Lets start this blog off with the most important tenet of Sikhism, Ek Onkar.

Ek Onkar means “One God”. It is the first part of the Sikh daily prayer, Mool Mantra. This is a very important statement as it defines one of the most important part of the Sikh religion, that there is only one god. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion, similar to Islam’s belief in one God (Allah) and the Judaism belief in one God (Yahweh). But it is not similar to the Christian belief in one God. The Christian belief of the Trinity states that there is one God who exists simultaneously as three persons, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. The Sikh belief in One God states that God is all around us, omnipotent and omnipresent. God is formless, ever present, eternal and unobserved.

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The Sikh term for god is Waheguru. This was coined by the first Guru (teacher) in the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. It is a very complicated term and many scholars have studied its true meaning. You can read a lot more about it here, Waheguru. To me it is a very special word and using it brings me closer to God. There have been times in my life that I have felt great stress or even fear, in those times I have often repeated Whaeguru silently in my mind and it brought me great peace and serenity. Sikhs believe that Waheguru is a gurmantra, which means a prayer that is repeated over and over again. Sikhs will often sit and invoke Waheguru repeatedly while using a string of rosary beads.

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Lets talk more about God and what the underlying meaning in Sikhism is. This section is more of what i know and believe than anything else so there might be some repetition and some things may not make a whole lot of sense. Let me just try and explain what God means to me and Sikhs.

As in most religions Sikhs believe that God created the Universe and everything in it. God created the planets and us upon it. But, Sikhism also states that there are many more worlds with other sentient life. Sikhs believe that God has no beginning and no end. God exists everywhere at once and can be felt all around you and inside yourself. God is the Creator of everything and everything exists because of him. He sustains the Universe. Everything is his will. Also there is only one God, not just for Sikhs but that it is the same God for all religions.

The true path of Sikhism is the path to God. The path is very easy to follow. All you have to do is keep god in your mind and pray to him. You have to be a good person and help others. This path will lead to salvation. The term salvation is very different in Sikhism for there is no heaven or hell. Sikhs believe that once you die you are reincarnated, if you stay true to the path then you will get a better reincarnation than if you are not true. So if you are a bad person you might come back as a cockroach. If you keep true and are truly a good person you will be reincarnated as a better person. If you stay true for a long time then you will reach final salvation which means that you will not be reincarnated and you will become one with God. Complicated stuff. Read more about it here.

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Well there is a lot more and I will keep on posting and sharing my beliefs and thoughts.