What is Sikhism?

looking at a list of the largest religions in the world the top results are often very old stemming back thousands of years christianity islam hinduism buddhism are all traditions that have been here for quite a moment but then there is sikhism which is often listed as the fifth largest religious group in the world and yet it is a rather young religion especially compared to the other ones on the list having origins in 16th century punjab in india sikhs have established themselves as a major faith tradition around the world and are often very recognizable sadly one of the reasons for this is that they have often been mistaken for muslims due to their appearance and have received a certain discrimination as a result to anyone watching it should be clear that all of these kinds of misunderstandings are due to a lack of information and lack of education about the sikh religion which is exactly why it is appropriate to make this video so who are the six and what are their beliefs and their practices [Music] sikhism is a monotheistic religious tradition with origins in india and with the punjab as its sort of base or central region what we refer to as sikhism is actually called sikhi by its practitioners and this is a rather important point the way we look at the world of religions as just that a group of fixed religions with defined borders and categorizations is very much a western invention a result of colonialist paradigms and techniques of ruling thus we often see in places like india how traditions that are very complex and function and organize themselves in very different ways than in europe how they are religionized here in the west we have a certain idea of what a religion is which is almost exclusively based on a christian model in particular and when the colonial powers for example wish to categorize their the people that they ruled in terms of religion they did so based on this christian model complex and nuanced local native traditions became isms like hinduism buddhism and sikhism and to be a religion based on the christian model meant that you had certain things you had a founder you had a book and you had certain beliefs and practices that characterized your religion but when it comes to the religions of india like sikhism for example things were often a lot more complex than that and to apply a already fixed christian model to these traditions in india does not really capture their complexity and the actual way that these traditions worked historically so this should be kept in mind as we go forward i will occasionally be using the word sikhism but and when we do so we should understand that this is a construct and that it doesn't really capture the complexity and vibrance of the tradition of sikhi the word sikhi is related to the punjabi word sikna which means to learn so sikhi and to be a sikh essentially means to be on a path of learning a path of self-purification and devotion specifically to a group of teachers known as the gurus who are these gurus then well let's get started sikhism was essentially founded or at least originates in the life and teachings of the first guru guru nanak as well as a succeeding line of nine gurus following him guru nanak was born in 1469 in a village close to lahore his family were of the hindu tradition and at a young age he received education in the vedas and the so-called six schools of hindu philosophy but biographies also tell of how he studied some persian and arabic with muslims and that none of the traditions and wisdoms he was taught seemed satisfactory to him from a very early age nanak showcased unusual behavior he became very spiritually inclined and was entirely uninterested in mundane affairs which worried his parents who desperately wanted him to get married and have a normal job i think a lot of us can relate to that kind of situation in our youth he went through periods of great existential crisis bouts of depression but with sudden bursts of joy and sadness people in the village basically started to think that the young nanak had lost his mind but according to himself and sikh how geography he was on a deep inner spiritual search eventually though he had a period of relative normality when he moved to a neighboring village got married had children and worked as an accountant for around 12 years during this period he continued to be spiritually interested and had a routine of getting up early before sunrise bathing to purify himself in the river and then chant and meditate on the name of god as well as sing devotional songs along with his muslim friend and rabba player mardana but one morning at the age of 33 he suddenly never returned home from his morning rituals people went looking for him but couldn't find him for three days after which he suddenly re-emerged seemingly a changed man who had had transformative experiences of spiritual clarity when people asked where he had been he simply replied through verses of poetry or with the now famous lion quote there is no hindu there is no muslim what was nanak referring to here and what was it that he had experienced before we continue this story and in order to understand these questions i think it's important to get a grasp of the cultural and religious context and environment in which he lived this was mughal india as many of you have probably already gathered and as has always been the case in india this was a time of great religious diversity of course the vast variety of traditions we now collectively refer to as hinduism was all prevalent and nanak's families seem to have been hindus themselves but this is also an environment where islam was hugely widespread and popular and especially through the form and expression of sufism