RS 390: SIKHISM

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RS 390 SIKHISM AN OVERVIEW

• Doris R. Jakobsh

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THE TEN GURUS OF SIKHISM
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SIKHISM HISTORICAL SOURCES

• Sikhism is the newest of the major world
  religions
• (Guru Nanak 1469-1539)
• Today, 16 20 million adherents

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SOURCES?

• 1) Adi Granth (Sri Guru Granth Sahib)
• Devotional hymns and poetry
• Not historical events

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SOURCES?

• Janamsakhi literature
• Narratives focusing on Guru Nanaks life
• Earliest sources written 100 years after Guru
  Nanaks death
• Thus questionable historically

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JANAMSAKHIS

• Say more about the needs of the community after
  the Gurus death than about factual evidence
• Also inconsistencies between the various versions

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LATER GURUS SOURCES

• These histories are not included in the
  janamsakhis
• BUT written in same style
• Same genre

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JANAMSAKHIS
STATEMENTS OF FAITH, AS OPPOSED TO BEING
HISTORICALLY FACTUAL
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GURU NANAK
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BACKGROUND TO SIKH TRADITION MILIEU

• Nanak very much in line with Bhakti tradition
• Version of Bhakti known as the Sant tradition
• Sant one who knows the truth

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SANT TRADITION

• God nirguna without form
• Vedas are not authoritative
• Brahmin priesthood rejected
• Opposed to ALL outer forms of religion
  (pilgrimage, images, scripture)
• Religion is strictly an interior affair
• Salvation open to all, regardless of caste or
  gender

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THE EARLY FOLLOWERS OF THE GURUS WERE NOT
INITIALLY CONSIDERED A DISTINCT COMMUNITY THEY
WERE SIMPLY ONE OF THE BHAKTI MOVEMENTS THAT WERE
SWEEPING ACROSS INDIA
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NANAK THE BRIDGE BUILDER

• STORY OF THE FLOWERS AT GURU NANAKS DEATH

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GURU NANAK AND HINDUS

• Hindus praise the praiseworthy one whose vision
  and beauty are incomparable, but they bathe at
  pilgrimage places, make flower offerings, and
  place the perfume of sandalwood before idols (AG
  465).

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GURU NANAK AND MUSLIMS

• Let compassion be your mosque, faith your prayer
  carpet, and righteousness your Quran. Let
  modesty be your circumcision, and uprightness
  your fasting. Thus you will become a true
  Muslim (AG 140).

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GURU NANAK BELIEVED THAT GOD COULD BE FOUND IN
ALL TRADITIONS
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RITUALS, SCRIPTURE IN AND OF THEMSELVES ARE NOT
ENOUGH THESE BECOME ENDS AS OPPOSED TO MEANS
WHEREBY TRUTH CAN BE FOUND
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COMMUNITY OF NANAK

• Householder is the ideal (not ascetic)
• Nam simaran meditation on Divine name and
  nature of God
• Satsang community
• Devotion to the Guru receive darshan

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GURU NANAKS SUCCESSOR

• Rejection of family lineage
• Eldest son was an ascetic
• Youngest son not interested

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GURU ANGAD
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GURU ANGAD

• Lehna devotee of Durga
• Contrast Angads devotion to Guru Nanak with his
  sons
• Many stories of this devotion

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GURU AMAR DAS
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GURU AMAR DAS

• Construction of baoli (well)
• Pilgrimage centre
• Beginning of institutionalization of the
  community (Panth)

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GURU RAM DAS
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GURU RAM DAS

• Son-in-law of Guru Amar Das
• Succession moves a little closer to family
  succession that Guru Nanak had rejected
• Eventually, guruship stays within the family line
  of Gurus

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CONTROVERSIES WITH REGARD TO SUCCESSION EACH
SON TOOK ACTION AGAINST THEIR FATHERS DECISIONS
FOR LEADERSHIP LEGALLY, THEY WERE THE
HEIRS ALSO CLAIMED THEY WERE THE TRUE
GURUS SCHISM AFTER SCHISM
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GURU ARJAN
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GURU ARJAN

• Turning point in Sikh community
• Son of last Guru (though not the oldest)
• Compiled Sikh hymns into scripture
• Built Harimandir/Amritsar
• Known as king to his followers
• Active in trade and business

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HARIMANDIR SAHIB GOLDEN TEMPLE, AMRITSAR
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OTHER CHANGES?

