Jasvinder Singh “1017 N. Poplar Creston Iowa 50801

“TRUTH IS THE HIGHEST OF ALL STILL HIGHER IS TRUTHFUL LIVING” —GURU NANAK

The Sikhs have generally been known to the world as soldiers. Soldiers truly they are—of the finest and the bravest quality in the world. But Sikhs are soldiers both of God and man, of peace and war. Whether behind the plough or with the sword and rifle in hand, they jump into the field of action with the same zeal and daring. The devotion to their cause and calling comes from their Waheguru (Wonderful Lord) and Gurus. Their modus operandi  is “Hath Paon Kar Kam Sabh, Chit Niran Jan Nal While engaged in worldly pursuits, let one’s mind . These architects of the nation, holy saints, scholars, soldiers both with percept and example changed the face of northern India in about two and half centuries, Come and explore Sikhism.

THE SIKH DOCTRINE THE SIKH RELIGION

The Sikh religion as enunciated in the scnptures, is a meeting ground of the East and West thoughts and doctrines. It inculcates belief in the unity of humankind and one God, an equates God with truth. Furthermore, it emphasizes union with God through service of humankind. The ten commandments of Sikhism can be identified as: *Thou shalt remember God all the time *Thou shalt have faith in only one God without a second *Thou shalt reject the incarnation of God *Thou shalt save all humanity—God resides in all *Thou shalt not engage in unnecessary formalism and ritual *Thou shalt earn one’s livelihood with ethical honesty, humility, and grace *Thou shalt share one’s earnings with the less fortunate *Thou shalt always fight tyranny, oppression, and injustice *Thou shalt believe in Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of HumanKind *Thou shalt pursue a simultaneous saintsoldier (spiritual temporal) life only as a householder

GOD:

In Sikhism God is Waheguru (Wonderful Lord). The Sikh view of God is as the Creator of all the universe. Though people throughout the world may give different names to God, God is in fact the same for all. He is self created. In other words, there could be no authority nor power greater than God. And that he never is born nor ever dies. In the Christian sense that would be God—The Faith. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; not only acting as the Creator at one point and time, but continually creating, continually manifesting Himself in myriad form, continually ordering the universe. Those principles do not cease. Unaffected by time, they are valid for eternity. They were the same principles in the beginning and they. will ‘be the same at the end.

GURU Guru means the mentor—the teacher. In a university, students learn from their professors about the ‘subject being studied. The same scientific principles are applied in Sikhism. A Sikh (literally means a student) learns from his Gurus about the Supreme God and His manifestations and creations. Sikhs have 10 Gurus. the succession of Guruship follows to the “most enlightened” follower and not through family lineage. The last GuruGuru Godind Singh passed the Guruship jointly to the Ad Granth (not Guru Granth Sahibthe holy scripture) and to the Khalsa Panth (also called Guru Panth), Sikhs today revere the scripture and Khalsa as their living Guru and follow the path beaconed by them.

SCRIPTURE

The Sikh scripture—Guru Granth Sahib—is unique of among world scriptures. It contains not only the revelations the Sikh Gurus but also those of saints from various walks of life and many religions, who saw God. beyond the narrow confines of the parochial institutions of their day. z

“__,Guru Granth Sahib is a source book, an expression of man’s loneliness, his aspirations, his longings, his cry to God and his hunger for communication with that Being. I have studied the scriptures of other great religions, but I do not find elsewhere, the same power of appeal to heart and mind as I found here. These are a revelation of the vast reach of the human heart. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures.”

Pearl S. Buck Nobel Laureate

..The more I dig into the pages of Guru Granth Sahib, the more I fall in love with them. Few, if any, ‘amongst the world scriptures attain so high a literary level or so constant 2 height of inspiration.” Duncan Green less in The Gospel of Guru Granth Sahib

While many religions have come in conflict with “modern” scientific theory, Sikh scriptures contain revelations some of which scientists have only discovered now and some of which still remain hidden from our “eyes.” In the 15th century Guru Nanak not only proclaimed that there are my raids of planets, moons, and stars, but went on to describe the my raids of galaxies; and then went on to say that not only did the planet revolve, but the entire solar system was revolving according to God’s great order. He explained what amounts to the present day ‘Nebula Theory’ stating that “from within the darkness, cosmic dust covering billions of miles began to whirl, and in this (centrifuge) the heavenly bodies were formed.” Guruji identified water as the first host for living organisms. Yet according to Sikhism, these revelations only increase our aura and reverence for God.

