The purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to the Sikh philosophy and its core values & beliefs, as enshrined in Shri Guru Granth Sahib - the eternal Sikh Guru. It highlights the recurring themes and lessons contained in the Holy Scripture.

The book emphasizes that Granth Sahib is not for Sikhs alone, but has universal appeal. It enjoins upon anyone and everyone to live a life full of purpose.

It also shows, how the authors of the Holy Book were well ahead of their times in matters of spirituality, psychology, philosophy, cosmology and human rights.

It is a spiritual guide for those who wish to tread that path.

Sadhana brings us into an intimate alignment with the reality of who we are: as a creature of the Creator and as a human being. First published in 1974, Kundalini Yoga Sadhana Guidelines has become the best-selling Kundalini Yoga manual of all time. Within these pages, you'll find the inspiration to keep returning breath-by-breath to your true Self and to your practice.

Sadhana is everything we do on a daily basis as our self-discipline and our commitment to our higher self. It is a spiritual practice in which we confront the tendencies of our mind and ego and, out of love, we invite in the dimensions of our soul, spirit, and intuition. In its essence, it is a process of refinement, development, and mastery.

As we learned from eastern traditions, a sadhu is a being who has disciplined himself. Likewise, the definition of a yogi is a person who has totally leaned on the supreme consciousness, which is God. The purpose of sadhana is to arrive at the place where we go beyond our ego and its limitations. Morning sadhana-done before the sunrise-is a special time when we sit before the altar of our own consciousness and have the opportunity to clean up our inner world before we engage in the outer world-our jobs, our families, our responsibilities.

This manual exists to serve you and to help you uplift yourself and others. It is designed for both the new and the experienced student. It focuses on the essential practice of Kundalini Yoga. A material that offers lectures, essays, insights, and a series of exercises that one can experience and improve one's own personal practice.

This is a book of timeless wisdom transmitted by one of the great teachers of the age of Aquarius. It has the power to make people happy in moments of sadness and to lift their spirits in times of depression. It is a powerful tool to clean the subconscious mind and to replace negative thought patterns with positive ones. Its inner secret is the power of the spoken word.

The power of the spoken word is the most wonderful gift given to human beings. Through it, relationships are made and broken, knowledge is transmitted, and consciousness is changed. When you speak, the sound and rhythm of your words express your state of consciousness. When you repeat out loud the words of enlightened human beings, you enlighten your own consciousness - just by repeating them.

The teachings of Yogi Bhajan are a practical demonstration of the power of the spoken word to teach and enlighten. Read his words on Love, Happiness, God, Mind, and Relationships. Your view of the universe will never be the same. Read this book and experience your own inner transformation.

Yogi Bhajan was a pioneer in bringing the timeless wisdom of India to the West. He was a master of Kundalini Yoga and White Tantric Yoga, Spiritual Director of the 3HO Foundation, and the chief religious authority for the Sikh religion in the West. He held a doctorate degree in the field of Humanistic Psychology, with a thesis that explored the dynamics of human communication. Through his teachings on yoga, meditation, and conscious living, Yogi Bhajan has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals to live more full and healthy lives.

How do traditions and peoples grapple with loss, particularly when it is of such magnitude that it defies the possibility of recovery or restoration? Rajbir Singh Judge offers new ways to understand loss and the limits of history by considering Maharaja Duleep Singh and his struggle during the 1880s to reestablish Sikh rule, the lost Khalsa Raj, in Punjab.

Sikh sovereignty in what is today northern India and northeastern Pakistan came to an end in the middle of the nineteenth century, when the British annexed the Sikh kingdom and, eventually, exiled its child maharaja, Duleep Singh, to England. In the 1880s, Singh embarked on an abortive attempt to restore the lost Sikh kingdom. Judge explores not only Singh's efforts but also the Sikh people's responses--the dreams, fantasies, and hopes that became attached to the Khalsa Raj. He shows how a community engaged military, political, and psychological loss through theological debate, literary production, bodily discipline, and ethical practice in order to contest colonial politics. This book argues that Sikhs in the final decades of the nineteenth century were not simply looking to recuperate the past but to remake it--and to dwell within loss instead of transcending it--and in so doing opened new possibilities.

