Questions From A Young Christian

[Singh, Mahan]

..........

Phillip777,

Many people have replied to your posts and given you a few links as well where you can read more about Sikhism. If I may, let me add one more link (URL) which should give you a summary of what Sikhism is. ( http://www.sikhreligion.org/chap14.html )

I am going to post the contents of that part of the site (Chapter 14 of that site) in an other section of the forum so that it can stay in focus longer. It is a little bit long read so, may be you should download and save it on your computer and read it at your leisure, and, if that that post gets pushed too far down and becomes lost somewhere in the numerous other posts.

You may read that (article given at that site) at your leisure, However I am going to write a paragraph or two to give you a synopsis.

1. The very fundamentals of the Sikhism is based on its concept of God. God is infinite. God is not a person, nor God is some entitity who sits somewhere in a place called heaven and orders things around. God is the “Realty - Truth” that pervades through out the infinite. From that infinite ‘Reality/ Ultimate Truth’ manifested into our universe. There are many more universes within that Infinite. The Ultimate Reality/Truth/God pervades through out our universes and all the other universes that may be there. God, being infinite, can not be confined in a person. So God as is seen by Sikhs can not take birth as a man or any one entity that we can see. If that were to happen whole universe where we live would implode /collapse into that one person, nothing else will be around.. God being an infinite, nor will God father just ‘One and only one Child’ like what Christians believe Christ is.

2. Man, for that matter, all life forms have an essence which is a spec of the creativity ( a point of Karta Purkh). Man comes to be a life - becomes alive when his (man’s) consciousness is attached to his body and man remains alive as long as the consciousness (soul/ essence) remains attached . Consciousness is a spec of that ‘Truth’ and ‘Ultimate Reality’ that is God, But to see the universe as the place of action man’s consciousness is wrapped in Maya ( that which is transitory in nature). So man’s consciousness at ‘the core’ is a spec of God – pure light of God that ,is surrounded by an envelope of Maya. Maya makes man think that he is a separate entity and lives in duality. . Sikhism is also a path that tells man how to raise the level of the consciousness that it can see the veil of ‘Maya’ surrounding his consciousness and at that stage Sikhism urges him to remove that veil of Maya. When that happens and subsequent to that, when man dies his consciousness (soul- essence) joins or merges into the ‘pure and infinite consciousness – God’

3. What I have written in paragraph Number 2, can not be achieved just by following the rituals, or just by obeying a few commandments ( – as many other religions say). It requires a life of discipline and continual devotion of Infinite God.

Hope that page answers most of your question at the elementary level and gives you the basic idea of the Piri of Sikhism.( Spiritual aspect of the Sikhism). There is a second aspect of Sikhism that is called Miri (temporal aspect – worldly aspect of Sikhism). Miri is about how a person , who has committed him self to follow the path of Sikhism and who becomes conscious of his own reality, deals with the world and the people that surrounds him.

Please read what is at this site

http://www.sikhreligion.org/chap14.html

.

[Philip777]

I've found this on the Net recently : http://www.lookingforgod.com/default.php?p...2&aff=1#txt. I'd be interested to know what you think about it. Again, I don't want to bring any trouble here, or to be disrespectful of your faith. But it would be interesting to know what you say about it.

And by the way, I didn't answer earlier but I read much of the information you gave me, and it's really interesting. Thank you everyone

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

Regarding the link you posted above. It's unfortunate that Christians/people from different religions are persecuted in any part of the world.

"She had to put up with persecution from other Sikhs"

This is against the teachings of Sikhism and anyone who calls themself a Sikh and proceeds to judge others on the basis of religion/faith must go back to the fundamental message of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, which btw is..

A very simple message of love, hope and forgiveness.

Sikhism isn't against mixing with people of other faiths. In fact I would prefer hanging out with a Christian who loves God rather than anyone who calls themself a Sikh and disrespects the teachings of God.

I think the sacrifice of Christ touches every person's heart in one way or another.

