20 replies to this topic

[PandaPirate]

A bit over 500-years old, Sikhism is one of the younger world religions, and also one of the most populous. It is the fifth largest religion in the world, with around 23,000,000 adherents. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, a religious teacher who lived from 1469 to 1539 in the Punjab region of South Asia. The Punjab is a region now divided by the border between the contemporary states of India and Pakistan.

[PandaPirate]

“Ek Onkar Satnam, Karta Purkh, Nirbhav, Nirvair, Akal Murat, Ajoni, Suabhav, Gur Parsad.”

[PandaPirate]

You people have no clue what I'm talking about, do you?

[mcdaddy]

Let the enlightenment begin!

[Ouroboros]

I've heard about Sikhism but have no clue what it really is. So what are the core beliefs?

[Noggy]

I've heard about Sikhism but have no clue what it really is. So what are the core beliefs?

Sikhism in its present form is pretty annoying. It was formed in the northwest india, pakistan afghan area. Its basically what you get when you smoosh Islam and Hinduism together. The original Guru was a pretty cool dude. He was very anti-ritual and stuff like that. But of course, as all religions do, it got increasingly dogmatic and such. Kind of looking at the difference between shit jesus said and what you have now in Christianity.

[Will02]

I used to work for a Sikh guy and his family years ago. (IIRC, I posted that in another thread) They were mostly ok but they kept to themselves a lot.

[PandaPirate]

The founder of Sikhism was Guru Nanak. Nanak blended together elements of Hinduism and Islam. They were highly critical of caste and religious imagery, which they considered idolatry. Unlike Muslims, the newly-emerging Sikhs taught that the goal of religious life was liberation, an actual merging with God that could be attained in this lifetime or over the course of many lifetimes.

In the end, The Khalsa, a military elite in Sikhism, was founded in 1699 by Guru Gobind. Members of the Khalsa come from all castes. The institution of the Khalsa strengthened Sikh identity and differentiated it further from Hinduism. Guru Gobind, the last of the ten gurus, declared that the Adi Granth would be the last and final guru.

Although no direct references are made to these two religions, there are references to the holy books of the Semitic religions and their scriptures referred to in the Guru Granth Sahib as 'Kateb' (Taurat: The Book of Moses, Zabur: The Book of David, Injil: New Testament and Quran). It is likely that Guru Nanak met Christian and Jewish missionaries during his extensive travels to the west. Christian missionaries were also active in the southern parts of India visited by Guru Nanak. Because the Sikh Gurus were involved in extensive missionary work to convert people to Sikhism, they concentrated on the dominant religions of the masses at that time, which did not include Christianity and Judaism in the east.

Similarities

Submission to the will of God, Hukam.
Khalsa brotherhood and sacrament.
Brotherhood of man.
Fatherhood of God and salvation by grace.
Jewish emphasis on 'The Name'.

Differences

Salvation for the 'choosen people'. Sikhism believes anyone can achieve salvation irrespective of the religion that they follow if they endear God in their heart and daily actions.
Christian concept of Jesus as son of God. Sikhism regards all as the children of God.
Infant baptism. In Sikhism child baptism into the Khalsa brotherhood is discouraged. One should only become a Khalsa when they are able to fully understand the duties and responsibilities.
Special Day for worship. There is no special day like Sunday or Sabbath for worship.
Heaven and Hell as physical entities. In Sikhism there are no such physical places. Hell is equivalent to the cycles of births and deaths and heaven is equivalent to the soul merging with God.
Priests. Guru Gobind Singh abolished the priestly class making Sikhism free from their weaknesses and egos, the only priest is the Living Guru, the Guru Granth Sahib which contains all the knowledge and which is available for reading by any Sikh.

Edited by PandaPirate, 16 June 2012 - 07:02 PM.

[PandaPirate]

The End.

Edited by PandaPirate, 16 June 2012 - 07:04 PM.

[Rando]

Nam Khumari Nanakah! I don't know a lot about the beliefs, but I do like singing the chants in Punjabi.

[FeelHappy]

Oh I don't want to join a religion which has an actual deity. (:

[TotalWreck]

I studied Sikhism for about 3 months earlier this year. I read the a lot of the Guru Granth Sahib (which is like the Sikh bible) and prayed to the "Sikh god" during this period. Guess what? My prayers still were not answered (surprise, surprise), just like with the Christian god.

It was after this that I realized you can pray to whatever "god" you want, and you're still going to get the same result.

[TrueFreedom]

They wear awesome rags on their heads and carry swords.

[Antlerman]

I studied Sikhism for about 3 months earlier this year. I read the a lot of the Guru Granth Sahib (which is like the Sikh bible) and prayed to the "Sikh god" during this period. Guess what? My prayers still were not answered (surprise, surprise), just like with the Christian god.

