/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17101518]

Im looking for books on Sikhism, but i cant find anything good on it, and i feel like the primary texts might not be a good beginning for someone whose concept of God is more abrahamic than Dharmic.
Where to start?

[Anonymous No.17101552]

Dharmic philosophy also accomodates dualism which is more akin to conventional abrahamism, sikhism is a bridge between east and west in that regard.

[Urantia guy No.17101620]

>>17101518
Sikhism has a large Islamic influence, so it is more Abrahamic than you think.

The Guru Granth Sahib is very accessible, its poetic and very easy and delightful to read.
I think religions should be experienced, so to experience the sacred text second-hand is not desirable, best to experience it directly.

[Anonymous No.17101671]

>>17101518
pseud here.

Japji Sahib looks good for introduction to doctrine/philosophy of sikhism.

Khushwant Singh's two volume work for history of sikh's

[Anonymous No.17101945]

>>17101671
Ill check it out
any good supplementary works?

[Anonymous No.17102100]

Maybe look at some cultural anthropology based sources focused on belief and practice. They're usually pretty academic but it's anthro you can figure it out if you have any amount of exposure to base social science,

[Anonymous No.17102109]

>>17102100
Most antro stuff is hyper specific but if you look around a bit, especially if have access to Jstor or any sort of database im sure you can find more general stuff.

[Anonymous No.17102684]

>>17101945
this looks good if you want something more synthetic

[Anonymous No.17102690]

>>17102684
what is he doing to that kid

[Anonymous No.17104070]

>>17102690
i guess is some holy body of water or some ritual?

[Anonymous No.17104115]

>>17101518
I mean there’s quite a bit but most of them are in Punjabi. Someone mentioned khushwant Singh and id agree with him. History of Sikhs volume 1 and 2 are pretty comprehensive. Idk a lot of Sikh philosophy just revolves around letting people do what they wish to do and accepting your own idea of God. A lot of it is based in the Bhakti movement which was going on in India at the time and is pretty much the precursor to that style of though in the east. It’s a secular religion that morphed into a culture overtime when the Mughals invaded India and that’s when the modern idea of Sikhs formed. Before that it was more a philosophy I’d say

[Anonymous No.17104309]

>>17104115
>It’s a secular religion that morphed into a culture overtime when the Mughals invaded India and that’s when the modern idea of Sikhs formed. Before that it was more a philosophy I’d say
You're wrong

>>17101518
Sikhism is not an evangelical religion, there's no point in "converting" to sikhism because you won't gain anything. The religion is specifically for Punjabi people who've been sikhs for centuries. Even in India no one ever converts to sikhism, and assuming you're a white westerner your shit out of luck if you want to be a sikh, just stop larping is what I'd suggest. But if it's just intellectual curiosity then go ahead I guess

[Anonymous No.17104395]

>>17104309
there's many white sikhs though they have their own gurudwara in LA. and they're very welcomed by "original" sikhs. are you sikh btw?

[Anonymous No.17104406]

>>17104395
You can't be a sikh if you're not punjabi. I'm not a sikh but I'm punjabi

[Anonymous No.17104440]

>>17104406
i am sikh and i am punjabi. i dont think you need to speak on my behalf. most sikhs welcome people to join the faith. i've gone to the golden temple multiple times and seen asian sikhs/white sikhs there who follow sikhism as devoutly as any "original" sikh. i've studied the sggs i know gurmukhi there's no mention of needing to be punjabi. in fact some of the sants are not even sikhs themselves. kabir was a follower of guru nanak and was a muslim.

[Anonymous No.17104451]

>>17104440
You can welcome non punjabi people all you want, but they'll never really belong in the community. Sikhism isn't evangelical like other religions are, there's nothing of value for a non punjabi in sikhism. You can believe whatever you want and you are sikh so you probably know more than me, but I think you're wrong

[Anonymous No.17104458]

>>17104440
Kabir was indeed a muslim born in a family of weavers. And he was also very much a devotee of Hindu Gods such as Rama. It's true though that he rejected idolatry due to his original Muslim background.

[Anonymous No.17104463]

>>17104451
Why is that though? Can you explain why you think that there's no place for non-punjabi people in Sikhism?

[Anonymous No.17104468]

>>17104309
yea i might've overstated that but like I said it's roots are in the practice of accepting all people of any faith and respecting their beliefs. like i said many followers are muslim and many are hindu which is what i meant by secular religion. the identity politics of sikhism didn't come into play at the start but overtime the culture became a part of sikhism itself due to a need to unify against invaders. guru nanak as a spiritual leader is accepted by most religions in India and he has the same appeal as Sai Baba who appeared later but with the same style of trying to unify. which is why I'd argue that it did start out as more of a philosophy.

i get where you're coming from but you gotta realize it's more complex than that.

