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History of non-Christian Religions — Topic 16

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History of non-Christian Religions — Topic 16

16.1 General Remarks.

Sufism is the mystical and ascetic dimension of Islam. It is highly diverse, ranging from moderate forms fully integrated into mainstream Islamic orthodoxy to extreme antinomian expressions that have often been regarded with suspicion or condemned as outright heresy. Sufi orders or brotherhoods (tariqas, from tariqa, “path”) are widespread across the Muslim world and are also present in Russia, particularly in the Caucasus.

The word “Sufism” (tasawwuf) is derived from the Arabic root s-w-f, the exact etymology of which remains debated among scholars. Proposed derivations include:

Safa (from the root s-f-w): meaning “purity” or “clarity,” referring to the purification of the heart.

Ahl al-suffa (“People of the Bench”): a term applied to the pious, impoverished Companions of the Prophet who lodged on the veranda of his mosque in Medina.

Ahl al-saff (“People of the Row”): those who strive to occupy the first row in prayer or in the presence of God.

Suf (wool): the most widely accepted derivation. The corresponding verb tasawwafa means “to clothe oneself in a woolen garment.” Rough woolen cloaks were worn by early ascetics in deliberate contrast to the luxurious silks and cottons favored by the Umayyad and Abbasid elites.

16.2 Early Sufism.

In early Islamic literature, we encounter the figure of a distinctive pious ascetic who stood somewhat apart from the mainstream communal life. Such individuals were typically known as nussak (ascetics), zuhhad (renunciants), or ubbad (devout worshippers).

Not content with the mere formal performance of religious duties, these early mystics devoted profound attention to examining the inner motives underlying their actions. They sought to infuse their lives with deep spiritual meaning through rigorous reflection on the Quran, scrupulous imitation of the Prophet’s sunnah, voluntary poverty, and the mortification of the flesh. The titanic efforts directed at spiritual purification and self-perfection (jihad and mujahada) were sometimes combined with voluntary military service in the border regions between the Caliphate and Byzantium (al-thughur). Many famous early ascetics migrated to these frontiers in pursuit of an unblemished life, “pure” means of subsistence, and, in some cases, martyrdom “in the way of God.”

One representative of these early Sufis, or proto-Sufis, was al-Hasan al-Basri (642–728). He belonged to the generation of the “Followers” (Tabi’un), who succeeded the generation of the Companions of Muhammad. The motto of Hasan al- Basri may be conveyed by these surviving words from his preaching:

“Make of this world a bridge across which you walk, but on which you build nothing.”

The image of the world as a bridge is a call not to invest oneself in the affairs of earthly life, but to pass over it toward eternal life. The ascetic note sounded in these words is characteristic of all Sufism. Strikingly, one of the techniques of early Islamic asceticism was warfare. Hasan al-Basri, like his successors, often volunteered for the front line in order to fight in the front ranks for the faith. The life of a warrior is close to death; the warrior builds nothing, gives no thought to making money or to marrying advantageously; he moves through life as across a bridge, to use Hasan al- Basri’s own image. Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibrahim ibn Adham, and many other representatives of early Sufism were of this same type.

Another well-known representative of early Sufism was Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd, in whose work the idea of “friendship with God,” or nearness to Him (walaya), figures prominently. This idea was articulated by other early ascetics and mystics as well, who grounded it in several Quranic verses. These verses speak of certain servants of God whose exemplary piety and spiritual purity have secured them His favor both in this life and in the life to come (Quran 10:63/62; 18:64/65).

Another pivotal figure was ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd, in whose teachings the concept of “friendship with God” or sainthood (walaya) figures prominently. He maintained that God endows His righteous friends (awliya, sing. wali) with “inner,” “secret” knowledge (‘ilm al-batin) of Himself and of the cosmos. This esoteric knowledge, hidden from ordinary creatures and even angels, raises the “friends of God” to a rank immediately below the prophets.

Abd al-Wahid appears to have founded the first Sufi “monastery” (duwayra) on the island of Abadan. Characteristically, the site of the monastery also served as a military garrison to which pious volunteers gathered, combining military service with the practice of asceticism and devotion. The inhabitants of Abadan are known to have engaged in continual repetition of the divine name (dhikr) — a practice that later became one of the central disciplines of Sufism. In time Abadan became the principal center of asceticism and devotion in Iraq. This again underscores the closeness of warfare and asceticism in early Islam.

