Sikhism historical background

Guru Nanak (14691539), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Ri
Bhi d Talwand, now called Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan). His parents
were Khatri Hindus. As a boy, Nanak was fascinated by God and religion. He would not
partake in religious rituals or customs and oddly meditated alone. His desire to explore
the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home and take missionary journeys.
The five major journeys of Guru Nanak according to his hagiography.
In his early teens, Nanak caught the attention of the local landlord Rai Bular Bhatti,
who was moved by his amazing intellect and divine qualities. Rai Bular Bhatti was
witness to many incidents in which Nanak enchanted him and as a result Rai Bular Bhatti
and Nanak's sister Bibi Nanki, became the first persons to recognise the divine qualities
in Nanak. Both of them then encouraged and supported Nanak to study and travel. At the
age of thirty, Nanak went missing and was presumed to have drowned after going for one
of his morning baths to a local stream called the Kali Bein. He reappeared three days later
and declared: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" (in Punjabi, "n ki hind n ki
musalmn"). It was from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of
what was then the beginning of Sikhism.[148] Although the exact account of his itinerary is
disputed, hagiographic accounts state he made five major journeys, spanning thousands
of miles, the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam, the second south
towards Andhra and Tamil Nadu, the third north towards Kashmir,Ladakh, and to Mount
Sumeru in Tibet, and the fourth tour west towards Baghdad and Mecca. In his last and
final tour, he returned to the banks of the Ravi River to end his days.
There are two competing theories on Guru Nanak's teachings. One, according to
Cole and Sambhi, is based on hagiographical Janamsakhis, and states that Nanak's
teachings and Sikhism were a revelation from God, and not a social protest movement
nor any attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in the 15th century. The other states,
Nanak was a Guru. According to Singha, "Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of
incarnation or the concept of prophethood. But it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not
an incarnation of God, not even a prophet. He is an illumined soul." The
hagiographical Janamsakhis were not written by Nanak, but by later followers without
regard for historical accuracy, and contain numerous legends and myths created to show
respect for Nanak. The term revelation, clarify Cole and Sambhi, in Sikhism is not
limited to the teachings of Nanak, they include all Sikh Gurus, as well as the words of
past, present and future men and women, who possess divine knowledge intuitively
through meditation. The Sikh revelations include the words of non-Sikh bhagats, some

who lived and died before the birth of Nanak, and whose teachings are part of the Sikh
scriptures. The Adi Granth and successive Sikh Gurus repeatedly emphasized, states
Mandair, that Sikhism is "not about hearing voices from God, but it is about changing the
nature of the human mind, and anyone can achieve direct experience and spiritual
perfection at any time".
Scholars state that in its origins, Sikhism was influenced by the nirguni (formless
God) tradition of Bhakti movement in medieval India. Nanak was raised in a Hindu
family and belonged to the Bhakti Sant tradition. The roots of the Sikh tradition are,
states Louis Fenech, perhaps in the Sant-tradition of India whose ideology grew to
become the Bhakti tradition. Furthermore, adds Fenech, "Indic mythology permeates the
Sikh sacred canon, the Guru Granth Sahib and the secondary canon, the Dasam
Granth and adds delicate nuance and substance to the sacred symbolic universe of the
Sikhs of today and of their past ancestors".

The Teachings of Sikhism Based

Apart from the eight important matters of the Sikh religion contained in the holy
book, Guru Granth Sahib Ji (also called Adi Grandth), one can also detect elements of
morality (Sikh Missionary Centre, 1990). The holy book of Sikhism is written in a poetic
form with three important components;
(1) The need for human development
(2) Relationship among humal or n beings
(3) The existence of the soul
The holy book states that in the real world, the thinking of human
beings is always narrow and limited (houmai or egoistic). Morally, man should
open up his mind so that he can adapt himself to conditions around him. This
will make him think more widely and wisely. He will then become a person
who will act more justly and moderately (sachiara). According to Guru Nanak,
it is important and moral for an individual to distance himself from houmai
and try to acquire sachiara. Gearing ones self-quality to the sachiara level
requires careful attention to the aspects of khand. There are various khands,
such as:
(1) Dharam khand: Be prepared to bring change and progress to oneself
through sacrifice and social duties.
(2) Gian khand: Look for knowledge by equipping oneself with wisdom.

(3) Sarsam khand: Look for harmony and tranquility in oneself, appreciate
the beauty of nature, and of self
(4) Karam Khand: Become altruistic, i.e. improve oneself internally, reject
houmai and move towards sachiara level which ignores selfimportance, but always fulfils social and moral obligations.
(5) Sach khand: Strive to attain the highest level; unite wisdom and selfvirtue(kar kar), value consciousness(vekhe) and internal happiness
(nihala) in oneself.
All these five khands gradually guide the individual to abandon
hpumai for sachiara. Training in these aspects aimsat moulding
individuals who are well-balanced spiritually, physically and
emotionally. These five khands lead to positive attributes that
individuals should cultivate. However, Sikhism also teaches its
followers to reject five aspects that are negative and morally incorrect:
(1) Kam: desire
(2) Lobh: greed or covetousness
(3) Moh: belief in or worship something that is false
(4) Krodh: anger
(5) Ahankar: arrogance, conceit
All these five negative qualities are said to disturb the peace in
a person and cause him to behave in an immoral manner. The
problems caused by these five traits can be overcome only by faith
in religious teaching and self-reappraisal. According to Sikhism, a
virtuous character can be formed through interacting with virtuous
people. A virtuous person is one who is wise, just, moderate, brave,
fair, polite and modest, satisfied and at peace with himself. From
this discussion of the teaching in the Sikh holy book, it is clear that
Sikhism is a religion that values a disciplined way of life, peace,
moderation and social consciousness.

The Native Beliefs of Sikhism

The orang asli community is a part of the bumiputera society of
Malaysia. Members of this community have the same special bumiputera
rights that are guaranteed under the Federal Constitution (Jasman Ahmad &
Rosnah Ramli, 1997)
The orang asli community has many sub-groups or tribes who differ in
their ways of life and languages. Broadly speaking, there are three major
groups, each with this own sub-groups. These are the Negrito, te Senoi and the
Melayu Asli. According to the census carried out in 1993, there are about
95529 Orang Asli in the whole country. About 70% of them live in areas close
to Malay settlements, with the rest in the interiors.