized version of the Catholic feast day of Christmas. Hey, I like the big fat guy Santa too. I don’t care if reindeer and evils decorations in stores on snowy days are “blind traditions.” Makes for a “merry” time.
 
There’s been a few posts about the turban. I am not sure how one would classify a male sikh who didn’t wear a turban. A former colleague of mine is a sikh. He wears a turban and he does not cut his hair or beard. However, his father and brothers are all sikhs but they cut their hair, do not wear a beard, and do not wear turbans.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
There’s been a few posts about the turban. I am not sure how one would classify a male sikh who didn’t wear a turban. A former colleague of mine is a sikh. He wears a turban and he does not cut his hair or beard. However, his father and brothers are all sikhs but they cut their hair, do not wear a beard, and do not wear turbans.
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I think, again, that this is a problem of trying to look at foreign religions and to translate the words by replacing them with things we know.

In Indian culture, religion doesn’t fully have the same meaning as it does to us. You can easily find people who celebrate with the Hindus when its a Hindu feast day, celebrate with the Sikhs on a Sikh feast day and come to Midnight Mass in a Catholic church for Christmas - and sincerely praying to the relevant deities in all three instances. I once attended a Hindu wedding and when the priest was blessing the people, also many of the Sikhs and Muslims who were present went forwards.

So if such a person says he is a Sikh, it doesn’t necessarily means he obeys exclusively, the Sikh rules and prayer forms or believes only what the Sikh scriptures and teachings tell him. To many, being a Sikh is more about coming from a Sikh family and being at home in Sikh culture. So that’s not really about the religion but more about culture and association and to some extent bloodlines. So it’s a bit like being an Irish American for example and loosely cliaming that’s more or less the same as being Catholic.
 
That’s what he told me, but since Hinduism is not a Monotheistic religion, I would not classify Sikhism as being a monotheistic religion, even though it might have evolved as one.
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I would consider Sikhism to be monistic rather than monotheistic. Sikhism’s conception of the divine isn’t the same as the Christian conception of God.
 
TheAtheist said:
At least in America and Canada, the general population can’t even pick them out from followers of Islam - hence the occasional outbreaks of violence perpetrated on Sikh communities since 9/11…
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I lived a 1/2 mile (Mesa, AZ) from where Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered by a racist looney-tunes less than a week after 9/11. Mr. Sodhi was a charming, generous man to fault–because his convience market was the only store in walking distance he was my and my neighbors storekeeper. Once when my electrical power went out, Mr. Sodhi let me use his cell phone to call the Salt River Project. He was known for giving candy to neighborhood kids who couldnt afford it.

“Eternal rest grant him Lord
And perpetual light shine upon him
And may he, and all the faithfull departed, rest in peace”
 
Cirdan_XII said:
I think, again, that this is a problem of trying to look at foreign religions and to translate the words by replacing them with things we know.

In Indian culture, religion doesn’t fully have the same meaning as it does to us. You can easily find people who celebrate with the Hindus when its a Hindu feast day, celebrate with the Sikhs on a Sikh feast day and come to Midnight Mass in a Catholic church for Christmas - and sincerely praying to the relevant deities in all three instances. I once attended a Hindu wedding and when the priest was blessing the people, also many of the Sikhs and Muslims who were present went forwards.

So if such a person says he is a Sikh, it doesn’t necessarily means he obeys exclusively, the Sikh rules and prayer forms or believes only what the Sikh scriptures and teachings tell him. To many, being a Sikh is more about coming from a Sikh family and being at home in Sikh culture. So that’s not really about the religion but more about culture and association and to some extent bloodlines. So it’s a bit like being an Irish American for example and loosely cliaming that’s more or less the same as being Catholic.
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Those who wear the turban, bracelet, kirpan, etc have taken the “Khalsa” oath of devotion and practice–more like being a member of Opus Dei or the Third Order of Franciscans is to a lay Catholic
 
Hello friends ,

I am a Sikh from Amritsar (The City of Golden Temple ) .I am very pleased know through this thread that majority of members here have positive views about Sikhism .

“Sikh” means a “Student” of Guru (Teacher) .Guru Nanak dev ji(Birth 1469) was founder of Sikhi .Guru Nanak dev ji was followed by Nine Gurus in sucession .Fifth Guru Compiled the teachings (Bani) of Previous Gurus into a Book known as “Adi Granth” .
Tenth and Last Guru at His last time Ordered all Sikhs 'Adi Granth" is your Next Guru ,from then Onwards Adi Granth became "GURU GRANTH " .So present Guru(Teacher) of Sikhs is "GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI ".

Please feel free to ask if you have any question regarding Sikhism ,i will try my best to answer

One can read Guru Granth Sahib here srigranth.org

Thanks to all and especially Kouyate ji
 
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