Do Sikhs Believe In Angels?

[harcharanjitsinghdhillon]

in sikhism only god is the destiny. human birth is a special birth, even angels, devtas and other deities are crying day n nite for a human birth, but they are not getting it. they are just following the lord s command and singing his praises only. human birth is a special birth where you can easily earn mukti thru GRACE of god. the others are very unlucky are kept far away from grace of god, i mean the non humans.. in this 84 lakhs of shapes and forms, man is at the epitome point, after that is mukti.. angels and others cannot show us the path of mukti to us.. so better start learning deeper the meaning of love, by loving god grace is attained.. i mean true unconditional love to god.. truest love.. not artificial maya love wanting something in return. carefull maya the deceptor can also shower us with some artificial materialistic grace. but in this grace the end product is death. so from here we can understand all angels and other entities like deities in the spirit world are all locked and kept in maya s illusion. all lost in the 3 gunas. thanks

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

I BELIEVE in "angels"....my dog is one...and well named too..shes every bit an ANGEL...

 

[namjiwankaur]

To help me understand, how has everyone defined angels?

I thought I read (was it in the banis?) there is someone on each shoulder writing down our good and bad actions. While I don't take it literally, the same thing is said in Islam and I believe it may even be mentioned in Christianity. They may just be metaphors for karma.

@CaramelChocolate ji In a sense, they may both be true, but only Truth can see Truth that clearly, imho. We tend to insert our own opinions and then insist they're true. I saw all your "confused smiley guys" as angels, thinking they ?s were their halos.

@BabbarSher ji Many religions believe there are multiple realms/universes. In Islam, for example, Jinn are made from "smokeless fire" (so they say) & they roam the earth. We are just not aware of them. I'm not sure if Sikhism teaches this or rejects the idea. Just as a dog hears a dog whistle loud and clear while we hear nothing, I suspect our senses are unable to behold all the realms and beings that exist in them.

@Amarpal ji I don't think most religions believe angels are equal to (The Totality of) God any more than Sikhs believe angels would be equal it it. But that is why I asked for clarification regarding the definition of "angels". Most Christians and Muslims, for example, would probably say they are beings like we humans not gods, if that is what you are saying.

mundahug peacesignkaur

 

[palaingtha]

I visited a friend this evening who has her home decorated with lots of Catholic imagery. I was admiring a set of angel figurines that she had on display in her living room.

She then asked me if my religion believes in Angels.

I didn't know how to answer, other than "duhhhhhh...I'm not sure..."

Does Gurbani say anything about the existence of Angels? I don't recall anything, but now I'm curious!

Sikhism do not believe in angels.
There are references of Chitra and Gupta in Raag Sodhar. But Chitra and Gupta are metaphors for man's concious and subconcious minds. The thoughts you raise in your subconcious mind and the plans you make to implement it in concious mind are to be accounted for even where the plan has never been set in motion. The five sensual organs, viz. eyes, nose, ears, tongue and carnal indulgence.
When the body dies these five run away leaving you to answer and account for the deeds done by the five uncontrolled senses.

 

[Archived_member15]

I BELIEVE in "angels"....my dog is one...and well named too..shes every bit an ANGEL...

The earliest Catholic monk-mystics (the Desert Fathers) would appear to agree with you brother Gyani ji:

"...A dog is better than I am, I am lower than a dog, for a dog has love and he does
not judge..."

- Abba Xanthias (fifth century AD), Catholic monk, desert father & mystic

"...My dog is in a more advantageous position than I; for, he has love and he does not have to give a defense for his deeds..."

Abba St. Isidore of Pelusium (died before 436), Catholic monk, desert father & mystic

Animals are unable to judge and this suggests Abba Xanthias points to a moral simplicity. Abba Xanthias gets to the heart of what is wonderful about dogs. They are incapable of passing judgment whereas even he, a life-long ascetic and holy man, still struggles against the passions and temptation to judge!

So yes, I can accept that dogs are angels (in a non-literal, metaphoric sense)!

 

[palaingtha]

I BELIEVE in "angels"....my dog is one...and well named too..shes every bit an ANGEL...

