A Primer On Sikhism For Non Sikhs?

[arblev]

I study religions as I find they all have valuable lessons and during one of those periods I recognized that the bracelet a certain client of mine wears on his right wrist is a kara.

I asked him if that was indeed what it was, and he said yes and told me the meaning of it. I told him that was what I heard it meant and that the idea of it is utterly beautiful to me, even though I am Christian. He said that Sikhs generally do not mind if others wear the kara respectfully and that the next time I saw him he would give me my own, which really touched me- he wears the really thick iron type

In light of that, I was wondering what the best way to get familiar enough with Sikhism to honor his gesture. I'm not sure where to start with the scripture or if I should attend a temple service. Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated, everything I've heard of Sikhism has sounded wonderful, but I'd like to go deeper

[jkvlondon]

I study religions as I find they all have valuable lessons and during one of those periods I recognized that the bracelet a certain client of mine wears on his right wrist is a kara.

I asked him if that was indeed what it was, and he said yes and told me the meaning of it. I told him that was what I heard it meant and that the idea of it is utterly beautiful to me, even though I am Christian. He said that Sikhs generally do not mind if others wear the kara respectfully and that the next time I saw him he would give me my own, which really touched me- he wears the really thick iron type

In light of that, I was wondering what the best way to get familiar enough with Sikhism to honor his gesture. I'm not sure where to start with the scripture or if I should attend a temple service. Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated, everything I've heard of Sikhism has sounded wonderful, but I'd like to go deeper

welsome ,

there are online resources which will help you understand our religion such as 'Basics of Sikhi' on youtube and 'Sikh2inspire'. The main thing I would say is please do not wear the Kara if you intend to smoke, I found this a very hurtful thing whenever I would see one of our high school teachers doing so while wearing the kara a student had gifted him . It was his right to wear it but at the same time his actions were a total insult to Sikhs.

[jpsingh2]

A quick read you can get through; and gets lots of the fundamentals, you can probably get through it in a sitting or two.

https://ia601403.us.archive.org/35/items/sikhreligion035165mbp/sikhreligion035165mbp.pdf

Of course the Shri Guru Granth Sahib is the prime scripture and guiding source of all Sikhs

also lookup Japji Sahib, Asa De Vaar, and Sukhmani Sahib all of them have tons of translations.

[Truth5]

I agree with Jkvlondon. I have a cousin who has said they think that it's okay to wear a kara and to adorn themself with symbols of Truth but still goes out and gets drunk, has relations etc, while wearing it.

They said that its okay to drink. My reply to them was, could u imagine the Gurus sitting around getting drunk- and they had nothing to say to that lol.

I would say that the sikh scriptures Gurbani and sikh websites as well as visiting a Gurdwarra and meditating and serving others there are great ways to learn about Truth.

Good Clean simple living is the way to go and to read and apply the truth in Gurbani to your every day life.

Truth is what Jesus also taught and other masters have taught but the ten Gurus put straight the truth which had been twisted over time by other religions. The knowledge that the Gurus teach in Guru Granth sahib ji-the divine scriptures- is incredibly deep and is what they learned from God himself.

There is One Truth and Gurbani tells it straight.

http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?S=y