fight for the cause

     

Sikhism is a spiritual, social, and political system of beliefs which considers spiritual life and secular life to be intertwined Guru Nanak, the 1^st Sikh Guru established the system of the Langar, or free kitchen, designed to safehold equality between all people and express the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind. In addition to sharing with others, Guru Nanak encouraged earning/making a living honestly without exploitation or fraud and also meditationon God's name or qualities. Guru Hargobind, the 6^th Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal (Miri) and spiritual (Piri) realms to be mutually coexistent. According to the 9^th Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadhur, the ideal Sikh should have both Shakti (power that resides in the temporal), and Bhakti(spiritual meditative qualities). This was developed into the concept of the baptized Saint Soldier of theKhalsa by the 10^th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh.

Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī"—a saint-soldier. Which means to love God, meditate on God, keep God in the heart, feel God's nearness and also be strong, courageous and ready to fight to protect weak people from cruel unjust attackers. One must have control over one's internal vices and be able to be constantly immersed in virtues clarified in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Nanak described living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" as being higher than a purely contemplative life. According to Guru Nanak, the aim is to attain the "attendant balance of seperation-fusion, self-other, action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life", the polar opposite to a self-centered existence. In Sikhism there is no dogma, priests, monastics or yogis.                                                            

                                                               

                                                                 







                                                                     







                                                  







                                                            






                                                          




                                                          
   

     Punjabi: ਸੱਬ ਸਿੱਖਣ ਕੋ ਹੁਕਮ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਮਾਨਯੋ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ।

Transliteration: Sabb sikkhaṇ kō hukam hai gurū mānyō granth.

English: All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru.

Prohibitions in Sikhism

There are a number of religious prohibitions in Sikhism.

Prohibited are:

1. Cutting hair: Cutting hair is strictly forbidden in Sikhism. Sikhs are required to keep unshorn hair.
2. Intoxication: Consumption of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and other intoxicants is not allowed. Intoxicants are strictly forbidden for a Sikh.However the Nihangs of Punjab take an infusion of cannabis to assist meditation.
3. Blind spirituality: Superstitions and rituals should not be observed or followed, including pilgrimages, fasting and ritual purification; circumcision; idols & grave worship; compulsory wearing of the veil for women; etc.
4. Material obsession: Obsession with material wealth is not encouraged in Sikhism.
5. Sacrifice of creatures: The practice of sati (widows throwing themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands), ritual animal sacrifice to celebrate holy occasions, etc. are forbidden.
6. Non-family-oriented living: A Sikh is encouraged not to live as a recluse, beggar, yogi, monastic (monk/nun) or celibate. Sikhs are to live as saint-soldiers.
7. Worthless talk: Bragging, lying, slander, "back-stabbing", etc. are not permitted. The Guru Granth Sahib tells the Sikh, "Your mouth has not stopped slandering and gossiping about others. Your service is useless and fruitless."
8. Priestly class: Sikhism does not have priests; they were abolished by Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Guru of Sikhism). The only position he left was a Granthi to look after the Guru Granth Sahib, any Sikh is free to become Granthi or read from the Guru Granth Sahib.
9. Eating meat killed in a ritualistic manner (Kutha meat): Sikhs are strictly prohibited from eating meat from animals slaughtered in a religiously prescribed manner (such as dhabihah or shechita, known as Kutha meat, when the animal is killed by exsanguination via throat-cutting), or any meat where langar is served. The meat eaten by Sikhs is known as Jhatkameat.
10. Having extramarital sexual relations.