Bringing together Sikh tradition, psychoanalysis, and postcolonial thought, Prophetic Maharaja provides bracing insights into concepts of sovereignty and the writing of history.

The Sikh religion has a following of over 20 million people worldwide, and is ranked as the world's fifth largest religion. However, events such as the verbal and physical attacks on Sikhs just after September 11, where Sikhs were being mistaken for Muslims, suggest that the Sikh faith still remains mysterious to many.

This Very Short Introduction introduces newcomers to the meaning of the Sikh religious tradition, its teachings, practices, rituals and festivals. Eleanor Nesbitt highlights and contextualizes the key threads in the history of Sikhism, from the first Gurus to martyrdom, militarization, and the increasingly significant diaspora. Examining gender, caste, and the changes that are currently underway in the faith, Nesbitt considers contemporary Sikh identities and their role in our world.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Almost from the moment, some five centuries ago, that their religion was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak, Sikhs have enjoyed a distinctive identity. This sense of difference, forged during Sikhism's fierce struggles with the Mughal Empire, is still symbolised by the 'Five Ks' ('panj kakar', in Punjabi), those articles of faith to which all baptised Sikhs subscribe: uncut hair bound in a turban; comb; special undergarment; iron bracelet and dagger (or kirpan) - the unique marks of the Sikh military fraternity (the word Sikh means 'disciple' in Punjabi). Yet for all its ongoing attachment to the religious symbols that have helped set it apart from neighbouring faiths in South Asia, Sikhism amounts to far more than just signs or externals. Now the world's fifth largest religion, with a significant diaspora especially in Britain and North America, this remarkable monotheistic tradition commands the allegiance of 25 million people, and is a global phenomenon. In her balanced appraisal, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh reviews the history, theology and worship of a community poised between reconciling its hereditary creeds and certainties with the fast-paced pressures of modernity.
She outlines and explains the core Sikh beliefs, and explores the writings and teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus in Sikhism's Holy Scriptures, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (more usually called just the 'Granth'). Further chapters explore Sikh ethics, art and architecture, and matters of gender and the place of women in the tradition. The book attractively combines the warm empathy of a Sikh with the objective insights and acute perspectives of a prominent scholar of religion.

A fascinating look into our human nature through the eyes of Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga. It details the interplay of the positive, negative, and neutral parts of our mind with our nine aspects and twenty-seven projections. Yogi Bhajan's lectures provide a practical approach to the Science of Humanology, and encourage you to meditate to enlist your mind as your friend and servant rather than your master.

The meditations apply to the various aspects we embody, such as Defender, Manager, Artist, Producer, Strategist, Teacher. You can select from 42 meditations, including: Creating Art by Projecting into the Future; Pursuing the Cycle of Success; Deep Memory of a Past Projection; Interpretations of All Facets of Life; Pursuing the Cycle of Artistic Attributes; and Creating Art by Environmental Effects.

Zafarnama, or Epistle of Victory, is a remarkable work of Persian literature written by the renowned Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Originally written in Persian, Zafarnama is a poetic letter addressed to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, written in the aftermath of a fierce battle between the Sikhs and the Mughals. In this powerful letter, Guru Gobind Singh passionately defends the principles of justice, equality, and religious freedom, and chastises Aurangzeb for his brutal treatment of the Sikh community. Through vivid and emotive language, the Guru makes a compelling case for the righteousness of the Sikh cause and the unjustness of Aurangzeb's actions. This English translation of Zafarnama provides readers with a rare glimpse into the mind of one of India's most revered spiritual leaders. It is a work that speaks not only to the Sikh community but to all those who value the principles of justice, tolerance, and compassion. With its stirring poetry and compelling message, Zafarnama is a literary treasure that has inspired generations of readers and continues to resonate with readers today.

