CONTENTS:- 1. Religious thoughts; 2. Guru Nanak's religious vision; 3. Foundation of Sikh religious order; 4. Civil and religious institutions; 5. Religious disciplines and practices; 6. Path of realisation of God; 7. Sikh religion and its followers: origin and evolution; 8. Guru Gobind Singh and Durga worship; 9. The five symbols of Sikh identification; 10. The Sikh Khalsa and brotherhood; 11. Secular approach in Sikh religion; 12. The Sikh religion in new millennium.
DESCRIPTION
Dharma means right attitude toward life, Sikhism helps a man to formulate right attitude and practice to adopt right way of life. Its prescriptions for such a life are simple but the mystic truth contained in them really works. The Sikh doctrine of human equality provides secure foundations on which the traditions of a liberal democracy can be reared. The Sikh Gurus wanted Sikhs to imbibe democratic values as they carried a deep conviction that it alone can guarantee free scope to talent. Khalsatantra is basically loktantra. Sikhism is antifeudal in character. As per Sikh belief, God is the one and the only True Sovereign. Man ought to owe allegiance only to him. It is God alone who is the source of spiritual as well as temporal sovereignty. Armed with this belief Sikhism repudiated the feudal institution of kingship. It denied to the kings their divine right to rule. Sikhism refused to acknowledge the theory of divine sanction of kingly authority. All authority is God's, who is the creator of the world and lives in his people. All are equal before him. The Sikh Gurus had based their polity on democratic lines. The Sikh polity is also secular in nature. The Sikh institutions of Sangat, Panj Pyaras, Khalsa Panth and Gurmatta go a long way in strengthening this democratic spirit.
