Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This thread is dedicated to any questions you might have regarding Sikhism. Any question at all and I will try my best to answer it.
I tried this before but failed since I myself didn't know what I was getting at. These forums appear to be too centered around Christianity. This thread needs to be here and hopefully this time it won't disappear suddenly.
Is Sikhism more like Hinduism or more like a Western/Monotheist religion? Like is it more about karma and reincarnation or faith and Heaven?
Sikhism is very simple. Our founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, completely rejected the empty rituals and the caste system followed by Hinduism. Typically a Sikh shouldn't believe that such and such days are lucky, or reciting a mantra several times brings you power or good fortune, or offering your prayers to the idol of certain God is better than offering your prayers to the idol of another God and so on. So we can safely assume that a person who follows the philosophy preached by Sikhism will have a very different approach to God than a person who follows Hinduism.
And yes, Sikhism is strictly a monotheist religion. So, I guess you could say that Sikhism is similar to Christianity in some ways but with some major differences. We don't have a personal savior and believe that there are many paths to God.
Furthermore, nobody is high or low. It doesn't matter what religion you belong to at all. All that matters are your actions. God is not stupid. He (In Sikhism God is genderless though) can see right through us and our thoughts. So yes there is a concept of both Karma and faith in Sikhism. We are encouraged to be rational and question things that don't make sense to us but at the same time we must also accept that our rationality and logic can only take us so far and that true knowledge can only be gained through God's grace. Nothing is in our hands.
Simply put Sikhism says that we will be reincarnated again and again until be become pure (conquer our ego- which is subdivided into Lust, Anger, Desire, Attachment, and pride) and when we become pure we will be merged with God. Another very interesting concept in reincarnation is that it is believed that it is very tough to be reincarnated as a human being. This life is priceless since God can only be attained as a human being and through no other form. Also, it is believed that we were reincarnated as a human being due to our own effort and hard work but we can only merge with God or attain spiritual understanding according to God's will.
Hope this didn't confuse!
Quote:
What is the Sikh attitude to violence? There are Sikh-linked terrorist groups, how significant is that as an issue?
Violence is not acceptable in Sikhism. There is no place for it. If you look back at our history and the time of 10 gurus you'll notice that Sikhs only fought wars when all other means of ending oppression or injustice had failed.
There were a few Sikh organizations that wanted to create a separate Sikh country during the 1980s. This is when the Golden temple was attacked and eventually a series of events led to mobs killing thousands of Sikhs. And if these Sikh organizations went around killing innocent people for revenge that this is not justified by Sikhism. I don't think these Sikh organizations are as active today anyways.
Quote:
Can Sikh men shave at all or is all shaving forbidden?
All shaving is completely forbidden for a devout Sikh. Now exceptions could be made for say medical reasons but not because one feels itchy or believes that hair has no function on such and such part of his body etc.
Quote:
Do you face many difficulties due to attire or discrimination?
I personally would like to say NO. Yes there are some people who won't like me because I look different or whatever but this is to be expected. I would say generally that for a while nobody's come up to me just to say that they didn't like me because of what I stand for...
Hello. I am quite new in my exploration of Sikh philosophy so please excuse my ignorance: As I understand, the very concept of blind ritual is excluded from the Sikh belief system. Why then, the requirement of uncut hair and covering of the head? This seems to contradict?
I have been to Delhi a few times and have met many Punjabis - Hindus and Sikhs. I am told that though the religions are different, people from both religions often visit each other's places of worship and there is more marriages between people of these 2 religions than between any other numerous religions in India. Other than the strife after the assisination of Indira Gandhi (by a skih bodyguard), relations between Hindus and Sikhs are very good. Current Indian PM is a sikh. Sikhs are typecast as hard working, honest people who you should avoid p-ing off. Personally, I have found them to be excellent drinking buddies.
Sikhs, along with Gurkhas (the later imported by UK to fight their wars) are good fighters. In terms of discrimination, in TX, I have had to explain to many how sikhs are different from muslims - and the two do not necessarily get along too well. I think, because of immigration of sikhs to UK, people in western Europe can differentiate between a sikh and a muslim. Recall, in Arizona, right after 9-11, a sikh was mistaken for a muslim and was shot dead. Also, recall the recent incident in S Carolina (?) where a rightwing leader called Nikki Haley (a woman of sikh descent) a "rag head". Personally I do feel that there is some discrimination in the US because of the mistaken identity because of turbans.
Sikhs cannot accept Muslim coincidence; essentially you couldn' t describe that ideally for the talked about entity: from the simultaneous occurrences of the entities per Earthly description by God outside, Perceiving you and that other believer.
Hello. I am quite new in my exploration of Sikh philosophy so please excuse my ignorance: As I understand, the very concept of blind ritual is excluded from the Sikh belief system. Why then, the requirement of uncut hair and covering of the head? This seems to contradict?
I can only talk from my own experience.
At times I had felt that keeping long hair and wearing a turban are a nonsense thing to do and make no logical sense. Am I only doing this because I was born in this religion? Have I been ultimately brainwashed or am I simply doing this to belong in a group? Mind wanders... a lot.
I personally do not believe that doing these things (wearing a turban etc.) should be done unless you actually enjoy doing them. It's not a requirement. No one can force you to do something if you are mentally strong. However, these are things that are practical and actually work. That's why they're so essential to the religion. Blind rituals take you nowhere. However, keeping long hair covered in turban helps you understand the very essence of life. I do not know why but it just does.
I believe the real question is whether doing such things as wearing turban makes one superior. I currently do not have long hair anymore. However, few people often judged me as someone who believes that he's superior simply because of his religion and appearance. In the present stare of affairs, I know this is true for some people who follow Sikhism, just as it is true for people of other religions. However, Sikhs are easy to pick on because they stand out. People like to judge and why not judge the guy who thinks he's better than everyone. At times It becomes tough not to judge these people. It's a real life test to treat them as equals.
I recall reading that some Sikhs thought it was unfair that one of their kids could not carry a knife to school. Do you think Sikh chikdren should be allowed to carry knives to school?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sikhism Questions
