This video is made possible thanks to Audible. Visit audible.com slash Cogito or text Cogito to 500-500 to start your 30-day free trial. This is the Harryman Deer, the world's largest free kitchen.
It serves free vegetarian food to about 100,000 people every day. It's also the holiest site in Sikhism, the fifth largest and youngest of the world religions. A religion that preaches about love, peace and the equality of humankind, but also asks its followers to carry swords.
So, who are the Sikhs? What do they believe? And why does everyone confuse them for Muslims?
Well, let's find out. Sikhism originated in the Punjab area of India and Pakistan, 500 years ago. The Punjab, the land of five rivers, is one of the most historically and culturally dense areas on earth. This was the home of one of the world's earliest civilisations, the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Persians, Greeks, Central Asians, Mughals, the British, and others have all invaded here. I meant Mughals. Mughals invaded here. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jainism and a handful of other faiths have all left their mark on the region.
The diverse culture of the Punjab has heavily influenced the Sikhs. Today there are about 25 million Sikhs. They make up about 2% of India's population but about 60% of the Punjab's. The Sikh diaspora is spread out across the world with concentrations in the UK, Canada, the US, East Africa, Australia and Malaysia. Sikhs, interestingly enough, make up about 1.5% of Canada's population.
which is second only to India. The word Sikh means learner. Sikhs call their religion Sikhi, Gursikhi and Gurmat. You can't really understand the Sikhs without understanding their relationship with gurus.
The word guru means a teacher or spiritual guide. The guru teaches and the Sikh learns. The Sikhs follow the teachings of ten succeeding gurus that have shaped Sikhism. The first and most important guru is Guru Nanak. the founder of Sikhism.
Born in 1469 CE near what is today Lahore, Pakistan. Nanak was seen as special even as a child. As a baby he was said to have had the laugh of an adult man.
Here comes the bird. As a teenager he preferred to listen to Hindu saints and Sufi Muslim preachers rather than his own parents. As an adult, Nanak would settle in Sultanpur where he worked for the government. The actions of his fellow government officials and the rich and powerful disgusted him as they exploited ordinary working people and he hated the caste divisions that he saw all around him.
One day while bathing in a river near Sultanpur, Nanak had a miraculous experience. He was swept up into God's court where God spoke to him. Nanak reappeared three days later declaring, there is no Hindu and there is no Muslim.
There was only God. This was a message inspired by his experience with God. One that spoke in favour of the equality of humankind and against caste, ethnic and religious divisions.
Nanak would later say, accept all humans as your equals and let them be your only sect. Nine human gurus followed Nanak, all preaching the same message of one god and the equality of humankind. Two fundamental events that shaped Sikh history was the martyrdom of two gurus.
The first was the fifth guru, Guru Arjan. who was roasted alive by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The next martyr would be the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur.
He was beheaded by the Mughals while attempting to defend the religious rights of Hindus. His son, Guru Gobind Rai, the tenth and final human guru, started a new Sikh community called the Khalsa and ended the line of human gurus by making the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, the last living guru. We'll take a closer look at both of these in a bit. So, with that brief history out of the way, let's take a look at the core beliefs of Sikhism. One.
One God. The Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib's opening sentence is just two words. Ik Ankar.
There is only one God. Nanak made sure it was clear that the focus was on one. Ik doesn't just mean one, it is literally the numeral one. One god is by far the most important belief in Sikhism.
This may not be the kind of god you're used to though. Sikhs believe in a formless, genderless, universal god beyond description. This god is all of reality and is within everything.
They believe no idol or image could ever represent this being, so they use the sacred symbol of Ik Anker to represent it instead. Many Sikhs refer to this one god by the name Wey Guru, Wondrous Lord. Guru Nanak and his followers constantly emphasised that this One could be understood in many different ways.