Among the early Sufis one may also note Ibrahim ibn Adham, who led a wandering life, took part in military campaigns, and devoted particular attention to constant self-observation (muraqaba), repentance, sorrow (kamad), “friendship” (khulla) with God, and supersensible knowledge (ma’rifa) similar to that taught by Abd al-Wahid.

16.3 The Development of Sufi Ideas.

The ascetic practices of early Sufism gradually evolved into a sophisticated mystical theology. The concept of “friendship with God” blossomed into the idea of an all-consuming, passionate love for the Divine. This love eclipses all worldly attachments and often manifests in the striking behavior of mystics who wander in a state of divine intoxication, oblivious to mundane life. One of the first to articulate this radical, selfless love was the female saint Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya.

Piety, in Rabi’a’s view, consisted in the knowledge of God and complete devotion to Him. In the sources she appears wholly renounced from the world, in solitude and celibacy. “God alone” — thus one might sum up her entire life: “Love of God has so taken possession of me that no room remains in me for love of anyone but Him!” In another famous prayer attributed to her, Rabi’a says: “O my Lord, if I worship You out of fear of Hell, burn me there; if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from it; but if I worship You for Your own sake alone, do not withhold from me [the vision of] Your Eternal Beauty!”

After her death someone saw her in a dream and asked how she had been saved from Munkar and Nakir — the angels who interrogate every dead person immediately after death. When they came to her and asked, ‘Who is your Lord?’ she sent them back to their Master with the words: ‘Return to your Lord and say to Him: “Although You have thousands upon thousands of creatures [whom You must remember], You could not have forgotten one old, infirm woman. This is I, for whom in all the world nothing has existed but You. So how could I forget You, and how can You ask me who my Lord is?”

The themes of personal, intimate, direct experience of God remain characteristic of Sufism throughout its history. Alongside them stand the themes of a special, personal, direct knowledge (ma’rifa) of God and of being, disclosed in this nearness. One of the prominent figures of developed Sufism, who devoted much attention to this theme, was the Egyptian ascetic Dhu’l-Nun al-Misri. Like Rabi’a, he speaks of God as an intimate Friend and Beloved, employing a distinctive language. The knowledge (ma’rifa) possessed by the friends of God in Dhu’l-Nun’s preaching stands above the knowledge of the experts in Shari’a and that of ordinary people. It is like a divine fire kindled personally by God. In a well-known sermon attributed to Dhu’l-Nun he says:

“The gnostic grows more humble with every hour, for each hour brings him nearer to God. The gnostics see without knowledge, without sight, without received report, and without observation, without description, without veiling and without a veil. They are not by themselves; their cause is God. Their words are the words of God uttered by their tongues, and their sight is the sight of God entered into their eyes. As God Almighty has said: ‘When I love a servant, I, the Lord, become his ear, and he hears by Me. I become his eye, and he sees by Me. I become his tongue, and he speaks by Me. I become his hand, and he takes by Me’” [see Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Moscow, 2012].

Already in Dhu’l-Nun we encounter the concepts of stations (maqamat) and states (ahwal), which mark the stages of the spiritual path to God. The notion of a staged spiritual path will become the foundation of Sufi asceticism. A maqam is an enduring stage; a person attains it to some degree by his own efforts. It belongs to the category of deeds, while a state is a gift of grace. The maqamat, ‘stations,’ are the various stages through which the traveler passes in his ascetic and moral-psychological discipline. It is presupposed that he must fully fulfill all the duties corresponding to a given station. At the station of reverence, for instance, he will no longer behave as if he were still at the station of repentance; nor may he leave a station at which he abides until he has met all its requirements. The states that descend upon him manifest themselves in various ways, depending on the station he is currently ‘inhabiting’: thus qabd (‘contraction’) at the station of poverty differs from qabd at the station of trust.

16.4 Extreme and Moderate Sufism.

Extreme and moderate Sufism (also referred to as “intoxicated” and “sober” Sufism) are two branches that differ from one another in the character of their practice and in their approach to one fundamental question: what degree of union with God is ultimately accessible to the human being?

Extreme Sufism had many adherents. We shall mention two of its most prominent representatives: Abu Yazid al-Bistami and Mansur al-Hallaj. Both led dramatic lives, and the execution of Mansur al-Hallaj (922), to which he was condemned by an impious caliph, became legendary throughout the Islamic world. After eleven years of imprisonment the caliph ordered Hallaj to be crucified. But when people began to flock to the dying ascetic in search of blessing and miracles, the caliph, in order to put a stop to this, was compelled to have him executed quickly.

