(a)

Starting with Jainism and Hinduism, I also dabbled in another major religion that is prevalent in South Asia: Sikhism. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

I used to attribute Sikhism to a side religion, but that's a bit of a grievance.

Although it is very mysterious to the world, it is the fifth largest religion on the planet.

It was born in the 15th century in northern India. It is believed to have been born out of the growing fusion of Islam and Hinduism.

But it is not a mixture of the two, it has its own separate qualities, doctrines, and complete history.

Although it has some traces of two religions, for example, it also writes hymns like Islam and also practices meditation like Hinduism.

It is also a world religion.

Sikhs do not consider their religion to be a regional religion, nor to be a sectarian religion, they consider Sikhism to be the overarching and aggregate of all religions.

The teachings of Sikhism encompass all religious contents, so it has a certain tolerance.

Sikh temples are therefore open to all faiths, and Sikhism never advocates convincing followers of other religions to convert to Sikhism.

There is a very representative sentence in the Sikh scriptures: "There is only one truth, but it has countless names." ”

Sikhism believes that there is definitely more than one way to heaven. Whatever the faith, it is the path that leads to the ultimate and only truth. The point is, you have faith.

Do you know what "Sikh" means in Sikhism? Translated into Chinese, it means: "student", "disciple" or "person who seeks the truth".

This is somewhat similar to Buddhism's reference to Shakyamuni as "the Guru".

(b)

The leader of Sikhism is called "Guru". "Guru" probably means "fully enlightened one", and it also means "spiritual teacher" and "enlightener". The name actually comes from Hinduism.

Its first guru, whose name was Nanak. He was born in Punjab, which at that time was an important battlefield for the Afghans, Mongols, and Indians.

Nanak was a meditative child and lacked interest in real life, and he always avoided attending Hindu worship services. After getting married, he continued to travel and give money to the poor.

When he was 30 years old, one day he walked into the river and then his body disappeared. He reappeared in town 4 days later, glowing all over his body.

Legend has it that he saw his "true name" and drank the nectar bestowed by his "true name", and since then he founded Sikhism.

Since then, Nanak has been a missionary in many places, such as the Himalayas, some Arab countries, and Sri Lanka.

When asked whether he believed in Islam or Hinduism, he replied, "How can I believe without Islam and without Hinduism?" ”

He said, "I believe in my real name. His real name is much higher than all that, and he doesn't belong to any religious denomination. ”

This is how he made his claim known.

He advocated fidelity to "faith in the truth" per se, rather than focusing on the outward form of religion. His ideas gradually spread, and many Muslims and Hindus gradually became his followers.

Later, when he was about to leave this world, his disciples debated whether he should be buried according to Islamic rites or according to Hinduism.

"Disciples of Islam can put flowers on one side of my body and flowers for Hindu disciples on the other side," he said. The next day, whichever side of the flower is still fresh, use the ceremony to bury me. ”

As a result, the next day, the disciples uncovered the cloth sheet covering his body and found that the flowers on both sides were still fresh, but the body in the middle had disappeared, leaving only a faint fragrance.

(c)

Sikhism's choice of religious leaders is very similar to that of Tibetan Buddhism. It is spiritually oriented in this respect and does not require qualifications.

The 8th Guru of Sikhism was a child who was only 5 years old, and he died when he was 8 years old.

The fact that a little doll is the leader of the doll has made some Hindu believers laugh.

On one occasion, when they were laughing at the little Guru, the little Guru touched a deaf Sikh with his finger, and the deaf water hauler was immediately able to discuss the most obscure passages of the esoteric scriptures with the Hindu scholars in clear language, much to the astonishment of the Hindus.

The 6th Guru of Sikhism, the circumstances of his death were heroic.

The growing influence of this religion in India made the Mughal emperors of the time feel threatened. The emperor then accused the Guru of denying Islam and Hinduism and disturbing the minds of the people, and fined him 200,000 rupees.

At that time, many followers of him rushed to donate money for him after hearing the news. But this Guru named Algar stopped it.

"I didn't do anything wrong, so I won't accept this punishment," he said. "He refused to pay the fine.

So, he angered the emperor.

The emperor took him and tortured him. In the heat of summer, the thugs forced him to sit on a red-hot iron plate, poured hot sand on top of him, and pushed him into boiling water. This torture lasted a full 5 days.

At that time, a kind aristocratic woman brought him sherbet in the hope of relieving his severe pain somewhat. But he refused.

Although he was in pain, he was very calm and did not waver in his faith.

