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Do abrahamic and monotheistic hindus, sikhs worship the same God?
- Thread starter Starlight
- Start date
Starlight
Spiritual but not religious, new age and omnist
Why?
The way they describe God is too different and contradictory.
Starlight
Spiritual but not religious, new age and omnist
In what way do they describe God differently? I'm just curious
Even the various versions of the Abrahamic God are different.In what way do they describe God differently? I'm just curious
But the Sikh God does not recognise the Torah, for instance.
Starlight
Spiritual but not religious, new age and omnist
How do you know that the sikh God do not recognice the torah?
He does not expect his followers to adhere to it.
I don't think so, either.
While Hindus acknowledge all forms of God as valid(typically), you'll not often find them worshipping the Abrahamic god. What point would there be in that? Why not convert to an Abrahamic religion if you want to do that?
Likewise, most followers of Abrahamic paths don't often worship deities from Hindu pantheons. I believe it would be poo-pooed in their faith traditions.
While Hindus acknowledge all forms of God as valid(typically), you'll not often find them worshipping the Abrahamic god. What point would there be in that? Why not convert to an Abrahamic religion if you want to do that?
Likewise, most followers of Abrahamic paths don't often worship deities from Hindu pantheons. I believe it would be poo-pooed in their faith traditions.
Sikhs honor the Guru Granth Sahib as their holy scripture. That's a huge part of their faith, actually. I don't know much about Sikhism, but I do know that they honor this book as the 10th guru, and they go through elaborate rituals and ceremonies regarding such. Even to keep one in your home requires it have its own room!
Interesting.
Starlight
Spiritual but not religious, new age and omnist
But do the sikhs believe the Torah was from God, but that they not should follows the rules in the torah anymore?
I would argue they do. There are many similarities within these different religious traditions. One needs to consider that Hinduism emerged in a culture without any knowledge of the Abrahamic Faiths. For example there is no reference in Judaism to Hinduism, nor any reference in Hinduism to Judaism (or Christianity or Islam for that matter). Religious traditions having emerged within such different cultures over thousands of years it should be no surprise that the language and concepts are often contradictory. Sikhism on the other hand emerged much more recently (400+ years ago) and was in part an attempt to reconcile the monotheism of Islam with Hindu traditions.
If I'm not mistaken, I think this belief is unique to the Baha'is. You won't find many Jews or Hindus claiming to worship the same God.
I kinda picked that up from it, too. Interesting concept.
Traditionally, adherents of the three main Abrahamic Faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have tended to reject Hinduism. Criticisms may include polytheism and idol worship. Many Hindus on the other hand have developed an aversion to their Abrahamic cousins, in part due to centuries of colonization through Islam and Christianity along with theologies that often denigrate Hinduism.
However there has always been universalists within each of these faiths who have found common ground between the diverse traditions which are emphasized. I'm part of an interfaith group with Hindus, Jews, Christians and Muslims that take exactly this approach. So I don't see universalism as being a uniquely Baha'i belief. Where Baha'is differ from other Abrahamic Faiths, is universalism extending to the Dharmic Faiths is integral to our theology. Muslims, Christians and Jews can reject Hinduism outright as there is no specific mention of Hinduism in their sacred texts and Hinduism appears so contradictory. Baha'is OTOH accept Hinduism as a religion of Divine origins as that is what our Faith teaches.
This is a very good question, Meandflower. I think the answer depends on whom you ask. My current view is that when Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs speak in their own ways of an uncreated being who is the source of the universe and all other entities, they are speaking about a being who exists regardless of what religion any person follows. The differences in everything else that Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs believe about this being (1) reflect how this being has been perceived by them and (2) reflect their own worldviews. So, to answer your question, yes, I believe Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs worship the same god because what they have in mind is one objective, uncreated being who is the source of the universe and all other beings.
From my perspective, when a Christian, for instance, says something like, 'The god of Islam is not the god of Christianity,' what I am hearing is, 'I believe in a particular god, and the other person believes in another particular god.' To me, it sounds like something a polytheist would say. A good example of that would be a Hellenist saying to another Hellenist, 'My devotion is to Athena whereas your devotion is to a different goddess: Hekate.' Indeed, Athena and Hekate are two very distinct goddesses. On the other hand, a polytheist saying to another polytheist, 'I worship Ra whereas you worship a different god: Helios' would sound weird to me because what both individuals have in mind is the god of the sun. So, in order for a Christian or any other monotheist to actually sound like a monotheist rather than a polytheist, that person ought to say, for example, 'The god of Christianity is the only god whereas the god of Sikhism does not exist.' The problem with that last statement is that both Christianity and Sikhism have in mind an uncreated creator who is the Absolute. They merely say different things about him. Speaking differently about the same entity does not equate to speaking about some other entity. Muslims understand this whereas so many Western Christians cannot grasp it.
It is the successor of the 10th Gurū, Gurū Gobind Singh Ji.
Sikhs are students and disciples of their Gurū. Whatever their Gurū (in the form of 10 men and one book) says about the Torah is what they are to believe about the Torah. I am not a Sikh, but I have read some of their central scripture, the Gurū Granth Sāhib, and I have yet to find in it anything about the Torah. The scripture does mention the Vedas though, and it says the Vedas came from Onkār, that is, God, the 'Oṃ maker.' That the Gurū Granth Sāhib mentions the Vedas is no surprise to me because of where the 10 human Gurūs lived. Had they lived in the land of Israel or anywhere else in the Levant, they probably would have mentioned the Torah.
Anyway, I hope my reply is useful. I am okay with any members here challenging my current views on the topic.
[Edit: My sincerest apologies for failing to mention Baha'is with Jews, Christians, and Muslims.]
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Within Abrahamism, and within Hinduism, there are many conceptions of God. I'm not convinced there is such a thing as a strictly monotheistic Hindu. Certainly not in the way Abrahamic interpret it. This is the ultimate generalisation to both paradigms, and generalisations do a huge injustice to both.
The Sikhs are far closer to Hinduism than to Islam. They defended themselves and their Hindu brothers against Islamic invasions. They believe in karma and reincarnation. The idea that it was a an attempt at amalgamation is false. Sikhism developed on its own, and is a separate religion. That said, it's about 70 % in alignment with Hinduism, 20% original, and 10% Islam, if that. At the Hindu temple I go to we get lots of Sikhs coming to worship alongside us, but never once a Muslim. That would be a sin for them.
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We get Sikhs that visit our temple on Holi(and one very talented man that provides much of the music). Just curious; is it often ones sees the reverse?