No religion had a monopoly on the truth. Nanak's One could be known as Vishnu, Allah, the To, Yahweh, the Algorithm or any other name or belief. There was no need to fight over whose god was the true god, as they were all the same one.
Recognise all mankind, whether Muslim or Hindu, as one. The same god is the creator and nourisher of all. Recognise No distinctions among them.
The temple and the mosque are the same. So are Hindu worship and Muslim prayer. Human beings are all one.
Guru Gobind Singh."The lack of a gender for this one god means that there is no difference between men and women in Sikhism. Sikhism was among the first major world religions to make the radical suggestion that maybe, just maybe, women are people too. Women in Sikhism have fought battles, led religious services and even acted as some of the longest reigning leaders of the entire community. Sickism isn't based on doing things to get into some heaven or hell. Hell is just life on earth, which your soul is constantly reborn into after you die. Which is a pretty dark. You see, Sikhs believe in reincarnation and karma, similar to Buddhists, Hindus and Jains. But Sikhs believe that karma is modified by God. As in, karma might decide what life you're born into, but God makes sure that anyone can become a good person in their lifetime if they try. The goal of Sikh life is to break free from the cycle of rebirth by merging your soul back into God's soul. One does this by realising that you are already a part of God. You just need to let go of your ego. When your soul re-merges back into gods, this is called Mukti, which is similar to Hinduism's Moksha and means liberation. When you re-merge, your soul is released from the cycle of rebirth and death and becomes infinite, timeless and blissful. This is the closest thing Sikhs have to heaven. Maya. Sikhs believe that God is and created reality. But we forget this because humans are distracted by illusion or Maya, which is anything that takes your mind off God. Maya keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth and death. Guru Nanak thought that Maya built a wall between people and God. The wall of Maya is built with the five thieves. Lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride. It is the duty of all six to avoid these thieves. The five thieves are caused by Howe Mai, literally I myself. Helmai makes people say, I am this, I am that, and it separates you from others, which blocks you from realising your oneness with God. This ego causes people to live only for themselves, to spew negativity and to crave power and wealth. Such a person is called Munmukh, facing towards desires. Guru Nanak saw the world's problems as the negative effects of ego. Hindu vs Muslim, Israeli vs Palestinian, sitting down wipers, vs standing up wipers. All of these conflicts are caused by ego and maya. The Guru Granth Sahib said it is not religion or race but it is wealth that divides brothers. But Guru Nanak thought that there was another direction people could face. By being a spiritual person, practising compassion, truth, contentment, humility and love, and meditating on God, you could instead become Gurmukh facing towards the Guru. How does one become Gurmukh and egoless? Well, Sikhism offers a path to follow that can help, called the three pillars. Three. Three pillars. The three pillars are 1. Naam Japo, which is meditation on God and the reciting and chanting of God's name. Wey Guru. This is normally done in the morning and before bed. This isn't supposed to just be some mindless ritual either. Sikhs are supposed to genuinely reflect on the qualities of God as they do this. 2. Kirat Karni, working hard and making an honest living. Guru Nanak said, Only he who earns his living by the sweat of his brow and shares his earnings with others has discovered the path of righteousness. 3. Wand Chakna This is sharing the fruits of your labour with others, providing free food and donating to the community. The Sikh tradition of a communal meal or langar at the gurdwaras is a part of Wand Chakna. The langar or communal free kitchen inside of a Sikh gurdwara, which is their equivalent of a mosque or church, is open to all who visit. regardless of caste, faith or gender. These serve vegetarian food to all, not because Sikhs have to be vegetarian, but simply because that means all people of all diets can partake. So if you want to taste typical Punjabi food, just go visit a gurdwara. In Guru Nanak's time, the idea of different castes sitting together on the floor and eating side by side was a revolutionary act. Famously, the Mughal Emperor Akbar visited Guru Arjan and the Guru would not meet with him until he partook in a lunger, which the emperor did, sitting side by side with peasants. Guru