SIKHISM

This is a religion with its roots in the Punjab region of India. The founder was Guru Nanak (1469-1539). The followers of this religion go by the name of Sikhs (disciples) and their leaders go by the name of Guru (Teacher).

Guru Nanak

(The First Guru)

Guru Nanak was born in a town called Talwandi, India in 1469. During his early years as a child, Nanak would show lots of wisdom, considering his age. During one occasion, his father gave Nanak money to trade with and make a profit, but on his return home, his father noticed that he had none of the money left. This made his father very angry, but Nanak gave the reasons, why he had no money left. He said he had used the money in the best possible way, that of feeding the hungry as he had come across a group of Holy men who were in need of food.

His calling came sometime during his 30^th year of life, when he disappeared for 3 days. When he returned he seemed confused, but uttered that “God is not Hindu or Muslim”, and “ the path that I follow is God’s”.

Nanak believed that any differences which religions have were unimportant, and that his three spiritual aspects of meditation, honest toil and almsgiving were more important to be united with God. He had the idea that all religions irrelevant of their differences were in effect all one and the same. After this Nanak then spent the rest of his life teaching his wisdom in India and even in some other countries and other tongues. There are those who believe that he even made a point of going to Hindu and Muslim temples and to have taught his philosophies and wisdom there. When he started to do this and during his journeys Nanak, had no agenda to start a religion, but while he lay dying he began to notice that he had many followers and disciples, so he would have to select someone to succeed him.

Guru Gobind Singh

(Fifth Guru)

There were in all ten Gurus starting with Guru Nanak himself and ending with the last and final, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). It was Guru Gobind Singh who caused the Guruship to be transferred; not to another human being but to the Sikh scriptures and that there would be no further human Guru. These scriptures that the Guruship was transferred to would now be know as the Guru Granth Sahib. These holy Sikh scriptures were compiled by the fifth Guru (Guru Arjan), and give the basic belief that God is the Guru of Gurus, and that the truth lies within these scriptures.

Guru Granth Sahib

(Sikh Holy Book)

The Guru Granth Sahib or Sikh Holy Book was originally known as the Adi Granth. It was renamed as stated above after receiving the Guruship of Guru Gobind Singh. It is written in a script called Gurmurkhi, which followers believe was developed by Guru Nanak.

Up until recent times these books were all hand written, as Sikhs feared that they would be ridiculed or discredited by non-believers. It is quite a novel Holy Book in that it has writings from other religions as well as the Sikh scriptures and hymns. This just goes to show how much Sikhs believe that the Truth of all religions is one and the same. All copies, which are now printed, are all exact replicas of one another, with no alterations or differences. It is mainly made up from the hymns written by the first five or six Gurus.

Places of Worship

There general worship, even though they can do this at home, is at their temples (Gurdivara). This means ‘door to the Guru’. These temples are not only for their hymn singing, but are also meeting places, where they can have general meetings or discussions. There are also classrooms for the children to learn about their faith. Most of the temples outside India also hold lessons in Urdu and Punjabi. Temple doors are more often than not open 24 hours a day, not just for Sikhs but also for anyone of any religion. They also believe in giving food and shelter to anyone in need of these.

Worship

When they go to their temples, he/she must first take off their shoes and wash. They then cover their faces. All men and women have to sit on the floor, which is to portray equality, even though men and women have a tendency to sit apart.

The next thing they must do is to go to the Holy Book (Guru Granth Sahib), touch the floor with their forehead and give an offering of either food or money or both. They will then return to where they were sitting on the floor while still facing the Guru. The main way in which they do their worshipping is by hymn singing, but at certain times there will be the Ardas (Prayers) recited.

Festivals

Sikhs do not have many festivals; in fact they only have one of their own, which is called Baisakhi. This is a festival to mark the founding of the Order of Khalsa. This festival occurs on the 13^th April and is a spring festival as well as the Sikh New Year.

The Sikh Gurus

Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539)

Guru Angad (1539 – 1552)

Guru Amar Das (1552 – 1574)

Guru Ram Das (1574 – 1581)

Guru Arjan (1581 – 1606)

Guru Hargobind (1606 – 1644)

Guru Har Rai (1644 – 1661)

Guru Har Krishan (1661 – 1664)

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1664 – 1675)

Guru Gobind Singh (1675 – 1707)

Sikh Morning Prayer

‘There is but one God, whose name is True, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great and bountiful; The True One was in the beginning, the True One was in the primal age The True One is, was and the True One.

Sources and Credits:
Written by Sage Robert Worrall