A comprehensive, compelling, and insightful narrative that traces the birth, the growth, and the spread of Sikhism - one of the world's most dynamic and progressive religions

In this perceptive work, Dr Harish Dhillon highlights the lives and times of the ten Sikh Gurus, beginning with Guru Nanak, who founded Sikhism in the fifteenth century, and ending with Guru Gobind Singh, who established the Khalsa Panth in 1699. It throws light on how the Gurus acquired profound knowledge and wisdom, which they sought to pass on to the common people through their teachings. Their life histories show how they sincerely practised what they preached and how they led by example. Apart from these, it recounts the enormous sacrifices the Gurus made to keep the faith going. In addition, the book gives elaborate details on how Sikhism has evolved over the centuries.

This volume reveals the human side of the 'Divine Gurus' venerated not only by Sikhs, but also across various faiths in India and in other parts of the world. The contents in the book are intertwined with the underlying theme that the ideal religion (or faith) is one that is based on simplicity and keeps changing with the times, yet does not forget the very essence that it started with.

The Srī Jap Jī Sāhib is a prayer written by the first Sikh Gurū, Srī Gurū Nānak Dev Jī and is the initial prayer from the Srī Gurū Granth Sāhib Jī. This prayer is uttered as the initial prayer within the Sikh Nitnem which are the daily prayers to be read. The Srī Jap Jī Sāhib within is a prayer that takes around twenty minutes to recite but its definitions seem to be endless. A lot of the commentaries on this text vary in depth and can sometimes be overbearing for the seeker. This commentary is very different. It is a commentary by the great Nirmalā scholar, Mahant Ganeshā Singh. Unlike other Nirmalās his commentaries are pretty basic but the essence of the definitions is not lost within the simplicity. I wanted to provide both the original commentary in Gurmukhī along with a translation of the commentary. This is due to the fact that this commentary has been out of print for a significant amount of time and to those seekers of the original commentary it is available again.

Peter MacDonald Blachly takes us on an amazing adventure, documenting the seventeen years he spent in a spiritual cult, while providing candid insights into the circumstances and conditions that made him vulnerable to manipulation by a charismatic narcissist. His understanding of psychology and human weaknesses, and the lessons he draws from his own experiences are universal and highly relevant today. Most of all, The Inner Circle is an entertaining and compelling read.

The Book of the Ten Masters is the record of the teachers of the Sikhs. The history of human civilization took a new turn when the Sikh Gurus appeared on the scene of Medieval India. The Sikh movement served as a light-house for the people groping in the dark. They were then changed men and elevated to the stage of the ideal man i.e. Gurmukh.