Gianiji,

Arn't you making mockery of a serious discussion on an issue which pertains to our faith, Sikhism! Let's abstain from making sarcastic remarks even when humor is intended.

 

[Harry Haller]

Sikhism do not believe in angels.

How can it be that Sikhism believes in devil manifestations but not angels, is that not a bit one sided?

When the body dies these five run away leaving you to answer and account for the deeds done by the five uncontrolled senses.

Not all Sikhs believe in judgement after death, some just believe in death

 

[namjiwankaur]

Going right to the source, I searched angels at srigranth.org. It gave 44 results for angels.

http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gu...Search&Param=english&Tier=2&SearchData=angels

 

[namjiwankaur]

Gayani ji

In Islam, there is a hadith which state an angel will not enter a house where there is a dog.

But like you, I know my dogs are angels.

peacesign

 

[Brother Onam]

CaramelChocolate, Blessed,
Sikhi is the faith of Sacred Truth. In the bani the various characteristics of the Most High are enumerated. What we learn is that Sat Naam is the elimination of all duality. It then is no longer a question of regarding God as having form or being formless, but rather being amazed at the transcendent Truth beyond all division. Har is All, and in His amazing nature He can be both formless and have the most beautiful form! Because Waheguru transcends all human understanding. In Ik Ongkar is the divine Oneness in which human conceptions of dualities are annulled. He is She and He is both immanent and far away, Arangae and Shyaam, according to scriptures, He is invisible and the Most Beautiful, Namastang Ajanmae, namastang Subanmae.
In our little human brains in our human world these appear as contradictions which we seek to resolve or rationalize, yet in Waheguru, all of these are One, beyond human understanding. In Jap Ji even it is stated:
"Many people are trying profusely to find the limits of His Creation, but have only ended up crying since they have been unsuccessful".
So rather than trying to comprehend the form or formlessness of Waheguru, better to absorb yourself in the wonderfulness of the Naam and just be thankful and joyful.

 

[spnadmin]

Going right to the source, I searched angels at srigranth.org. It gave 44 results for angels.

http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gu...Search&Param=english&Tier=2&SearchData=angels

This is a fairly common result when we do a blind search of any English word using a gurbani search engine. But it is not a meaningful result. What is needed is the understanding of an entire shabad, so the nature of the word and its meaning in context is clear and consistent with gurmatt understanding.

We don't want to mislead readers into accepting an understanding that slants more toward a Semitic or Persian result, and away from the meaning of the Gurus. And all opinions are not equal in the sense of meaningfulness, relevance or connection to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

That means 44 shabads need to be interpreted Or as one young scholar may holler to another over the Internet: "What is your vichaar brother or sister." Then the fun begins.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Gianiji,

Arn't you making mockery of a serious discussion on an issue which pertains to our faith, Sikhism! Let's abstain from making sarcastic remarks even when humor is intended.

DID YOU READ brother VOUTHONS REPLY to my post ???

Some people consistently see only a "Half EMPTY Glass"..while other see a HALF FULL Glass !!

Try and be OPTIMISTIC..see the SUN as the Light warmth.....Vitamin D manufacturer....drier of wet clothes..giver of food to plants via photosynthesis...etc etc.....and NOT as the BURNING SPHERE...the Solar Flare ..the disruptor of electronic communications..destroyer of satellites...

CHEERS Ji...japposatnamwaheguru:

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

CHITAR....in Gurbani context refers to the Plans..the pictures..the ideas etc we prepare..in the GUPT..secret depths of our MIND..what we would love to do..( But Mostly CANNOT because of the LAW..Morality issues..Society we live in etc etc)...for example...there are times when we feel like wringing the neck of the cop who stopped us speeding and gave us a ticket...the plan is there..the idea is there..BUT we DONT DO IT....because we know the consequences...( but still there are many among us who dont give two hoots and do it anyway...).....and DHARAM RAAJ is our CONSCIENCE...which Gives his judgement right away...GOOD...BAD...and we all KNOW immediately...No need to WAIT for Death..and then appear in court etc etc...for "punishments" which are more suited to PHYSICAL BODIES (burning hell fires, brimstone..boiling cauldrons..cutting tongues etc etc) than SOULS !! PUNISHMENT as well as REWARD is INSTANT....because GURBANI is for the LIVING...

