dalvinder45
SPNer
- Jul 22, 2023
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Ethics in Sikhism
Cultures and languages of a religion are products of a particular place and time in which they are born and change with passing times. Budhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Christiity and other religions have their origin in the long past and their culture and languages are the most affected over a period of time. Among the most recent religions, Sikhism is the latest religion which is least affected by the changes brought by time and situations.
India of the times was passing through a dark period. The Hindus who formed nearly ninety percent of the population were the subjects and the Muslims the ruling class. The Hindus were rigidly following the caste system. They had no central church. The Muslims too were divided into the royal class, the preaching class and the common man. The ethics and values of Sikh religion are an outcome of religious and historical experience of the Ten Gurus and the people adhering to the faith of that time. The process was initiated by the founder of the faith, Guru Nanak, born in 1469 in Nankana Sahib near Lahore. Being closest to present times, it represents the value systems needed in the present times, hence is discussed here.
Guru Nanak showed that there is but one God who is the creator of the entire universe. (Ik ongkar, Karta Purukh). The ethics of equality, fraternity and brotherhood of man originates from this very idea that God is One and all are His creation and all are equal. He lovers all equally hence all must live peacefully with each other and with love and affection. Thus Sikhism emphasizes a moral and \ethical life devoid of enemity and cruelity. Human beings are encouraged to develop their moral character through generosity, humility and self-reliance. Sikhism teaches equality of all people of different races, religions, or sex.
God is the Truth before beginning of the universe, from the beginning, is True at presnt and will be True even in Future." Thus this reality of Truth needs to be understood. Profound faith in the Creator by declaring that the Creation of the True one cannot be devoid of Reality. Not only that, His Creation was also the place where man recognizes God's prescence. A Sikh should represent moral responsibility and righteousness. Falsehood must be rejected and Truth adopted from the core.
Conduct, for the Gurus, was of wider and deeper significance in religious life, than it generally had in that of previous Indian thinkers. This is so, because Indian thought underrated the reality of the Transitory world, while Guru Nanak showed profound faith in the Creator by declaring that the Creation of the True one cannot be devoid of Reality. He says, "Good Conduct is above Truth itself."
"Truth is the highest of all virtues, but true living is higher still."
Here lies the emphasis on ethical Conduct; that is, though nothing else is more important than the vision of Truth, but Life of Truthful living is of greater importance. Of course there could be no life of Truthful living without the experience of God or Reality. A man who contemplates on the name of God attains the Truth through pure conduct.
"He contemplates His Lord with love in the heart, and attains to God through(pure) conduct and the Word, by Guru's Grace."
This only means that you cannot separate a man's conduct from his insight of God. These two are the manifestations of the one Lord.
True conduct abjures falsehood. He asks as to how we find truth and demolish the walls of falsehood? "How then to be true? How rend the veil of sham, untruth."
Here, falsehood stands for illusion or 'Maya', which is the source of desire and worldliness. The Guru's question points to the foremost concern of the seeker. When truth is realised, it inevitably leads to noble actions or good conduct. Maya creates egotism, hence every one in the world is egoistic when attached to Maya. One can only save from egotism if one has self discipline and moral conduct. Since the entire world is in the Order of God (hukmai ander sabh ko bahr hukam na koi" our conduct must be such as to avoid egotism and its attched maladies of lust, anger, selfishness, worldly attachments and pride (kam, krodh lobh, moh and Ahankar). To get rid of all these maladies a perfect Guru and guide is the best person who will help youo maintain rightful conduct.
