Over the years, religion has played an important role in the development of the world. Religion has helped guide many in the right direction and create a meaning to life. As defined in the dictionary, religion the set of beliefs pertaining to the nature, cause, and purpose of the universe while including ritual and devotional observances. Religion often includes a moral code along with submission to a higher power or authority (Dictionary). There are hundreds of religions that are practiced around the world today. Some of the major known religions today include Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and so on. However, there are some religions that may not be well-known to people such as Sikhism. The religion is followed by about 20 million people known as Sikhs in the world. Sikhism is a branch of the Indian religion that separated from Hinduism when it was founded in the 16th century by Guru Nanak. The religion is based on his teachings along with the 9 Sikh gurus who follow him.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion most often practiced in the Punjab province of India. The faith began around 1500 CE when the Guru Nanak was teaching a faith different from Hinduism and Islam at the time. There were nine gurus that followed Guru Nanak in his teachings and helped to develop the faith of Sikhism. By the time the fifth guru, known as Guru Arjun, Sikhism was well established. Guru Arjun had declared the capital for the Sikh world as Amritsar and had declared the official Sikh scripture as Adi Granth. Guru Arjun was executed because Sikhism was seen as a threat by the state during the time. However, the sixth Guru Hargobind continued to keep the Sikh faith alive. With the help of the gurus, the Sikh community fought many ...
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...uld interfere in God’s work. It is a sin to take a life as most Sikhs believe that life begins at conception. Organ donation is allowed in Sikhism as it is a way of helping others in need. It teaches to put others before oneself and give sacrifice when needed. One of the greatest things one can do in Sikhism is save another person’s life. Euthanasia is usually not allowed in Sikhism as once again it destroys or kills God’s creation. Life is a gift from God and should be left for him to decide when it should be born and ended. Sikhs have to learn to use life in a responsible way in which God would approve.
Works Cited
"Religion." Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2014. .
"Religion: Sikhism." BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2014. .
Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity, Mark Nathan Cohen, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 17, 1998, pp.B4-B5. The term race refers to a biological subdivision of a species. At one time, scientists held that there were as few as three such subdivisions in the species Homo sapiens: Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. Mark Anthony Cohen points out that this is an antiquated view, yet it lingers as a common belief in society. Mark Nathan Cohen makes an interesting point in his article “Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity”. While the article does deal wholly in the realm of the opinion, it is supported by numerous scientific facts. In fact, Cohen’s usual method of drawing in a reader is to make a blanket statement and then “beef it up” with several scientific facts.
...ate, was cut divided into two in the western region by the newly established border. Major tensions have persisted among both Muslim and Sikh communities for years, which directly suffered most from the violence and land loss resulting from partition.
For decades without end, members of the Sikh faith have suffered countless injustices at the hands of their fellow countrymen. The Sikh religion was started in India during the fifteenth century by the first guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Sikh were a peace loving people who spread messages of freedom and equality. They even went as far as too risk their lives to help out other religions. Despite all this in the past century the decedents of the very people the Sikhs sacrificed and continue to sacrifice themselves to save have turned their back on them. India reduced Sikh's to second class citizens, and didn't even consider them as a proper religion. During the independence movements Sikh's were the ones who contributed the most, despite only making up two percent of the population. The treatment got even worse when the government and army executed operation bluestar. Operation bluestar was an indiscriminate slaughter campaign where the government attacked non-existent terrorists. Even the aftermath itself was a colossal tragedy and injustice. Even till this day the treatment of Sikh...
Diversity, as it relates to thoughts, ideas, ethnicity, race, and a host of other areas, is the quintessential ingredient needed to establish a free nation. Amendment I of the United States Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Through this simple statement made so many years ago, the founding fathers laid down not only the framework for the basic freedoms that Americans cherish, but also the foundation for establishing a diverse nation. You see, without diversity, there cannot be freedom, and without freedom, there cannot be America.
Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world, but many people don’t know about Sikhism. Many people mistake Sikhs for terrorists due to their turbans. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion originating from Punjab, India. Sikhs do not cut their hair, and proudly wear turban as part of their religious and cultural heritage. It’s been about 13 years since 9/11 attack happened, but its affects can still be seen in modern USA. There are still many cases reported every year of killing of innocent people that are mistaken as terrorists. The Sikh Coalition, the group created after the ill-fated 9/11, said that almost 900 incidents have been reported in which American Sikhs are bullied and killed since 9/11. Just after an hour of 9/11 attack, Sikhs in New York were harassed, assaulted and beaten with bats. In fact, Muslims and Hindus were also tortured and killed after 9/11, and till today there are cases of bullying Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost the whole America. During the weekend of ill-fated 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona Sikh, was gunned down wh...