islam sufism and hinduism had long been in dialogue and discussion by the time of nanak's life as we have discussed in earlier videos there had been many on both sides who argued for a common core and harmony between the muslims and caught indian monotheists that is certain forms of hinduism needless to say there were many at this time including nanak who were influenced by both the hindu and sufi traditions and there were a lot of co-mingling happening between these traditions perhaps even more significantly only a few years before the life of nanak and sometimes contemporarily with him there lived a group of sages or saints that were known as the bhagats these were local holy men deeply devoted to service of the ineffable divine but which a lot of the time defied any clear belonging to one religion or the other these included figures like the famous kibir ravidas and nam dev and their eclectic teachings and personality would have a great impact on guru nanak and sikhism as a whole to return to our narrative nanak returned from his three days absence an enlightened man he had as he tells us experienced the essential oneness of all existence through a death of the ego from this moment on he was given the title of guru and began to attract an increasing number of students guru nanak started to dress in a way that combined the clothing style of hindu sadhus and muslim sufi fakhirs which led him to often be mistaken for one or the other and with these clothes and together with his muslim friend and musician mardana he started to travel widely for a good number of years he went eastward into the indian subcontinent but also west all the way to baghdad and to the holy cities of islam mecca and medina on his travels he would meet and discuss with representatives of both islam hinduism and other religious traditions by the time he returned from these journeys he was 50 years old and from here he continued to grow and develop his new community which was known as nanakpant but which his followers would later come to call sikhi the teachings and instructions of guru nanak serve as the basis for a lot of sikh practice to this day he composed a huge collection of devotional poetry much of which is included in the guru granth sahib the sacred scripture of the sixth and which includes the center of hymn called japi which seeks recite every morning nanak taught that there was only one god a divinity that is formless and exists in all places at all times existence or reality is ultimately a oneness and this oneness can be experienced as an imminent personal divine presence he placed a major emphasis on the remembrance of god's name a practice known as nam japna where one would chant the name waheguru or wonderful lord much like he had done earlier in life the sikhs were to rise early in the morning to meditate on the name in this way as well as to take part in kirtan the singing of praises to god with musical accompaniment the purpose of these practices was to transform the self for ego to experience a death of the self and in that death experience the ultimate oneness of all things but nanak also very strictly forbade any form of asceticism he thought that it was very important for the sikh followers to live a householder's life to have a job to provide for their family as well as to be able to give to those who are in need and that last point is actually another one of the most important parts of his teaching the importance of justice and of helping those who are less fortunate and connected to this guru nanak also established what has become one of the cornerstones of sikh practice the lankar or free communal kitchen this was a place where people of all creeds and backgrounds could come and be served a free meal in other words you had six hindus and muslims people of different castes nobles and peasants all sitting shoulder to shoulder eating together the practice of lanka or the free kitchen was not exactly something that nanak came up with muslim sufis had already done this for quite a while before but he is unique in the sense that he made it a cornerstone of his new spiritual path and this practice became such an important part of the sikh religion that it is still an essential part of all gurdwaras or sikh temples to this very day after quite a long life and having gathered a significant following guru nanak passed away in the year 1539 aged 70. but before he did so he had also established a strategy for keeping this new path alive according to nanak anyone could reach the level of enlightenment that he had and become a guru within all of us is a potential guru a guiding principle and the key to enlightenment known as satguru and before he died he announced that his leadership as guru would be carried on by others and he appointed guru angad as the second guru of the six after nanak there were nine more gurus that are acknowledged by most six making 10 gurus in total they all elaborated on the teachings and practices of nanak in various ways and a few of them are worth discussing more in depth firstly the fifth guru guru arjan is significant in various ways he not only expanded the sikh community greatly but was also the one who first compiled the scripture known as the adi grant this was a compilation of hymns by the sikh gurus thus far as well as other non-sikh figures that were seen as canonical and important quote the compilation and installation of the adi grant was a landmark event in sikh history apart from putting an authoritative seal on the poetic consciousness and authentic teaching of the sikh gurus the grant also provided the sikhs with its sense of distinctness without creating formal religious boundaries just as importantly it signaled a change in the outward