If one were to characterize briefly the essence of their religious experience, it consists in absolute union with God. The human being must unite with God to such a degree as to vanish, dissolving in Him without remainder. This doctrine of the annihilation of the self in God (fana’) became the principal heresy of extreme Sufism — all the more because Abu Yazid and Hallaj were not reticent in expressing it. Let us cite several examples.

Abu Yazid:

“I saw my spirit (ruh) being borne up to the heavens. It was distracted by nothing and paid no heed, although both Paradise and Hell were displayed to it; it was unaffected by transient being and by [concealing] veils. Then I became a bird whose body was Oneness and whose wings were Eternity, and I flew through the sky of absolute being until I reached the firmament of Purification, from which there opened to my gaze the field of Eternity, and I beheld the tree of Oneness. As I contemplated all this, I myself was transformed into it. I cried out: ‘O Lord, because of my selfhood I cannot reach You, yet I cannot rid myself of it. What then am I to do?’ God answered: ‘O Abu Yazid, you will be rid of your selfhood by following My Beloved (that is, Muhammad). Cast your eyes into the dust beneath his feet and follow him unceasingly.’”

“I gazed upon Him with the gaze of truth and said: ‘Who is this?’ He answered: ‘This is not I and not not-I. There is no god but Me.’ Then He transformed my selfhood into His… Then I spoke to Him in the language of His grace and said: ‘What then is my portion with You?’ He said: ‘I belong to You through you: there is no god but You.’”

Knysh observes of Abu Yazid: “To some extent the teaching of Abu Yazid al- Bistami marked an important transition from ascetic piety — the service of God and the strict observance of His commands — to a genuinely mystical sense of the complete dissolution of the human personality in God, in which the person ceases to perceive the surrounding world. It is precisely such mystical experiences that inspired Abu Yazid al-Bistami to such scandalous utterances as: ‘Glory be to Me! How great I am!’; ‘Your worship of Me is greater than My worship of You’; ‘I am the [divine] throne and the footstool’; ‘I am I, and there is no god but Me’” [Knysh, A.D. Muslim Mysticism: A Brief History. St. Petersburg, 2004].

Al-Hallaj too is famous for his striking utterances, which earned him many condemnations not only from traditional Muslims but also from many Sufis. Let us cite the most famous. Returning to Baghdad, Hallaj came to his teacher Junayd and knocked at his door:

“When he knocked at Junayd’s door, the master asked: ‘Who is there?’ Hallaj answered: ‘Ana al-Haqq’ — I am the Absolute [or: Creative] Truth [or: the Real].’” This statement is equivalent to saying “I am God.”

Such utterances are characteristic of Indian mysticism, and Hallaj had been in India and may indeed have undergone Indian influence, as could others — a point to which specialists on Sufism often draw attention.

Hallaj’s teacher Junayd belonged to moderate Sufism and formulated a teaching that, in a certain way, vindicated his disciple in the eyes of the traditionalists. Junayd regarded the state of dissolution in God — fana’ — as not the final stage of the mystic’s path. The concluding state, he held, is the state of abiding — baqa’. To put Junayd’s idea briefly: the higher stages of spiritual life are bound up with the complete renunciation of one’s own will and desires. But it is through will and desires that a person recognizes himself as a person, and so in the moment of losing them he experiences an illusory disappearance of his personality. The person, in Junayd’s view, must indeed dissolve in God — not, however, essentially or ontologically, but on the level of the will. After this apparent dissolution (fana’) comes abiding (baqa’). This was often expressed through the image of a candle in the sun: when one looks at the sun through a candle, the candle disappears in the sunlight, yet the flame continues to burn. The famous Sufi Rumi uses the same image but speaks only of the candle’s disappearance.

It is important to note that in Sufism fana’ and baqa’ are two terms by which the Sufis underscored the true tawhid — that is, the fact that God is one and only, and that apart from Him nothing exists in the absolute sense. The philosophy of Rumi and the further religious inquiries of the dervishes are the development of the ideas described above.

16.5 Sikhism. General Remarks.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that arose in the Punjab — a region of the Indian subcontinent — around the end of the fifteenth century. It is one of the youngest religions, numbering about twenty-five million adherents at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru (1469–1539), and on the teachings of the nine subsequent Sikh Gurus. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, appointed the Scripture, the Granth Sahib, as his successor, thereby ending the line of human Gurus and establishing the Book as the eternal religious and spiritual guide of the Sikhs for all time.

