What Do Sikhs Believe about the Afterlife?
Gaurav Singh
I am new to this newsgroup and just came across this topic. Hope this helps
get a better understanding.
Guru mentioned both reincarnation (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Yogis etc.) and
the Day of Judgment (Semitic), which are incompatible and in essence
irrelevant to Sikhi. Guru came across people of different beliefs and
dogma, who were living lives irreligiously but pretending to be religious
(much as we do now), and therefore when the Guru spoke, He spoke to the
context of the listener.
In Sikhi, life is not a curse, it is a blessing, an opportunity. Questions
of afterlife would have to address heaven, hell, really the concept of life
itself. First of all, as understood by prior religions (and since) there is
no heaven and hell in Sikhi. As in, there is nowhere to go or be forced to
go. There is also no such thing as a yearning for salvation, as understood
by Indic and or Semitic faiths. Guru yearned for the Nam (the Name); for
service of the Nam and to be imbued with the Love always. Living thus, the
Guru said, is the way of the Jivan Mukt (Liberated in Life), therefore,
there is no waiting to die or for a Day of Judgment, liberation is not bound
by time or death.
The Sikh outlook of life is different than that of Indic or Semitic faiths.
It does not use fear, rigid beliefs to goad us towards Liberation. The Sikh
Way is one of ceaseless action and Love and if we are to be liberated we
will be liberated now, not later, certainly not after death. And liberation
is not a boon in the sense that life is not a curse, but a Gift. The focus,
therefore, is not on liberation or salvation. Focus is on life, now. The
goal of life is to be God-like and to live the attributes of Akal Purakh
(God), to be in service of the Akal Purakh, which is service of the creation
and to be immersed in Remembrance of the Akal Purakh.
Having said that I should point out that most Sikhs believe in
reincarnation. I believe the reason for that is not that it is a doctrinal
precept, but influence of the majority community (Hindu) in South Asia,
where most Sikhs reside. There is also a sustained political attempt to
undermine the Sikh Way and these confusions are symptomatic of that.
Akal Sahai
Gaurav Singh
"Madhusudan Singh" <spammers...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bc8lon$gn9g4$1...@ID-159130.news.dfncis.de...
> On Friday 30 May 2003 12:10, Kevin Simonson (kvns...@hotmail.com) held
> forth in soc.religion.sikhism
> (<6dfb1603.03052...@posting.google.com>):
>
> I apologise for the delay in my response. Your message appeared quite late
> on this NG + I have been quite busy in the past few days.
>
> > I've been trying to find out what different faiths believe about the
> > Afterlife, and just realized I'd left out Sikhs. What do Sikhs be-
>
> Nothing surprising. Most Westerners make that mistake in various things.
>
> > lieve happens to the soul after someone dies? Do they believe in re-
> > incarnation? Do they believe in a place of great joy versus a place
> > of endless torment like Christians do? Any information on this would
> > be appreciated.
>
> The Sikh viewpoint on after life is that there is reincarnation. However,
> the process of reincarnation is considered to be a painful one. A blessed
> soul leaves this cycle to reunite permanently with Waheguru. That would be
> the analogue of "heaven" in Christianity.
>
>
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