manifestation of authority whereas with arijan's predecessors the body and voice of the guru had been the sole locus of sovereign authority six now came to recognize the grant as an equal and legitimate form of sovereign the adhi grant is what would later be expanded and named the guru granth sahib the what you'd call the holy scripture of the sixth but we're not quite there yet in our story guru arjan is also significant in that he is the one who had the harmandir saheb better known as the golden temple built in the city of amritsar and established this city as a major pilgrimage site for the sikhs which it still is today a lot of people think about the golden temple when they hear the word sikhism and this is indeed essentially the most holy place in the world for the practitioners of this religion lastly guru arjan is also especially remembered as the first martyr of the sikh gurus the sikh's relationship with their muslim neighbors varied from time to time as we saw there was a lot of mutual respect and influence between various religious groups in the region and the six are part of this wider discussion and debate at the time the mughal rulers the emperors of the mughal dynasty often sort of oscillated between acceptance and tolerance and condemnation for example the emperor akbar is said to have visited the early sikh community under guru nanak and when he visited he was so pleased with what he saw especially the lankar kitchen that he gave them a bunch of gifts which shows that akbar definitely was positively inclined towards the six we also see cordial relationships between later six and figures like the prince darashuku and even a story where the sufi is said to have laid the foundation stone at the sort of opening of the golden temple in amritsar even if the story is most likely a legendary it still shows you that there was a lot of mutual respect and interaction between religious groups but as a war of succession broke out between akbar's sons salim and husro things changed dramatically khusro had apparently stopped by gondival during a campaign against his brother and accounts tell how he might have been sheltered and fed by guru arjan and his community this of course greatly angered salim by now the emperor jahangir who with some stricter islamic scholars on his side summoned guru arajan to where he was given a chance to either pay a fine and admit to treason against the state or to convert to islam when the guru refused both he was executed by torture this was a traumatic event for the six and after this first martyrdom we see a significant change in the community the remaining five gurus would place a much larger emphasis on defense carrying weapons and the ideal of the warrior saints whereas the earlier gurus had been more pacifist and quietest the six had become a powerful community and would continue to grow into an increasing threat to the mughal powers and other rulers in the region especially as they started to amass an army and place a larger emphasis on combat now this wasn't a complete turnaround as the earlier gurus had emphasized a balance between spiritual practice and purification on the one hand and an active involvement in the world on the other but after the martyrdom of guru arjan and this trauma of the community we see a change of emphasis by the gurus and the sikhs in a general sense lastly i think it's important to explore the last of the human gurus the 10th guru guru gobind singh he's central to the story for a number of reasons perhaps especially for the fact that he established the khalsa this is another turning point in the history of sikhism one that determines the religion as we know it today after his father the ninth guru tegh bahadur had also become a martyr to the mughal emperor aurangzeb guru gobind singh then known as gobind rai had fortified himself and his community in anand poor where he fought wars with a number of hindu kings but also took time to think about the state of the community there had been many inner conflicts within the sikh community competing groups who favored different people for the role of guru when producing new different texts aside from the other grant etc it was a mess and gobindrai needed a way to bring stability and harmony to the community his solution to this was twofold firstly on march the 30th 1699 he established the aforementioned khalsa community in a theatrical ceremony that is so fascinating that it is worth spending some time to retell in full the guru gathered his community of followers in a place in anandpur where a tent had been erected on a heightened platform there was excitement in the air no one was really sure why they were there or what was about to happen and suddenly in the midst of this the guru comes out of the tent with a sword in his hand and suddenly to the shock of the audience he asks if anyone is willing to offer their head for the sake of the guru at first no one answers perhaps understandably so but after he asked again and again finally there was a person who stepped forward and was willing to offer his head so the guru took the man into the tent and the audience heard a loud thump and after this the guru came back out this time with a bloodied sword and now the guru asked again is there anyone here who would like to offer their head for the guru and he continued to ask this again and again until five people in total had accepted gone into the tent and the thump had been heard by the audience the rest of the audience of course was quite shocked and nervous i would assume by what was happening but there was a twist because suddenly the five men emerged again out of the tent seemingly unscathed and now wearing blue and saffron robes these five men had been