This religion developed under the pressure of religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam. Two Sikh Gurus — Guru Arjun (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675) — were tortured and executed by the Mughal rulers after they refused to embrace Islam.

In the study of Sikhism it has become a commonplace observation that Sikhism is the product of a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, and that the central message of Guru Nanak was precisely this: that there is only one God, whom in reality all venerate, and that “Ram and Rahim (the Merciful — one of the names of God in Islam) are one.”

16.6 The Sikh Gurus.

1: Guru Nanak (1469–1539)

2: Guru Angad (1504–1552)

3: Guru Amar Das (1479–1574)

4: Guru Ram Das (1534–1581)

5: Guru Arjun (1563–1606)

6: Guru Hargobind (1595–1644)

7: Guru Har Rai (1630–1661)

8: Guru Har Krishan (1656–1664)

9: Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)

10: Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708)

The term “Guru” is the Sanskrit word guru (literally “heavy, weighty”) and is used to denote a teacher or instructor. The tradition and philosophy of Sikhism were established by ten Gurus from 1469 to 1708. Each of them added to and refined the teaching of his predecessor, and from this Sikhism took shape.

Guru Nanak maintained that his Guru is God, who is one and the same from the beginning of time to its end. Nanak called himself God’s herald and messenger, God’s slave and servant, but insisted that he was only a transmitter and teacher. Nanak taught that a human Guru is mortal; he is to be respected and loved, but not worshipped. When the word guru, or Satguru (True Guru), is used in the Gurbani (the Scripture), it most often refers to the supreme expression of truth — God.

Guru Angad succeeded Guru Nanak. Later, with the third successor, Guru Amar Das, an important stage in the development of Sikhism began. The teaching of Guru Nanak was predominantly poetic and emphasized the striving for salvation; he was not concerned with the structure of the community or its rules. Guru Amar Das began to build a cohesive community of followers with rites of initiation and various rituals for the occasions of birth, marriage, and death. In other words, Amar Das sought to give the community structure.

The successor of Guru Amar Das, his son-in-law Guru Ram Das, founded the city of Amritsar, which is the home of the Harmandir Sahib (the gurdwara, or central temple, of the Sikh religion in Amritsar) and is regarded as the holiest city for all Sikhs.

Guru Arjun, the fifth Sikh Guru, continued the work of consolidating the Sikh communities, but was eventually arrested by the Mughal authorities, who were hostile to the new religious movement. Guru Arjun’s most important contribution was that under him the Sikh Scripture, the Adi Granth, took shape. It incorporated the teachings of the first four Gurus, beginning with Nanak. Arjun himself composed 2,216 verses for the Adi Granth. In addition, the Adi Granth incorporated verses of medieval Indian and Muslim mystics and poets, such as Kabir and the Sufi shaykh Farid al-Din.

Later the writings of the remaining Gurus were added to the Adi Granth, and the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, designated the Adi Granth as the eternal Guru; thus the book became the Guru Granth Sahib. The Sikhs always speak of their Scripture as a living being. The book comes, settles, rests, and so on. The Sikhs’ relation to their Scripture in many ways resembles the Muslims’ relation to the Quran.

Under the first five Gurus the Sikhs were a peaceful community. However, the murder of the fifth Guru changed everything. Already the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, raised the first Sikh army and waged war with great success against the Muslim Mughals. From the sixth Guru onward the Sikh community became a martial one. To this day there are many Sikhs among the high-ranking officers of the Indian military. Under the seventh, eighth, and ninth Gurus, Sikhism underwent no significant changes and developed along the lines laid down by Guru Hargobind, continuing to wage war against the Mughals and to consolidate its community.

The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, reformed the community and created its new form — the Khalsa (from the Arabic for “pure”) — which to this day unites a portion of the Sikhs.

16.7 The Khalsa and the Sahajdhari.

The Khalsa is a brotherhood of Sikhs organized on a martial and non-caste basis. The first initiation into the Khalsa took place on March 30, 1699 (under Guru Gobind Singh). From that date the Sikhs were effectively divided into two main groups: the Khalsa and the Sahajdhari. Having passed through a special initiation rite, the Sikh believer becomes a member of the Khalsa and gains the right to visit all the sacred places of the Sikhs.

