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The Sikh Tradition<\/strong><\/em>
\nA Small Celebration<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\nJames Ishmael Ford<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThere is one god,
\nnamed truth,
\nthe creator,
\nwithout fear, without hate,
\ntimeless in form,
\nbeyond birth, self-existent,
\n(known by) the grace of the Guru.<\/em><\/p>\nIt was today, the 13th of April, in 1699 that the Guru Gobind Singh created a formal initiation into the community of Sikh believers, the Khalsa.<\/p>\n
The tradition\u2019s founder was the Guru Nanak<\/a>. Nanak was born in 1469 into a Hindu family in the Punjab. When he was thirty while bathing in a river, the Kali Bein, he vanished. Everyone feared he had been swept away and drowned. But on the fourth day he appeared in the village. By all accounts he seemed transformed. From this point on he was seen as somehow special, touched by the divine.<\/p>\nWhen first asked what had happened, he would only reply \u201cThere is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the rest of his life he preached about God as Ek Onkar<\/em>, the one reality. During his life he visited what we would count as nine countries, offering his vision of divine love. Among his teachings he rejected caste and preached the equality of men and women. Before his death, despite the fact the guru was married and had two sons, he named a non relative as his successor. This led to some conflict, but the line of gurus continued.<\/p>\nThe thirteen word verse that opens the Guru Granth Sahib<\/em> is often called the Sikh creed.<\/p>\nIt has numerous translations. But the first words naming the divine are perhaps crucial. It is sometimes translated as \u201cThere is one god.\u201d But other common translations are \u201cthis Being is one,\u201d and \u201cOne reality is.\u201d Eleanor Nesbitt (whose translation leads this meditation), suggests that this shows \u201cGuru Nanak\u2019s mystical awareness of the one that is expressed through the many.\u201d At its heart is this vision of God. From one angle is seen as monotheistic. From another pantheistic. And from another panentheistic.<\/p>\n
There would be a succession of nine more gurus, until the tenth, Guru Gobind Singh. In addition to formalizing initiation into the community invested the authority of the Guru to that community and to a collection of hymns and prayers gathered as sacred scripture and called the Guru Granth Sahib<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Sikh community\u2019s formative years were hard and the community suffered persecution, not least for its attracting both Muslims and Hindus into a new faith. Two of the gurus would be murdered.<\/p>\n
Scholars classify the tradition as an Indian Religion, but its not usually listed as a Dharmic tradition. In its formation most scholars see deep influences from the Hindu Sant tradition, and ecstatic mystical movement, whose most famous figure was the poet Kabir. And in its earlier years most Hindus saw it as a Hindu reform. But, there were substantial differences and before long it was seen as an independent spiritual stream, with influences from both Hinduism and Islam.<\/p>\n
Today in North America Sikh\u2019s are often mistaken for muslims, partially for the color of their skin and because orthodox Sikhs usually have beards and wear turbans. They have been the target of prejudice and sometimes violence. Infamously Sikh-American businessman Balbir Singh Sodhi was the first victim of American domestic retaliations following 9\/11.<\/p>\n
There is one god, It was today, the 13th of April, in 1699 that the Guru Gobind Singh created a formal initiation into the community of Sikh believers, the Khalsa.<\/p>\n The tradition\u2019s founder was the Guru Nanak<\/a>. Nanak was born in 1469 into a Hindu family in the Punjab. When he was thirty while bathing in a river, the Kali Bein, he vanished. Everyone feared he had been swept away and drowned. But on the fourth day he appeared in the village. By all accounts he seemed transformed. From this point on he was seen as somehow special, touched by the divine.<\/p>\n When first asked what had happened, he would only reply \u201cThere is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n For the rest of his life he preached about God as Ek Onkar<\/em>, the one reality. During his life he visited what we would count as nine countries, offering his vision of divine love. Among his teachings he rejected caste and preached the equality of men and women. Before his death, despite the fact the guru was married and had two sons, he named a non relative as his successor. This led to some conflict, but the line of gurus continued.<\/p>\n The thirteen word verse that opens the Guru Granth Sahib<\/em> is often called the Sikh creed.<\/p>\n It has numerous translations. But the first words naming the divine are perhaps crucial. It is sometimes translated as \u201cThere is one god.\u201d But other common translations are \u201cthis Being is one,\u201d and \u201cOne reality is.\u201d Eleanor Nesbitt (whose translation leads this meditation), suggests that this shows \u201cGuru Nanak\u2019s mystical awareness of the one that is expressed through the many.\u201d At its heart is this vision of God. From one angle is seen as monotheistic. From another pantheistic. And from another panentheistic.<\/p>\n There would be a succession of nine more gurus, until the tenth, Guru Gobind Singh. In addition to formalizing initiation into the community invested the authority of the Guru to that community and to a collection of hymns and prayers gathered as sacred scripture and called the Guru Granth Sahib<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Sikh community\u2019s formative years were hard and the community suffered persecution, not least for its attracting both Muslims and Hindus into a new faith. Two of the gurus would be murdered.<\/p>\n Scholars classify the tradition as an Indian Religion, but its not usually listed as a Dharmic tradition. In its formation most scholars see deep influences from the Hindu Sant tradition, and ecstatic mystical movement, whose most famous figure was the poet Kabir. And in its earlier years most Hindus saw it as a Hindu reform. But, there were substantial differences and before long it was seen as an independent spiritual stream, with influences from both Hinduism and Islam.<\/p>\n Today in North America Sikh\u2019s are often mistaken for muslims, partially for the color of their skin and because orthodox Sikhs usually have beards and wear turbans. They have been the target of prejudice and sometimes violence. Infamously Sikh-American businessman Balbir Singh Sodhi was the first victim of American domestic retaliations following 9\/11.<\/p>\n
\nnamed truth,
\nthe creator,
\nwithout fear, without hate,
\ntimeless in form,
\nbeyond birth, self-existent,
\n(known by) the grace of the Guru.<\/em><\/p>\n