What is Sikhism?

hi I'm Andrew Henry and I'm Simran Jeet Singh and today we're discussing Sikhism or bi it's more accurate name which I prefer sickie now there are twenty-seven million six worldwide most live in India but there's significant populations in United Kingdom and in the United States however many people don't know all that much about the six they're sometimes mistaken to be Muslims or Hindus and some even misconstrue the religion as a mixture of these two religions but sickie is its own unique religion with its own sacred texts founder and identity now we can't cover the entire religion in just 10 minutes so today we're going to focus on its core beliefs and practices which help illustrate the immense diversity of its practitioners how the religion has developed over the past 500 years and how six are contributing members of their societies all over the world sick he originates from the Punjab region of South Asia which spans from modern-day Pakistan to northern India it was here in 1469 that the founder of Sakhi Guru Nanak was born and his life time coincided with the establishment of the Mughal Empire a Muslim led dynasty that ruled over much of South Asia from the 16th to the 19th centuries the early years of sikhi are therefore shaped by growing in a religiously diverse region alongside a Hindu majority population living side-by-side with Muslims according to Sikh tradition Guru Nanak had a mystical experience around the age of 30 while bathing in a local river he suddenly disappeared and even though his friend thought he had drowned he emerged from the river three days later telling of an encounter he had with God this experience set him on the path to become the first Guru of the six and he travelled far and wide sharing this new understanding of God which is embodied in the Mull monter a short hymn composed by the Guru himself there is one God the identity of truth creator of all things and the all-pervading spirit fearless and without hatred timeless and formless beyond birth and death self created known by the grace of the Guru six recite this on a daily basis and in a way this prayer summarizes basic sick theology that there is one God the creator of the universe who is sometimes called a calm or at the colonel being according to Guru Nanak God is so limitless that humans are like fish trying to comprehend the ocean now the word guru literally means enlightenment and in the Sikh tradition this title is reserved for guru nanak and his nine successors the ten Sikh gurus are credited with fostering and cultivating the Sikh community from its establishment in the 15th century to the death of Guru Gobind Singh the tenth Sikh guru in 1708 before his death Guru Gobind Singh passed on the title of Guru ship-to to authorities for six to follow the Guru Granth side and the Guru Khalsa Panth the community of formerly initiated six the Guru Granth side is a collection of hymns and poetry compiled by the Sikh gurus themselves the six Scripture is unique in that it doesn't contain narratives it's all music and poetry the Guru Granth I've also differs from other religious texts in that it includes the writings of other religious figures such as Muslims and Hindus because of these reasons it's not really accurate to call the Guru Granth side the Sikh Bible or the Sikh Quran yes it is a collection of sacred Scripture but it is different for sex in that it is seen as the repository of the Guru's wisdom and as the eternal guru for the Sikh community this leads us to the topic of religious practice remember that religions are not just a collection of beliefs and doctrines they also include what people do let's take the example of the Guru Granth Sahib because it's considered to be the Guru six shows special reverence to the book itself the scripture is stored on raised platforms and Sikh houses of worship that represent a throne of authority when reading from the Guru Granth Sahib an attendant waives a ritual fan which represents how royalty was treated in the past none of this is done to worship the book but to show the respect that it deserves as guru this is why Sikh houses of worship are called good warez which is a Punjabi word meaning door to the Guru because it's here that Sikh communities gather and access the Guru together the most prominent gewd hua is Darbar Sahib in Amritsar Punjab you can find good warez all over the world serving as centers for Sikh congregational worship and a variety of lifecycle rituals such as baby naming marriage and funeral ceremonies the initiation ceremony is one of the most important rituals in the Sikh tradition because undergoing this ritual means becoming unworthy now what does that mean well remember that Guru Gobind Singh before his death instituted two authorities to help Shepherd the community going forward the Guru Granth side the collection of scriptures and the Guru Khalsa Panth the community of initiated six who have committed their lives to living the ideals of sickie the tradition goes that in 1699 Guru Gobind Singh called his followers to his tent drew his sword and asked for volunteers to sacrifice his head one by one five sick men came forward going into the tent only for Guru Gobind Singh to emerge each time with a bloody sword however after all of this the Guru then emerged with all five men completely unharmed some traditions say that Guru Gobind Singh secretly hid five goats in his tent and slaughtered them instead of the men and other traditions say that these five men survived miraculously nevertheless because of their bravery and devotion these five individuals came to be the first members of the new Sikh Order the Khalsa Panth which was a collection of disciplined individuals who committed their lives to living along the teachings of the Guru because he viewed everyone as equally divine and royal Guru Gobind Singh gave both men and women new royal names that subverted caste and gender distinctions women would carry their own lineage the last name Kaur and men with the last name sing and he initiated the five men by giving them Amrit a nectar substance that was made of water and sugar mixed with a double-edged sword while singing from the Sikh scripture to this day in gutiérrez all over the world six continued to administer initiation based off of this first initiation in 1699 the ceremony is led by five six representing the five original members of the kalsa they take turns stirring an iron Bowl of Amrit while reciting prayers the initiate scum forward and are sprinkled with the Amrit on their hair in eyes Amrit Sanchar is sometimes described as the sikh form of baptism but this is not entirely accurate now Christian baptism and Amrit Sanchar do both incorporate water but for a Sikh accepting initiation means committing to living a life according to the gurus teachings this includes some ethical precepts and disciplinary protocols the most easily noticeable being the commitment to maintaining five articles of faith which have come to be known to English speakers as the five K's because they each begin with a letter K they are case uncut hair wearing a small comb called the conga a steel bracelet kala kata a small knife called the coupon and shorts called cachoeira some scholars have interpreted the five K's through historical lens rooting them in the context of 17th and 18th century punjabi military garb for example some scholars have said that the gutta is there to protect the wearer's sword arm many today interpret the five K's symbolically so for example some take the cajeta and describe them as a reminder to practice sexual restraint and some six explain that thicker bond is not an offensive weapon but a reminder to always stand up for justice and against oppression Guru Gobind Singh did not explain why he chose these five articles of faith so any explanations we offer now are purely speculative well we can say definitively though is that for six these five K's have a deeply personal connection perhaps the closest analogy we can give is that of a wedding ring can we really explain what a wedding ring means to somebody in just one sentence it can mean love it can mean devotion it can mean commitment it means different things to different people in the same way while the five K's mean different things to different people generally six would agree that these five articles of faith are more than just symbols they represent a deep personal connection between themselves and their good this leads us to an important reminder whenever you study any religion religions are internally diverse they're not monolithic a lot of what we set up until now are generalizations about Sikh belief in practice but just like members of any other religion six differ widely on their interpretation of their beliefs and observe their practices differently for example not all six maintain the five there are many six who cut their hair or shave or don't wear turbans at all and this doesn't make them any less sick the term Sahaj body is often used to describe those who self-identify as sick but don't maintain the visible sikh identity moreover within the culture itself there's a variety of groups who differ on aspects of what it means to be sick some who interpret the five K's differently others such as the Nanak star movement claimed that Guru Nanak appeared to their leader in the early twentieth century we don't have time to go through each group individually but it's important to remember the internal diversity of sickie so we don't form a one dimensional opinion of the religion well six are an internally diverse community there are some experiences that they share collectively one example of a shared experience is that of racism and Prejudice in modern America studies show that most Americans do not know who six are and that six are experiencing increasing discrimination because of their unique religious identity anti-sikh discrimination takes various forms from workplace discrimination and racial profiling to school bullying the first casualty of a hate crime after 9/11 was vabir Singh Sodhi a Sikh American in Mesa Arizona his attacker Frank R oak spewed anti-muslim hate speech before and after the murderer which helped illustrate how six fall within the racialized category of the apparent Muslim a new racial category that accounts for anybody who is perceived to be Muslim based on how they look in 2012 a white supremacist named Wade Michael Page entered a Gurdwara in Oak Creek Wisconsin and opened fire on the congregation killing six and injuring several others the Sikh community responded to this Massacre by opening up their doors to the local community serving all the reporters and officials who came to help in the aftermath of the massacre the six who participated in these efforts were drawing from ideas in the Sikh tradition such as Savea the practice of love inspired service Jared Ecola the idea of Perpetual optimism and Sabbath table the upliftment of all humanity although we've only scratched the surface we hope now that you have an idea of the history and immense diversity of Sikh communities worldwide and if you'd like - no more we're including a few resources in the video description below and as always thanks for watching hey everyone thanks for watching this video took so long to make that I actually grew a beard in the meantime special thanks to my friend and colleague Simran he's a scholar and an activist and now a children's book author you should all check out his upcoming children's book on foul juh Singh who's a Sikh man who became the oldest man ever to run a marathon you can also follow Simran on twitter at sikh Prof link is in the description below to pre-order the book thanks for watching I'll see you next time

