What puts people off becoming Sikhs

[Big_Tera]

Anyone know what are the reasons why people who maybe interested in Sikhism. They may like the major core principles of the faith such as. Equality for men and women. Not discriminating against against non believers. ect. 

But what may then put off these same people from becoming Sikh? Is the faith and path to hard to follow? Are Sikhs seen as a welcoming bunch of people? Or people who couldnt care less. 

Ie many on the outside see Sikhs as a castist bunch of people. They see we have no unity amongst us. Hence outsiders dont want to a part of something like this. 

Why people are attracted to christianity and  Islam?

They get a sence of belonging. Muslims support and encourage non believers. It gives them a sence of identity. Something to concentrate all their energy on. Something to that gives them direction and guides them in life.It makes them feel powerful. 

Yet What does Sikhism do for people. Why does the message of Sikhi not resonate with people. Such as Christianity, Islam and buddism does?

Are we lacking somewhere? 

[Dsinghd]

Sikhi is slowly turning global. 

The problem in the past were Indian Gurdwaras and westerners didn’t feel very welcome. But now this attitude is changing.

 

[Big_Tera]

3 hours ago, Dsinghdp said:

Sikhi is slowly turning global. 

The problem in the past were Indian Gurdwaras and westerners didn’t feel very welcome. But now this attitude is changing.

 

Yep maybe us Sikhs need to change. I make an effort to explain my beliefs whenever somone asks about the faith. 

I also run trips to gurdwaras to give non sikhs tours. 

[puzzled]

Well people in the West are familiar with abrahamic faiths. When people think of God, even if they are atheists, they think of some deity up in the sky who sends you to heaven or hell. This is a very abrahamic view. People are not that familiar with dharmic concepts. Dharmic concepts and beliefs are seen as very foreign and distant in the West. It's too "exotic" lol.     

When it comes to sikhi apart from South Asians not many people know much about it.   I think that's the main reason.

But things are changing. Whenever I go gurdwara I always see this black lady doing seva in the langar hall   she's also started wearing dastar. Iv seen a white amritdhari singh a few times as well in the area I live in. Things are slowly changing 

[jkvlondon]

4 hours ago, Dsinghdp said:

Sikhi is slowly turning global. 

The problem in the past were Indian Gurdwaras and westerners didn’t feel very welcome. But now this attitude is changing.

 

seems like a parallel WHITE gurdwara  ...aint 3HO's panthic unity wonderful

[BhForce]

4 hours ago, Big_Tera said:

Why does the message of Sikhi not resonate with people.

Bro, I don't know what you're talking about. You're talking about the fact that 99% of Western societies are non-Sikh?

Well, what else do you expect? Among other reasons, we only came to these countries in appreciable numbers about 30-40 years ago. So what do you want? 25% of England or the US to be Sikh?

Why do you assume that people should want to become Sikhs all of a sudden? You seem to think that people have done a deep study of Sikhism, and then rejected it for various reasons. But why should they want to consider Sikhism in the first place? Plenty of people are just fine (according to their minds) as Christians, atheists, or whatever.

4 hours ago, Big_Tera said:

Such as Christianity, Islam and buddism does?

Are you talking about people who are already those religions, or converts? Westerners are not converting to Islam and Buddhism in large numbers.

Islam was spread (to a great extent) by the sword. So was Christianity (to an extent).

4 hours ago, Big_Tera said:

Muslims support and encourage non believers. It gives them a sence of identity. Something to concentrate all their energy on. Something to that gives them direction and guides them in life.It makes them feel powerful. 

OK, I agree here. We need to be more loving and unified. If we just did what Gurbani told us to do, then we would be.

 

[BhForce]

3 minutes ago, jkvlondon said:

seems like a parallel WHITE gurdwara  ...aint 3HO's panthic unity wonderful

If you're referring to 3HO creating parallel gurdwaras because they don't want to have to associate with icky Punjabis, I agree with you. 

Note: this is not to disparage Sikhs of white background. There are plenty of them that just attend whatever gurdwara is closest, without having to set up a separate gurdwara for whites and by whites.

[jkvlondon]

40 minutes ago, puzzled said:

Well people in the West are familiar with abrahamic faiths. When people think of God, even if they are atheists, they think of some deity up in the sky who sends you to heaven or hell. This is a very abrahamic view. People are not that familiar with dharmic concepts. Dharmic concepts and beliefs are seen as very foreign and distant in the West. It's too "exotic" lol.     

When it comes to sikhi apart from South Asians not many people know much about it.   I think that's the main reason.

But things are changing. Whenever I go gurdwara I always see this black lady doing seva in the langar hall   she's also started wearing dastar. Iv seen a white amritdhari singh a few times as well in the area I live in. Things are slowly changing 

whenever I've had a conversation with people about the sikhi concept of Waheguru and the model of transmigration of the soul through joons it sits so naturally with their intuitive sense of justice and mercy . Much more than the fire and brimstone and condemning of atheists and unbaptised children who die ... they can relate to a God who is all in all without any adversary, that what are the  demons is the state of man's mind bereft of spirituality

[BhForce]

11 minutes ago, jkvlondon said:

whenever I've had a conversation with people about the sikhi concept of Waheguru and the model of transmigration of the soul through joons it sits so naturally with their intuitive sense of justice and mercy . Much more than the fire and brimstone and condemning of atheists and unbaptised children who die ... they can relate to a God who is all in all without any adversary, that what are the  demons is the state of man's mind bereft of spirituality

Right. I agree.

If you haven't spent your entire life in the Church, having been given justifications for the Devil and so on, then Sikhism aligns more with what people would naturally assume about metaphysics.

For example, it's quite common to hear people in the 21st century to say "God is in all". But ... this is something the Abrahamics explicitly don't believe in.

[jkvlondon]

Just now, BhForce said:

Right. I agree.

If you haven't spent your entire life in the Church, having been given justifications for the Devil and so on, then Sikhism aligns more with what people would naturally assume about metaphysics.

For example, it's quite common to hear people in the 21st century to say "God is in all". But ... this is something the Abrahamics explicitly don't believe in.

Abrahamic belief is that God is too pure to inhabit his creation just HE ( yes male only) is omnipotent  and omniscent , it is strange on one hand their God is perfect and yet they openly believe there are mistakes in relevelations, of people's faith, that He needs to do battle with the Devil .