Human Relationship with God

What do we know about Sikhism?

Create a mind map of anything and everything to do with GOD

Nature of God Let’s say God does exist... What do you think God would be like? What do Sikhs say God is like? Sikhs believe God is inside all of His creations and can be discovered within the Guru Granth Sahib. One of the most popular terms for God is “Waheguru” – Wondrous Teacher.

Waheguru is without gender or form so there are no pictures, images or idols within Sikhism. Sikhs believe in the supremacy and omnipotent nature of God. The Nirgun and Sargun aspects of Waheguru make God both transcendent and immanent for Sikhs. KEYWORDS Transcendent = Beyond human comprehension (above and beyond creation) Immanent = Within the hearts of humans (everywhere in everything) Nirgun = Without form/gender Sargun = Appears through creation

Sikhs and God Guru Nanak (first Guru) first taught that there was One God whilst he was at school; when being taught about religion and Hinduism he disagreed with his teacher and explained that there is only One God and we are all his children.

OBJECTIVES OF A SIKH To understand the nature of Waheguru (Mool Manter) To seek the TRUTH – a human objective To ‘merge’ and be ONE with the Waheguru is the ultimate aim To achieve Salvation a Sikh must merge with Waheguru To avoid transmigration of the soul (i.e the soul being reborn again and again) and be One with Waheguru To develop a personal relationship with Waheguru To throw off the shackles of ego first to develop the relationship:- “When I act in ego, You’re not present When you’re present, ego is absent” Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Explain what is meant by the term ‘ego’ TASK “When I act in ego, You’re not present. When you’re present, ego is absent” Explain what is meant by the term ‘ego’ What did Guru Nanak mean by the earlier quotation Give examples of egotistical behaviour in humans – in business, education, religion, leisure, sports, workplace ….. How can a human being avoid egotistical behaviour? What human qualities/characteristics could be nurtured to avoid ego

KEY WORD – COPY INTO YOUR BOOK EGO = HUMAI

TASK Sikhs believe that a relationship with Waheguru can be further understood through two key terms: Nirgun and Sargun Read the HANDOUT Discuss Explain in your own words what the two terms mean. -Choose at least two quotations from the handout in your explanations - Do you think the two words are contradictory? If so, why?. If not, why not? - How does understanding these two terms help a Sikh overcome humai ?

UNCOVERING THE VEIL OF HUMAI Sikhs believe that the veil of Ego is in the way of achieving salvation. A good analogy would be the film ‘The Matrix’ The film depicts a future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality called "the Matrix", created by sentient machines to subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. The Veil must be uncovered …. Then the true reality will be perceived.

HOW CAN A SIKH EXPERIENCE GOD Sikhs must meditate on the word NAM NAM is the Name (meditative name for Waheguru) NAM JAPNA is a duty upon all Sikhs (japna means repetition/meditate) NAM JAPNA is one of the Three Principles of the religion The other two principles are earning and honest living, and, sharing your wealth/skills with those less fortunate Proper definition of the word Nam is “a term expressing the central attribute of a paradoxical divine that is existent and non-existent at the same time”. What does the above definition mean …. explain in your own words? Nam Japna will assist in ‘experiencing’ God spiritually

Task EXPLAIN HOW SIKHS CAN BEGIN TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (5 marks) “There is no need to have a personal relationship with God” Discuss (6 marks) You must include the following words Humai, nirgun, sargun, mool manter, Nam japna