SIKHISM by Pravin K. Shah
Founded:
About 500 years ago in Punjab, India.
Founder:
Guru Nanak (1469‑1539)
Major Scriptures:
Adi Granth, revered as the present Guru of the faith.
Sects:
The main sect is Khalsa. The other sects are the Ram Raiyas, the Mandharis, and Nirankaris. The Mandharis and Nirankaris have living Gurus.
Adherents:
Estimated at 19 million, mostly in India. Small communities of Sikhs also exist in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Malaysia, and East Africa.
Goals:
The goal of Sikhism lies in Moksha which is union with God, and release into God's love, described as that of a lover with the beloved and resulting in self‑transcendence, egolessness, and enduring bliss. It is the fulfillment of individuality in which man, freed of all limitations, becomes coextensive and cooperant and copresent with God. In Sikhism, Moksha means release into God's love. Man is not God but fulfilled in unitary, mystical consciousness with Him. God is the personal Lord and Creator.
Path of Attainment:
To lead humans to the goal of Moksha, Sikhism follows a path of Japa and hymns. Through the chanting of the holy names or Sat Nam, the soul is cleansed of its impurity, the ego is conquered, and the wandering mind is stilled. This leads to a superconscious stillness. From here the soul enters the divine light and thus attains a state of divine bliss.
Once this highest goal is attained, the devotee must devote his awareness to the good of others. The highest goal can be realized only by God's grace, and this is attained exclusively by following the true teacher (Sat Guru), and by repeating the holy names of the Lord guided by the Adi Granth, the scripture and sole repository of spiritual authority. For Sikhs there is no deity worship and no symbol of divinity.
Synopsis:
The word Sikhism is derived from Sikka meaning disciple. The movement was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak (1469‑1539), who sought the reconciliation of Hindu and Muslim faiths in a middle path that embraced both. It united Hindu devotion (Bhakti) and Sufi (Islam) mysticism most successfully. He taught the unity of God, brotherhood of man, rejection of caste, and the futility of idol worship. He was followed by nine masters, the last of whom was Guru Gobind Singh (1666‑1708; Guru 1675‑1708).
The holiest place for Sikhs is the Golden Temple at Amritsar, Punjab, India. It was founded by the fourth Guru, Ramdas (guru 1574‑81). The fifth guru Arjundev (guru 1581‑1606), gave Sikhism its holy book, the Granth Sahib or Adi Granth, which contains hymns of Sikh gurus as well as those of Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir.
Sikhism began as a peaceful religion and patiently bore much persecution from the Muslims, but with Gobind Singh, self preservation forced a strong military aimed at protecting the faith and way of life against severe opposition.
Sikhism stresses the brotherhood of all men, rejection of caste differences, opposition to the worship of idols, the importance of devotion, intense faith in the Guru, and the repetition of God's Name (Nam) as a means of salvation.
There have been no Gurus in the Sikh tradition since Guru Gobind Singh, whose last instructions to followers were to honor and cherish the teachings of the ten Gurus as embodied in the scripture, Adi Granth.
Sikhs are readily identifiable by their turbans. They take a vow not to cut their hair as well as not to smoke or drink alcoholic beverages. When Gobind Singh founded (1699) the martial fraternity Khalsa (pure), his followers vowed to keep the five K's: to wear long hair (kesh), a comb in the hair (kangha), a steel bracelet on the right wrist (kara), soldier's shorts (kachha), and a sword (kirpan). The tradition persists to the present day.
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