Thank you. Would you be able to point me to a particular thread in that forum, I wouldn't know where to start.
I'm not really sure how to rephrase my question at this time. I'm just wondering if some people merely participate in Sikhism because they like the teachings, but don't believe they were divinely inspired to the first guru,
I don't know. I can only answer for myself.
but rather just philosophical system that developed over time culminating in the Guru Granth Sahib.
In some ways, the teachings of Guru Nanak are consistent with the devotional and ethical teachings of the bakhti movement of Northern India. Guru Nanak was deeply schooled in the books of Hindu philosophy, and also simpatico with the teachings of holy men who broke away from that philosophy (Kabir and Ramanand, and others). However, Guru Nanak's bani is something that I consider to be a radical change from all that went before him. His bani is not a linear progression, an evolution or an off shoot of any other philosophy. imho. That would be another good thread topic that you could start.
I'm sorry for my ignorance about all of this. I assumed that to be a Sikh or be accepted in the Sikh community at being a Sikh a person should probably believe the Guru Granth Sahib is THE book, or a message from Waheguru.
I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot, my brain functions a little differently than the neurotypical brain and, I have issue with translating thoughts into words.
Bunky ji
I would not want you to apologize for any "ignorance." Nor should you apologize for "sounding like an idiot" which you do not. You actually have rephrased the problem if not the question. Thank you. I now have a better idea of what you are asking.
Guru Granth Sabhi ji is the GURU, and it contains the revelations of the 6 Gurus and all the bhagats and poets included by our 5th Guru Arjan Dev ji. So it is a book of inspiration, and it is something to take seriously as it is the everlasting Guru. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains within it the light, the jyote, of all the Sikh Gurus who came before the time when Guru Gobind Singh declared the granth to be guru.
The sticking point is the word "believe" --- and perhaps that is the way that this thread can really take off. What do each of us posting mean by "believe" and what is it that we "believe?"
I guess from that the transition to literal meaning is easier to see. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a book of poetry, and so literal meanings will take us off course. Literal meanings cannot get us to the core of the meaning of poetry.
Poetry asks us to try to map our own experiences in life and our own reality onto the inspirations of the poet. In the case of Guru Nanak... Does he say anything that triggers a sense of a different truth in me? Can I learn from reading his words how to adjust to that truth? Do I learn anything about the hypocrisy and meanness in my own life? Learning, inspiring, being open to inspiration, seeing things differently, tuning into a greater truth than truths found in the narrowness of my own experience, triggering insight, wanting to change ... these are impulses that are very different from "believing" in literal meanings. Yet I believe. I believe that Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the only Guru. I believe that the Mool Mantar lays the foundation for understanding Guru Nanak's message. By doing that the Mool Mantar is a framework for everything else I believe.
That is only one person's response to your question. There have to be others.
Now here is a link to a thread that might explain better literal meanings and Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The discussion is about metaphor. There are other threads and I will post them from time to time.
http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/gurmat-vichaar/32638-use-metaphor-gurbani-how-use-when.html
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