• Caste constituency is changing
• Moving from Khatri to Jat caste grouping
• Had a huge influence on direction taken by later
  Gurus

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GURU HARGOBIND
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GURU HARGOBIND

• Miri-piri doctrine temporal and spiritual power
• Had an army
• Mughal threat OR Jat caste influx?

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GURU GOBIND SINGH
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GURU GOBIND SINGH
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GURU GOBIND SINGH

• Father put to death by Mughals
• Known for his love of horses, hunting, hawking
• MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN SIKH TRADITION
  ATTRIBUTED TO GURU GOBIND SINGH

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BAISAKHI DAY, 1699

• Called for a follower to give his life to his
  Guru
• Eventually 5 came forward
• Panj Piare (beloved 5)

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BAISAKHI, 1699 KHALSA BROTHERHOOD
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TODAY, WHEN ANY DECISION IS MADE, OR, SOMEONE IS
INITIATED, 5 BELOVEDS GATHER
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(No Transcript)
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5 Ks SYMBOLS OF THE KHALSA

• Kachh undergarment (breeches)
• Kes uncut hair
• Kirpan dagger
• Kanga comb
• Kara iron bangle

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5 Ks
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PANJ PIARE INITIATION
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SIKH WOMAN INITIATION
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MEDITATION WAS STILL ON THE DIVINE NAME BUT
THERE WAS NOW A NEW ASPECT TO BEING SIKH
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GURU GRANTH SAHIB
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GURU GRANTH SAHIB
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GURU GRANTH ELEVATED
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GURU GRANTH AND IMPLEMENTS
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THE GURU GRANTH PUT TO BED
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SIKHISM AND WORSHIP

• Sikhs insist that the Guru Granth is not
  worshipped
• It is simply honoured

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GOD IN SIKHISM

• Mul Mantra
• Omkar
• True name
• One who creates
• Beyond all opposition
• A form beyond time
• Unborn, self-born
• The gurus grace
• The ancient truth, ageless truth
• Is also, now, truth
• And Nanak says,
• It will always be truth.

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GOD

• There is One Supreme Being, the Eternal Reality.
  He is the Creator, without fear and devoid of
  enmity. He is immortal, never incarnated,
  self-existent, known by grace through the Gurus.
  The Eternal One, from the beginning, through all
  time, present now, the Everlasting Reality.

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EK OAMKAR
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GOD HAS NO PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES, ALTHOUGH THE
IMAGERY OF GOD AS LOVER IS OFTEN USED EVEN NAMES
OF GOD SUCH AS RAM, ALLAH, AKAL PURAKH, SAT
GURU BUT GOD IS ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD AS ONE
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GOD AS CREATOR

• For millions of years there was nothing but
  darkness over the void. There was neither earth
  nor sky, only the Infinite Will. There was
  neither night nor day, sun nor moonThe sources
  of creation did not exist, there was no speech,
  no air, no water, no birth, no death, no coming
  or goingThere was no other only the One.

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HUMANITY IN SIKHISM

• People are born and then die. Where did they
  come from? Say where did they emerge and whither
  do they go?
• Those who have the Name in their hearts and on
  their tongues become beyond desire, as God is.
• They come and go in the natural way according to
  the law of karma, born because of the desires of
  their mind. The God-minded are emancipated and
  are not bound again for they dwell on the word
  and attain deliverance through the Name (AG 152).

