Sikhism - An Introduction Quotes

“God is immanent and all-pervading This is not too surprising when we remember that the Gurus were mystics and that the vision of such people is one that finds the presence of God in every experience and object. They also shared with many Hindus the belief that the atman, or jot (divine spark) or individual soul, is one with the Primal Soul, Brahman, though Sikhs tend not to use this particular term.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“In 2003 the most expensive gurdwara in the world was opened in Southall, England. The cost is estimated at £13,000,000 but a figure of £24,000,000 has also been mentioned.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Lack of land. Most of Punjab had been cultivated by the late eighteenth century, when irrigation projects had become fully operational. Jats, especially, had to look elsewhere. Prospects abroad, like those offered to the craftsmen who went to East Africa. The affluence of Britain in the 1950s and opportunities which the British government and employers offered those willing to work unsociable hours. Advertisements informed Asians and people from the Caribbean of such work in textile mills and public transport. Demands for professional skills in countries such as the USA or Indonesia, or the Gulf States. Though India can afford to employ most of its graduates nowadays, many relish the prospect of overseas experience. Sikh rejection of the concepts of ritual purity and pollution which stopped some Hindus migrating.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Besides this kind of individual answer there are some general ones: Famine. Sometimes writers mention famines in the nineteenth century, which forced Punjabis to migrate in order to survive. Membership of the British Indian army, which led to Sikhs literally discovering new horizons, and gave them secure pensions after their term of service. These were sufficient to keep them and their families, but not to establish businesses or landholdings. They returned to the countries in which they had been serving, where they knew gaps in employment existed. Lack of opportunities at home. Farms or businesses may only be able to provide employment for a limited number of people, especially with mechanization. Surplus sons had to look elsewhere – and at the same time help the extended family to prosper from their earnings so that they could eventually find a niche when they returned home.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Europe’s Sikh community outside Britain scarcely exists. During 1993 there was some unrest in a district of Belgium to which Sikhs had gone to take part in harvesting as casual labourers. At times of high unemployment, there are always possibilities of non-whites being accused of job stealing. These often diminish when a group becomes established. Meanwhile Sikhs are sometimes deterred from migrating to areas where none has been previously.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Most United Kingdom cities have sufficient Ramgarhia or Jat Sikhs to make the financing of separate gurdwaras feasible. Clearly, Jats and Ramgharias have their own lifestyles which conflict. Perhaps the emergence of separate gurdwaras would be found in other countries if these two groups found themselves living side by side. Conclusions might only be possible, however, when a survey of zats in the USA (where it is claimed that there are now 300 gurdwaras) is carried out and compared with the British situation.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“What affinity with Sikhism will the children of these mixed marriages have? The answer depends on the attitude of both parents. Where the non-Sikh partner shares the life of the sangat as far as possible, even if they don’t learn Punjabi, and the community is friendly and receptive, the evidence seems to point to children staying Sikh. When the Sikh spouse is indifferent to their heritage, the children end up in a kind of no-man’s land, prey to the valueless society which tends to surround them.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Sikhism is not a religion which looks for converts but a feature of the American diaspora is the large number of ‘white’, gora, Sikhs. In 1969 an Indian sant, or spiritual teacher, Harbhajan Singh Puri (Yogi Bhajan, to give him his popular name), began teaching kundalini yoga in the USA. Some of his students were attracted by his total lifestyle, which included vegetarianism as well as the usual amritdhari discipline, of daily nam simran (meditation upon the Sikh scriptures), the prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and sex outside marriage, as well as his Sikh world view stressing equality and service. To these might be added his own strong and attractive personality.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Their children, now grown up and themselves parents, may visit Punjab less frequently. Many have never been to India and declare themselves to be British Sikhs, though experiences of racial discrimination and harassment make them uneasy about their status and future, so some move to what seems a more receptive North America. Events in India since 1984 have reminded them that Punjab is the Sikh homeland.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Other Sikhs went to California and Vancouver, as well as other areas of the Pacific region before the First World War. In 1902 Sikh soldiers from Hong Kong went to Canada to take part in celebrations marking the coronation of Edward VII. Some eventually returned as settlers to work in British Columbia’s lumber mills. Sikhs were also to be found in California before the outbreak of the First World War.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Another important date for Sikh migration beyond India was 1857, the year of the first independence struggle, known to British historians as the Mutiny. Sikhs stood aside from the uprising because they had no wish to reinstate the Mughals or any other Muslim rulers, and that seemed to them the likely consequence of its success. This won Sikhs favour with the British who began recruiting them into the army in increasingly large numbers. By 1870, Sikh soldiers were serving overseas. On retirement, after demobilization in India, they often returned to the colonies where they had been stationed, such as Malaya or Hong Kong, to become members of the police force or security guards for private companies. During the First World War, Sikhs fought at Gallipoli and in other parts of Europe, as well as in Africa as part of the British army.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“His monotheism left no place for apparent polytheism. We know that a fundamental Hindu teaching is that God is one: Truth is One; sages call it by many names such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Yama, Garutman, or Matarishvan. (Rig Veda: 1:164:46) The Yajur Veda, another important scripture, expresses the same truth as follows: For an awakened soul, Indra, Varuna, Agni, Yama, Aditya, Chandra – all these names represent only One spiritual being. (32:1) These words lie at the heart of the religion but for many devotees and non-Hindu observers the reality seems to be polytheistic. The pictures and images which may be seen in a mandir, ranging from Rama and Hanuman, to Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Guru Nanak and Gandhi, might convey this message to the uninformed, rather than one of diversity within unity which is at the heart of Hinduism. Certainly that seems to have been true of the village Hinduism that Guru Nanak experienced.