The core belief in Sikhism is that you should seek truth in all things.

They don’t have a concept of the unforgivable. They have no leg to stand on in their doctrine to “guilt trip” sinners, and no concept of hell. The Sikhs do have a saying and it isn’t a hate message. Their saying is that there is no Hindu and there is no Muslim. What they mean is they are both people. The Sikhs do not see themselves as actually separate. They are just following a different teaching, so Sikhism is not anti-Islam or anti any other religion.

Can a Sikh be something else at the same time, like Buddhists might be Christians? Generally no, but combining religions is not really an issue. They do believe their teachings are right, yes. But say in the case of Islam which they do have contact with, they do not believe it’s wrong so they don’t have to convert necessarily.

I feel a bit saddened about the coolness towards Indian citizens in my area. There is little trust there. You have just pointed out many reasons why they should be highly respected. Honestly, it isn’t justified toward Muslims let alone people who just look like a middle easterner. We are prejudice based on appearance. The majority of Muslims, as well as Sikhs and Hindus, are peace loving and moral people, and turbans are worn by many more than one culture. Turks aren’t Pakistani. Pakistanis aren’t Indian. This is really a very strange prejudice.

The Sikh dress code is very symbolic, and they believe firmly in keeping to these symbols. But they also believe that they should respect the civic peace. The dagger is not for knife fighting in the streets. They wear a turban and sometimes blades, but they are symbols to keep the precepts of the faith on their mind.

To the Sikhs, they believe that first and foremost is to seek truth and God is truth. Through prayer and meditation one can draw closer to God and one should demonstrate Gods truths in the world. Part of what might explain their view is their creation belief. Essentially in the Sikh belief, God meditated in the void and in his meditation he had a vision of creation and it came to be. In a sense in his mind or being, and all things came to be including humanity.

The thought of creation. Yes. Now in this thought of creation and in our existence, all things are possible including evil. This is not a reflection of Gods malice or any division of intent, but as a way of providing for more freedom of choice. The Sikhs basically state that Maya or illusion is not that the world exists. The world is real in Sikh belief, but the apparent values in the world are illusion. So if you told a devout Sikh that you really liked wild partying and felt it was the meaning of life, he might say, “Well yes, I understand you enjoy it but that it was no such thing.”  He would then likely point out the inconsistencies of the partying lifestyle, and how they aren’t in keeping with observable truth.

No such thing in regards to the meaning of life or in the party? Ah, they believe there is a meaning of life, yes, and in this meaning is found salvation. So say you go out drinking and have much too much to drink, do something really embarrassing and wake the next morning with a huge hangover. What they say is pleasure is the disease and suffering the cure. It’s not a morbid comment. They mean that though you were attracted to whatever you thought was pleasurable, the consequence of suffering was the revelation that it was not true. In Sikhism, the relationship with God is all based on that type of revelation.

Wonderful idea. After all disease is dis-ease. So it is the over indulgence in pleasure or the pleasure itself? They see no inherent value in asceticism. It’s the attachment to pleasure. You haven’t sinned in their view, because you experienced something and you liked it. The sin is in seeking it and not God. They are not anti-sex and they do observe marriage. In fact, they do have an objection to the concept of an ascetic caste. They believe you are responsible for your part in society, including commitment to a mate and raising children.

In the course of potentially very many incarnations in the Sikh view, the ultimate culmination of the spiritual path is being reunited with God and the personality ended. Basically nirvana.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~