Excerpts from Siree Guru Granth Sahib God is one. It is true. He is the Creator. He has no concern with anything. He has no enemy. He is immortal. He does not take birth. He came into existence on His own. He is realized by guru's (divine teacher) grace reciting God's name. Recite Page 9 Be stable like a mountain, patience like a goldsmith. Be humble like an anvil; repeat the name of God like the repetition of a hammer. Intent like bellows and repeat the name of God from within, as fire gives heat. Make sincerity a pot; mint your mind with the name of God. That is how divinity is achieved. Blessed by God is the only one who can do this. Nanak says, only with God's grace you can miss God and enjoy the fruit. 38 Hymn: Using air as a culture, life has been created by the reaction of water and earth. The way, day and night begin and end. Same way the whole creation takes birth and dies. Good or bad whatever they do are accounted for in God's court. Everyone gets the fruit of their deeds, some soon others late. Whoever worked hard to recite the name of God? Nanak says, they have attained salvation and many more have accompanied them. God's worship is not wearing saffron coloured or dirty clothes. O Nanak, God is worshipped sitting at home through true guru's teaching. 64 You may wander in all four corners and read four Vedas and all other scriptures in all four ages. O Nanak, if you meet with the true guru, then only God enshrines in the mind and obtains salvation. The guru is God. Worshipping guru the God with devotion attains salvation. First Master: Songs, sounds, pleasures and clever tricks; Joy, love and the power to command; Wearing clothes and food have no place in the consciousness. True intuitive peace comes by enshrining God's name in the mind. Page 60 O mind, love God as the fish loves water. As the water gets deeper she enjoys more; the mind and body become peaceful. It cannot survive without water even for a moment. Water also feels the pain. 2 O mind, love the Lord, as the rain bird loves rain. The ponds get filled, the land becomes lush green but the rain bird does not get a drop. You receive what is in your fate. You only get what you earn. 3 O mind, love God as the water loves milk. Water mixed with milk changes its colour but does not let the milk change. Page 262 Hymn: Guru is mother, the father, the master and transcendent Lord. Guru is a friend the destroyer of ignorance, a relative and a brother. Guru is the bestowal, the teacher of God's name. Guru's lesson is distinct. Guru is the image of peace truth and intellect. Guru is the touchstone that transforms. Guru is a shrine, pool of nectar. To obtain guru's divine knowledge is beyond imagination. Guru is the Creator, the destroyer of sins; Guru purifies the sinners. Guru exists from the beginning, for a long time, for ages. Reciting God through guru's teaching attains salvation. O God; unite me with the guru by your grace; that I the sinner swim across holding on to guru the true guru the God the transcendent Lord the guru; Nanak prays and pays his regard to guru the God. 1 56 Once you obtain divine treasure, do not tell anyone O kabeer; There is no market, no appraiser, no customer, and no price 23 O Kabeer; take your drum and beat it for ten days. Life is like people meeting on a boat on a river; they shall not meet again. 80 Be a pebble stone lying on the road by giving up ego. Such a humble slave shall meet the Lord. 146 What good is the pebble; which gives pain to the walking. O Lord, Your servant should be like dirt on the earth. 147 What good is the dust, which blows and sticks to the body. God's servant should be such, as water in water. 148 What good is water which becomes cold and hot. God's servant should just like God: 149 O Kabeer; it is good to serve both; one the saint the other the God. God is the bestowal of liberation; the

This is book 3 in the of the Sehje Rachio Khalsa series written by Harinder Singh Mehboob and translated by Gurtarn Singh Sidhu. Gurtarn Singh Sidhu is one of Harinder Singh's closest friends and confidante's. After Harinder's death, Gurtarn took it upon himself to spread Harinder Singh's message with this book. He translated the entirety of Sehje Rachio Khalsa, and that one giant book was split into smaller parts. This is the third in the full series.

Dive into the history, philosophy, and essence of the Sikh faith, and trace its evolution.

At the turn of the 15th century, Guru Nanak embarked on a series of journeys across the Indian subcontinent and instituted an equitable community and an egalitarian religion, built upon the values of inclusion, service, and kindness. Sikhs shines a spotlight on this incredible faith that places service before self. Today, it is the fifth largest religion in the world with more than 30 million Sikhs around the globe.

The book explores the gurus, the scriptures, the philosophy, and the stories and legends. It explains how a faith led to the birth of a historic empire of immense military and political might, maps the emergence of a distinct identity, looks at its impact on the world, and celebrates the contributions of this illustrious community.

A landmark volume, filled with beautiful renderings of writings from the Guru Granth Sahib.
--Simran Jeet Singh, author of The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life

An exquisite new translation of Guru Nanak's verses, illuminating the sacred tenets cherished by millions of Sikhs worldwide.

Guru Nanak (1469-1539), a native of Panjab, founded the Sikh religion. His vast corpus of nearly a thousand hymns forms the core of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs' sacred book of ethics, philosophy, and theology. The scripture was expanded and enriched by his nine successors, and Sikhs continue to revere it today as the embodiment of their tradition.

This beautiful new translation by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, a foremost authority on Sikhism, offers a selection of spiritual lyrics composed by Guru Nanak. Here the reader will find the range and depth of his pluralistic vision of the singular divine and discover his central values of equality, inclusivity, and civic action--values that continue to shape the lives of Sikhs worldwide.