given a new exalted role quote they were introduced to the sangha as the guru's five beloved ones and the nucleus of the new sovereign order called khalsa after this the guru then officially initiated the five men into the khalsa order by sprinkling some sugar crystals into an iron vessel filled with water and then stirring that water with a double-edged sword while reciting certain hymns the five men then took a drink each from this cup and now they were formally initiated into the khalsa they were part of this new order now this ritual which is known as kandika pahul is performed to this day in the exact same way for new initiates who wants to become part of this khalsa community it represents a dissolution of all former social relations and associations no longer with the sikhs to identify with their caste or with their particular family line instead all six were to take the same last name sing for men which means a lion and cow for women which means princess in other words they were now all equal parts in a vast community of worshippers to enter into this khalsa community meant that you were to follow certain rules and codes of conduct most centrally perhaps there is often talk of the so-called five k's now these five symbols of sikh belonging are the same externally for all six but there are different interpretations within the religion about how they should be understood and what they all symbolize here is one symbolic reading of the five case the first one is called case which is to have long unkept hair in order to comply with the laws of nature now related to this is also the wearing of the sick turban which has become perhaps the most recognizable symbol of sikhism secondly there is kanga which is a comb used to well comb the hair and keep it clean this symbolizes the sick rejection of asceticism that while the hair is long and allowed to grow one still takes care of it and stays active in the world thirdly there is kirpan a dagger that is used to protect one's life since the community was under threat at the time but also as a responsibility to protect all other life and those who are in need of help then there is kata an iron bracelet that represents the circle of life and death in order to remind the person of his mortality and thus his responsibility to live a moral life in accordance with the guru's teachings and with god and lastly there is kash a kind of undergarment that signifies a need for sexual restraint these 5ks now serve not only as important aspects of sick practice on a personal level but also serve to distinguish these sick initiates and more firmly establish the community's identity the khalsa community was a new era for the six it was the guru's solution to the disunity of the community and the various infightings it consolidated the community more concretely and established further ways that the community distinguished themselves the majority of sikhs followed guru gobind singh's new order even if some didn't and didn't want to give up their earlier associations with their cast for example still the khalsa and its characteristic expressions is one of the cornerstones of sikhism today and one almost cannot be thought of without the other but guru gobind singh wasn't done he made another very significant change to the sikh tradition as a second solution to the many problems in the community at the time he made a drastic decision that the line of human gurus were to end with him instead he now established the adi grant the texts that contained hymns by earlier gurus and other writers as the new eternal guru its new name the guru granth sahib indicates its new position the text itself was the new guru and would continue to be so for all time all the teachings of the 10 human gurus were collected in this work and it was to serve as the primary source of guidance for sikhs from then on thus with the death of guru gobind singh in 1708 the era of the human sikh gurus ends and the era of the guru granth sahib begins from then on authority was shifted from the line of gurus to the guru granth sahib as well as the guru khalsa pant the khalsa community of initiates itself the guru granth sahib is a massive compendium it is still at the very center of sikh practice today all gurudwaras sikh temples contain a copy of it indeed having a copy of the text is what makes a place a gurvara at least one of the things by the time of the 10th guru's death we're not that far back in history anymore but of course in spite of this since then sikhism has continued to evolve and change to meet new times and situations developments like modernity and colonialism has of course forced sikhs to re-evaluate and re-understand certain aspects of their religion and as with all religions it is a tradition that is constantly evolving and changing with time and circumstance indeed as we saw in the beginning it was due to the colonialists and their categorizations that the whole concept of a sikhism as a religion in the western sense even came to be and very significant political changes like the independence of india in 1947 of course has played a major role in the way that sikhism has evolved and the way that it functions today okay so with all of this history in mind we can now start to explore more in depth the actual beliefs and teachings of sikhism the philosophy of sikhism if you will as well as how all of that relates to the historical events that we have been talking about the teachings and ideas of sikhism are very interesting and fascinating especially in relation to the context and environment in which it originated it is born in an environment where islam especially as understood through sufism and hinduism are in dialogue and the teachings of the sikh gurus can definitely appear to have features from both of these traditions and especially exist at the very meeting points between the two religions in those places where the similarities between them kind of co-mingle remember when guru nanak came back from his transformative spiritual experience he uttered the very famous quotes there is no hindu there is no muslim seemingly indicating that he wanted to find or indicate some sort of truth that hides within both of those traditions and to do away with sectarian identification with either of the two that's at least one interpretation of what he means firstly sikhism is usually referred to as a monotheistic religion this means that they believe in the existence of a single god or put less abrahamically a singular divine principle this divinity is known by the term ikonkar a complex phrase that can be translated in many ways as one god as there is only one god sometimes all is one or in a more literal translation one whose expression emerges as word the important part as you can tell is the word ich which is literally the number one the divine is one and oneness is the absolute guru nanak and his successors taught that the sought-after absolute experience is one where all of reality is realized to be a single oneness or a non-duality that oneness being an intimate presence and identical with god this idea of god also sometimes called waheguru wondrous teacher is expressed in the very first lines of the japji guru nanak's most central composition that is recited every morning by six the first lines of this hymn has become a kind of creedal statement and is known as mulmantar and goes quote there is one supreme being the eternal reality the creator without fear and devoid of enmity immortal never incarnated self-existent known by grace through the true guru the goal according to nanak and the other gurus is to realize this inherent oneness of reality the divine that is always present and available to everyone god 2d6 is an all-embracing reality it exists everywhere at all times in all things and yet somehow transcendent from them at the same time one can achieve this goal through the teachings of the human and scriptural gurus of course but it is an experience that is essentially available to everyone we all have the potential for enlightenment within us a principle referred to as sat guru or true guru that can unlock a unitive experience satguru is quite simply the force imminent within us that creates a change of conversion from ordinary ego centered consciousness to ego-less consciousness and that's precisely the point what is it that's keeping us from realizing this essential oneness at all times if it is always present within us in simple terms it's the ego the very concept of the i with which we usually identify ourselves this is the main obstacle against knowing god because when we say i we identify ourselves as a thing in opposition to other things so that's we're creating a duality if there is an i that means there is something other than myself and thus we have created a duality which goes against the very nature of god which is that all things are a oneness so the more we create duality the more we identify with this ego this i the less we can know god and the one as such this gets in the way of us realizing that there is no i at least if understood as being different from other things because all things are one guru nanak says quote o nanak to recognize this imperative for it to take effect let the ego not say i am myself a very simple instruction it seems but it is of course a little more complicated than that but this is essentially the crux of the problem where there is i or ego there cannot be god the very nature and experience of god as oneness is fundamentally incompatible with the experience of an individual self this is expressed by guru nanak and the other gurus in the guru granth sahib and is one of the main themes that has hammered home again and again god and the self can never be in the same place at the same time so to say for example listen to this verse quote when i act an ego you're not present when you're present ego is absent o nanak repeat these words he is me i am him the one in whom the three worlds are merged the person who has reached this sovereign consciousness is referred to as a gurmukh to be in character or personality of a guru as opposed to a manmook someone who follows his ego or lower mind but as opposed to the teachings of some more extremely ascetical traditions sikhi doesn't teach that one is to annihilate the ego as such the ego or one's consciousness has to be rewired by reciting the name of god and one transforms one's understanding from i am myself to i am not but at the same time the gurus were very adamant that the sikh practitioners needs to be active in this world to live a social life be a householder and provide for one's family and those around you sikhism rejects asceticism but teaches that the transformed ego or self-understanding is to be reoriented to a care and concern for the well-being of others one is to stay away from evil vices and tendencies in particular there is often talk of the so-called five enemies five moral evils there are to be avoided and fought by all six these are one calm which is lust or craving two crowd anger three lobe greed there is more attachment and a egotism it is for this reason that seeks plays a major emphasis on helping others and on charity practices that we have already mentioned like the lanka or communal kitchen has been a central part of sikhi because of this now aside from some of these basic themes and teachings sikhi also teaches some things that we recognize from other religious traditions like hinduism buddhism and