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IGNORANCE IS THE ROOT OF HUMANITYS PROBLEMS NOT
KNOWING THEIR TRUE NATURE NOT KNOWING THEIR TRUE
DESTINY THUS, PEOPLE GO ROUND AND ROUND IN THE
KARMIC CIRCLE OF REBIRTH
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IGNORANCE IS BASED ON HAUMAI EGO HAUMAI BLINDS
US TO OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD IT BINDS US TO THE
NEED FOR LIBERATION
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A PERSON CAUGHT UP IN EGO, IN HAUMAI IS CALLED
MANMUKH (ONE WHO IS IN BONDAGE TO THE EGO
PERSONALITY
A PERSON WHOSE FOCUS IS GOD, GODS WILL IS CALLED
A GURMUKH
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SIKH STAGES OF LIBERATION
PIETY, KNOWLEDGE, EFFORT, GRACE, TRUTH
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FIRST THREE STAGES ARE AS FAR AS A HUMAN CAN GO
BY HUMAN EFFORT PIETY, KNOWLEDGE, EFFORT 4TH
STAGE GRACE GODS GRACE - HUMAN EFFORT HAS
REACHED ITS LIMIT - NOW GODS GRACE MUST TAKE
THEM FURTHER IF ONE GOES ONE STEP TOWARDS GOD,
THE LORD COMES TOWARD ONE A THOUSAND TIMES.
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5TH STAGE LIBERATION MUKTI

• The level of truth
• Can only be attained if one has gone through the
  first four stages
• This is one who is God-minded gurmukh

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JIWAN MUKTI
LIBERATION CAN BE ATTAINED WHILE IN LIFE THIS
STATE IS THAT OF THE JIWAN MUKT HERE, JOY AND
SORROW ARE THE SAME HAPPINESS IS ETERNAL ONE IS
IN A STATE OF BLISS NO KARMA IS ACQUIRED ONE
MERGES WITH THE WILL OF THE DIVINE
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MY FRIENDS MET ME AND THEY ASKED ME TO DESCRIBE
MY HUSBAND. I WAS SO FILLED WITH THE BLISS OF
HIS LOVE THAT I COULDNT ANSWER THEM (AG 459).
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THE ONE WHO HAS THE LOVE OF GODS COMMANDS IN
THE HEART IS SAID TO BE JIVAN MUKT. RELEASE IS A
PRESENT REALITY JOY AND SORROW ARE BOTH THE
SAME, HAPPINESS IS ETERNAL, THERE IS NO
SEPARATION FROM GOD. AS IS GOLD SO IS DUST AS IS
NECTAR SO IS BITTER POISON. HONOUR AND DISHONOUR
ARE THE SAME. THE PAUPER AND THE KING ARE ALIKE.
WHOEVER REGARDS SUCCESS IN THIS WORLD AS ANY
ENTERPRISE ORDAINTED BY GOD, IS SAID TO BE
LIBERATED WHILST IN THE BODY (AG 275).
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RESULT?

• SERVICE TO OTHERS
• Those who meditate on God do good to others
  (Guru Arjan).
• Nam Simaran (the practice of meditating on the
  Name)
• Transforming of personality through practice

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GOD CONSCIOUSNESS IS BECOMING WHO ONE REALLY IS
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THE GURU IN SIKHISM

• BOTH
• Sat Guru (Eternal Guru God)
• Earthly Guru the historical gurus who were
  instruments through which the voice of God is
  heard

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THROUGH THE GURUS WORDS, PEOPLE CAN REACH
LIBERATION
THE ATTENDANT WHO PERFORMS THE GURUS SERVICE,
REMAINS ATTACHED TO THE GURUS HYMNS AND WHO
ACCEPTS BOTH GOOD AND BAD WITH EQUANIMITY, WILL
IN THIS WAY, BECOME ABSORBED IN GOD (AG 432)
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NISHAN SAHIB SAFRON FLAG SIGNIFYING GURDWARA
WITH KHALSA INSIGNIA
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KIRTAN THE SINGING OF HYMNS RAGIS
PROFESSIONAL SINGERS
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SIKHS ANANDPUR 1999 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF
KHALSA
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SIKH LANGAR KITCHENER
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SIKH WORSHIP SERVICE PRASAD DISTRIBUTED
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