Nanak claimed an enlightened person are those who view everyone equally, like the air, touching the king and beggar alike. Another vital part of Sikhism that isn't one of the three pillars is seva, which is selfless service. Through service to their community, Sikhs can become more humble and overcome their ego. Seva can include cleaning up the gurdwara, preparing food, or cleaning dishes in the lunger. or it can include volunteering, building things for your community, or subscribing and ringing the notification bell on educational YouTube channels. Through remembering God's name, honest work and sharing, along with selfless service and avoiding the five thieves, a person can rid themselves of egoism and be released from the cycle of rebirth and death. 4. The Khalsa Guru Gobind Rai was the son of the ninth guru, Tegh Bahadur, who was beheaded by the Mughals and his body was abandoned by his Sikh entourage. They fled easily because no one could recognise them. So Guru Gobind decided to give Sikhs a distinct look from now on so that they would always be compelled to uphold Sikh values. So in 1699 Guru Gobind brought his Sikhs together at Anandapur. After their morning prayer, he stood in front of a huge crowd and demanded a human sacrifice. The shocked crowd was silent for a while before one Sikh rose up and entered the Guru's tent. The Guru followed him in. And then the Guru comes out with blood on his sword. He demands another sacrifice. Another Sikh offers himself and enters the tent. Again, only the Guru comes back out of the tent, bloody sword in hand. Again, another sacrifice. And again. And finally, after the fifth sacrifice, the Guru re-emerges with the five Sikhs all wearing saffron coloured robes. The Guru declares that these are the Panj Paya Rang, the five beloved ones. They would form the centre of a new Sikh community called the Khalsa. He offered them amrit, a bowl of sweetened water. And all five who belonged to different caste groups drank the amrit from the same bowl, which would have been a huge deal back then. This signified they had joined a new caste-less family, the Khalsa. Each of these volunteers had to leave behind their old surnames or cast names and adopt the same surname, Singh, which comes from the Sanskrit word Simba, meaning lion. I know, right? It has no relation to the Bantu word Simba, which also means lion. It's just a weird coincidence. The Guru then begged the five beloved ones to let him join their Khalsa. They offered him the amrit and the Guru became Guru Gobind Singh. Women were admitted to the Khalsa the same way as men. After drinking the amrit, they received the surname Kaur, meaning princess. The Khalsa gave the Sikhs a new, unified identity. Tied together as one family, with one name, without caste, with the goal of defending the weak and promoting justice. Today, many Sikhs still undergo the amrit ceremony and take the surnames Singh and Kaur. The Khalsa were also given new rules to follow which included the wearing of the Panj Kakar, or the five Ks. The first was Kes, which is Uncut hair to represent discipline. Carga. A small comb in the hair. Carpan. A sword to uphold justice and protect the weak. Which is nowadays usually a small sword. It is importantly not an offensive weapon and the Sikh code of conduct claims it can only be used to destroy tyrants and oppressors. It must not be used for anything else. The fourth is Kakahira. Kind of loose fitting boxer shorts to represent sexual restraint. And the fifth is Kara. A steel bracelet. Its circular shape. represents the infinity of God. Interestingly, the turban is not one of the five K's. Instead, it's worn to cover the Sikh's long, uncut hair, the Kess. Turbans have become essential to Sikh identity and hold very special significance to them. Chances are, if you see someone wearing a turban, the vast majority of the time, that person will be a Sikh, not a Muslim. 5. The Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikhs. It contains the teachings of the Gurus, and acts as a spiritual guide for Sikhs around the world. It is probably one of the only holy books that contains not only the writings of the religion's founders written by themselves rather than after their death, but also the writings of people from other religions. The writings of Muslims and Hindus can be found throughout, along with references to Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity. Before his death in 1708, the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, ended the line of human gurus by bestowing guruship on the Adi Granth, turning it into the Guru Granth Sahib, making it similar to both the Bible and Quran and a living prophet at the same time. To break down the name, the word guru means guru, granth means book and sahib means lord. Since that moment, the Guru Granth Sahib has been revered as the current living guru. It is treated with extreme respect and care. Oddly enough, the grant is not only read, but sung. It's made up of thousands of hymns. Sikhs don't have mass or service, but a kirtan, meaning communal singing. Normally, these are set to classical Indian music. 