The Sikh Faith- A Universal Message

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About the Author Dr. Gurbakhsh Singh is one of those individuals who feel content in doing service to humanity because God dwells in His creation. He was born in village Gill (Ludhiana, Panjab) on September 15, 1927. During his undergraduate years, he studied at Khalsa College Amritsar. In 1963, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree by the Ohio State University (USA). He served as a Professor and Dean at the Panjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, till 1984.

He was inspired by Sant Teja Singh ji of Matsuana (M.A., LL.B. from Punjab, A.M. from Harvard, USA), a a great educationist and spiritualist, to preach Sikhism to the youth in North America. In 1984, Dr. Singh gave up his job and devoted himself for teaching Sikh religion. He started Gurmat classes and camps for the Sikh youth. He has authored a number of books and essays on Sikh culture, history and philosophy, particularly for the youth. Dr. Gurbakhsh Singh is doing a great service to the Sikh Nation and he is well known and respected amongst the educational and spiritual circles. Above all he is the most sought after personality amongst the Sikh youth throughout North America. We are honored to publish his valuable works. May Waheguru bless him with courage and strength to carry on his mission of serving the youth.

Introduction Sikhism emerged in 16th-century India in an environment heavily permeated with conflicts between the Hindu and Muslim religions. Its founding teacher, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, was born in 1469 to a Hindu family. His most famous saying was, "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim, so whose path shall I follow? I shall follow the path of God. Today, there are about 27 million Sikhs worldwide, making Sikhism the fifth largest religion in the world.

This book provides information on the history of Sikhism, the triumphs, challenges and tragedies after the prime time of the Gurus till the 20th century.

Sikhs believe that the Creator permeates all of Creation and that every individual is filled with the same divine potential. The Sikh tradition emphasizes the collective family hood of all humanity and challenges all social inequalities, including those on the basis of class, caste, gender, and profession.

Sikhism is about Love, Guru Nanak Dev Ji's message of love has no boundaries. As Sikhs we don't even believe that a Non-Sikh is inferior to Sikhs. We are all equal, the Lord's light shines in all of his beings.

This book is distributed free to reach out to the young generation of Sikhs and to all that has keen interest of knowing the journey and achievements of Sikhs.

Preface Sikhism took birth in the East in Panjab, India, five centuries ago. Sikhs have settled all over the world not as of new lands, as the Europeans did four centuries ago, but as seekers of new opportunities in life. With them, conquerors the Sikhs carried their unique appearance and their unique philosophy. To the West, Sikhs migrated in the later part of the nineteenth century. Wherever they went, they established their gurdwaras (worship places). In the first two decades of this century gurdwaras were founded in Vancouver, Canada, Stockton, USA, and London, U.K., to name a few. Now almost all large cities in the West have a gurdwara; many have more than one.

Gurdwaras in North America formed their Sikh Council in 1979. They got together annually to discuss Sikh affairs in the West. In May 1984, the Council invited the author to give a lecture on Sikhism during its annual function in Los Angeles. Later the author moved to Washington, D.C., where he gave a series of discourses on basic principles of the Sikh faith in the gurdwara managed by the Guru Nanak Foundation of America. The author explained how the principles of the Sikh faith have been considered suitable by modern scholars for adoption by the whole of humanity. Some members of the congregation, desired that these lectures should be written in the form of a book for those who could not attend the gurdwara regularly.

The author was invited by many Sikh families to hold detailed discussions with Sikh youth. These discussions convinced him of the need for a small book describing the principles of the faith in terms, which were meaningful to the Western youth. These young people have little time to read long stories and details about the life of the Sikh Gurus. However, they are interested in understanding the development of the Sikh faith and its philosophy. They want to know how the Sikh philosophy can help them today in the Western environment and in a society, which emphasizes the scientific approach to every discipline. This book was written to meet their needs.

2. Another motivation for writing this book was an incidental meeting with a man without a turban but bubbling with Sikh pride. It happened in 1979 at Gurdwara Baoli Sahib, Goindwal, Amritsar. The author was distributing religious literature at the stall of the Sikh Missionary College, Ludhiana. A visitor came straight to him and voluntarily narrated his story without a break and with indescribable emotion. What he said in Panjabi can briefly be translated as below:

I am also one of you, though I bave cut my hair. I am the descendant of those Sikhs who went to Uttar Pardesh (UP) State during the 18th century to fight the repression let loose by the Mughal government. On the request of the local Hindus to protect them from the tyranny of the officials, our elders agreed to stay there. They spread themselves in many villages in that area. When the British East Indian Company defeated the Mughal government, this region came under the British rule. In the northwest beyond the river Sutlej, Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled the Panjab State. After three or four generations, these settlers lost contact with their far away center, Amritsar, and they gave up their Sikh symbols. Our next generations slowly adopted the rituals of the Hindus who were there in great majority. Now, only our name, Pachhadas or Westerners (Panjab is to the west of the U.P. state) differentiates us from the locals. Most of us still have faith in Sri Guru Granth Sahib and perform Sikh rites at the time of a birth, marriage or death in the family.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages