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Beliefs
Sikhism is an independent
religion but it shares some beliefs in common with both Muslim and Hindu faiths:
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Similar to Islam... |
Similar to
Hinduism... |
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Belief in one God (monotheism)
Rejection of Indian Caste |
Belief in reincarnation and
Belief in karma
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God is single,
personal, transcendent, creator, without form (does not incarnate), eternal,
ineffable but revealed in creation and, through meditation, in the human
heart.
Nanak and the Sikh gurus
who followed as his successors "accepted all the prevailing names of God,
such as Allah, Ram, Gobind, Bhagwan, Rahim and Karim, as equally valid, and
all of them were used in hymns for addressing God."* But, ultimately,
Sikhs recognize that the one true and universal God is beyond all names and
they most commonly refer to God as Sat Nam ("true name") or Waheguru
("great guru")
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Rejects religious
ritual and ceremony of both traditions in favor of simple devotion. Guru
Nanak "decried hollow, meaningless rituals and wanted people to realize
God by observing His existence in every human being and everywhere in
nature."*
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Reincarnation continues
until one’s closeness to God in life results in salvation upon death
(rejoining with God)
* quoted from Sikhism:
A Universal Message by Gurbaksh Singh (pub: Sikh Study Circle DFW,
Richardson, TX, 1987
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