Channel: ReligionForBreakfast

Views: 59,721

Rating: 4.9241314 out of 5

Keywords: Sikhism, sikhism explained, what is sikhism, sikhi, Guru Nanak, Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh Prof, Simran Jeet Singh, turban, Five Ks, Five K, Kesh, Kanga, Kara, Kachera, Punjab, India, beard, intro to sikhism

Id: MWsClPXLApA

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Mon May 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/TheTurbanatore]

ATTENTION EVERYONE: We have started to see trolls in the comment sections of the video. They are using the same malicious tactics such as bringing up exaggerated claims about Gurdwara fights, saying that Sikhi is a creation of the British, saying Sikhs are Hindus, etc.

We request that everyone please downvote and report all the troll comments.

Feel free to also promote the Sikh Reddit in the comments section, as that way those who want to learn more about Sikhi have a great place to start, and it also helps our community grow.

[u/TheTurbanatore]

This was a fun introduction video, and I really appreciate how they used the term Sikhi.

I also loved how they frequently used images of non-Punjabi Sikhs, as this helps break the misconception of Sikhi only being for Punjabi's.

While there are some philosophical/historical misconceptions in this video, such as the idea that Guru Gobind Singh Ji never explaining why he chose the 5K's, or unnecessarily mentioning Nanaksar

They also left out major aspects of Sikhi, such as the concept of Langar, Seva, Kirtan, etc.

However, the video was overall good, and I hope more people make videos on Sikhi.

[u/not_able_to_sleep]

Nothing about langar? or Nothing about basic tenets about equality and justice for all? Not useful for beginners.

I still think cogito one is the best!

https://youtu.be/L-1UAORcX4c

[u/[deleted]]

Agreed.. very informative and really good