Heaven Or Hell According To Sikhi

[sikhsoldier]

in sikhism do we believe there is a heaven and hell, according to sikhi.

[Bored]

yes i believe so

[Guest G.Kaur]

Hell and Heaven in Sikh Philosophy

The mission of the life of a Sikh is not to get a ticket into Heaven after death. While living, one should aim to realize the Lord vibrating everywhere in the universe and in every living being. Living according to the Will of the Lord and singing His virtues during the earthly life is living in Heaven. Ignoring Him and suffering from vices, such as ego, anger, lust, greed, etc., is living in Hell. The Guru said that there is no place called Heaven or Hell where people are destined to go after they leave the world. All of us have experienced this and hence we can learn a lesson, "Love the Lord, the Father-Mother of all humanity, the way we love our dad and mom. All people are His/Her children; love them as your brothers and sisters." If we practice this lesson, there will be peace all over the earth, and it will become like Heaven we are desirous of getting into after our death. Hating anyone because of his/her faith, race, color, caste, nationality, status, etc. displeases our common Creator, God. Forcing your faith on the weak is a great sin. Therefore, those who tease, torture, or kill people because of these differences will ever suffer in the worst hell. Those who help the weak and needy enjoy heavenly peace and pleasure here and hereafter. That is why Guru Nanak advised people to pray everyday, "God! In Thy Name, bless the whole of humanity." The definitions given by different faiths do not disagree with any of the above descriptions of God. Other qualities of God generally accepted are that He is omnipresent, incomprehensible, immanent and transcendent. Further, God has been described as gracious, kind and caring for all creation. Some also believe that God created eternal Heaven for the comfort of faithful people after their death; they also believe in Hell where all non-believers who ignore His commandments will suffer forever. As I said earlier, the mission of the life of a Sikh is not to get into Heaven after death. While living, one should aim to realize the Lord vibrating everywhere in the universe and in every living being. Living according to the Will of the Lord and singing His virtues during the earthly life is living in Heaven. Ignoring Him and suffering from vices, such as ego, anger, lust, greed, etc., is living in Hell. The Guru preached that there is no place called Heaven or Hell where people are destined to go after they leave the world. A Sikh is not to worship any heavenly body such as the sun or moon, or images, pictures, or paintings of gods, not even of their own Gurus. Guru Nanak's view is that God is not sectarian. The Guru disagreed with the Muslim belief that God, Allah, because of the intercession of the prophet Mohammed would welcome Muslims into Bahisht (heaven) and throw Kafirs (non-Muslims) into the fire of Dozakh (hell). In the same way, he disagreed with the Hindu idea that God, Bhagwan, would admit only high-caste Hindus to heaven and throw the rest into hell. Furthermore, the Guru rejected the idea that there were many gods, all of who must be wooed with gifts of food and sacrifices of animals or humans. According to Sikhism, all people are loved by God and are equally able to realize Him. (Guru Granth, p. 6) The man-assumed heaven and hell are not particular places beyond our earth. The place where we love God and sing His virtues is actually the heaven, the place where one receives the blessings of God. A person who fails to love God actually lives in Hell on this very earth. The belief of each religious group that they alone are entitled to go to heaven and the followers of all other faiths will go to hell, was rejected by Guru Nanak. One can imagine how such thoughts touched the traditional people. The Brahmans had preached for hundreds of years that among the Hindus they were the superior most human beings. The fighters, called Kashatryas, were placed next to them and the third position was given to the business community. People serving the three higher castes were considered Sudras, the low caste, hence were believed unfit for heaven. According to the Brahmans, all non-Hindus along with the lower castes were destined for hell. Similarly, the Muslims considered Bahisht (heaven) to be reserved for them alone. All non-Muslims were kafirs destined for Dozakh (hell). However, the Guru denied that beyond this earth, somewhere else in the universe, there existed any particular places known as either heaven or hell to which our souls were headed. The reason most of us believe in religion is that after death we want to get admission to heaven and are frightened of being thrown into hell. The Guru said the goal of human life is not qualifying for admission in a non-existent heaven or being scared of a mythological hell. A person is in hell when he ignores the presence of God within him and suffers from ego, hate, lust or anger. He enjoys the bliss of heaven when he sings the virtues of God and loves His children, the human beings. (Guru Granth, p. 6) The Guru decried the old Brahmanical rituals believed to help a man reach heaven. He said that adopting the creed of fake purity (something gets polluted if seen or touched by a low caste person), abandoning the family life for meditation, and reading scriptures to grasp the knowledge and intelligence therein, are of little use for realizing God. The path for realization of the goal of life is obedience to the Will of the Lord. Guru Granth, p. 8) It means we will be judged by our deeds and not by our beliefs. Anyone (a Hindu, a Muslim or a person of any other faith, a low caste, a rich person, a poor person, a scholar, or an illiterate, man or woman) who loves God can realize Him. In other words, God is nobody's private inheritance; nobody can claim a franchise on Him. Forcing and torturing the weak to change their faith and method of worship is anti-God. It is like threatening a person to force him to address his/her father as `Dad' and not as `Papa'. Such actions are disapproved of by God. A person, regardless of his caste, faith, or social status, who said that God lives in all human beings, was accepted by the Guru to be a holy human. A close friend of Guru Nanak of his childhood age was Mardana, a Muslim, born in a so-called low caste. He was addressed as Bhai (brother) by Guru Nanak. The hymns of more than two dozen devotees of God (Bhagats) from different religions and speaking different languages were included in the Holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, to guide the life of the seekers of Truth. The followers of the major world religions claim: "My religion is the only true faith; people believing in any other faith will go to hell. Conversion of non-members to my faith will `save' them. God is pleased with such efforts of the believers. In reward I will get a seat in heaven for `saving' the heathen." (Bhai Gurdas, // 1-33) The Guru cleared this big ignorance of the traditional thinkers. He stated that there was no place called heaven nor any called hell where, after death, people will go for eternity. Gurbani explains that living according to the Will of the Lord, keeping Him always in mind and heart and singing His Virtues, is being in heaven. Hell is suffering from ego, lust, greed, anger, jealousy, slander, etc. For more such articles : visit http://www.sikhphilosophy.net