Posted on 08/29/2012 2:01:48 PM PDT by bimboeruption
that's an interesting point. By tradition and by their origins they are not an Abrahamic religion. They arise from Hindu monotheistic traditions merged with Abrahamic traditions. They worship one God and have one book. They don't worship the Guru Granth Sahib, but it takes the place of a Guru for them (they got this afgter Guru Gobind Singh was slaughtered by Moslems)
This is the spiritual guide for Sikhs, they do not worship it
it's best understood by understanding the origin of the term. The name for the Indus river system (yes it is 5 rivers, hence the term "Panjab" or "Panch jab" = "five rivers") during Aryanic times was the Sindhu. Anyone who lived on this was a follower of the Arya (Truth) or the religion of the Aryans, which in Vedic times was the Vedic gods -- old Indo-European gods like the God of Thunder (Thor, Zeus, Indra) or others.
In the Indo-Irani branch of Indo-Europeans the old 2 families of Gods developed divergently. During Vedic/Avestani (Vedas = ancient Indian texts dating from 1200 BC or earlier, Avestan is of similar vintage -- these were the basics of Sanskrit and Avestani Persian respectively) the Devas/Daevas and Asuras/Ahuras were worshipped differently by Indic/Iranic peoples respectively. Amongs the Indic peoples, the Devas were elevated and became the higher gods, while the Asuras were initially made the lower gods, then the bad supernatural beings, then under influence from Christianity and Judaism (yes, Jews were there in Keral from the 2nd century BC and Christianity from the time of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew the Apostles) they became demons which is what they are today.
In Iran (and remember that "Iran" I really mean the original greater Iran which included all of what is now Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and had Irani peoples ruling over Slavs and Germanics in the Ukraine -- these were Persians, Medes, Cimmerians, Alans, Scyths, Sarmatians, Bactrians, Sogdians etc. etc.) the opposite happened -- Daevas became house spirits and then malevolent followers of the "lie" -- daeveils. And Ahura Mazda, the God of Light was elevated to the one of two main gods -- the other being Angra Mainja, the god of darkness.
In later Hinduism, the older, pre-Aryanic gods like Shiva appear and modern day Hinduism pays little attention to the Vedic gods like Indra etc. (in fact Indra is an object of ridicule in the Ramayana which dates after the Mahabharatha) and focuses on the Hindu "Trimurthi": Brahma (god of creation), Vishnu (protector) and Shiva (destroyer). Ram, Krishna etc. are posited as incarnations of Vishnu (I think he has 11 or 12, canny brahmins even made the Buddha an incarnation, reversing the surge of Buddhism that went over all india from 400 BC to 300 BC)
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Ok, I diverged. Back to the term -- "Sindhu" is the Indic term, but in Iranic, the "S" becomes "H" -- that's why asura became Ahura. To the Iranis who learnt the art of Empire from the Assyrians, the peoples to the east of the Hindhu river were Hindus, not followers of Ahura Mazda
This came to mean anyone in south Asia (bordered by the sea and the Himalayas.
Hinduism spread, absorbed local religions and essentially became a meta-religion with no one fixed book or core of belief
During the 7th to the 4th centuries BC, philosophers arose like Mahavira or later, Gautama Buddha.
Mahavira was the founder of Jainism, but according to Jains was the 24th Tirthankara (or great one who shows the path). According to Jainism the universe was never created or destroyed (creating something out of nothing is nonsensical to them), hence they do not believe in any creator deity. To them there are "gods" but they are just beings on a higher level of existence, not worthy of worship. By extension, EVERY living being is part of this cycle of birth and rebirth, hence jains are the ultimate pacifists, the extreme monks wearing no cloths (as insects could get killed in the folds, sweeping the paths before themselves to not step on any insects, and wearing a cloth over their mouths to prevent inhaling and killing any insects.
Buddhism lessened this severity, but retained the same non-theistic aspect.
By a broad brush these are also "Hindus" or so the hindu fundamentalists say :)
well, I doubt that would happen, instead it would be “let us pray to the God we believe in”
I humbly thank you for taking the time to provide this explanation. It will be more useful than you can imagine, as a starting point for further reading and increased communication with neighbors.
Also with Jains it is extreme non-violence, they will not eat any meat and they will not eat any plants that grow under the ground (potatoes, onions etc.) because while harvesting these, life can be disturbed
Also, you may ask, what about eating plant life -- well Jains belief that that is also to be atoned for, so eating less is better. And some of the greatest sants in Jainism have died by ritually starving to death.
Punjab was one of the central points in the Islamic conquest of India, the starting point of which was Mahmud Ghazni's attack in the 11th century that slaughtered thousands. Punjab faced this same threat for 400 years before the first Sikh guru - Guru Nanak
No problem. Still confusing for me on some levels having grown up here. Here’s something to ponder: http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa061000a.htm
I have been taught to describe sikhs as the tip of the spear (more militant vs. peaceful) vs. invading muslims - however, may not be that simple.
I made a factual statement. Get over yourself.
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