Sikhi is a wonderful Indian religion for Westerners to explore and learn about. Sikhi and science have highly harmonious worldviews. Sikhi is universalist, honoring all sacred ways of all people. For Sikhs the Creator and the Creation are ONE, and the same; thus Sikhi is free from the Western mind/body split, and Sikhs do not believe in original sin. Sikhi is completely feminist, 'in theory' not one bit sexist, and Sikhi actively fights caste and class, and Sikhi rejects personality cults, and authoritarian hierarchies; among many other virtues.
And Sikhs have repeatedly proven themselves capable of huge and amazing, unified, acts of righteousness down through their history. The true stories of Sikhs are heart-meltingly inspiring, and Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh path, a mere 500 years ago, was one of the sweetest and most powerful humans to ever walk planet Earth.
For Sikhs, keeping hair uncut and up in a turban, with beards and all other body hair left untouched, is one of the five symbols of their path. These symbols were designed by the soldier/saint Guru Gobind Singh, who was the last in the lineage of embodied Sikh founders and teachers. Each of these five symbols – uncut hair, comb, bracelet, sword and underwear – are to be kept on a Sikh's body at all times. These 5 symbols are active reminders to Sikhs of 5 important vows.
Sikhs vow to stay wholesome, authentic and natural, free from smokes and booze and kicks (symbolized by uncut hair), Sikhs vow to stay washed (comb) and Sikhs vow to jump right in, every single time, to defend the oppressed (sword). Yes, every single time !
Yet Sikhs vow to ONLY defend, never to attack (bracelet). And Sikhs vow to control their sexual energy (symbolized by their underwear). Sikhs hold all women and men as sisters and brothers and Sikhs do not romanticize/fantasize/sexualize about others. They resist fantasy and embrace reality.
God as Truth is extremely important to Sikhs, so they commit their lives to Truth's service. And Sikhs say prayers each day, and Sikhs open their hearts and sing praise to the Creator/Creation each day, and Sikhs practice mantra meditation as well!
Sikhi is not an easy path in other words ! To imagine that 25 million Sikhs worldwide are keeping such amazing and difficult daily vows is, frankly, unbelievable. And in truth, Sikhs, flung around the modern world, living in diaspora, as well as those still living in turbulent Northern India, are presently flailing from various degrees of trauma and culture shock.
This has a lot to do with the fact that back in 1984 the Indian Government took troops in and attacked Sikh's most central Gurdwara, the Golden Temple [Harimandir Sahib] in Amritsar India. It was a massacre and Indira Gandhi died as a result of this incident.
Can you imagine if the USA government decided to blow up a New York City synagogue or cathedral? Anyone remember WW2 when the German government attacked one of it's minority religions?
This is one of the things that Sikhs find frustrating about us. We USAers so conveniently space out history and we seemingly trust USA media completely. Meanwhile most Sikhs in my experience know their history. For instance, Sikhs remember fighting in WW2 in defense of the Jewish people, like it was only yesterday. In truth, it was only 60 years ago.
In contrast most USAers appear to have already forgotten all about the Persian Gulf War, and most of our children know little or nothing about the Vietnam War, much less WW2.
Since the 1984 attack and slaughter of Sikhs by the Indian Government, Sikhs have been in an uproar, of course. Sikhs have been steadily streaming out of India and the Indian Government has infiltrated Sikh politics and temples so heavily in the Punjab that Sikhs living in diaspora no longer trust anything that is happening there. Alcoholism and drug abuse, domestic violence, cults, saints and 'saviors', and hopelessness are all UP among Sikhs.
Carpetbaggers are everywhere. The younger generation is rebelling against the elders. And lots of people who wear turbans and beards, and say they are Sikhs, aren't keeping the Sikh vows one bit.
Still Sikhs are romantic and Sikhs are proud. Sikhs have a tradition and a role and a history. And I personally find that the most lukewarm Sikh still jumps into social justice activism faster than most USAers can comprehend.
Right now, Sikhs in the USA are fearlessly facing the misdirected outbreak of Hate Crimes towards them, and reforming themselves, and inspiring others, extremely quickly and dramatically. We have a lot to learn from Sikhs about accepting the need for change and about how to do it quickly. It has been a total privilege for me, since the terror of September 11, 2001, to work side by side with argueably the greatest warriors on Earth, the Sikhs, to combat racist backlash here in the USA, towards our Muslim and Sikh citizens. It is really inspiring to watch Sikhs reaching out now, and educating USAers about the Sikh religion.
Of course, Sikhs are also a bit embarrassed to be suddenly center-stage in front of a USA audience. Many Sikhs aren't living up to their own religious standards. Yet for USAers, who have already lived in this country for a generation or two, Sikhs and the problems Sikhs face look completely understandable, familiar and normal. Most Sikhs are from India and they are new immigrants to the USA, trying desperately to keep what they value from the Old Country and eager to embrace the best that Western culture has to offer as well. Many USA Sikh elders can't speak English, but their 3-year-old grandchildren babble English a mile a minute and are computer pros. The religion of Sikhi isn't supposed to be male-dominated; but right now, in truth, it is. And the push seems to be for every Sikh son to become either a doctor, or lawyer, or engineer, or a millionaire businessman.
Same old story as for all USAers! Yes, indeed, except for our Native Americans, we are all immigrants here !
Yet Sikhs, though typical USA immigrants for sure, are different too. Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the 10th and final embodied Guru of the Sikh faith, rejected the Hindu guru-disciple relationship and transferred his power and authority onto the Sikh scripture, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Great Wisdom Book Teacher) and the Panj Piare, representatives of the congregations. By doing so Guru Gobind Singh made Sikhi a non-authoritarian religion.
Every Sikh's only boss is this book of sacred poetry. And this book, the Sikh's One and Only Guru and Guide through life, instructs Sikhs very clearly to do seva, "service" that benefits all humankind, to actively pursue social justice as a basic part of daily spiritual practice.
I don't think that Sikhs imagine it a coincidence that Sikhs are being racially targeted in the USA right now, confused with Middle Eastern Muslims. Sikhs don't proselytize one bit, yet they know that it is past time that they educate Westerners about yet another marvelous spiritual path/religion from the East. Sikhs believe that all religions, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Paganism, Shamanism and the rest, have wonderful gifts to give humanity and great lessons to teach us all. Sikhi does too.
And one of the greatest gifts that Sikhs have to offer our hopeless world is their conviction that actively working for social justice, equal rights and freedom for all is powerful and necessary spiritual practice for each and every human on Earth.