6. The Gurdwara Six gather at Gurdwaras. A word meaning doorway to the guru. A Gurdwara is only a Gurdwara because it has a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib in it. Men and women of all castes and social standing gather there to join in prayer, singing and eating. This is where you'll find the Lungar. Anyone can visit a Gurdwara and partake in the service and meal. You only need to follow basic etiquette. Cover your head, remove your shoes, wash your hands as you enter, And do your best not to bring any drugs or tobacco inside. The most important Kudwara in the world is the Harimandir or Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. In 1604, Guru Arjan completed work on the Golden Temple and had the Guru Granth Sahib installed inside it. As a gesture of religious tolerance, Guru Arjan invited the Muslim Mian Mir to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple. The temple has four doors opening on all four sides. to show the openness to all cultures and peoples. But on the inside, only one door leads to the inner sanctum, indicating that all paths and beliefs eventually lead to the one God. The Golden Temple is the most visited place in the world with around 6 million visitors each year. The Lunger at the Golden Temple serves a free meal to about 100,000 people each day, making it the world's largest free-serving kitchen. all run and staffed by volunteers. And the waiting list to volunteer in the Golden Temple has hundreds of thousands of names on it. The people on that list will be waiting for a long time. A good way for them to pass the time productively would be to listen to audiobooks over on Audible. While researching this video I listened to Sickism, a very short introduction by Eleanor Nesbitt, which is an excellent bite-sized introduction to Sickism. Stated in very clear language for people that are completely new to the topic. And if you want to go right to the source, Audible even has the complete 90 plus hour Guru Granth Sahib also available. Audible makes it easier than ever to fit audiobooks into your schedule. Whether you're commuting, cooking, or if you're like me, pumping hot iron at the gym, you can be listening to some of the best audiobooks available, even offline with apps on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows phones. Being able to listen to audiobooks while doing otherwise boring tasks has made me look forward to getting stuck in traffic. And now that we've entered a new year, Audible is offering a new deal to help you start off right. Audible is issuing a New Year Challenge. Finish 3 audiobooks by March 3rd and get $20 Amazon Credit. It's pretty simple. And Audible will keep track of your progress for you. Audible members can choose 3 titles every month. One audiobook, and two exclusive Audible Originals that you can't hear anywhere else. You can easily exchange any audiobook you don't like and audiobooks will stay in your library forever even if you cancel. Start listening with a 30-day Audible trial and get three audiobooks absolutely free. Visit audible.com slash c-o-g-i-t-o or text c-o-g-i-t-o to 500500. So you can start your year off right. by listening to some of their personal fitness or self-improvement audiobooks. Or you can be like me and dive into The Analects of Confucius, The Bhagavad Gita, or Eat, Pray, Love. Don't you judge me. Elizabeth Gilbert has woven a beautiful emotional tapestry and it's fantastic. And you can listen to all these and more easily by going to audible.com cogito or texting cogito to 500 500 to start your free 30-day Audible trial, while also helping to support the channel. So, those are the basics of Sikhism. It isn't even close to covering everything, I probably only covered about 1%, one video simply can't cover everything. Religions are too diverse, too deep and mean too many different things to different people. But learning even the basics of any- Anything that millions of people deeply care about gives you an insight into our fellow humans worldview and I hope you enjoyed it. You can find all the sources used in the description. If you like this content please subscribe and if you have any questions leave them below and I will answer them in a comment response video. If you are interested in supporting the channel there are links to my Patreon and my t-shirt store also in the description. Thank you so much for watching.