[Anonymous No.17104476]

>>17104463
Because religions are built on culture. Sikhism is inseparable from Punjabi language and culture, which is inaccessible to non punjabi people. If anyone who isn't born into sikhism becomes a sikh it's larp and abandoning their roots. Not to mention that Sikh philosophy and literature is also defined by being a punjabi. The sikh homeland is punjab, not LA california. The spiritual connection to a homeland can't be adopted by non punjabi people

[Anonymous No.17104483]

>>17104451
i mean there is a conversion process akin to baptism in sikhs called "amrit chakhna" (drinking ambrosia) which many sikhs themselves do not do because of what it involves. there is no evangelical aspect to sikhism I agree but the culture followed the religion not the other way around. similar to how jews are a culture and a religion but have a stringent process to convert.

but i might be wrong who knows

[Anonymous No.17104484]

>>17104468
You're probably right about that, I haven't read much about the early history of sikhism outside of secondary history books, but it is more complicated than I'm making out I'm sure

[Anonymous No.17104493]

>>17104483
Culture did not follow the religion, it was the other way around

[Anonymous No.17104517]

>>17104493
of course there is a punjabi diaspora but the specific sikh culture that came to be after guru nanak is specifically sikh. it's like saying there was a rome before Catholicism so Catholicism is only for Romans. the religion that developed shaped the landscape of the culture significantly

[Anonymous No.17104530]

>>17104517
Catholicism isn't a good comparison but I get what you mean

[Anonymous No.17104543]

>>17104493
for example gurmukhi was developed during the course of sikhism specifically for recording sakhis and eventually split into the modern punjabi vernacular today and the language used for prayers. so i'd say the religion shaped the culture but again I see where you're coming from you just gotta realize it's not as simple as "no it's not" or "yes it is"

[Anonymous No.17104559]

>>17104530
yea sorry man I'm just tryna explain the best I can. I lived in India for a significant portion of my life and the way culture and religion intermingle there is very convoluted.

[Anonymous No.17104573]

>>17104559
You're right, I am being a little obtuse in the thread, but I get what you mean. It is hard to separate culture and religion especially in India because there's so much intermingling of both culture and religion.

>>17104543
You're right, I was being obtuse

[Anonymous No.17104585]

>>17104573
no worries man nice to see another punjabi on here. again you do have a point and I had the same debate with my dad who's a very devout sikh so you're not alone in your opinion

[Anonymous No.17104616]

>>17104451
>there's nothing of value for a non punjabi in sikhism
Thats ridiculous, of course it has lost of value to everyone regardless if you are punjabi or not.


Q: Can someone who is not born a Sikh become a Sikh?
A: Yes, Of Course. Anyone who wants, can become a Sikh. It is a religion open to all. The choice has to be made voluntarily and no one is forced or can be forced to become a Sikh. Once a Sikh, one is free to leave Sikhism. There is no automatic curse on someone who leaves Sikhi nor is there any automatic heavenly reward for becoming a Sikh. It is only ones actions, deeds, contributions and thoughts that can determine any outcome in the hereafter!

Q. How do you become a Sikh?
A. Simply by following the path laid down by the Sikh Gurus; by following Gurbani - the words of the Gurus as written in the Sikh holy Granth called the Guru Granth Sahib. You can find the original text and translations in most popular languages on the web.
https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/FAQ#Q:_Can_someone_who_is_not_born_a_Sikh_become_a_Sikh.3F

[Anonymous No.17104629]

>>17104616
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anonymous No.17104651]

>>17101518
if you have a gurudwara near you just go there and listen to the kirtan they sing and eat the food. ask if you can do seva and they'll let you hand out food to others. although a lot of them are probably closed rn due to COVID they still do food drives and such and they'll sing hymns as they do the service so you can join them in that. i think a lot of sikhism is in the practice/experience itself and the texts are there to guide you in meditation.

[Anonymous No.17104653]

>>17104629
lol

[Anonymous No.17105256]

>>17104451
It is possible but I assume the globohomo western style culture is too strong for sikh/punjabi culture to win out. Then again, if standards are kept and only those genuinely wanting to leave their culture or rather they find themselves individually incompatible with it (i.e. not truly of the culture) then authenticity should be possible at least for the religion probably not the total culture sikh-punjabi in the same way you can never just join an ethnic group even if you perfectly made yourself one of a group it would not work because you will still be an outsider and that would affect how you carry yourself. It's like nu-nationalism today where people don't naturally fall into what they are they have a relationship with the concept of their nation and their perception of it, they are othered from it.

For religion, it's only when you get inauthentic people in positions of power or when the sikh culture distorts itself to appeal to other cultures that it would fail.

[Anonymous No.17105837]

>>17104651
how's the food