RELIGIOUS DEFERENCE

“None is born Hindu or Moslem; each one of us is the creation of One Lord.” Guru Nanak

Sikh Gurus were equally revered by both Hindus and Moslems. In fact, the comer stone (foundation stone) of the Golden Temple (the holiest Sikh shrine) was laid by a Moslem, Saint Mian Mir. It has four doors signifying that people from all directions and all walks of life are welcome.

Sikhism offers the world a unique example in the sense that the ninth Sikh Guru became a peaceful martyr for protecting human rights of Hindus and Hinduism when Islamic kingdoms were proselytizing the followers of Hinduism. The Guru gave his life for Hinduism—a religion in which he himself did not believe for its protection and resuscitation.

It is a glowing exemplification of Voltaire’s philosophy:

”I may not agree with you but I will defend your right to disagree with all my being.”

Guru Teg Bahudar’s martyrdom almost coincides with the Human Rights Declaration of the United Nations in 1944:

The Moselem empire of ancient India was witness to the fact that Sikhs (saint soldiers) not only provided water and first aid to the Sikh soldiers in the battlefield,

it also to the enemy battalion “Sikhism is the modern man’s religion and respects all other religions. : : The Sikh way of life is aptly symbolized by the Sikh insignia—the khanda. : Figure 1 The solid circle represents the Eternal God with no end or beginning. The double edged dagger 1s inside the solid circle, that is what signifies that the saint soldier Sikh has to always remember God in thick and thin. The two outer swords symbolize the saint soldier tyranny. When these two swords combine, it results in a double-edged dagger—the possessor becomes a balanced personality having the attributes of both a saint and a soldier(Figure 1). Amalgamation of spiritual enlightenment and professional skills is the demand of the day for modern man.

Sikhism believes in the equality of man which is practically demonstrated through the institution of “langar” (community kitchen). People from all faiths, educational, political, and social backgrounds dine here together. Women are given equal status in everything.

In Sikhsim ethics are a part of religion. The inculcation of moral qualities and the practice of virtue in everyday life is a vital step towards spiritual development. Qualities like honesty, compassion, generosity, patience, humility, and humbleness are all a part of religious development. These are obtained by lending oneself to Sikh symbols as a mark of personal commitment to our Gurus.

KESH: Unshorn hair. It is a surrender to the Divine will and implies sacredness of the complete body.

KANGA:A small comb to keep the hair neat. It develops and signifies moral and physical cleanliness.

KIRPAN:A small dagger symbolic of a Sikh’s duty to bear arms for the protection of civil rights of others as well as his own.

KARA:A circular steel bracelet(similar to that in Khanda) reminding one of the eternal Lord. This is worn in one’s stronger arm (usually right) and acts as a constant reminder to guide our actions in accordance to God’s Will.

KACHA: The underpants reflecting modesty and chastity. Adultery is forbidden in Sikhism.

A Sikhmen are easily identifiable by turban’s and neat beards with the unshom hair.

Sikhism thus encourages people from all walks of life to commit themselves to the path of truth. Whether they see God through the Judaic tradition, whether they see God through Christ, through Prophet Mohammed, or Krishna, or through any other man of God or religious’ tradition, One is encouraged to live by their teachings. It offers an individual spiritual discipline through which One is able to combine personal faith with work in service of humanity. It Provides both a path and the Power to walk that path. In essence it is a path to follow  and life to lead.

Jaswinder Singh is an Electronics engineering graduate of Delhi University. He come to the US on scholarship to do MBA. He has taught Quantitative Decision Making at the University level. At the moment he is not employed.

Article extracted from this publication >>  August 18, 1989