Eventually, the thugs forced him to sink into the river next to the palace.

When he appeared in front of many of his followers, people wept bitterly when they saw the terrible blisters all over his body. He walked towards the river step by step with his shapeless feet.

He sang the sweetness of his true name's will, and he walked into the river and disappeared into it.

Since then, there has been a two-edged sword in Sikh baptism. The Sikhs finally created their own army and fought a bloody war with the Mughals. The bravery and tenacity of the Sikhs has since been known to the world.

Later, a Sikh Guru was a warrior and a warrior, often wearing two swords.

And the sons of the last Guru also died heroically on the battlefield.

After the division of the Mughal dynasty, the Sikhs once established their own state. But in 1849, the arrival of British colonists put an end to the existence of this kingdom.

(iv)

During the occupation of India by the British colonists, the Sikhs also put up some resistance. Its non-violent approach has left an indelible impression on posterity.

A Sikh named Bagh told me a story.

At that time, there was a park, and there was a Sikh temple in the park, and many Sikhs used to go to the temple to collect firewood and prepare to cook and give alms to the poor. The British rulers felt that this prevented them from enjoying the park, so they forbade Sikhs from entering.

The Sikhs adhered to their traditions, and the British resorted to the police.

Police beat, arrest and even shoot Sikhs as they make their way to the park every day, but nearly 100 Sikhs silently walk towards that brutal beating and death every day.

Eventually, the British, under the pressure of conscience and the angry condemnation of society as a whole, were forced to abandon the ban.

Another story told by Bag is even more tragic.

It was also during the British occupation that the British banned mass gatherings of Sikhs.

On one occasion, some Sikhs were arrested by the British while meeting at the residence of the Guru. The British accused them of being subversive political prisoners and put them on trains and taken to other places where they were held. Along the way, they were mistreated and denied even food to eat.

As the train passed by a location called Hasanada, a local Sikh community went to the station master to ask the station master to bring some food to the people on board, otherwise they would starve to death by the time they arrived. But this request was denied.

The stationmaster of the British replied that it was a special train and that it would not stop here.

The three leaders of the community then said to their followers, "We will lie on the tracks and stop the train from moving forward." ”

They said: "It is the duty of our community leaders to die for our brothers." And your job is to bring food to the train when it stops. ”

So, they did.

The train came at a gallop, ran over the three sleepers, and then made an emergency stop.

People flocked to their aid and found all three men dying. One of them was also able to speak. He said, "Leave us alone, go and deliver food." ”

The food was finally delivered to the train like that.

(5)

Sikhism has never ordered or forced followers of other religions to convert to their own religion, but it does have missionaries who resemble monks. These missionaries were called "Adas". They would renounce their worldly life like monks or monks, but they were not reclusive and ascetic, and they remained active in service to others while insisting on deep meditation towards their true names.

The first Adas is called Baba. Zen virtue. He was the eldest son of Guru Nanak. He is universally loved by people of all castes in India.

During a Mughal census, the ruler was surprised to find that the Baba. The number of adherents in Chan is staggering, and the statistics show that it has surpassed any other sage in the history of India. His influence continues to this day in Azerbaijan. In a museum in Azerbaijan today, you can still see his manuscripts from those years. His murals are also widely distributed in ethnic areas from South Asia to Central Asia.

(f)

There have been 10 Guru in the history of Sikhism.

The 10th Guru is called Gubinshin. Singh. He sensed that the existence of the Gruul system created some kind of personal authority, which he believed would hinder people's focused pursuit of ultimate truth. Therefore, he did not appoint an heir after his death, thus abolishing the Guru system. He returned the authority of the Guru to the Grant.

The Grant Sutra is the main scripture of Sikhism, equivalent to the Bible in Christianity and the Vedas in Hinduism.

There are many things in the Sikh Grant scriptures that appeal to me.

One of my favorites is this one: "The blue sky is getting deeper and deeper, the daily sense of failure is gone, I don't hurt myself anymore, when I am firmly in that world, a million suns and light come at the same time." ”

There are many people in this world who feel that their true selves are obscured by their superficial selves, and that their true selves are part of a world with an extremely strong light. They vaguely remember this and sincerely longed to return to that bright world.

AS WILLIAM-WORDSWORTH PUT IT, "OUR BIRTH IS BUT A SLUMBER AND A FORGETFULNESS AWAY FROM HOME." ”

In the languages of all over the world, in the languages of all peoples, all human beings have portrayed death as "coming home."

I don't believe it's accidental.