It was after this that I realized you can pray to whatever "god" you want, and you're still going to get the same result.

Thinking this way, this is for sure.

[TotalWreck]

I studied Sikhism for about 3 months earlier this year. I read the a lot of the Guru Granth Sahib (which is like the Sikh bible) and prayed to the "Sikh god" during this period. Guess what? My prayers still were not answered (surprise, surprise), just like with the Christian god.

It was after this that I realized you can pray to whatever "god" you want, and you're still going to get the same result.

Thinking this way, this is for sure.

Your response gives me the impression that you want to add more. Care to explain further?

I simply stated that my prayer requests were answered no differently praying to the Sikh god than when I prayed to the Christian god.

[Antlerman]

I studied Sikhism for about 3 months earlier this year. I read the a lot of the Guru Granth Sahib (which is like the Sikh bible) and prayed to the "Sikh god" during this period. Guess what? My prayers still were not answered (surprise, surprise), just like with the Christian god.

It was after this that I realized you can pray to whatever "god" you want, and you're still going to get the same result.

Thinking this way, this is for sure.

Your response gives me the impression that you want to add more. Care to explain further?

I simply stated that my prayer requests were answered no differently praying to the Sikh god than when I prayed to the Christian god.

You actually said, "you can pray to whatever 'god' you want", which says that you see all theistic views as identical to each other, with the same results. All I was getting at, and it doesn't matter if it's the Christian version of God or the Islamic view, etc, if someone prays to the deity like a sky-parent, some external benefactor to do things for them, they will be as you say, disappointed. There's a reason for that, and it's irrelevant whether that God actually exists or not.

In practice, prayer to a deity form does in fact have an effect on the person. Through the agency of that form, they are able through belief, or faith, to find that power within themselves, to realize "God" within, and thus be effective in change for themselves. To simply expect intervention, is to not find that God within, but to deny it. Hence, I'm not surprised it didn't work with you with YHWH or Allah, or whatever god you choose to save you.

[Ravenstar]

In witchcraft... spells and ritual (the equivalent of prayer, I guess) is meant to enhance the power or energy to accomplish things. A witch casts spells not to 'get things' but to assist in his/her own ability to manifest in the physical. The concept being that there is a causal (or in some cases mental) plane that can be tapped into or manipulated to correspond with the mundane plane. This is Hermetic theory and crosses from ceremonial magick to neo-paganism, Rosicrucianism and a few others. The concept of 'The Secret' is loosely based on this - though they've butchered it. I suspect Kabbalah too, but haven't really looked too deep into that yet..

example: if you want a certain job, you may cast a spell to open that opportunity, help with self-confidence or increase charisma, or even to develop the skills that job requires, etc.. there are many approaches. The difference is no decent witch will believe that just casting the spell makes it happen... the caster has to actually take action in the real world as well.

I think in some cases prayer also bolsters the person praying by increasing their sense that whatever it is they want actually can and will actually happen.. athletes use this principle when visualizing for performance. It gets messed when it's seen as an effort-free magic genie bottle... in any belief system.

I don't know much about Sikhism.. but I've known quite a few Sikhs..my brother's best friend came from a Sikh family, nice people.

[pandora]

I studied Sikhism while getting my religion degree, and I had some neighbors during high school that were devout Sikhs.

Seems like a cool religion to me. Sikhism and the Baha'i religion are the two monotheistic religions I don't think are any danger to society, even in their extreme forms.

[TotalWreck]

In witchcraft... spells and ritual (the equivalent of prayer, I guess) is meant to enhance the power or energy to accomplish things. A witch casts spells not to 'get things' but to assist in his/her own ability to manifest in the physical. The concept being that there is a causal (or in some cases mental) plane that can be tapped into or manipulated to correspond with the mundane plane. This is Hermetic theory and crosses from ceremonial magick to neo-paganism, Rosicrucianism and a few others. The concept of 'The Secret' is loosely based on this - though they've butchered it. I suspect Kabbalah too, but haven't really looked too deep into that yet..

example: if you want a certain job, you may cast a spell to open that opportunity, help with self-confidence or increase charisma, or even to develop the skills that job requires, etc.. there are many approaches. The difference is no decent witch will believe that just casting the spell makes it happen... the caster has to actually take action in the real world as well.

I think in some cases prayer also bolsters the person praying by increasing their sense that whatever it is they want actually can and will actually happen.. athletes use this principle when visualizing for performance. It gets messed when it's seen as an effort-free magic genie bottle... in any belief system.

I don't know much about Sikhism.. but I've known quite a few Sikhs..my brother's best friend came from a Sikh family, nice people.

But what happens when you ARE taking action and doing everything you can do to make something happen, and it still doesn't? What's the point of prayer (or casting spells) then?