Learn about SIKHS
A faith based on equality, respect and tolerance.
The Sikh tradition, known in the Punjabi language as Sikkhi, is a relatively young tradition that was founded over 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India. There are more than 25 million Sikhs around the world, which makes Sikhism the world’s fifth largest religion. Sikhs first came to the United States in the late 1800s and there are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs living in America today.
American Sikhs visiting Golden Temple in Amritsar
FOUNDER GURU NANAK + 10 GURUS
Sikhism developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the faith's first guru, and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him.
The tenth guru, Gobind Singh (1666–1708), named the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib as his successor, bringing to a close the line of human gurus and establishing the scripture as the 11th and last eternally living guru, a religious spiritual/life guide for Sikhs.
Guru Nanak taught that living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" is above metaphysical truth, and that the ideal man "establishes union with God, knows His Will, and carries out that Will".
Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru (1606–1644), established the concept of mutual co-existence of the miri ('political'/'temporal') and piri ('spiritual') realms.
The Sikh scripture opens with the Mul Mantar (ਮੂਲ ਮੰਤਰ), fundamental prayer about ik onkar (ੴ, 'One God'). The core beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation in the name of the one creator; divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in seva ('selfless service'); striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. Following this standard, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth.
Painting of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, with two companions
Sikhism emphasizes simran (ਸਿਮਰਨ, meditation and remembrance of the teachings of Gurus), which can be expressed musically through kirtan, or internally through naam japna ('meditation on His name') as a means to feel God's presence. It teaches followers to transform the "Five Thieves" (i.e. lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego).
The religion developed and evolved in times of religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam. Mughal rulers of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—Guru Arjan (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)—after they refused to convert to Islam.
The persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion, with members expressing the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī ('saint-soldier').
Teachings
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion with pantheistic elements, advocating the belief in One Universal God signified by the term Ik Onkar. In Sikhism, the overall concept of God is Waheguru ('wondrous Teacher') considered to be nirankar ('shapeless'), akal ('timeless'), karta purakh ('the creator'), and agam agochar ('incomprehensible and invisible').
In a literal sense, God has no gender in Sikhism, though metaphorically, God is presented as masculine and God's power as feminine. For example, God is repeatedly referred to by the name Akaal Purkh ('beyond time and space') and Nirankar ('without form') by the tenth guru Guru Gobind Singh Ji, but he also refers to God as his father, and God's creative power as his mother.
Similarly, another example is that the scripture and eternal guru, the Guru Granth Sahib says that all humans are soul-brides who long to unite with their husband Lord. In addition, the gurus also wrote in the Guru Granth Sahib that there are many worlds on which the transcendental God has created life.
Sikh pilgrim meditating at Anandpur Sahib Gurudwara
The Sikh scripture begins with God as Ik Onkar (ੴ), the 'formless one', understood in the Sikh tradition as monotheistic unity of God. Ik Onkar is more loosely rendered 'the one supreme reality', 'the one creator', 'the all-pervading spirit', and other ways of expressing a diffused but unified and singular sense of God and creation.
ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ॥
ikk ōankār sat(i)-nām(u) karatā purakh(u) nirabha'u niravair(u) akāl(a) mūrat(i) ajūnī saibhan gur(a) prasād(i).
"There is one supreme being, the eternal reality, the creator, without fear and devoid of enmity, immortal, never incarnated, self-existent, known by grace through the true Guru."
—Guru Granth Sahib (17th c.), p. 1