 

[harcharanjitsinghdhillon]

since the destiny in sikhism is not heaven and hell where ego still exist, plus the 3 qualities of gunas.. sikhi should rise higher, surrender the ego and be at Such Khand, at the feet of the lord akal moorat, and serve him. existance of angels and other beings plus heavens and hells are mentioned in our scriptures, but they can t do much for us in our journey for mukti.. they themself are lost in maya, and cannot escape from death. all this beings are just performing their duties, performing the lord s command and singing his praises.. thanks

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

BTW SOMEONE POINTED OUT OT ME THAT..
TECHNICALLY..A GLASS IS ALWAYS FULL...EITHER 100% WATER...OR 50% WATER AND 50% AIR !! ITS NEVER HALF FULL.

japposatnamwaheguru:

 

[namjiwankaur]

Sat Nam

But it is not a meaningful result. What is needed is the understanding of an entire shabad, so the nature of the word and its meaning in context is clear and consistent with gurmatt understanding.

Yes, I am aware of that. Actually, I think this is true of the sacred texts/Word of God found in all religion.

IE- People tend to take one ayat from Quran and ignore all the other ayat in Quran relating to it so that it appears that Islam is a religion of violence. In the same way, someone could make Jesus, peace be upon him, look violent by clipping a quote from the Bible without its proper context. IE-when he says he came not for peace but with a sword (Matthew 10:34) If one didn't know Jesus and only knew he said this about swords, they might assume Jesus promoted violence also.

Sadly, I knew someone who took literally what Jesus said, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:30)

He amputated his own hand, taking that literally. I also thought for many years, everything Jesus said (the entire Bible for that matter) was meant to be taken literally and I was horrified if I became "more Christian", I deserved to have my hand amputated also.

We don't want to mislead readers into accepting an understanding that slants more toward a Semitic or Persian result, and away from the meaning of the Gurus. And all opinions are not equal in the sense of meaningfulness, relevance or connection to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

I understand. Its also probably worth mentioning that all Words of God are probably tainted by "translation". Once one translates the Quran, for example, into English from Arabic, it involves choices made by the "translator" to explain concepts that can only be understood as worded in the original language of a sacred text. Angel may have been the closest word a translator could find.

That means 44 shabads need to be interpreted Or as one young scholar may holler to another over the Internet: "What is your vichaar brother or sister." Then the fun begins.

Googled vichaar and want to share the link I have on it to sip on throughout the day. Vichaar - Spiritual Inquiry

Has anyone noticed the unique destinations people arrive at through studying the same spiritual messages? There is a hadith where Muhammad pbuh says: "There are as many paths to God as there are souls on Earth."

In a sense there is One destination, but it appears we view it like a singular Ray of Light granted to each soul by the Divine. I find it amazing to contemplate on this.

So in your opinion what is (Semitic take) on angels from a Sikh perspective? What is your vichaar, bro?!?! peacesign

Someone wrote me using the peace sign to represent two....see new thread.

peacesign

 

[palaingtha]

How can it be that Sikhism believes in devil manifestations but not angels, is that not a bit one sided?



Not all Sikhs believe in judgement after death, some just believe in death

Vee saal baad kutey di pooch nu nal vichun bahar kadiae thanvi tedi di tedi hi rahey gi!!!!!!

 

[spnadmin]

Sat Nam



Yes, I am aware of that. Actually, I think this is true of the sacred texts/Word of God found in all religion.

IE- People tend to take one ayat from Quran and ignore all the other ayat in Quran relating to it so that it appears that Islam is a religion of violence. In the same way, someone could make Jesus, peace be upon him, look violent by clipping a quote from the Bible without its proper context. IE-when he says he came not for peace but with a sword (Matthew 10:34) If one didn't know Jesus and only knew he said this about swords, they might assume Jesus promoted violence also.

Sadly, I knew someone who took literally what Jesus said, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:30)

He amputated his own hand, taking that literally. I also thought for many years, everything Jesus said (the entire Bible for that matter) was meant to be taken literally and I was horrified if I became "more Christian", I deserved to have my hand amputated also.