And, Truth is realised only with help from the Guru or, as Guru Angad puts it, "By the Grace of God, the Word of Guru (Shabad) dispels ego (Haumai)". "If the Lord be in Grace, one practics the Word of Guru." The Guru ward remembers his origin the God and maintaining rightful conduct gets attached to His Name, thereby gainign freedom from all evils and becomes near God. It is the mission of man to approach ever nearer to God. As he does this, he feels he has creativity, freedom and the will to act. Guru Nanak tells, Contentment (Santokh), Reflection (Saram), Right Orientation (Dhian), Self-Discipline (Jugat), Absolute faith in God (Patiti), Catholicity, i.e., showing respect to all other religions (Ai panthi sagal jamati) and control of mind and ego (man jite jag jit) and Service to humanity (seva kiti santokhai)
Contentment: The social order demands certain specific patterns of behaviour from every man and woman. An individual has to be content with his role in the social group. His ambitions should not outrun his role in society. By performing their own roles everyone helps maintain a desirable social order.
"It is the bull of Dharma, the law born of mercy, which through contentment creates harmony"
Reflection: Man must determine or reflect on the propriety or otherwise, of his own actions in terms of the ultimate concern, which is God-oriented life. By reflecting on the Guru's Word he must be able to interpret his Dharma in an honest and intelligent manner. To promote reflection, attachment to emphemeral objects must be avoided.
"Love not then that which but is a passing show"
Man has the capacity to withdraw himself in reflection. The concern of the wiseman should be preservation of the social order. To attain this objective, he has to avoid temptations. For him, "beauty, wealth, social status and the sweet pleasures of life are mere tinsels". These are to be used only as necessaties of life. Reflection helps us to shift real values from fake values.
Right orientation: That is, orientation to God. Guru Nanak calls this as the path of 'Naam'. He says, "I am blindfold, Naam is my staff". Concentrate on the naam and you will not be carried away by the allure of Maya, that is, pitfalls in your ethical career:
"For me the blind one, Lord's name is the only prop;
Yea, he who leans on God, him the Maya enticeth not away."
Guru Arjan, the firth Guru says, "this body is obtained by good fortune. Those who do not orient themselves properly by dwelling on the God by repitition of Naam or 'Jap'are slaying their self.
"The fortunate got the priceless gift of body;
But if he dwells not on the Naam, he slayeth his self"
Repitition of the Name of God or 'Jap' is not to be taken as mechanical, parrot-like repetition of whatsoever name you choose to give God, but to align oneself with Him through Jap.
Naam is not only the ultimate reality, but also the ultimate concern, which appears to us as the Truth, Truth which is greater medicine, that rinses away the sins.
"Truth is the cure-all, it washes one clean of sin."
Constant awareness of Naam is the cure for man's ego-centredness. God can be best seen in His Creation, which he fills with himself without appearing to do so.
"In thy creations is thy light; Through thy light are thou known,
and though without attributes, all attributes in here in Thee"
Even though intellectual conception does reveal the nature of Him and His Creation, yet for the common man the popular form of repetition of Naam is through listening and singing the praises of the Lord and to love the Lord with all our heart.
"Sing of Him, of Him hear, Love Him, (He the master dear)"
Singing the praises of God through Guru's Word in set musical notes according to Indian 'Ragas' is termed as 'Kirtan'. For the common masses intellectual exploration of Naam, by reading piles of scriptures, Vedas, Puranas, and Guru Granth Sahib is a difficult task. For the common man Kirtan excels everything.
The Sikh way of life disapproves of concentration of mind on idols, body postures, bathing at certain holy spots and going for pilgrimages just for the sake of going, as sham rituals.
Self-Discipline and culture of life: Self-discipline also means self control. God-orientation naturally issues forth from a self disciplined and cultured style of life. It is the Lord sown in this body of man, sprouting forth in disciplined conduct, only thus do we know the prescence of God in man:
"We know the Truth when the heart is true."
Life that is oriented towards the Guru leads a person to acquire three attributes, i.e, Naam(the Name), Daan(Service) and Isnaan(the purity of one's own life).
"The Gurmukh is blest with the Name, Compassion and purity."
When we study of the Guru's scripture, we inevitably come upon some thoughts of self-discipline. Man plays his distinctive role of Dharma by maintaining the social order. An essential part of this role is his life as a householder. As a householder it is difficult for a man to keep his desires in check; he is apt to lose himself in the life of petty pleasures. Guru Nanak says that a householder is one, who exercises self-control and regulates his life. One should eat just as much as is necessary for the maintenance of health and sleep as little as necessary.
