By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought,
even by thinking hundreds of thousands of times.

By remaining silent, inner silence is not obtained,
even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within.

The hunger of the hungry is not appeased,
even by piling up loads of worldly goods.

Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks,
but not even one of them will go along with you in the end.

So how can you become truthful?
And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?

Siri Guru Granth - Ang 1
(Translated by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I originally chose seven religions because there are seven days in a week, so my goal of posting daily seemed to align nicely. But then two different people slid into my DM’s in a 24-hour period inquiring about Sikhism. We’ll either have to add an eighth day of the week or I’ll have to accept breaking out of my convenient mold because at a glance I like what Sikhism has to offer.

(If we add an eighth day of the week, though, I vote it falls between Saturday and Sunday to extend the weekend. Open to name suggestions in the comment section and I’ll run them up the chain 😉)

In the opening lines of the Sikh text, the Siri Guru Granth certainly get the wheels turning. It mentions God, meditation, desire, materialism, and ask some pretty big questions about truth and illusion. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

Apparently it’s the fifth largest religion worldwide, which I didn’t even realize, and also the most recent to come around. Around 1500CE, as tensions rose between Hinduism and Islam, a man named Nanak approached a local stream to perform a ritual bathing and had a vision from God. Then he disappeared for three days, leaving his clothes by the shore so his family and friends thought he’d drowned. He returned to announce that he’d been taken into God’s presence and told them, “There is neither Hindu nor Muslim, but only man. So whose path shall I follow? I shall follow God’s path.”

I liked the sound of that. Here are a few things I also liked when reading some general info about Sikhism:

- Sikhism rejects the claim that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on “Absolute Truth.”

- There is one, omnipresent and transcendent God, but the doctrines of karma and rebirth are retained.

- Democracy, equality, hospitality, and religious inclusiveness are all tenants of the religion.

- Sikhism encourages a balanced life of inner spirituality and outward service toward fellow man.

I’ll report back on the accuracy of those statements as I work through the text ;)

But in the meantime:
#Sikhism, welcome to the party.