I understand. Its also probably worth mentioning that all Words of God are probably tainted by "translation". Once one translates the Quran, for example, into English from Arabic, it involves choices made by the "translator" to explain concepts that can only be understood as worded in the original language of a sacred text. Angel may have been the closest word a translator could find.



Googled vichaar and want to share the link I have on it to sip on throughout the day. Vichaar - Spiritual Inquiry

Has anyone noticed the unique destinations people arrive at through studying the same spiritual messages? There is a hadith where Muhammad pbuh says: "There are as many paths to God as there are souls on Earth."

In a sense there is One destination, but it appears we view it like a singular Ray of Light granted to each soul by the Divine. I find it amazing to contemplate on this.

So in your opinion what is (Semitic take) on angels from a Sikh perspective? What is your vichaar, bro?!?! peacesign

Someone wrote me using the peace sign to represent two....see new thread.

peacesign

This is the only way I have to put you on notice. But we are back to square one. ALL RELIGIONS ARE NOT THE SAME! SIMPLE EQUATIONS SHOULD NOT BE DRAWN SCRIPTURE TO SCRIPTURE. VICHAAR BY AN INITIATE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SUFI ORDER WHO IS EXPLORING SIKHI AS AN ISMAILLI MUSLIM WILL ONLY BACKFIRE. You may have the best of intentions, sharing and what-not, the wisdom of other faiths. But much of what you have written above smacks of having a cavalier attitude toward the Sikh faith. I am therefore giving you a formal warning. Any further sharing that is disrespectful no matter how respectfully it may seem to be written or offered will be deleted without notice. :noticekudi:

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

1. When people first began to study Gurbani and find "answers"...many either wore the "vedic Glasses" and saw everything as Vedic Based...
Slowly more and more saw the error of this way...
2. Then some just took one tuk or one word..and assumed that it was GURMATT...beleiving that EACH TUK is Gurmatt..else WHY is that TUK in the SGGS...
Slowly many began to realize that GURBANI addresses people in THEIR language/Context/Beleif system...but at the END in the RAHAO TUK..is the REAL GURMATT BASED ANSWER...that the BOTTOM LINE is RAHAO TUK...not the REST of the Shabad !!
3. SGGS/GURBANI/GURMATT is 100% about EK....the SGGS BEGINS with EK...the EK that is INFUSED in His CREATION as is SUGAR in MILK....
Slowly many began to realise that EK..is NOT..."sitting on some high throne in heaven etc and like a KING dispensing Orders and has na army of ahilkaars..servnats generals etc follwoing those orders..HE is NOT AWAY/OUT/DISTANT form His CREATION...HE doesnt employ Dharamtraajs and Angels and Satans etc...The SGGS repeats again and again MILLION TIMES..that there is ONLY EK....HE is Jehangir..HE is GURU ARJUN..HE is Bababr and HE is GURU NANAK..He is SATAN..and HE is NOT SATAN..He is LIGHT and HE IS DARKNESS....He is Guru Teg bahadur Ji and He is the EXECUTIONER cutting off Guru Teg bahdur jis head...EK....EK....EK...ONLY EK...NONE OTHER....

ALL meanings answers are INSIDE SGGS...there is no need to go read the Vedas..the Koran..the Bible..The Mahabharta..the Ramayna..the WHATEVER..in order to UNDERSTAND the SGGS..its SELF EXPLANATORY..its SELF COMPLETE...ITS EK..the EK manifested in all EK GLORY...EK OANKAAR repeated thousands of times and 31 times in FULL on each RAAG..

