Sikhism PDF - Topic 11

SIKHISM TOPIC 11 Historical Background, Founders Scriptures RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021  SIKHISM: Historical Background Sikhism, the religion of the Sikh community. It originated in the Punjab region of India arou...

SIKHISM TOPIC 11 Historical Background, Founders Scriptures RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021  SIKHISM: Historical Background Sikhism, the religion of the Sikh community. It originated in the Punjab region of India around the sixteenth century. Some scholars view Sikhism primarily as a reform movement of Hinduism; others see it as an outstanding example of religious syncretism—a blend of Hinduism and Islam. The Sikhs, however, reject such interpretations of their religion as misrepresentations. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 2  Cont… To its followers, Sikhism is not simply the reworking of two older religions, but a new, divine revelation and, consequently, a genuinely independent religion. In the seventeenth century, the Sikhs became involved in politics, with the result that they earned the displeasure of the ruling Mughal dynasty. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 3  Cont… During the time of Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) many of the Sikhs, including one of their gurus, were executed. They reacted with armed resistance, which fostered military characteristics that they retain to this day. The Sikhs are mainly distinguishable by their beards, long hair, turbans, and steel bracelets, but some, especially those who live in large Western cities, have shaved off their beards, cut their hair, and discarded the turban. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 4  Cont… While Sikhs are mainly concentrated in the province of the Punjab (presently divided between Pakistan and India), a considerable number have emigrated, especially since India’s independence and partition in 1947, to Great Britain, Europe, and the Americas. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 5  SIKHISM: The Founder GURU NANAK: The founder of Sikhism is Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who was born of Hindu parents in the village of Talwandi, some sixty kilometers from Lahore, India. Nanak’s father was the village clerk and his mother was a pious woman who was devoted to the family. Nanak was a reflective boy, and at an early age studied both the Islamic Qur’an and the Hindu Shastras (scriptures). RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 6  Cont… He was also greatly influenced by Kabir (1440-1518), a Muslim poet who taught the oneness of God, the union of humankind with God, the consubstantiality between Hinduism and Islam, and the irrelevance of formal creeds and dogmas. Tradition asserts that Nanak’s marriage, which took place while he was still in his teens, was unhappy. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 7  Cont… Even though two sons resulted from this marriage, Nanak left his home and, in traditional fashion, wandered around India in search of truth and wisdom. He is also believed to have made pilgrimage to Mecca, even though he was a Hindu. The revelation that transformed Nanak from an obscure wanderer to a guru came to him as he was meditating in a forest in Sultanpur, India, when he was about thirty years old. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 8  Cont… The message of the vision was that God had singled him out to proclaim the True Name. shortly after this, Nanak announced his message: “There is no Muslim and there is no Hindu.” RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 9 SIKHISM: Succession of Guru Nanak Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine other gurus during the next 150 years. They are as follow: Name Birth-Death Leadership 1. Guru Angad 1504-1552 1539-1552 2. Guru Amar Das 1479-1574 1552-1574 3. Guru Ram Das Sodhi 1534-1581 1574-1581 4. Guru Arjan Dev 1563-1606 1581-1606 5. Guru Har Gobind 1595-1644 1606-1644 6. Guru Har Rai 1630-1661 1644-1661 7. Guru Har Kishan 1656-1664 1661-1664 8. Guru Tegh Bahadur 1621-1675 1664-1675 9. Guru Gobind Singh 1666-1708 1675-1708 RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 10  Cont… These nine gurus, in turn, shaped the religion of Sikhism by consolidating, institutionalizing, and contributing significantly to its social, political, religious life. A few of these leaders merit special mention. Guru Angad, whom Nanak appointed as his successor, distinguished himself particularly by devising a Punjabi script—the script in which Sikh scriptures are written. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 11  Cont… Significant changes also occurred under the administration of the fifth guru, Arjan Dev, who completed his father’s project of building the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which today is the holy city of the Sikhs, and pioneered the practice of making pilgrimages there. His greatest contribution, however, was the compilation of the Granth Sahib (Holy Book)—the Sikh scripture. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 12  Cont… When Guru Arjan was killed by the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1606, he was succeeded by his son, Har Gobind, who was responsible for the development among Sikhs of a more militant and aggressive attitude toward their enemies. Under Guru Gobind, Sikhs were forced for the first time to resort to the sword and to assume a national character—factors that contributed considerably to their persecution at the hands of Mughal rulers. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 13  SIKHISM: Scriptures  The Guru Granth Sahib - Adi Granth is the first Sikh Holy Scripture: Collections of the teachings of the Sikh Gurus had been in circulation for over a century. Guru Arjan, the fourth in succession to Guru Nanak the founder of the faith, felt the need of a central collection which he compiled in 1604. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 14  Cont… The collection also included and sanctified selections from the writings of some prominent non-Sikh saints of medieval India; Hindus like Namdev and Ravidas and Muslims like Kabir, Sheikh Farid and Bhikhan: to show that truth is not the monopoly of anyone religion, that it is approachable by diverse paths and the grace of God is available to anyone who loves God and his creatures. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 15  Cont… A revision was commissioned by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Sikh Guru, who added hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur to the existing sacred material. Guru Gobind Singh did not nominate any human being to succeed him as Guru. Instead, a few days before his death in 1708 he bestowed the status of Guru on the scripture and since then the Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth has been called the Guru Granth Sahib. Granth comes from the Sanskrit meaning a collection; sahib means lord or master and represents the Sikh mode of expressing respect and veneration. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 16  Cont… The Granth opens with Sikh creed, known as the Mool Mantra or Mul Mantra - the basis of the Sikh belief. Freely translated it reads: There is but one God. Truth by name, the Creator, all Pervading spirit, without fear, without enmity. Whose existence is unaffected by time, who does not take birth, self existent, who is to be realized through his grace. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 17  Cont… These hymns of devotion are arranged according to the Indian musical pattern, and as such it is not possible to pinpoint the doctrinal statements in logical sequence. Certain ideas emerge as dominant by virtue of repetition and can be tabulated under various headings to form the principles of the Sikh faith. It advocates the worship of one God, family life, and equality of human beings. It rejects image worship, physical renunciation of the world, and belief in omens and miracles. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 18  Cont… It discourages formalism, bigotry and monasticism in religion, and condemns the use of beer, spirits, wine and drugs. It accepts the theory of karma and transmigration of the soul along with a belief in the grace of God. It also provides insights into the religious, political and social conditions prevailing in India during the Middle Ages. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 19  Cont… Any reference to the events relating to the private or public lives of the Gurus, however, is conspicuous by its absence. The Granth is a collection of devotional hymns with almost no narrative material. The Guru Granth Sahib is of central and paramount importance in the life of a Sikh. No ceremony, religious or secular, is complete without it. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 20  Cont… The second sacred book of the Sikhs is the Dasam Granth - the book of the tenth master. It was issued in 1734 in the name of Guru Gobind Singh by Bhai Mani Singh, one of his close disciples. Sikh scholars are not unanimous in attributing the whole of it to Guru Gobind Singh, but no attempt has ever been made to sift the compositions and to produce an authorised version of the Dasam Granth. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 21  Cont… Guru Gobind Singh was a great poet, believed to have composed poetry on many topics and in many languages. He had fifty-two poets and scholars in his court at Anandpur. According to Sikh tradition, most of the Guru’s writings and the works of other poets were lost during the time of the abandonment of Anandpur under severe pressure from the Mughal army. After the death of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, Mani Singh, one of the Guru’s trusted disciples, collected the writings of Guru Gobind Singh, a task completed in 1734 at Amritsar. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 22  Cont… In volume and size, it is as big as the Guru Granth Sahib itself, but it differs from it both in content and approach. The language used is mainly Hindi; the Zafar Nama (a spiritual victory letter sent by Guru Gobind Singh to Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb in 1705) however is in Persian, the Chandi Di Var (a philosophical, spiritual and heroic composition written by Guru Gobind Singh and included in the 5th Chapter of Dasam Granth) in Punjabi; but the medium employed throughout is the Gurmukhi script (the written form of Punjabi) in which the Guru Granth Sahib is written. RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021 23 THANK YOU RKUD 2250 WORLD RELIGIONS II 1/30/2021