Global InformationSikhism information
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| Sikhism | |
|---|---|
| ਸਿੱਖੀ | |
 Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab, the holiest site of the Sikh religion | |
| Type | Ethnic religion; Universal religion |
| Classification | Indian religion |
| Scripture | Guru Granth Sahib Dasam Granth Sarbloh Granth |
| Theology | Classical theism Monotheism Panentheism[1][2][3][4] |
| Governance | Panj Takht |
| Region | Predominant religion in Punjab, India (58%), and widespread worldwide as minorities (Sikh diaspora) |
| Language | Sant Bhasha[5] Punjabi (Gurmukhi) Khalsa bole[6] |
| Headquarters | Akal Takht |
| Founder | Guru Nanak |
| Origin | 15th-16th century CE Punjab region |
| Separations | Ravidassia |
| Number of followers | 25-30 million (referred to as "Sikhs" or "Sikh Panth")[7] |
| Other name(s) | Sikhi |
| Slogan | "Bole So Nihal… Sat Sri Akaal" |
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Sikhism (/ˈsɪkɪzəm/ SIK-iz-əm), also known as Sikhi (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖੀ Sikkhī, [ˈsɪk.kʰiː] ⓘ, from ਸਿੱਖ, Sikh, 'disciple / learner'),[i] is an Indian religion[8] and philosophy[9] in particular for the Sikh ethnoreligious group that originated in the Punjab region of India[ii] around the end of the 15th century CE. The Sikh scriptures are written in the Gurumukhi script particular to Sikhs.[10] It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups and among the largest in the world, with about 25–30 million adherents (known as Sikhs).[11]
Sikhism developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the faith's first guru, and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him. The tenth guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), named the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib as his successor, bringing to a close the line of human gurus and establishing the scripture as the 11th and last eternally living guru, a religious spiritual/life guide for Sikhs.[12][13][14] Guru Nanak taught that living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" is above metaphysical truth, and that the ideal man "establishes union with God, knows His Will, and carries out that Will".[15] Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru (1606–1644), established the concept of mutual co-existence of the miri ('political'/'temporal') and piri ('spiritual') realms.
The Sikh scripture opens with the Mul Mantar or alternatively spelled "Mool Mantar" (ਮੂਲ ਮੰਤਰ), fundamental prayer about Ik Onkar (ੴ, 'One God').[16][17] The core beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation in the name of the one creator; divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in seva ('selfless service'); striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life.[18][19][20] Following this standard, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute truth.[iii][21] Sikhism emphasizes simran (ਸਿਮਰਨ, meditation and remembrance of the teachings of Gurus),[22] which can be expressed musically through kirtan, or internally through naam japna ('meditation on His name') as a means to feel God's presence. It teaches followers to transform the "Five Thieves" (i.e., lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego).[23]
The Definition of Sikh is any human being who faithfully believes in:[24]
I. One Immortal Being,
II. Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib,
III. The Guru Granth Sahib,
IV. The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and,
V. The baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru, and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion, is a Sikh.
1. Golden Temple, Akaal Takht 2. Kesgarh Sahib 3. Damdama Sahib 4. Patna Sahib 5. Hazur Sahib 6. Panja Sahib 7. Nankana Sahib 8. Dera Sahib 9. Ber Sahib 10. Kartarpur Sahib, Dera Baba Nanak 11. Hemkund Sahib 12. Sis Ganj Sahib
The religion developed and evolved in times of religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam.[25] Mughal rulers of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—Guru Arjan (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)—after they refused to convert to Islam. The persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion,[26][27] with members expressing the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī ('saint-soldier'). The Sikh community may be seen to correspond to A.D. Smith's definition of a politicized community, sharing common ancestry myths and historical memories of martyrdom and persecution under successive rulers.[10]
- ^ Nesbitt, Eleanor (2016). Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191062773.
From the rest of this introduction to the Guru Granth Sahib, and from Guru Nank's compositions, it is a monotheistic, rather than a monist, view of God which emerges.
- ^ Takhar, Opinderjit Kaur (2016). Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs. Routledge. ISBN 9781351900102.
Since the Sikh concept of the divine is panentheistic, the divine is always greater than the created universe, its systems such as karma and samsara, and all phenomena within it. In Sikhism, due to the sovereignty of God, the doctrines of Nadar and Hukam override all systems, both concepts reinforcing panentheism. Hence one becomes a jivanmukt only in accordance with the Hukam.
