In defense of Sikhism, the world’s latest Dharmic religion, it is neither an invention nor a cult of personality.  Nor is it that far removed from its Dharmic antecedents to be considered a distinct religion of its own.  I do not regard Sikhism as a religion distinct in any way from Hinduism, Jainism or even Buddhism.  I pray my Sikh brothers and sisters will forgive me if that offends in any way.

I am just making the observation that Sikhism is a school of theology which seeks to clarify Vedic theology and correct a tendency to elevate any of the Devi above or instead of the Guru of Gurus.

Look at that!  We have arrived at a teachable moment in linguistics.  How ever did that happen?  Good thing I am here. 😉

Guru is a term which, here in the United States anyway, has acquired a ridiculous pallor, owing mostly to the ridiculous behavior of “hippies” in the 1960s and 1970s who were pretending to be Hari Krishnas and starting ashrams of their own after listening to a Beatles album.

Forget everything anyone in the Untied States has ever told you about Hindus, Janas or Sikhs because, I assure you, they are likely wrong.  The Wiki is a far more accurate source than your average Birkenstock wearing college kid, and that is saying a lot.  Chances are, when any American kid is gushing about Shiva, or Krishna, or their latest and greatest “guru”, they are just sticking their thumb in the devil’s eye.

To all my Hindu, Jain and Sikh brothers and sisters, I apologize on behalf of the American people.  You see, college kids in the 1960s and 1970s felt “judged by the man” when Christians reprimanded them for “role-playing” with another’s faith.  Granted, most Christians used terminology we all call “fire and brimstone”, but you get the point.  Both Christians and hippies were defending faith in their own way.

I wish Christians and hippies would all take lessons from true Sikh Gurus before they fight the good fight.  I can’t untangle that scrum so allow me to just set the record straight on the words in play.

Guru means teacher.  Sikh means student or disciple.  When a believer studies under a human Guru, the connotation of Sikh is student.  When that student then learns to listen to the Creator, the connotation becomes disciple.

Sikh are, etymologically and epistemologically, the “Muslims” of the Dharmic religions.  Just as believers who became students of Mohamed are generically called disciples (Muslims), believers who became students of Guru Nanak are generically called disciples (Sikh).

Similarly, just as Muslims in Arabia were reforming the religion of their region, the Sikh of Bharat were also reforming their religion.  Surprisingly, both Muslims and Sikhs were reforming the religion of their region for the exact same reason. 

Both Muslims and Sikhs recognized that the census of Saints, of revered exemplars, whatever you want to call them, had become too large and too distinct from each other.  In both Arabia and India sectarian conflict, usually theological, but too often physical, was obscuring the essential truth at the center of all Dharmic religions: The Eternal Cause of All Causes.

Full stop.

Muslims will be throwing a red flag on the field at that claim.  Muslims will insist that Islam has nothing to do with Dharma, and vice versa.  Muslims can say that all they want, but they are only proving they have never studied the life and teachings of Akbar the Great.

I will spare my Muslim brothers and sisters a lecture on Akbar, and here just remain focused on the meaning of words.

Dharma means “Divine Order”.  If Muslims refuse to accept the term Dharma, it will only be because of linguistic chauvinism, not theological objection, for how can any Muslim refute Islam does not teach all about the Divine Order of the Creator?

Muslims cannot refute the fact Islam teaches on the Divine Order of the Creator.  Case closed.  The Sikhi are “Children of the Book”.

Children of the Book is a term specifically unique to the Islamic lexicon, but conceptually universal to all of the major religions.  The Sikh just apply the core concept binding the Children of the Book together in eternity.  The book of which Muslims speak is the body of Divine Wisdom imparted by the Creator through prayerful supplication.

I know, we have all been conditioned by the movies and news reports to believe Muslims worship the Koran, but that is hardly the case.  Muslims revere the Koran above all other volumes in print, but Islam as a religious tradition matured during Arabia’s Renaissance.  In the 6^th Century AD, the first century in Muslim reckoning, Muslim scholars ranged all over the known world in search of knowledge, much of it coming from India.

In fact, Akbar the Great ruled over Moghul India, though that was long after the renaissance.  The point I am failing to make is that Muslim scholars and Muslim theologians were searching for Divine Guidance all around them, never limiting themselves to what was then in print in Arabia.

Akbar the Great was born centuries later in the 16^th century and became the Arbiter In Common in Moghul India in the early 17^th century.  During his life Akbar mediated political and religious conflict in Moghul India with such wise counsel that everyone, whether Muslim, Hindu, Jana or Sikhi called him Akbar the Great.

Akbar himself demurred in the moment of such accolades and insisted God was Great, that he was just Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad. Akbar, you see, is just the Arabic word for “great”.  Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad was so respected everyone just called him “Great”.

It is from Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad’s unrivalled humility that Muslims the world over acquired their famous rallying cry, Allah hu Akbar, God is Great.

Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad (also the Great) remains one of the most revered spiritual leaders in history precisely because he recognized the Dharmic religions as a chapter in the Book of Life, that which is above all religions, above all texts, that which is kept and maintained by the Creator.

We, in the west, correctly wonder where things went wrong on the subcontinent.  I don’t have an answer for you, but I explain it to myself as a consequence of personal doubt.

Doubt is persistent in the human condition.  Christianity teaches that doubt is a product of original sin, the measure of Mankind’s estrangement from the Creator, but I observe that Christ on the Cross expressed doubt and theologians insist He was born without original sin.

I proceed on the assumption doubt is an ever-present feature of the human cognition.  Believe what you may.  Just be careful what you conclude.  I concluded long ago that personal doubt is that silent critic sitting on the proverbial shoulders of our every thought, serving as a check sum against errant logic.

