Comparison of Buddhism and Sikhs

As someone who was raised in a Seventh Day Adventist family and went to Adventist schools, I am consider myself relatively knowledgeable about Christian faiths that base their beliefs in the bible. But one memory that sticks in my mind was when I first attended college I ran into a brother and sister who were Sikhs who also attended the small Adventist college. I often wondered why they chose to attend such a relatively conservative Christian school, and this has stuck with me although I never have learned much about Sikhism.

When the opportunity arose to compare two different religions this was the first on that I choose because this experience piqued my interested in Sikhs. I chose to compare this religion with Buddhism mostly because I knew they both originated in India and, I like kung fu movies and have gained a likely very limited view of what Buddhists believe so I thought it would be interesting to research their origins and history.

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After researching these two religions I have learned that from an anthropological perspective Buddhism and Sikhism are two contrasting belief systems. Buddhism has a long and rich history, although it is so old that the early history is vague and poorly documented. Buddhism also has many sects and varied beliefs, so it presents a real challenge to look at as an ethnographer. Sikhism by contrast is a much younger religion and although there is some dispute about its early history much easier to trace. The other quality that makes it easier is the fact that there is only one primary sect although there have been a few different sects throughout its history.

From an evolutionary approach I will into compare their belief systems and explore how the culture and societies they were surrounded in influenced their growth. Both religions started with charismatic religious leaders and were strongly influenced by the beliefs and experiences of these men. Although they both changed significantly since their inception Buddhism and Sikhism have both upheld their esteem for the men who started their religions. It is interesting also that they have both struggled primarily with Hinduism, but also with other major religions from the region. Siddhartha Gautama who became Buddha is thought to have lived from around 563 to his death around 483BCE, however some think he lived around a hundred years later, in contrast Guru Nanak lived from 1469 until 1539.

To start with both religions, have mythology associated with their founders. In the case of Buddhism, it is primarily because of the age of the religion and the fact that it was not documented until nearly 500 years after the death of its founder Siddhartha Gautama. This has permitted a great deal of speculation about his early life and because of the nature of the belief in reincarnation myths have also been created about his previous lives. Siddhartha Gautama was a prince into the Shakya society located in the foothills of the Himalayans near the Ganges river in what is now part of Nepal. According to legend his mother dreamt that she was impregnated by an elephant and later gave birth to Siddhartha from under her arm. As a young boy Siddhartha family was visited by a Brahmin who foretold that he would grow to be a great religious leader. Because of this revelation, Siddhartha’s father tried to protect his son as religious leaders from the period were often poor pilgrims who traveled the earth begging from society. So, his father kept Siddhartha close and bestowed comforts and riches in an attempt to prevent him from poverty. When Siddhartha was a young man of about sixteen legends say he was married to princess Yashodhara and they had a son. However, this did not prevent him from leaving his life of luxury and when he was near 30, he asked for freedom to go out from the palace grounds on a series of journeys. While he was out in his chariot, he noticed the suffering of others and this compelled him to leave his life and become an ascetic and search to overcome pain and suffering. While pursuing this purpose Siddhartha became a beggar and traveled through India, during this time he learned the art of meditation from following religious teachers. After some time, he left the teachers he had learned from and he struck out on his to live a life of suffering. Siddhartha became thin and emaciated and one day while sitting under a bodhi tree and started meditating. While there Siddhartha meditated until he transcended suffering and reached an enlightened state called nirvana, and thus he became a Buddha. There are several symbolic parts to this myth although parts are based in reality. The first thing is his mother being impregnated by an elephant in a dream. A functional view of this event is pretty hard, but through a structural analysis this could symbolize his future significance or powerful nature. His mother giving birth under her arm is also probably significant although the symbolism remains elusive to me. Many people feel that the journeys he took before he left his family are symbolic making this a legend, however others feel they were real and qualify as a myth. In any case, the journeys give ample room for embellishment and provide symbolic significance to his mythic stature. Finally, there are more journeys that provide the same opportunity culminating with his transition to nirvana. Nirvana to an ethnographer would be a mythic state of being, or non-being that would be obtained by overcoming pain and suffering.