Male members of the Khalsa receive an addition to their name — Singh (“lion”) — as a sign of equality. Women of the community add to their names the title “Kaur” — “lioness.” The reason is that Sikhism developed in caste-bound India and set itself against the laws and inequalities of the Indian caste system. Members of the Khalsa are required to wear five emblems of their belonging:

kesh — long hair, beard, and moustache, never cut or shaved;

kangha — a comb worn in the hair, which keeps it in order rather than letting it hang loose in the disordered fashion of the Indian ascetics whom the Sikhs condemn;

kara — an iron bracelet on the right wrist;

kachh — breeches of a particular cut;

kirpan — a dagger for defense and as a symbol of the spirit.

Members of the Khalsa also observe binding rules:

to pray daily (according to a prescribed order);

not to cut the hair;

not to worship idols;

to abstain from smoking and from the consumption of alcohol;

not to eat the meat of animals slaughtered by exsanguination, as Muslims do (one must consume the meat of an animal killed with a single blow);

to abstain from intimate relations with Muslim women (more broadly, with women of other religions).

These prescriptions by no means exhaust the ethics of the Khalsa and of Sikhism; Guru Gobind Singh simply identified them as the essentials. On the whole, the ethics and aesthetics of the Khalsa have an anti-Muslim character, reflecting the long struggle of the Sikhs against Muslim incursions.

Sahajdhari is the self-designation of those Sikhs who did not accept the innovations of the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh — that is, who did not become members of the Khalsa. The Sahajdhari Sikhs and the Khalsa differ conceptually and ideologically: the Sahajdhari do not accept the militancy of the Khalsa and remain tolerant of Hindu influence. Naturally, in outward appearance they differ as well, since the Sahajdhari do not adopt the five distinctive marks required of the Khalsa.

16.8 The Teaching of Sikhism.

The first thing to be noted is that the doctrine of Sikhism is not dogmatic but poetic. It rests upon the medieval poetics of India and is centered on the celebration of divine unity.

Sikhism is traditionally interpreted as a monotheistic religion, which on the whole is true. One must not forget, however, that the God of Sikhism is not entirely the biblical God. In the case of Sikhism the Islamic influence should not be overestimated. The mystical consciousness of Guru Nanak and the poetry of the Indian bhaktas — these are the source of the Sikh understanding of God.

Nanak rejects polytheism, but he does not say that the God whom he preaches is true while the others are false. He says, rather, that God is expressed by human beings through a multiplicity. Nanak’s theology is formulated in the terms of Hinduism, yet he rejects as erroneous the Indian conception of avatars and incarnations. This applies above all to the visible images (murti) of the gods whom the Hindus venerate. God cannot be described; He is incomprehensible, unknowable, and invisible; He cannot be expressed in spoken or written word. In other words, the Indian gods are an error, and what is said of them in fact refers to the One God.

God has no outward form; He exists in all things and everywhere; this has at times led to Sikhism’s being characterized as pantheism. But this is not an accurate characterization. The Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, as well as the Muslim Allah, all merge in one God. He has no proper name. The Sikhs address Him using both Hindu and Muslim names: Hari (the most frequently used), Ram, Parameshwar, Allah, Sahib, and others.

As in Advaita Vedanta, God in Sikhism is defined by the concepts nirguna — “without qualities” — and saguna (“endowed with qualities,” “possessing qualities”). God’s highest nature is nirguna, that is, an essence devoid of any qualities whatsoever. But in revealing Himself to human knowledge, God by His own will passes into the state of saguna, that is, appears as endowed with properties and attributes. In His saguna form God interacts with humanity. This conception derives directly from the philosophy of Vedanta, which likewise speaks of Saguna Brahman, the Good Lord, who is the form of the unmanifest Nirguna Brahman.

In Sikhism God embodies in Himself the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer (the qualities proper to the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva). He is omnipotent and omniscient. The world He has created is changeable and not eternal, whereas God Himself is eternal. The world is the result of His play (jagat-tamasha), as in the theatre: “He destroys, and He is the one destroyed, and the very act of destruction. He is at once writer, pen, and book, plot and hero of the play. All that exists dances and moves by His will.” The conception of God in Sikhism as the only ontologically existing and genuine reality bears a strong resemblance to the corresponding conceptions of extreme Sufism and of Hinduism.