"And I sleep little and eat little; this is the quintessence I've found."
Guru Nanak abhors laziness. He exhorts man to work hard:
""Nanak, that alone is received whole in the you, that one giveth out off one's honest day's bread."
One should keep away from lust, and anger particularly as they are physically and mentally injurious. We should root out greed and avarice from our mind, only then could we live in the spirit of God:
"But when through the Guru's Word, one overcometh one's greed, one is reconciled to the Lord."
Evenness of mind or poise under all circumstances has been regarded highly by all Indian thinkers and Guru Nanak is no exception. He has given it a positive face. A God-oriented man lives in perpetual delight, day and night.
"And they are thus ever in joy."
The greatest upsetters of evenness of mind are worry and fear. Worry arises from our inability to adapt ourselves to unfavourable conditions in the world around us. Our own inability to detach ourselves from our loves and hatreds arises out of our ego-centred mind. The remedy lies in rising above ego-centrism, through the
Guru's Word:
"And bereft of hope and fear, he burned down his ego with the Word."
Our greatest worry comes with clinging to life and fear of death. There is no greater test of spiritual strength than when man is prepared to face death with poise. Guru Nanak has said this time after time:
"Thou, who abidest in me through the Guru's Grace,
thou who determinest my destiny as thou willest."
A God-oriented man, with complete submission to God looks at worry as not being his concern. "The Creator fulfills His purpose through us, let Him worry", so says Guru nanak. The care is His, who created the world:
"Yea, the care is His, who created the world."
Self-discipline in God-oriented life is self regulation with devotion to the lord, not out of fear of God, but out of Divine Love:
"What use that service which rids not of the fear of the Lord.
Nanak the true servant is he who mergeth in the master."
Guru Angad, the second Guru explains it further, saying that there is no service of the Lord, where there is fear of the lord. A true servant is he who has completely attuned himself to the Lord.
The pursuit of worldly pleasure always lands us in suffering. The wiseman therefore always tries to place himself, through reflection on Guru's Shabad, out of bounds to pleasures and sufferings alike.
"But one attains poise, and looks upon pain and pleasure alike if one pierces(the heart)."
Guru Nanak lays stress on all round religious and moral personality. Among the writings of numerous men of God who have adorned the pages of history, a special charm of Guru Nanak is, to include excellence, like mastery of language, knowledge, music sensitiveness to beauty, awareness to what is happening around you, intelligence, wisdom and literacy, which man must accomplish. He says those men who do not strive to attain these and yet are proud, are real asses:
"Nanak: the real asses are those who pride on themselves but have no virtue to be proud of."
A man who is God-oriented and self-disciplined is simple in his appearance and behaviour. Those who assume air and throw their weight around in the world are so tainted that however often they bathe in place s of pilgrimages, the taint could never be removed. Guru Nanak believes in dignified simplicity (Garibi ves).
Indeed, there are good men in this world who ar silk inside, while appearing as co{censored} clothes outside:
"They within is silk, and rags without they are the good ones in the world."
The dignity of a cultured man comes through economy of speech, avoidance of needless debate and, above all, self-reliance:
"Why prathe over much, all prattle is vain; For the Lord knoweth all without being told."
"And, yea argue not with a fool."
"And thus with his own hands accomplish this task."
Faith: Faith develops fearlessness in man. A man who has God in his heart and acts as described above walks tall with the staff of faith in his hand:
"For me, the blind one, the Lord's name is the only prop."
Do to his well-regulated life and submission to God he attains fearlessness. Says Guru Nanak, "Now that I have your True Name in my heart, who is the other at whose's door I should bow my head? Except the True Master, he cares for none."
"For they care not for one other than the True Lord."