There are millions of Sikhs who have sacrificed themselves in order to let people like me tread this path of love which is Sikhi. These Sikhs smiled as they were cut to pieces, accepting the will of God. No pain was felt, only love for their faith and God. God's name was chanted and his praises were sung as the children of Sikh women were tossed into the air and speared, as blistering hot sand was poured on their heads and, in the last 20 years, as the wives of Sikh men were branded and tortured with boiling metal in order to dishonour and disrespect their bodies and their faith.

There are many more examples of people who gave their bodies, souls and minds to God rather than submit to conversion. Run a google search on Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Taru Singh Ji, Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Dayaala Ji. Then run a search on Sikh martyrs in general.

This is one of the many reasons I would never consider 'converting' to any other faith. It's great to hear that the person in that link feels close to God at the moment. But we've always been taught that when we give our heads to Sikhi - when we make that vow to Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj, we don't demand it back again.

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

[Guru_Da_Chella]

Hello everyone ! I'm a newcomer here.

My name is Philip, I am 18 years old. I am a Christian, and I firmly believe my faith is the truth, but I am open to discuss with all sorts of religions. I'm interested to learn some more about different religions and philosophies, so I looked for a forum of young Sikhs on Google to learn to know more about the Sikh religion. I'm French, but I didn't find a French forum, so finally I registered here (so, sorry if my English isn't always perfect.) Actually, I'm preparing my A'Levels (school is general school in France until A'Levels), and next year I want to study foreign languages.

I would like to discover what Sikhism is about. I must honestly say I hardly know anything at all about Sikhism, so I'd like to get explanations about what you believe, and what you practice. Please, explain me.

And, how does on become a Sikh ?

And I'd also know what personally attracts you in Sikhism. Were you born in this religion or did you personally choose it ?

Thank you for your answers, I am here to discover :rolleyes:

Hi I am sikh because I don't really believe in religion as such in the western context. I believe in all being human beings, I am only called a sikh because I am a disciple of the 10 Gurus. TO me the word "sikh" essentially means disciple or follower. To me this doesn't make me a separate religion to humanity.

Also I follow sikhi or sikh dharma/dharm, and don't follow any "isms".

And to become a part of the khalsa fauj (army), a person takes the amrit (nextar) (its like a baptism)

But to me, any disciple of the 10 Gurus is a sikh. I believe in humanity.

[apne]

Hello everyone, This is my first post and i hope i don't do anything wrong.

To Phillip,

If you really want to know Sikhism than i suggest that you visit a Gurdwara near you. Learning something as you see it is always positive. Also you said that you want to know about Sikhism, but you never stated what you want to know. You must be having some questions about Sikhism, exp. relating to god, actions, lifestyle, approach etc. It is always better to ask specifically what you want to know. Since it is pretty obvious that you must have visited many other sites, and not just this one ,relating to Sikhism, therefore ambigious queries are likely to be treated with suspicion (by me atleast).

Here are some brief points by me (forgive if they are being repeated)

1. Sikhism is a strictly and uncompromising Monotheistic religion.

2. The Founder of Sikhism is Guru Nanak, whose parents were Hindus. Guru Nanak ,since he was a child, rejected all existing religious beliefs of his time.

The teachings of Gurus contained in Guru Granth were revealed first to Guru Nanak and then to his successive Gurus by God .

Sikhism is based on revelation of Guru Nanak although what he received was not in a voilent manner or sudden.

Guru Nanak met with God and said he/she was beyond description.

3. Guru Nanak lived for seventy years during which he travelled a lot and established a strict following but not by conversion.

3. Guru Nanak taught that God is Formless, eternal, all prevading, merciful, omnipresent, without mother father or any relatives, and does not take incarnation on earth.

4. Guru Nanak taught that God can be only realised through a channel, which was in the form of Guru.

5. God can be realised by only reciting his name and Gurbani (text in Guru Granth Sahib)

6. There are many Gurus on earth but only a true Guru can lead to God.

7. Guru Nanak appointed a successor and their were total nine gurus after Guru Nanak.

9. The last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, appointed Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru of Sikhs.

