Nam Karan
Sikhism
Wei Chen 5:30PM
Word Count: 703
This paper is about the naming ceremony of Sikhism. Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world and its adherents believe there are certain ceremonies that pertain to merging with “god.” The naming ceremony, Nam Karan, is one such ceremony that Sikhs observe. Every Sikh is required to start any function, project, ceremony, or any other opening in life by performing Ardas (Sikh prayer).” (Birth and Naming of Child) In America, names are decided solely by the parents but it is completely different in the Sikh culture.
In the Sikh culture, the Nam Karan is observed when a child is to be named. “There is no special ceremony at the time of the birth of a child except that the blessings of God are sought through Ardas” (Birth and Naming of Child). “As soon as the mother and child are able to travel, the family visits the Gurdwara” (Ceremonies and Festivals). The number of days is not set in stone but usually as soon as possible (Sikh Reht Maryada). At the Gurdwara, the family recites thankful hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib to celebrate the birth of the child. Karah Prashad, a sacred pudding that is made for all occasion, is prepared by the family along with Amrit, sweet water, for the ceremony. The Amrit is given to the child and the mother. The Karah Prashad is given to everyone attending. Next, the holy Hukam, sometimes called Vak, (command) is taken by the Sri Guru Granth Sahib by opening it at random. The Granthi first reads the entire hymn then the child’s name is decided based on the first letter of the hymn. “A name starting with the first letter of the Shabad of the Hukam (command) should be proposed by the Granthi (the man in charge of the Guru Granth ...
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...anak Dev says, "This body is made from blood and semen and shall be consigned to fire" (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, p.63). Based on that statement, Sikhs consider all life sacred and are vehemently opposed to abortion. Sikhs cannot be biased on the gender of their child because of the principles of their faith. “To rejoice on the birth of a son but feel sad or inferior on the birth of a girl is against principles of Sikh faith.” (Birth and Naming of Child)
Works Cited
Birth and Naming of Child. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2014, from Sikh Missionary Society: http://www.sikhmissionarysociety.org/sms/smssikhism/ceremonies/birthandnamingofchild/
Ceremonies and Festivals. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2014, from Sikhs: http://www.sikhs.org/fest.htm
Sikh Reht Maryada. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2014, from Sikh Religious Ceremonies: http://www.sgpc.net/sikhism/birth-and-name.asp
What is even more intriguing is that, in the Dagara culture, when a baby is born he or she is not considered a new being, as it is believed in Western culture and religion. He or she is considered a being from the other world who has entered this world, as a human, in order to carry out a mission. The name has taken on a great spiritual significance in Dagara culture.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
Despite being one of the world's largest world religions, Sikhism remains one of the most unknowledgeable and misunderstood traditions in America now. It is overseen and viewed in a lens based off assumptions of events that have occurred over the years. The lack of understanding has brought up too many serious consequences for their community including discriminatory policies, prejudiced stereotypes, shocking school bullying and violent hate crimes. To begin, Sikhism is a religion originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent about the end of the 15th century. It is known as one of the youngest of the major world religions! The vital beliefs of
Levi, J. (1998, Mar). The embodiment of a working identity: Power and process in Ramamuri ritual healing. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 23(3), 13-46.
"Sikh Awareness." Sikh Awareness. © 2002-2012 THE SIKH COALITION, 12 Oct. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
In today’s day and age there are new forms of technology being developed to accomplish just about any task and make any sort of wish possible. With this being said many human beings throw caution to the wind and decide to take action on their every want and need. When it comes to the process of procreating and bringing a child into this world parents can find themselves hoping and wishing for one gender over another. In order to ensure that the gender they want is what they get parents can go through variations of processes in order to select the desired gender for their baby. Many in today’s world have deemed these sorts of practices unethical and immoral and some forms of religion refuse the idea of it. “The prospect of preconception gender selection appears to pose the conflict—long present in other bioethical issues—between individual desires and the larger common good. Yet doing so leads to the risk that children will be treated as vehicles of parental satisfaction rather than as ends in themselves, and could accelerate the trend toward negative and even positive selection of offspring characteristics” (Robertson 3). In this argumentative essay I will be going through the different areas of controversy surrounding this particular topic and focusing on the immorality of such an act.
"WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ADOPTION." Pakistan Adoption. PakistanAdoption.com, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. .
Sikhism interdicts late-term abortion because it states that people shall not interfere in the creative work of God.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Neerhof, Sprang.
The practice of female infanticide shows how desirable having a male child is that parents would take the lives of a female baby. The dowry system in India is the main cause of female infanticide in India. Gender inequalities in the rural part of northern India exhibit female infanticide occurs here the most despite laws to abolish these acts. Men hold a higher value in this society because a system they adapted many years ago. Men are seen as an asset or of value because at one point his future wife and her family will “pay” for him. Daughters are opposite and viewed as a burden to the family because she will have to marry one day and that will cost her parents. So women are not viewed equally here even as infants, they don’t even stand a chance. Officials have tried to make laws to assist in reducing female infanticide but people have continued to follow traditions of the dowry systems putting the population at risk as well
The Hindu wedding is a complex ceremony whose various components has all a specific meaning and has all a relation to
Making up the two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, both look at marriage as a major part of one’s life journey. Thus the idea that the sacred ritual of marriage in both Christianity and Islam are full of rich symbolism, ceremony and grounded in religious and cultural traditions, can be explored. However, the ritual of marriage differentiates between Christianity and Islam, as Christianity is founded on deep symbolic meaning and religious tradition in contrast to the culturally rich marriage ceremony found in Islam. This can be further investigated through an in depth analysis of the ceremony, symbols, religious and cultural traditions involved in the ritual of marriage.
Changes occur within societies, cultures, religions, or livelihood, people lose their sense of importance towards their roots and sense of being therefore redefining the meaning of humanity. However, as Ceremony teaches, being in touch with one’s roots and sense of being will bring about understanding of what is true or what is false. An individual should realize the meaning of their essence and in turn would bring the understanding towards the world. Ceremony’s world application evaluates and serves as a guide of how humanity should open their eyes and look at everything in a different a perspective to see it in the way of the ceremony: the way of life. The ceremony should be practiced and adapted throughout all the time, no matter the race, religion, culture or livelihood.
...es, Trevor. The Kingfisher book of religions: festivals, ceremonies, and beliefs from around the world. New York: Kingfisher, 1999.
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast between various wedding customs that are prevalent in different continents of the world. The essay sheds light on culturally diverse traditions that originate in different parts of the world. It is the wide variety or cultural conventions that give each nation or tribe a unique identity. Every culture has ...
Nesbitt, E. (2002). The body in Sikh religion. In S. Coakley (Eds.), Religion and the Body (pp. 289-305). UK: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.