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Sikhism, Religion of the Way

Religion deals essentially with three subjects of the nature of reality, the nature of man and it relation to this reality and lastly, with the way to reach this reality.

The first two subjects belong to philosophy proper and it is the third subject which brings the other two also into the domain of religion.

As long as religion merely defines the nature of reality and seeks to lay down the true values of human activity, it is no more than philosophy and ethics but when it seeks and promises to help human soul to take these truths to heart and to put them into action with the object of resolving the problem of suffering, which is inherent in the innermost core of man, the self-consciousness, then it becomes religion proper.

Right of Way

Sikhism is essentially a Religion of the Way, something that must be lived and experienced rather than something which may be intellectually grasped and comprehended. True, there can be no practice without the doctrine.

Sikhism, therefore, has its doctrines, views of reality, view of the nature of man, and their interrelationship but it lays primary stress on the practice, the discipline, ‘the way which leads to the cessation of suffering,’ as Gautama the Buddha had formulated it.

Three postulates

A careful reading and understanding of the contents of the Sikh scripture shows that the religion of Sikhism has three postulates implicit in its teachings: 1.There is no essential duality between the spirit and the matter 2. Man alone has the capacity to enter into conscious participation in the process of evolution, which implicates that the process of evolution, as understood by the modern man, has come to a dead-end and must therefore be rescued by the conscious effort of man who alone is capable now of furthering this process 3. When man reaches the highest goal of evolution, namely the vision of God, he must not be absorbed back into God of voidness but must remain earth-conscious so as to transform this mundane world into a higher and spiritual mode of existence.

Great philosophy

The first of these propositions is a postulate of philosophy, though in the context of philosophic speculations of the world, it is startling enough.

The view taken by Sikhism on this point is that the spirit and the matter are not antagonistic to each other, the one subtle, the other gross and that the core of the human nature, which is self-conscious and the physical nature, are accountable ultimately in terms of the subtle.

The mathematic- physical aspect of the universe is as real as its subtle aspect is, though to a mode of consciousness which is pin-pointed and individuated, they appear to be poles apart. The second postulate inherent in the teachings of Sikhism is that the blind urge of evolution, after reaching the point of creating the self-conscious man, has come to a dead-end and by itself now, it is incapable of making any further progress, unless the self-consciousness, in which is grounded the will of man, now takes a consciously guided and directed part to goad the evolutionary urge and guide it.

But by far the most startling postulate of Sikhism is that the true end of man is not such a vision of God which culminates in re-absorption of the individual into the absolute reality but the emergence of a race of God-conscious men, who remain earth-aware and thus operate in the mundane world of the phenomena, with the object of transforming and spiritualising it into a higher and more abundant plane of existence.

Propinquity to God

The God-conscious man is animated with an intense desire to do good in this world. In the past, the aim of the highest religious discipline was taken and accepted as the attainment of identity with or propinquity to God.

It was not thought in terms of utilising the God-consciousness for transforming and spiritualising the life on earth and humanity. It is this revolutionary postulate of Sikhism which is the true prototype of the sophisticated philosophy of the modern Hindu sage, Aurovindo Ghose, though there is no concrete evidence to suggest that he is directly indebted to the Sikh thought.

What is the discipline and the practice which Sikhism recommends as necessary and efficacious for attaining this God-consciousness and for yoking it to the evolutionary urge for transformation of life and humanity on this earth, and on the plane of mundane existence?

It is the doctrine and practice of the Name.

“In the age through which humanity is passing now, no other practice but that of the Name is efficacious. Therefore, practice the discipline of Name.” This message is mentioned again and again in the Sikh scripture: “O, my soul, there is no help but in the Name; other ways and practices are not so sure.’

Distinct points

Although Sikhism is largely in agreement with the basic postulates of the great living religions of the world, it has its points of distinction which are not less important and which when translated into action, into the counsel which it gives to mankind to attain its highest destiny, lead to practices and consequences which not only mark Sikhism from the other great religions but also make it of peculiar interest to the modern society.

Sirdar Kapur Singh was a civil servant, parliamentarian and an intellectual par excellence. The above is one of the many articles he wrote on Sikhism.

Photo : 1. The Ten Gurus of Sikhism 2. The Golden Temple in Amritsar

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