Sikhism
SIKHISM. The word Sikh means disciple or student (from Sanskrit śiṣya, Pali sikha). Sikhism is traced to the person and ideology of Gurū Nānak, who was born in the Punjab in 1469. The religion developed through Nānak's nine successor gurūs within the historical and geographical parameters of Hinduism and Islam. In the early twenty-first century there are twenty million Sikhs. The vast majority lives in the fertile plains of the Punjab, with agriculture as a major occupation. But with their spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship skills, many have migrated to other parts of India and around the globe. Sikhs follow the teachings of their ten gurūs—from Nānak to Gobind Singh. They believe in the oneness of reality. They revere their sacred text, the Gurū Granth. They conduct public worship in a gurdwara, with the Gurū Granth as the center of all their rites and ceremonies. Both Sikh men and women keep their hair unshorn and identify themselves in the code given by their tenth gurū.
Heritage: GurŪ NĀnak and the Origins of Sikhism
Sikhism began with the religious experience of Nānak. When he was twenty-nine years old, he had a divine revelation. Thereafter Nānak traveled extensively, spreading his message of the singularity of the ultimate reality and the consequent unity of humanity.