I concluded that, when we learn of theology which varies from our own, we all run that past our filters and, there, in the back of our minds, doubt reveals the ramifications to our own beliefs if we, and not they, are wrong.  A defensive reflex kicks in and we shut our minds off to the possibility of being wrong, and rigidly defend what we originally believed.

May God teach us when and where we are wrong.

All religious zealotry, I insist, begins with doubts which were ignored not explored.

That is what makes me admire and love the Sikh faithful.  While other religious traditions propose their wisdom as the optimal path for Mankind to follow, maybe not perfect, but more perfect than the others, the Sikh faithful are taught from day one that all religious traditions, all scholarly disciplines which honestly and earnestly seek Divine Truth, will receive Divine Truth.

Anyone who tells you Sikhs are zealots know neither what is zealotry or what is Sikhism.  Of all the world’s major religions, Sikhism alone obligates its disciples to defend all religious traditions, if only to protect the wisdom imparted therein by The Guru.

Which brings us to The Guru.

Sikhi have a number of terms for the Creator, but the term most consistently used is The Teacher.  Guru means teacher.  Guru, in the capital sense, always refers to the Creator.  Of course, because Sikhi also call their earthly teachers gurus, confusion often arises in those who observe Sikh traditions from outside.  Sikhi may refer to The Guru as the Guru of Gurus when attempting to appease Christian sensibilities, but Christians are not alone in the misconception that Sikhi worship their earthly teachers.

The insinuation is laughable to the Sikh faithful, so they rarely defend themselves against such accusations.  You see, the first Sikh Guru, Nanak, himself instructed against this misperception.  Guru Nanak, like Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad (also the Great) centuries later, demurred in unambiguous deference to The Guru.  Nanak codified into the scriptures that The Guru was to be worshipped, while earthly teachers are only to be respected and loved.

I can’t see how anything could be made clearer, but misperceptions about Sikhism persist.

I’d go into greater detail about all I admire in Sikhism, but I’ll let you explore the religion and its teachings on your own.  I advise beginning with Sikh hymns which, if I am being diligent as a teacher of linguistics, I will refer to by the Punjabi term “Ragas”.

I can’t describe Ragas adequately for western ears, only to say Ragas sound like the treasured parts of that Beatles album produced when they emerged from the Ashram long ago.  Ragas do not just transport, they transcend.

The string instruments of the subcontinent, as well as the drums, are so resonant in tone and tempo that there is no equal in the Western tradition.  Certain Arabic instruments are closely related, but none resonate as “celestially” as those of the subcontinent.

Long before I knew what a Sikhism was, I would fall asleep to the Ragas favored all along the Indus River.  Of course, to me, the music evoked every National Geographic article I had ever read about an exotic, far-off land called India, and the kaleidoscope culture which flourished there.  In my mind, though, as I fell asleep, the Ragas adored from Rajasthan to Kashmir evoked spiritual connection.  No words, just music.  But I believed I understood.

Yea, music is where I recommend you begin exploring Sikhism for yourself.

In the state of Punjab, of course, Ragas are not “exotic”.  In the region, Ragas are just “Gospel Music”.

The day I discovered I was listening to Gospel Music all along, I realized what Muslims mean by the Children of the Book.  The Sikhi are definitely Children of the Book, God’s Children who are disciples of Divine Truth, just Children walking another path toward the same destination.

On that day I realized how close we all came to religious reconciliation in the age Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad (also the Great) managed to negotiate generations of peace and understanding between Hindus, Janas, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Sikhi on the subcontinent. 

I am convinced, if the leaders of the world’s major religions require an example to emulate, one will be found in Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar.  I am convinced Muhammed Akbar recognized the wisdom in the Sikh scriptures and, most of all, in the wisdom of searching for Divine Wisdom imparted in other religious traditions.

I am just convinced doubters will continue to get in the way of ecumenical reconciliation.  Too many fear that the truth found in another’s theology renders their theology incorrect, or incomplete.  With one’s eternal soul on the line, it matters more than anything else in life.

Pray for the doubters and be sure to include yourself in that list. 😉

On one matter, though, I will no longer doubt.  The Sikh faithful are the best teachers I have had over the years, and I have yet to meet a single one.

Before putting my defense of religion to bed, allow me to make a final observation about one Sikh tradition which boggles the minds of everyone who encounters it.  I am referring to the Sikh tradition of placing the Sikh Scriptures on a bed at the conclusion of their religious services.

Search for a photograph online.  You’ll find many.  If you are like me, you will laugh reflexively, for who does not place their books on a shelf?  But don’t allow the appearances to mislead you.

Consider carefully what is being demonstrated in a religious rite intended to reiterate an Eternal Truth.  First, the rite demonstrates Sikh belief that The Guru, though not a corporol Being, is a Being nevertheless.  The Guru, being the source of all wisdom in Creation, is not a stack of paper with ink on it, bound in a cover, to be read and understood, but an Eternal, Benevolent, Intelligence who loves the Children of the Book.  Secondly, the rite reiterates that even the Creator requires rest.  Both growth and healing occur during periods of rest.

The sanctity of the Sabbath is explicit in the “persons” of The Guru.  Rest is not just an edict intended for the human condition.  Meditate on rest, folks.  Everything in creation rests, including the Creator. 

In the 21^st Century, when everyone is open for business around the clock and yet, we ring our hands, exhaust our minds, waste our finances, and incite our children trying to find ways to reduce emissions.  We neglect a Divine Truth.

Mankind only needs to give our technology a rest to remain within the limits of a system designed with rest implicit in its design.  If the Sikhi teach us nothing more than the universal need to rest, than the Sikhi have taught us all we need to know to survive the burning times.

On that point, I’ll give the subject a rest.

Waheguru!

An Unknown Soldier