From Hinduism Sikhism takes the idea of karma and samsara. A human being passes through many births, determined by his deeds. But the chain of these births is not as long as in Buddhism and Hinduism. Samsara may be cut short in this life by following the teaching of the Guru Granth Sahib. The fundamental aim of the human being is the knowledge of God. Full knowledge of God within the bounds of earthly life is impossible, but the path of knowing God will be brought to completion by an immersion in God that breaks the chain of births.

All that exists is defined in Sikhism by the concept of Hukam (divine order, divine will), which applies not only to the physical world but also to the concept of karma. There is karma (what happens), and there is dharma (what ought to be, what is prescribed in a religious and ethical sense — that is, duty). However, Nanak unexpectedly says that karma, like dharma, depends equally upon the will of God. In Hinduism karma is an automatic law in whose operation God need not participate. For Nanak, however, things are otherwise:

“All bodies and all objects exist by the Will of the Lord.

By the Lord’s ineffable Will all living things are brought forth.

By this inexplicable Will Eternal Glory is attained.

By God’s Will they go to ascent, and by It are cast down into vice;

They obtain misfortune and happiness in accordance with His Preordination.

Upon one, by the Will of the Lord, unearthly Grace streams down;

And another the Most High Will casts into the cycle of deaths and births —

All and each are made manifest by God’s Will; without It nothing is accomplished!

Nanak, know: he who has discerned God’s Will in self-love will not be shut out!” [Japji Sahib. Trans. Zakharyin, B.A., Khokhlova, L.V.].

Sikh spiritual practice is many-sided, but all of it in one way or another revolves around the recitation of the holy scripture, the Adi Granth, and of the name of God. At the beginning of the Japji Sahib (the “Japji Sahib” or morning prayer of the Sikhs, opens the introductory liturgical portion of the Adi Granth; it belongs to Nanak himself) the question of the spiritual path is posed:

“By endless purifying of the body, purity of soul cannot be attained.

Nor can one obtain peace through silence or through immersion in trance.

The hunger of the hungry is not satisfied by an abundance of the world’s treasures,

And by the vain effort of the mind one will not come to know union with the Most High!

How shall I become worthy of Truth? How shall I tear down the wall of untruth?

By the Will of God one must live, Nanak!

In accordance with His Preordination!”

[“The ‘Japji Sahib’ of Guru Nanak in the Sikh Religious Tradition” // Bulletin of Moscow University. Series 13. Oriental Studies. Moscow, 1999, pp. 59–92].

The central method of the Sikh spiritual path is the Naam. Naam is the name of God. The Sikhs have various names by which to designate God, but these do not express His essence. The word Naam is used as a comprehensive term for all His names. God is unknowable, and therefore no single name can adequately designate Him. All names are epithets; Naam is the totality of these epithets — the highest that is accessible to the human being. Naam cannot be defined or described, but one can know the sensations that accompany it.

The Mul Mantra (the root mantra), with which the Adi Granth opens, is an enumeration of qualities by which God may be at least partially described. The text begins with the numeral 1, as a symbol of the fact that God is one: “One — You alone exist! You are the Creator, You are the Name of Truth! As Creator, You know neither fear nor enmity. Your essence is immortality itself; You are unbegotten, Self-existent! By Your Will — by the grace of the Guru — we attain to You, O Lord!”

Naam and the recitation of the Adi Granth are the principal methods of Sikh spiritual practice. To these are joined the binding ethical prescriptions without whose observance the spiritual path is impossible. Sikh meditation is a distinctive form of meditation, also bound up with Naam (Naam simaran). In practice it consists of the inward repetition of a word or phrase from the Adi Granth.

Sikhism consistently rejects eremitic asceticism and all forms of monasticism. The knowledge of God does not presuppose withdrawal from worldly affairs. Likewise, in Sikhism there are no prescriptions concerning yoga. Nanak speaks repeatedly of the life of the householder and of labor as a form of spiritual practice. In the last decades of his life Nanak himself, together with his disciples, worked the lands belonging to the community, in fulfillment of the commandment he had proclaimed: “A person must labor and share the fruits of his labor with others.”

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McLeod, W. H. Sikhism. London: Penguin Books, 1997.

Shackle, Christopher, and Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh, trans. Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. London: Routledge, 2005.

Singh, Khushwant. A History of the Sikhs (Vols. 1-2). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Singh, Pashaura, and Fenech, Louis E., eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

  • 16.1-16.2
  • 16.3-16.4
  • 16.5-16.6
  • 16.7-16.8

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