Essentials of Sikhism

Sikhism is a system radically different from the Indian Bhakti Creeds with which it has often been confused.. Although quietist mystics and sainte appeared the world over in all ages and countries, yet none of them had ever accepted social responsibility or used force for a righteous cause, which are the basic concepts of the Sikh Philoso- phy. The author elucidates all the Sikh Concepte in this context in a forceful manner. He clarifies the misconceptions made about Sikhism in an effective and logical way. While comparing the fundamentals of Sikh Theology with the other reli- gious systems, he relies the au- thoritative writings on the other religions and quotes profusely from the Sikh Scriptures.

In short, this work is an attempt to give a comparative picture of Sikh concept and doctrines, so that their reality is brought in sharp focue, and their significance and implications in the overall structure of Sikhism are grasped by the reader casily.

Following a bright academic record, the Author competed successfully for the Civil Services and retired as Secretary and Commissioner Edu- cation, Government of Punjab in 1969. Since then he has devoted himself to the study of Compara tive Religion and Sikhism in particu- lar. His Works include a number of books and numerous papers on the Religion of Guru Nanak. He has delivered Guru Nanak Memorial Lectures and Guru Tegh Bahadur Commemorative Lectures at the Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab. Among the living scholars, he is the most authentic and prolific expo- nent of Sikhism. His views on Sikh Theology are sound and unchallenged, being based entirely on the doctrines in the Guru Granth Sahib and the lives of the Gurus.

After a two year study of Guru Granth Sahib I started writing notes on its important concepts. My understanding of them revealed that Sikhism was a system radically different from the Indian Bhakti creeds with which it was often confused. For, although quietist mystics and saints had appeared the world over in all ages and countries, yet none of them had ever accepted social responsibility, or used force for a righteous cause. Therefore, I wrote a paper on the concpet of Naam in Guru Granth Sahib, and sent it to my friend, late Dr. Prem Nath, Head, Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was happy to go through it, and wanted me to publish it, since it expressed a new and logical picture of the identity and theology of Sikhism. Thereafter followed my ventures in Sikh Studies.

The papers in this volume are divided into three sections. In the first section is a paper dealing with the problem of religious studies in the present academic world, where the materialist philosophies quite often form the base of Social Science disciplines. The second section comprises thirteen articles, namely, 'Idea of God in Sikhism', 'Naam in Sikhism', 'Vaisnavism, Vedanta and Nathism', The Sikh World-View', 'Sikh Theory of Evolution: Haumain, and Problems of Hermeneutics', The Concept of Maya in Sikhism', 'Sikh Bhakti and Hindu Bhakti (Reproduction of a paper contributed at a Seminar organised by the Council of World Religions at Sri Nagar in July 1988), Guru Nanak-The Prophet of a Unique Ideology, Sikh Religion and Politics', 'Gurmukh', 'A Critique and a Clarification of Sikhism, 'The Idea of Freedom and Responsibility', and 'Sikhism-Its Identity'. The third section has a paper under the Caption 'Sikhism and Inter- Religious Dialogue'.

The selection of papers in this volume has primarily been made in order to clarify, in the light of Gurbani, topics about which some confusion has arisen, or which are fundamental to the Sikh thesis. Many a time one finds scholars saying that Sikhism has Vedantic, Bhakti, or Islamic affinities. There is a fundamental failing in such views.

**Contents and Sample Pages**