Haroon Khalid's lifelong fascination with Guru Nanak was reignited when he came upon 'Baburbani', a poem written by the saint. This, and the discovery that Guru Nanak spent a large part of his life in Pakistan, inspired Khalid to undertake a journey that he hoped would help him learn more about the revered founder of Sikhism.

Five hundred years ago, Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in India. The Sikhs defied the caste system; rejected the authority of Hindu priests; forbade magic and idolatry; and promoted the equality of men and women -- beliefs that incurred the wrath of both Hindus and Muslims. In the centuries that followed, three of Nanak's nine successors met violent ends, and his people continued to battle hostile regimes. The conflict has raged into our own time: in 1984 the Golden Temple of Amritsar -- the holy shrine of the Sikhs--was destroyed by the Indian Army. In retaliation, Sikh bodyguards assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Now, Patwant Singh gives us the compelling story of the Sikhs -- their origins, traditions and beliefs, and more recent history. He shows how a movement based on tenets of compassion and humaneness transformed itself, of necessity, into a community that values bravery and military prowess as well as spirituality. We learn how Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru, welded the Sikhs into a brotherhood, with each man bearing the surname Singh, or Lion, and abiding by a distinctive code of dress and conduct. He tells of Banda the Brave's daring conquests, which sowed the seeds of a Sikh state, and how the enlightened ruler Ranjit Singh fulfilled this promise by founding a Sikh empire.

The author examines how, through the centuries, the Sikh soldier became an exemplar of discipline and courage and explains how Sikhs -- now numbering nearly 20 million worldwide -- have come to be known for their commitment to education, their business acumen, and their enterprising spirit.

Finally, Singh concludes that it would be a grave error to alienate an energetic and vital community like the Sikhs if modern India is to realize its full potential. He urges India's leaders to learn from the past and to honour the social contract with Indians of every background and persuasion.

In this major reinterpretation of religion and society in India, Harjot Oberoi challenges earlier accounts of Sikhism, Hinduism and Islam as historically given categories encompassing well-demarcated units of religious identity. Through a searching examination of Sikh historical materials, he shows that early Sikh tradition was not concerned with establishing distinct religious boundaries. Most Sikhs recognized multiple identities grounded in local, regional, religious, and secular loyalties. Consequently, religious identities were highly blurred and several competing definitions of what constituted a Sikh were possible.

In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, however, the Singh Sabha, a powerful new Sikh movement, began to view the multiplicity in Sikh identity with suspicion and hostility. Aided by social and cultural forces unleashed by the British Raj, the Singh Sabha sought to recast Sikh tradition and purge it of diversity. The ethnocentric logic of a new elite dissolved alternative ideals under the highly codified culture of modern Sikhism.

A study of the process by which a pluralistic religious world view is replaced by a monolithic one, this important book calls into question basic assumptions about the efficacy of fundamentalist claims and the construction of all social and religious identities. An essential book for the field of South Asian religions, this work is also an important contribution to cultural anthropology, postcolonial studies, and the history of religion in general.

The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies innovatively combines the ways in which scholars from fields as diverse as philosophy, psychology, religious studies, literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics have integrated the study of Sikhism within a wide range of critical and postcolonial perspectives on the nature of religion, violence, gender, ethno-nationalism, and revisionist historiography. A number of essays within this collection also provide a more practical dimension, written by artists and practitioners of the tradition.

The handbook is divided into eight thematic sections that explore different expressions of Sikhism. Historical, literary, ideological, institutional, and artistic expressions are considered in turn, followed by discussion of Sikhs in the Diaspora, and of caste and gender in the Panth. Each section begins with an essay by a prominent scholar in the field, providing an overview of the topic. Further essays provide detail and further treat the fluid, multivocal nature of both the Sikh past and the present. The handbook concludes with a section considering future directions in Sikh Studies.