10. Guru Gobind Singh said that there was no difference between Guru Nanak and successive nine Gurus and all were manifestation of first guru, Guru Nanak.

11. That is why all Gurus refer to themselves as Nanak in their hymns in Guru Granth Sahib.

12.Guru Gobind Singh said that the mission of Guru Nanak was completed, therefore, there was no need of successive Gurus in human form.

13. Guru Granth is the living manifestation of Sikh Gurus, as it contains exactly what they taught and in same wording, and should be treated as such.

14.Guru Gobind Singh said that those who want to find God, can do so in Guru Granth.

The teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors are contained in Guru Granth Sahib.

15.Sikhs are required to maintain distinct five k's as per guidlines of Guru Gobind singh (Tenth Nanak).

16.These are Unshorn Hair, a steel bracelet, a comb, a short underpants, a dagger.

18. If we want to speak to God, we can do so only by reciting Gurbani from Guru Granth Sahib.

19. Guru Granth Sahib is a channel (Guru) through which God speaks with us.

20. Only Guru Granth Sahib is True Guru, any other posing as such is false. A false Guru might get you some material satisfaction, but you will never realise God.

21. Sikh Gurus were not sons or messangers or incarnation of God, but a medium through which God spread his message on earth.

22. In Sikhism all praise is to God only and none else.

[BABBAR KHALISTANI]

I've found this on the Net recently : http://www.lookingforgod.com/default.php?p...2&aff=1#txt. I'd be interested to know what you think about it. Again, I don't want to bring any trouble here, or to be disrespectful of your faith. But it would be interesting to know what you say about it.

And by the way, I didn't answer earlier but I read much of the information you gave me, and it's really interesting. Thank you everyone

Hey i thought you had come here to learn about sikhism but i don't see any sort of learning goin on except preaching. But anyway, i have no problem with you preaching your religion perhaps, you should have made it clear in advance so that ppl would not have wasted their precious time posting you the links which you had no time (or intentions) to read, coz had u read them u'd have been here now with some reasonable knowledge and obviously lots of questions.

As for the above link you gave, this is nothing new in the modern world. People change their religions. There are thousands of christians in western world who are moving away from christianity. In fact, majority of people converting to islam are christians. And as for Jesus there are different views in christianity itself. Some say jesus is god, some say son of god.... seems even christians cant make up their minds on Jesus, not only on Jesus but on a lot of topics.

To be honest i don't see these ancient religions taking this world anywhere. The staunch followes of Abrahmic religions have only plunged this world into darkness and destruction by their jealous atrocious ludicrous and egoistic ideologies which consider only them to be true and others to be false and worthy of rotting in the hell. And at the same time these ideologies have denigrated women. A lot of blame is put on Islam and islamic ideology which to a lot of extent is right but the people who blame islam forget that the ideology they propogate is even more outdated than the one they oppose.

Here is just a small example of christanity's view on Women:

There are far too many Biblical quotations denigrating women to list all of them here. The following are some examples: (New International Version)

"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)

"If, however, the charge is not true and no proof of the girls virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her fathers house and there the men of the town shall stone her to death." (Deut. 22:20-21)

According to the Mosaic Law, the punishment for adultery and coveting your neighbor's wife is death:

"If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman MUST DIE. (From the NIV Bible, Deuteronomy 22:22)"

"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. (From the NIV Bible, Leviticus 20:10)"

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (From the NIV Bible, Exodus 20:17)"

Let us now look at what David did with his neighbor's wife in the Bible:

"One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, 'Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the WIFE of Uriah the Hittite?' Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. (From the NIV Bible, 2 Samuel 11:2-4)"

Here is how David was punished!

2 Samuel 12:7-8

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD , the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

.............

2 Samuel 12:12-14

12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "

13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD ." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.

14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."