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Such an austere religion has never appealed to the masses and today may have less than 4 million adherents. Jains do not believe in a personal creator God. Liberation is through their way of life and entails becoming a monk or nun, which may not be achieved in their present existence. It is nontheistic; the gods are themselves souls on the way to liberation.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“The solution of the Punjab problem may lie in a radical redrafting of the Indian Constitution to produce a federation that gives more regional autonomy. Punjab is not the only region to have been in conflict with the centre, but it is the only one in which religion and politics have united to create a powerful opposition.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“In 1991 the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won many seats in India’s general election. These were gained by a clear religious appeal to Hindus to make India a Hindu nation. This has often been accompanied by criticisms of Christians and Muslims for being aliens, not true Indians. Sikhs are fearful of the rise of Hindu militancy for two reasons. If the Hindus tell them that they are really Hindus (as the Vishnu Hindu Parishad, a Hindu religious and political group, suggests, calling them ‘Keshdhari Hindus’) their distinctive identity is threatened. If churches and mosques are attacked they fear that gurdwaras will be the next chosen targets. Some Sikhs have moved to the Punjab from other parts of India, anxious to avoid this danger. Occasional Sikh attacks on Hindus in Punjab should be seen in the context of creating an exclusively Sikh state de facto by forcing Hindus to flee, if the Hindu government, as they see it, will not grant them one de jure. This is a form of ethnic cleansing. In every respect it goes against the teachings of the Gurus.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“The audacity of the Gurus in using Muslim and Hindu names for God is noteworthy. Partly a prudent move – because going to a Muslim village and preaching about Krishna using terms completely unfamiliar would have been unwise – it is also a mark of the inclusiveness which was intrinsic to Sikhism from its outset.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Sikhs, however, should not allow the belief that God is immanent within humanity or nature to become pantheism or to say that any created being is God.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“There is no priest to interpret it or monopolize the performance of ritual actions, as in some other religions. This is also a reason why translations are not installed in gurdwaras and Sikhs insist on the importance of the original language, for all translations are interpretations to some extent. It is the message contained in the book that matters.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“The word sahib, which Sikhs use when they speak of the scripture, may become contentious in future. It was used respectfully in addressing, in particular, white men in the days of the Raj. The wife was known as the mem sahib, which indicated that her status derived from her husband. Sahib is used to acknowledge the status of the scripture in the same way, but some women writers may dispense with it, claiming that it reinforces the strong but unwarranted male dominance in the Sikh Panth.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“The fact that no material from brahminical Hindu scriptures or the Qur’an is included is easily explained. Either it could result in the charge that the Gurus were merely plagiarists or to the assertion that they did accept the authority of these scriptures. What they certainly were is eclectic in their view of scripture, refusing to claim that God spoke only through the revelation that was given to them.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Theory and practice may not coincide. A Sikh girl may find her life restricted more than her brother’s even though Sikh teaching is one of gender equality.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“The Punjab census for 2001 states that the ratio of women to men in the population is now 874 per thousand. In 1991 it was 882. The most widely given reason for this is the abortion of female foetuses. The practice, as in the UK, is unlikely to be confined to Sikhs but certainly includes them.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“India is a country that cannot afford to employ all the doctors it trains, which explains why some of them have migrated to Europe or America. It depends on volunteers and voluntary contributions to make up for services that the government cannot afford to provide. Sikhs do this by setting up clinics or dispensaries and day wards at gurdwaras. Here, medical care is given free of charge and minor operations can be performed.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“In Punjabi culture a girl is paraya dhan – the property of others is the literal meaning of the phrase. Her father, then her husband, is responsible for her. She is never her own person. She is a costly expense to her parents, as a dowry is expected, and after they have spent everything on her the benefit is enjoyed by the family she marries into.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Let no one be proud of their birth. Know that we are all born from the same clay.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Nowadays marriages across the lines of varna and zat are permissible but traditions that are probably 2,000 years old are not quickly rejected. (Caste discrimination in India is now illegal but it still exists, as does illegal discrimination of various kinds in Britain and elsewhere.)”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Today, 500 years since Guru Nanak began to preach, it is still common to find families with both Sikh and Hindu members.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Men have always danced bhangra, and women the female Punjabi equivalent, gidda, but not in the same place. Now, at sophisticated wedding receptions, there may be mixed discos with elderly bemused relatives watching and thinking how things have changed since their young days. Not, of course for the better!”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“It should not have escaped notice that Guru Gobind Singh accidentally solved the surname problem that vexes a number of Western women nowadays. They do not wish to take their husband’s name at marriage – so they keep their own, which is derived from their father! The use of Kaur overcomes the difficulty completely.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself

“Children should not offer their opinions in the presence of their elders or contradict them.”
― W. Owen Cole, Sikhism - An Introduction: Teach Yourself