Sikhism - Valus and Beliefs

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Sikhism - Valus and Beliefs

 

Mool Mantar

 

It is the opening verse of the Guru Granth Sahib.

This occurs hundreds of times in the Guru Granth Sahib.

It summarises Sikh beliefs.

It is taught to young children, and used by all Sikhs, for prayer.

There is One God

Whose Name is True

The Creator

Without fear

Without hate

Immortal

Beyond the cycle of birth and death

Self-revealing

As Grace

 

There is One God

 

Sikhism is monotheistic. This means that there is only One God to

whom we should pray.

80% of the 1430 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib are praises of God.

The Sikh scripture (Guru Granth Sahib) begins with Ik Onkar which

means " There is One God " . The Ik is the number 1. `Ik Onkar' written

in a circle.

There cannot be any image or statue of God.

The Gurus are only God's messengers. They were humans who lived a few

hundred years ago. Pictures of them are for the educational purposes

of showing their life stories (janam sakhis).

 

Ik Onkar

Whose Name is True

 

Naam means the Numenon or a Numinous feeling. Numinous means a sense

of awe such as when one sees the stars at night. SatNam means that

the Presence of God is the True Reality.

Naam also means Names. The Names of God such as Ram (from Hinduism),

Allah and Rahim (from Islam) and Sunnya (from Buddhism) are all true.

The Names describe the actions of God.

The most popular Sikh names are WaheGuru (wonderful or amazing

grace), Akal Purukh (eternal spirit), and SatNam (true reality).

The Creator

 

God has created numberless worlds and solar systems with life on

those worlds.

Before creation, God was in 'sunnya samadhi' meaning 'meditation on

the void'.

God commanded creation to begin and hundreds of thousands of rivers

began to flow.

Air became water and all life has come from water.

Without fear, without hate

 

God's Presence (Naam) fills creation.

God's Light is the Inner Light of all beings.

Since God is with everyone there is no one to fear or to hate - all

people are equal: people of different races ( " Recognise the human

race as one " - Guru Gobind Singh); people of different religions; and

women and men.

Immortal, Beyond the cycle of birth and death

 

God existed before the beginning of creation and will exist after the

end of creation.

 

Creation exists so that we can experience God's Names as a creature.

The law of karma is a law of cause and effect - what goes around

comes around. People will be rewarded and punished according to their

actions on earth by God in heavens and hells and then sent back to

earth to receive another learning opportunity.

 

There are five major problems or panj chor (five thieves) that stand

in our way. These are kam (lust), krodh (anger), lobh (greed), moh

(favouritism), and haunkar (pride). These feelings become problems

when we think of samsara (the physical world) as the true reality

and, therefore, feel doubt about our existence which leads to self-

obsession (haumai). The world then becomes maya (the world of

illusions).

 

However, when we realise that God is the Reality (SatNam), then the 5

feelings become a way of interacting with the physical world

(samsara) in a positive way. Through simran (remembrance of God) we

come to recognise God's love for us and for others and begin sewa

(selfless service), the opposite of haumai (selfishness). Mukti

(liberation) is when we are free of the cycle of life and death

because our actions are good and will lead us to God. This is

following God's hukam (law).

 

 

Self-revealing as Grace

 

God reaches out to us in creation as grace/love. This aspect of God

is called SatGuru or True Guru. God is our Inner Tutor or intuition.

'Gurmukh' is when we turn our face (mukh) to God, while 'manmukh' is

when we turn our face (mukh) to our selves and become self-obsessed.

Since God reaches out to everyone, there is no need to follow any

particular religion or to follow any intermediary (someone in

between), e.g. a priest.

 

Eventually, all beings will surrender to the flow, their inner

nature, and re-join God.

 

 

Golden Threefold Path

 

The Sikh way of life can be summarised as Nam Japna (remember God),

Kirt Karna (work honestly) and Vand Chhakna (share with others).

 

Nam Japna means to remember God in your life, to think about God's

activities (Names), and to sing the praises of God.

 

Kirt Karna means to regard all honest work as acceptable. There is no

work that a Sikh cannot do. (Under the Hindu caste system certain

jobs were reserved for 'untouchables'.) However, a Sikh cannot harm

or exploit another person through their labour, e.g. drug dealing or

prostitution. Sikhs should work rather than beg (which was common

among Hindu and Buddhist holy men at the time).

 

Vand Chhakna means to share your earnings with others. Many Sikhs

believe in giving daswandh or ten per cent of their money to help

others. Sometimes this is given in the langar (free vegetarian

kitchen) or for other sewa (selfless service).

 

 

Attitudes To Other Religions

 

Attitude to Hinduism

The Gurus disagreed with Hindu worship because they believed:

 

- that there was only One God and not 33 million deities.

- that God has no form and, therefore, idols cannot represent God.

- that God is in everyone so there is no need for a brahmin (Hindu

priest).

- that God is in everyone so the caste system is wrong, especially

the exclusion of the lowest castes, the untouchables. They were not

allowed to enter temples.

Attitude to Islam

 

The Gurus disagreed with Muslim worship because they believed:

 

- that God is everywhere so that there is no need to visit any

particular place or pray in a particular direction, e.g. Mecca.

- that God is in everyone so that there is no division between Muslim

(believer) and kafir (unbeliever).

- that God is in everyone so that dhimmis (non-Muslims in a Muslim

controlled country) should have the same rights as Muslims.

- that God judges people on their moral actions (e.g. compassion,

faithfulness, modesty), rather than ritual actions (e.g. prayer

times, washings, fastings). " Let compassion be your mosque, faith

your prayer carpet and righteousness your Qur'an. Let modesty be your

circumcision, and uprightness your fasting. Thus you will become a

true Muslim " (Guru Granth Sahib).

 

 

Attitudes To Women

 

All 10 Gurus said that women were equal to men.

Guru Nanak wrote hymns to challenge the exploitation of women. " Why

curse her from whom all the greatest of men have been born? None can

exist without a woman " (Guru Granth Sahib, p.473).

Women can lead all Sikh religious ceremonies in the Gurdwara such as

reading prayers and singing hymns.

By encouraging men to serve in the langar (free vegetarian kitchen)

the Gurus gave dignity to household chores.

Women as well as men can receive amrit. By using the name 'Kaur'

(meaning princess) they are showing that they do not need to use

their father's name and then their husband's name (showing that they

belong to them).

 

Female saint-soldier (Archeress)

Women and family life were regarded as taking people away from God's

worship but Guru Nanak said, " Living within the family people can

find mukti (liberation) " (Guru Granth Sahib, p.661). All the Gurus,

except one, were married and had families.

Guru Amar Das ordered Sikhs to avoid practices, and those who took

part in practices, that restricted women, e.g. killing of female

babies, sati (where the woman would kill herself on her husband's

funeral pyre), purdah (veiling of the face of women), and child

marriage. He encouraged widows to re-marry.

 

Sikhsim - Valus and Beliefs

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