The myth of Guru Nanak and his transition to Sikhism has similarities but is also quite different. Nanak father was a village official of Talwandi, a village in the Punjab region between India what is now part of Pakistan. Nanak’s early years consisted of tending livestock and learning Sanskrit, Persitan, and Punjabi. He was married at 13 and had two sons with his wife and started working for a Sultanpur. While working, he met an Islamic man named Mardana and the two of them started to organize meetings where they performed hymns written by Nanak and accompanied by Mardana. When Nanak was 29, he had an experience that changed his life while bathing in a river. According to myth he disappeared from view and was given up for dead only to return four days later to claim he had been with God who had told him to teach the world how to pray. When he returned his first statement was that there was “there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.” After this enlightenment, Nanak renounced the life he had built and undertook four long journeys where he met religious leaders and discussed spiritual problems. While on one of his journeys he met pilgrims, who were tossing handfuls of water towards the sunrise as an offering to their ancestors in heaven. Nanak took a handful of water and threw it the opposite direction, and when asked why he explained that if they could send water to their ancestors then surely, he could send water back home to his fields. On another journey he traveled to Mecca and while on his journey fell asleep with his feet towards Ka’bah, an angry mullah informed him of the affront of pointing his feet towards the house of God. Nanak told the mullah to move his feet to a direction in which God did not exists, thus implying that God was everywhere. Another journey took him to a land ruled by women, Nanak sent Mardana ahead and he was turned into a sheep. When Nanak arrived, he turned him back into a man and after that the women tried all kinds of magic on them without success. Finally, the queen tried to seduce Nanak, and when she was unsuccessful the women gave up and submitted to Nanak. Eventually Nanak became too old to travel and settled down in Kartarpur, another village in the Punjab region. This story of Guru Nanak’s life also has several mythical components. First, although his disappearance in the river could be real, I think this was embellished to show that he was chosen by God and was with him for the time he was away. The other events occur in his journeys and show his intelligence and practicality in dealing with questions of religious significance.

Rituals in Buddhism consist of primarily rite of passage rituals. The two most important ones being a ceremony to bring a child into adulthood or spend time in a monastery. These ceremonies consist of giving rich clothes such as Siddhartha might have worn when he initially went on his journeys to discover suffering. For those going to a monastery as novices would instead be given monastic robes and have their head shaved, they would also be required to renounce worldly possessions and luxury, and pledge to live a simple life. The other rite is at death, the body is chanted over by monks and prepared for the prospect of reincarnation which makes these ceremonies more hopeful than funerals often are. In most cases bodies are then cremated, although some sects do use the practice of burial. Buddhists also have several festivals or other periodic rituals such the Buddha’s birthday which is widely celebrated at a festival called Vesak which also celebrates his ascension to an enlightened state. Vesak is celebrated by making lanterns and making offerings such as a great robe which is produced by spinning thread and stitching cloth in a single night, also it is common for adherents to clean temples. Buddhists also observe New Year and celebrate with a water festival to symbolize cleanliness. Other major festivals celebrated by sects of Buddhism include Vassa (the beginning and end of a three month rainy period) and All Souls festival which is celebrated in China and Japan by making paper boats which are burned in the evening to remember the dead or those who are in lower states so they can rise to heaven.

Sikhs also celebrate primarily rite of passage rituals and have some festivals. Sikhs celebrate several stages in life the first being the naming of infants. The child is brought to the gurdwara where the holy text Guru Granth Sahib is opened, and a hymn is chosen from the left-hand side of the page and a name is chosen corresponding with the first letter of the hymn. They also will give the child a nectarlike drink called amrit made of water and sugar which represents the ambrosial nature of God’s Name. The next life ritual to be celebrated is the anand karaj or marriage ceremony, this ceremony is important in that it differentiates Sikhs from Hindus. In this ceremony while the attendees are singing Guru Ram Das’s Suhi Chhant 2, the bride and groom march around Guru Granth Sahib four times, this was changed from marching around a fire because of the similarity to Hindu marriages. The third stage of life to be celebrated is the induction into the Khalsa, this ceremony is called the amrit sanskar. In this ritual, five existing members from the Khalsa are chosen and they all take turns stirring amrit in a large iron bowl while recounting verses from Guru Granth Sahib. Then the five members drink some of the amrit and the inductees drink the rest. They are then told ab5out their Khalsa duties including wearing the five K’s. The final ritcual is the funeral ceremony. The most important festivals that Sikhs celebrate are called the gurpurbs which are anniversaries of major events associated with the Gurus. These celebrations often include the reading of the entire Guru Granth Sahib and singing hymns associated with the particular Guru being celebrated. The most important of these is to celebrate Guru Nanak’s birthday, two of lesser importance are the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, and the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur. Other festivals of significance are Diwali the Hindu festival of lights, although to Sikhs they commemorate the release of Guru Hargobind and recount how the houses in the village were lit with candles to welcome him home. Another festival is Hola Mohalla which is celebrates the early Khalsa members training in martial arts and is observed with parades and martial arts demonstrations.

In conclusion both Buddhist and Sikhs have remarkably interesting religions and have both struggled with comparisons to Hinduism. They also have both struggled to grow up in a region of the world that created many influential religious movements. They both contain elements of hero myths and both involve journeys fitting what Campbell termed a monomyth. It is also interesting to view these religions from an etic perspective and see that they both contain rites of passage and could exhibit elements of a high demand religion as the rites to join both the Buddhist monasteries involves many aspects of religious devotion as well as the Sikhs and never cutting hair and wearing certain items at all times. There are so many ways to explore both their similarities and differences when we look at their myths and rituals and it is has been interesting to look at these two religions.