See Bani SIDH GHOSHT..its in QUESTION ANSWER STYLE. we CANNOT take each TUK as the BELIEF SYSTEM....( That would be equal to a student sitting for his exam just looking at the QUESTIONS on the Question Paper and coming out that he has finished his examination.)..we have to GO FIND the ANSWER that GURU JI provides..THAT ANSWER is GURU JIS BELIEF SYSTEM....not what the Siddhs asked. Guru nanak ji saw some Religious persons spreading their own excreta and smelling it..he also saw some pulling out their hairs by the roots and rubbing ashes..he saw some leaving their homes and families to wander around..begging for food...he saw many shifting house to die in Benaras..he saw some giving away everything to get their heads sawn off at Hardwaar in order to secure a place in heaven..he saw Inder with a million "vaginas" over his body...he saw so many things..ALL of which are mentioned in SGGS....BUT ALL these are NOT GURMATT BELIEFS...these are ILLUSTRATIONS..EXAMPLES of what the people did and still do..what they beleive/beleived IN...and we have to discover what GURU JI BELIEVES IN..thats GURMATT and its all in SGGS..but if we really LOOK. Mnay used to say and still say..OH GURBANI is a deep Ocean..the deeper you dive..the more pearls you get..or..Gurbani is too deep..it has many meanings blah blah blah...the TRUTH is that SGGS...GURBANI is ALL EK...it has ONLY EK Meaning...EK BELIEF...EK PEARL....the Pearl of GURMATT. There is no place for multiples..duality...misinterpretation...EKA BANNI..EK GUR..EK BICHAAR...is the Central theme of the entire SGGS composed by over 36 authors over many centuries coming from diverse backgrounds religions places etc BUT ALL WROTE EXCLUSIVELY ON EK..and their personal experiences with ONLY EK... Not a single Composer has written about any DEVI..Avtaar..Devta as the Basis of His Beleif System...ALL AGREE only on EK...WHENEVER any writing of any composer that DEVIATED from EK was presented to GURU NANAK JI/GURU ARJUN JI/GURU GOBIND SINGH JI..it was REJECTED OUTRIGHT. Even many writings of Established Bhagats like Kabir Ji were rejected because they were at variance with his writings on EK.....Perhaps this is why Guru Arjun Ji decided to put the name of the composer on the titles..otherwise the entire SGGS reads as writings of EK COMPOSER...not an iota of disagreement anywhere...

IF one argues..Brahma is mentioned..so its OK to be Brahma based beleif..Inder..Shiva..ganesh..Krishan raam..sita..dharamraaj..satan..etc etc are mentioned...so SIKHS can "base their beleif sytem" on those...also mentioned are Yogis..sidhs..jains..sakats. reincarnations..joons..rebirths..recycling..etc etc..pilgrimages..baths at sarovars..etc etc..fasts..daans..sootaks..bad days..good days..lucky days..unlucky days..shubh ashubh..etc etc etc..and its OK to base beleif on those..THEN what is GURMATT ?? What NEW GYAAN did GURU NANAK ji bring ?? IS it the SAME OLD WINE in a new Bottle ?? NO definitley NOT...its BRAND NEW and LATEST GYAAN...GURMATT OF EK...RUBBISHING EVERYTHING that came Before..sootaks and janeaus..karam kaands and rituals..EVERYTHING is DISCARDED..and ONLY THE EK is stressed. GURU JI wrote the BARAH MAH to DIFFERENTIATE the EK GURMATT INTERPRETATION of the 12 months..Guru Ji wrote the SEVEN DAY WEEK SHABADS to DIFFERENTIATE the Brand New GURMATT interpretation of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Saturday ets etc...GURU ji wrote the SADD to tell us HOW to treta DEATH in the EK GURMATT way...Guru Ji wrote the ANAND..the GHORRIHAN to be SUNG at WEDDINGS to differentiate form the traditional Ghorriahn sung by MORTALS from the Ghorrihan of the EK.. GURU ji worte the ALLAHNNIAHs of the EK to take us away form the Mortal allahnihan of wailing and crying at DEATH.....BUT we just simply close our eyes..and when we read the SADD..we wear the VEDIC Glasses and go looking for the REJECTED Pandit..and his Purans and karam kaands divas pattal kiryas, bhandeh bistreh daan etc etc...when the REAL SADD of the EK GURMATT is pointing us in the RIGHT DIRECTION !!

EK EK EK EK EK EK EK EK EK EK........1429 Pages of SGGS...is that very difficult to see ?? I wonder...

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

READ the views of Prof Barsaal on How to Interpret GURBANI of SGGS using only SGGS as the Tool... Article is in PUNJABI at the Bottom of the Linked Page of Sikh Spokesman.

http://www.sikhspokesman.com/