The Lord said to Moses, "Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man." (Num. 31:17)

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the Lord...Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." (Eph. 5:22-24)

"Women should remain silent in churches. They are not allowed to speak; but must be in submission as the Law says." (I Cor. 14:34-35)

"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." (I Tim. 2:11-14)

"The head of every man is Christ, and the head of every woman is man." (I Cor. 11:3)

"For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man." (I Cor. 11:8-9)

This was just a tiny highlight covering one topic to give a rough idea to people about the thought process of these ideologies, if needed we might have to look in depth and educate ourselves more about christanity and other abrahmic faiths and their core values.

[apne]

I've found this on the Net recently : http://www.lookingforgod.com/default.php?p...2&aff=1#txt. I'd be interested to know what you think about it. Again, I don't want to bring any trouble here, or to be disrespectful of your faith. But it would be interesting to know what you say about it.

And by the way, I didn't answer earlier but I read much of the information you gave me, and it's really interesting. Thank you everyone

Hi phillip, Sikhism does not believe in any "son of god', because there isn't any. God is formless and without relatives, sons, mother, father. God is not like Humans.

Sikh Gurus taught that one must remain in high spirits under all circumstances, good or bad.

In Sikhism you pray directly to God, not to anyone else such as Jesus.

The Sikh Gurus were not Sons of god or his manifestation or incarnation because there is not any .

The Sikh Guru were a channel through which God spoke. And that was not to worship or believe in anybody, holy spirit, jesus, buddha, ram muhammed etc. but only in God. (not even in Sikh Gurus) Guru Gobind Singh said that those who believe him to be God or his manifestation will be doomed.

There is only one supreme God and all other held beliefs are false.

[lowest of the low singhni]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

To clarify what has been mentioned above, in order to be a Sikh you are required to believe in the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. Doing seva/service of the servants of God is encouraged but one must always keep in mind that God is the ultimate truth. He pervades in all. Those people who have merged their souls and minds with God are the 'persona' (for lack of another word) of God himself. From my limited understanding of Gurbani, the light of our Gurus was God. To pretend to understand the nature of God's ways is strange unless you have come to know/merge with God yourself. Personally I believe God is capable of anything at all, including coming amongst us in recognisable forms. My point is, worship GOD not the physical form. To worship the physical form of Guru Nanak Dev Ji is not what Sikhi is about. Worshipping a body/person is just like worshipping dust. Worship the truth.

I hope this makes some sense.

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

[apne]

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

To clarify what has been mentioned above, in order to be a Sikh you are required to believe in the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. Doing seva/service of the servants of God is encouraged but one must always keep in mind that God is the ultimate truth. He pervades in all. Those people who have merged their souls and minds with God are the 'persona' (for lack of another word) of God himself. From my limited understanding of Gurbani, the light of our Gurus was God. To pretend to understand the nature of God's ways is strange unless you have come to know/merge with God yourself. Personally I believe God is capable of anything at all, including coming amongst us in recognisable forms. My point is, worship GOD not the physical form. To worship the physical form of Guru Nanak Dev Ji is not what Sikhi is about. Worshipping a body/person is just like worshipping dust. Worship the truth.

I hope this makes some sense.

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh

I am sorry, i mis-represented the "channel" thing! Small mistake but corrected by another editor.Thanks.

[Philip777]

Hello everyone, This is my first post and i hope i don't do anything wrong.

To Phillip,

If you really want to know Sikhism than i suggest that you visit a Gurdwara near you. Learning something as you see it is always positive. Also you said that you want to know about Sikhism, but you never stated what you want to know. You must be having some questions about Sikhism, exp. relating to god, actions, lifestyle, approach etc. It is always better to ask specifically what you want to know. Since it is pretty obvious that you must have visited many other sites, and not just this one ,relating to Sikhism, therefore ambigious queries are likely to be treated with suspicion (by me atleast).

It surely would be interesting to visit a Gurdwara. But there aren't many Sikhs here in France, so I don't know where to find one. I couldn't even find a French website on sikhs, so I had to come here.