- ^ Reynolds, William M.; Webber, Julie A. (2004). Expanding Curriculum Theory: Dis/positions and Lines of Flight. Routledge. p. 90. ISBN 9781135621278.
Like the God-of-process theologians in the West (Whitehead, Cobb, Griffin, Hartshorne), the God of Sikhism is a dynamic God, a process moving within humankind, pervasive within the hearts of people, yet transcendent and eternal. The Sikh God is one with whom devotees become wholly absorbed: "As the fish, I find the life of absorption in the water that is God" (Sri Guru Granth. 1988, p. 166). As the fish is absorbed in the water that is God, the soul is absorbed in the lightness that is God. The fish, even though absorbed in the water that is God, does not lose its fishness, its fish identity-formation, even though absorbed in the light that is God. A panentheistic system, such as Sikhsim, allows the soul to retain its soulness while merging with God. The soul, in other words, is not identical with God, even after merging with God, but one might say God is part of the soul. A strict identity soul = God is incarnationism and this is considered anathema in Sikhism. The Granth uses the beloved/lover metaphor for the relation of the self to God. God is the beloved and the devo tee is the lover. The lover retains her identity yet merges with her beloved.
- ^ Singh, Pashaura; Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh (2023). The Sikh world. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780429848384.
In looking at the teachings of the Gurus as a whole, it seems that Lourdunathan overstates the degree to which Sikh scripture is anti-monistic. Guru Nanak famously referred to the world as a "palace of smoke" (GGS: 138) and made countless references to the idea of maya (Illusion). While the Gurus did not teach a radical nondualism, it is perhaps more accurate to suggest that some aspects of Sikh thought constitute a qualified nondualism (in which Creator and Creation are part of the same whole) (GGS: 125) or panentheism (in which the Creator pervades the natural world) (GGS: 24), while many others are monotheistic, including passages in Japji Sahib, where God is described as the King of Kings (GGS: 6). These different interpretations lend themselves to varying understandings of the relationship between the natural world and divinity.
- ^ Mann, Gurinder Singh (2001). The Making of Sikh scripture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780195130249.
- ^ The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford Handbooks. Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech. OUP Oxford. 2014. p. 380. ISBN 9780191004117.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Sikhism". Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Charles Joseph Adams. "classification of religions". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E., eds. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 299–301. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
- ^ a b Shani, Giorgio (March 2000). "The Construction of a Sikh National Identity". South Asia Research. 20 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1177/026272800002000101. ISSN 0262-7280. S2CID 144560083.
- ^ "What Is the Most Widely Practiced Religion in the World? | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ Fenech, Louis, and William Hewat McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-3600-4. pp. 17, 84–5.
- ^ James, William (2011). God's Plenty: Religious Diversity in Kingston. McGill–Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3889-4. pp. 241–42.
- ^ Mann, Gurinder Singh (2001). The Making of Sikh Scripture. Oxford University Press. pp. 21–25, 123–24. ISBN 978-0-19-513024-9.
- ^ Marwaha, Sonali Bhatt (2006). Colors of Truth: Religion, Self and Emotions: Perspectives of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Sikhism and Contemporary Psychology. Concept Publishing. pp. 205–206. ISBN 978-81-8069-268-0.
- ^ Singh, Pashaura (2003). The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority. Oxford University Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-0-19-908773-0.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
singhaikonkarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kalsi, Sewa Singh (2005). Sikhism. Religions of the World. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. pp. 41–50. ISBN 0-7910-8098-6. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Cole, William Owen; Sambhi, Piara Singh (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. p. 200.
- ^ Teece, Geoff (2004). Sikhism: Religion in focus. Black Rabbit Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-58340-469-0.
- ^ Reichberg, Gregory M.; Syse, Henrik (2014). Religion, War, and Ethics: A Sourcebook of Textual Traditions. Cambridge University Press. pp. 672–674. ISBN 978-1-139-95204-0.
- ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (2019). "Where Hinduism and Sikhism meet". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth; Sandhu, Jaswinder Singh (2012). The Socially Involved Renunciate: Guru Nanak's Discourse to the Nath Yogis. State University of New York Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7914-7950-6.
- ^ Rehat Maryada Archived 1 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Abingdon-on-Thames, England: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-04945-5.
A large number of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
pashauraarjanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
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