jainism the sikhs believe in a version of reincarnation that when we die we are then reborn perhaps the most central practice of sikhism the primary way that one is to change one's consciousness and silence the ego is by reciting the name of god a practice known as nam japani here the name of god specifically the name waheguru is chanted for a duration of time it is thought that by remembering god's name by reciting god's name again and again one rewires the ego to stop identifying with the self and instead realizing a kind of divine consciousness or understanding or becoming more conscious of the oneness of reality which is after all what god is another very central part of sikh practice is the performance of kirtan in other words of music and singing from the days of guru nanak who would be accompanied in his own singing on the rabbah by his muslim companion maradana the performance of music is one of the cornerstones of sikh practice so if you visit a gurvara or you go to a sikh ceremony there will usually be music involved they will sing the hymns from the guru granth sahib and praise god through musical form this is very important all of these practices can be done basically anywhere but there are also sikh places of worship known as gurudwara meaning a door to the guru in which devotees gather for communal services a gurdwara must house a copy of the guru granth sahib the sacred scripture of sikhism which figures at the centerpiece of the temple anne of the ceremony the book will often be treated like a human guru seated on a kind of throne and given the utmost respect and care when being recited there will usually be attendants who will wave fans in the same way that one would traditionally treat kings as you probably remember the guru granth sahib is considered to be the everlasting guru the successor to the 10 human gurus and contains the hymns and composition of those earlier human gurus as well as other writers it is quite significant that the guru grant sahib is one of the rare scriptures that actually include writings by people from other religions in the guru granth sahib we find poems and hymns from hindus sufi muslims like baba fareed as well as figures who are harder to pin down as such like kabir reciting the hymns from the guru granth sahib is another key feature of the life of sikhs a gurdwara can really be any kind of building as long as it contains the text everything from a regular living room to the most famous and very ornate golden temple in amritsar india gurdwaras are usually open to anyone who wants to visit regardless of religious affiliation and they almost always have a lanka or communal kitchen connected to them it is also in gurdwaras that important life events like name giving ceremonies and marriages are performed however with all of this said it is important to keep in mind rule number one when it comes to studying and understanding religions that all religions are internally diverse and that they change and evolve over time this means that anything that i've said in this video regarding the beliefs and interpretations of sikh ideas is just that it's one interpretation and there's usually a lot of different groups and understandings within the religion itself as in any other religion for example as we saw earlier not all six initially accepted the new order initiated by guru gobind singh the council community and as such did not choose to adhere to the 5ks for example in other words it goes without saying that not all six have long hair or you know not all six wear turbans like all religions sikhism is a complex and multifaceted tradition today sikhi is a religious tradition with the presence in many parts of the world the main center where the majority of sikhs live is still in india and especially in the punjab region where it originated it is estimated that there are around 22 million six living in india today but over the last centuries there has also formed significant diaspora communities especially in places like the united kingdom canada and the united states wherever sikhs are found they are often very active and visible participants in society for example the former canadian minister of national defense harjit singh sajan is a sikh and served between 2015-2021 in total there are around 25 million six in the world today making it one of the largest religions in the world often ranked as the fifth largest right after buddhism and by now i hope that some of you feel a little more enlightened and comfortable in your understanding of this major religion of the world it is a very young religion especially compared to many of the other major religions but it is one that has established itself very quickly as a cornerstone not only of religious history in india but of the entire world sikhism began with the life and teachings of guru nanak in the 16th century and has continued to grow and evolve until today what remains a deep and rich tradition that can easily inspire and fascinate anyone who is lucky enough to explore it i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

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Keywords: What is Sikhism, Sikhism, Sikhi, Sikhs, Sikh religion, religion, Sikhism documentary, Guru Nanak, Sikhism explained, India religion, religion in india, Sikhi explained, sikhism history, sikhism introduction, sikhism 101, Let's Talk Religion, Non-dualism, spirituality, eastern spirituality, philosophy, Indian philosophy, Islam and hinduism, sikhism philosophy, monotheism, pantheism, monism

Id: Mr4-fuUJsEc

Length: 37min 31sec (2251 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 02 2022

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Great channel recommend his other videos highly!