The Guru Granth Sahib is the sovereign active living Guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text, with 1430 pages, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708. A collection of 5,894 hymns and 1430 pages, the Guru Granth Sahib describes the qualities of God and why you should meditate on God’s name. The hymns are arranged into 31 ragas (musical groupings). Each copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, regardless of its size, is identical with regard to the layout of the pages. Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the tenth guru affirmed the text as his successor. It remains the holy scripture of the Sikhs and is regarded as the teachings of the ten Gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib has a pivotal role in Sikh worship, as a source or guide of prayer. It is written in the Gurmukhī script, in various dialects – including Lehndi Punjabi, Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Sanskrit and Persian – often coalesced under the generic title of Sant Bhasha. There are approximately 20 million followers worldwide, most of whom live in the Punjab province of India. The 2001 census recorded 336,000 Sikhs living in the UK. In this essay I am going to examine information surrounding the Guru, and I am going to analyse whether Sikhism could exist without it, and come to a conclusion that it could not.
"Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled his kingdom exactly according to the Sikh way of life and Sikhism considers everyone as friends and talks about the welfare of all irrespective of caste and creed."
Samuel Seium. I attended a Sikh temple that is located outside of Baltimore, Maryland with a friend who is Sikh and commonly attends the services. The temple was the size of a regular sized church and appeared to have a common Sikh temple design. Before entering the temple, it is customary to take off your shoes. My friend and I attended this event on a Sundays. Although the temple is open seven days a week, in America it is common for Sunday to be the busiest day at the temple because that is when the major religious group in this country attends their services so the Sikhs at this temple do the same. In the prayer room, we sat on the floor and crossed our legs. There was a person in the front of the room that was leading prayers. However,
When Sikhs speak of the Guru they are referring to God, the Great Teacher. God, the unknowable, becomes the teacher who reveals God to those who follow. God created everything, so all life is good, but attachment to material things leads to reincarnation and the sufferings of birth and death. The goal of Sikhism is to end the cycle of rebirth and be united with God.
Sikhi only matters when its time to get a tattoo, putting up car bling or when Sikhs are racially targeted. However, other than those occasions, Sikhi values are not respected at all. Instead, we love to dive into the world that is Punjabi culture and equate it to Sikhi values. Sikhi values do not fall into this pattern of "lok ki kain gaye"("what will people say"), "saadi problem ni haigi" ("its not our problem") or "koi na, munde puthe kam karde rehnde aa" (don't worry, boys do dumb things") and forget that justice and the truth is what brings honour. Keeping skeletons hidden in the closet and living a lie is not what we should be doing.
I was born and raised in Punjab, a state in India, which has a huge population of Sikhs. Growing up, my school teachers and parents always taught us about the most tragic time in the Sikh community, the Amritsar Massacre. I am a Sikh and I practice my religion as much as my parents, so I have always been exposed to stories of the Sikh Massacre. It is very interesting to me because it shows how brave the Sikh community is and what they would do to protect their land and rights. Since I have moved to the U.S.A at the age of only 6 years old, I have lost touch with my heritage and seek more information about the Massacre. My parents and grandparents have always been eager to teach me more about the Sikh Massacre, but I was too distracted to pay attention or give interest. Growing up in a different world where everyone spoke a different language, I was more interested in learning about this new country rather than my own culture. Slowly, this new country had erased most of my knowledge about the Sikh culture, which was my parents’ biggest fear. After visiting India after 12 years I realized how much history I did not know about my own culture. I wanted to learn as much as I could but the time I had in India was very limited.
Sikhism is the youngest religion out of all the major world religions, it is actually only about five hundered years old. Sikhism like most religions was “born out of an shaped by exisiting faiths, and like offspirng bears a likeness to them.” (Singh 2004 p-16). Sikhism was created out of two reigions those being Islam and Hinduism. The time that when Sikhism was created was a time when India was being torn apart by different religious factions.The founder of Sikhism was Guru Nanak Dev Ji and he was born in 1469. According to Singh (2004) Guru Nanak spread the message of “Ek Omkar” which basically means that we are all one, created by the One Creater of all Creation. Guru Nanak did not aligne himself with a religion he actually respected all religions but he did express the reality that there is only one God and that the Name of God is Truth. Basically Singh (2004) tells us that the followers of Guru Nanak were Sikhs which literealy means student or disciple. Sikhs have many beliefs but their main belief stated by Robinson (2009) is that Sikhs believe in one God that has many names and has no s...
I feel a familiar sense of calm come over me beyond the honey-colored walls of my Sikh temple, my gurdwara. I am in complete awe. The journey I make every Sunday sparks reveries of the days when I still had flowing, ebony hair falling down at my knees. For Sikhs, hair is a symbol of love for God and respect for everything he has given us. Although I kept my mane for fifteen years, I no longer harbored dreams of split ends and being called “blue avatar.” I wanted others to see the beauty and potential in me without assuming that they should pity me or think differently about me because of my
Diversity is a value that shows respect for the differences and similarities of age, sex, culture, ethnicity, beliefs and much more. Having a diverse organization, helps notice the value in other people and also how to teach respect to people that might not know how. The world is filled with different cultures and people that might believe in different things as you, but that doesn’t mean you need to treat them any different. It is imperative for people to grasp diversity because it’ll help people how to engage with others in a respectful yet a hospitable way.
McLeod, W. H. (2004). Sikhs and Sikhism. Oxford India paperbacks. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.