He can serve no ordinary creature henceforth:
"When one seveth every 'he and that', how will one attain the Lord."
Not only does his faith show itself in this outer strength, but also in an inner strength. His mind is not like a divided house torn within itself because of doubts as is the mind of ego-centred man.
6. Principle of Catholicity i.e., Respect for all other Religions:
In Sikh perspective, value is attributed to the principle that a wiseman treats groups other than his, with the same respect that he gives to his own group. Says, Guru Nanak, "We should not claim ourselves good and see others as evil beings. Suppressing our ego we should go on the basis of Truth":
"I see no one that's bad, though I am not good sayeth Nanak;
he who slayeth his ego is himself like the true Lord."
Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, says that if we change our angle of vision, we will see no enemy, no stranger, we will dwell in harmony with every human being.
"Yea, I'm estranged with no one, nor is anyone a stranger unto me."
Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru, says, "Know you, that all human beings belong to one race." Guru Nanak applied this principle of friendly co-existence of religions and castes in his own times. At the very begining of his mission he proclaimed that there were no Hindu and no Muslim, meaning thereby that they are both rooted in a common humanity. Between a good muslim and a non-muslim there could be no enmity. Not only did he say this, he demonstrated it by his warm and
outgoing friendliness for his contemporary Muslim saints and admitting Muslims to his holy congregation(Sangat). In the Guru's kitchen(Langar), which he established soon after settling down at Kartarpur, and which he continued since then as a living institution of organized Sikh religion, everybody was expected to dine together without distinction of high and low.
7. Service:
Guru Nanak perceives service as combination of four elements of behaviour in and individual - sweetness to others in daily life, forgiveness, compassion and service:
(i) Sweetness:
Sweetness to others in daily life without pride, but with humility is the basis of all social excellence.
"Sweetness and humility, Nanak, is the essence of virtue."
"We must avoid rude speech, as by speaking rudely we cast ourselves away from others."
"To be sour-tongued is to destroy oneself. O, foolish mind."
"Avoid speaking ill of others and, speak well of others in whichever place we are."
"Wherever we go, We should speak nothing but good."
(ii) Forgiveness(Khima): In the spirit of Guru Nanak forgiveness is not to be understood as mere overlooking offences aimed at us by others. Our false pride should not come in the way of forgiving others. But we must still keep in mind the overall social order or traditions of our society.
(iii) Compassion(Daya):
Man experiences universal compassion when ego dies in him. Having recognized himself in all beings he himself will become great, that is to say, transcend his finitude:
"When one dieth to the self, one becometh a know-all; and knoweth within All-Merciful God the alone attaineth Glory who sooth himself in all life."
If one finds himself in others, one will naturally do for them what he normally does for oneself. This is giving oneself to others(Daan). Without compassion one cannot give. Guru Nanak insists that we must give only from what we have earned from the sweat of our brow.
(iv) Service(Seva):
We now come to the peak of behaviour pattern, that which we call service. Giving a desirable thing or commodity is donation(Daan), service is style of life where one gives continuously. Short of service(seva) therefore is no fulfillment:
"For, His service is the Deed most sublime."
Here again, we have to see an all-society viewpoint, leaving our ego behind. Otherwise, you do not get the status in the moral life which belongs to a fulfilled man:
"If he loses his self and serves He getteth honour."
The best service a man can do is to help all those associated with him to similarly achieve their own perfections:
"And, emancipating themselves they emancipate their clans too;
O, fulfilled is their life of the world."
To sum up, taking a broad look on "mind" we found two seemingly opposite forces struggling for primacy in a man's life - his ego-centredness(Haumai) and the urge for self-transcendence sought by following the Guru's Word or Shabad. We said 'seemingly opposite' because if Guru's teachings have to be a force in our lives, it
can only be done by the Guru's Word being accepted by us, which means joining Guru's word with our ego. This is the essence of freedom of man, even when he is only a part of God's Creation.
Though born in Punjab Guru Nanak visited the entire world and spread his value system all around the world.
