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Summary of Question:	Gurus And All
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Friday, 1/12/2001 11:46 PM MST

This question is not meant to offend anybody. I am being extremely frank as to how I feel based on the extensive reading and searching I have done in the last 3 years.

What is the underlying philosophy of Sikhism? I have read alot and quite frankly either it is really shallow or I am shallow. I dont think I am shallow because I have understood alot of Buddhism and have sometimes considered converting from Sikhism to Buddhism, and the whole world agrees that Buddhism is very philosophical. On the other hand in Sikhism I see the endless mention of "Nam" and endless recitations of Nam to attain spiritual growth and unity with the "Nam". I can see how this can happen, because alot of the contributers to the Granth Sahib were these Kabir-type of poeple who repeatdly could chant the same concept. Also along the line, Sikh philosophy just becomes extremely verbose in refering to attributes of God e.g omnipotent, all-knowing, etc etc. Somewhere along the line you feel that you are reading a work of literature versus some good philosophy.

Most regular Sikhs dont seem to be so concerned about this as they are too involved in blindly reciting the "nam", keeping there hair etc, etc (basically all the outwardly stuff) Personally I don't see any of the 9 gurus after Guru Nanak add anything spiritually valluable to the religion. All they did was define its ritual aspects more.

Someone please help me out here. I want to understand Sikhism before I make a decision on whether I want to be a Sikh anymore. So my question is "What is the underlying philosophy of Sikhism? "
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Reply
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Greetings to you in the Name of God the light of every soul and in the Name of Guru the life of every Sikh.

You are really coming from your mind. You sound very critical of those around you without much understanding. Perhaps you might spend as much time pursuing an experience of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib as you have spent thinking about becoming a Buddhist.

The key to having a deep experience is to LISTEN to the sound of your own recitation of NAAM. Try it! You need to diligently apply yourself for 40 days(the time required to make or break a new habit). Go to the http.www.sikhnet.com/s/gurugranth sahib under English translation. You will find a very powerful translation of Jap Ji Sahib. Your meditation is to recite the "Jap Ji Sahib" in English out loud and listen to the words that you speak. Understand what you are saying and let the Guru bring you a deep experience of recitation of the Naam. Do this every day for 40 days without break! That means if you miss one day, you need to start at day one again.

Give yourself this time and experience before you miss out on the most powerful tool of upliftment in this Kalyug, recitation of the Naam.