Sikhism was founded in the 15th Century by
Guru Nanak. The view that Sikhism is a variety of Hinduism is
completely wrong, and gives great offence to Sikhs. There are
18-20 million Sikhs in the world, and 80% of them live in the
Punjab state in Northwest India , where the faith began. The
word "Sikh" is Punjabi for "disciple" and Sikhs are disciples
of the Gurus.
Sikh men are on the whole easy to identify
because they all have a full beard, and wear their hair uncut
and enclosed in a turban. The Sikh place of worship is called
a Gurdwara or shrine.
Sikhism does not have priests, but most
gurdwaras will have a Granthi. A Granthi is a learned Sikh who
is skilled in reading the scriptures. The key Sikh scripture
is the Adi Granth, often called the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs
consider that the words of these scriptures are the present
day personification of the Sikh Guru and they take care of the
book with the reverence and loyalty that they would have given
to a human Guru. Sikhism does not vigorously look for
converts.
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The ten human Gurus:
• Guru Nanak, 1469-1539
• Guru Angad, born 1504,
Guru 1539-1552
• Guru Amar Das, born 1479,
Guru 1552-1574
• Guru Ram Das, born 1534,
Guru 1574-1581
• Guru Arjan, born 1563,
Guru 1581-1606
• Guru Hargobind, born
1595, Guru 1606-1644
• Guru Har Rai, born 1630,
Guru 1644-1661
• Guru Har Krishan, born
1656, Guru 1661-1664
• Guru Teg Bahadur, born
1621, Guru 1664-1675
• Guru Gobind Singh, born
1666, Guru 1675-1708 |
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The spirit of being a Sikh is
that one lives one's life according to the teachings of the Sikh
Gurus, dedicate time to ponder on God and the scriptures, and
does things to profit other people. Sikhs believe that there is
a single, all-powerful God, who created the universe and
everything in it.
Sikh believes in : equality,
everyone can be directly communicate with God, they donot regard
Sikhism as the only way to God, they believe that rituals should
be avoided, the use of force As a last option to go on with and
they consider death is not an end.
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Guru Gobind Singh was the
last Guru of the Sikhs in human form. He shaped the Khalsa, a
spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood devoted to cleanliness of
thought and action. He gave the Khalsa a characteristic external
form to repeat them of their obligation, assist them uphold an
elevated state of awareness. Every Sikh baptized as Khalsa
swears to wear the Five "K's": |
