Prompted by a discussion on another thread, My own answer, no idea, absolutely no idea at all, however, I do know what is not a Sikh, and what is not Sikhism, although it is all very subjective.
If we take what we do know about Sikhism to be true, one fundamental aspect is that there is only one God, but this God is unknowable and cannot be described, therefore, any attempt at mastering life is futile, as our puny human brains would little understand the workings of a higher intelligence, therefore every personal plan or theory is complete and utter rubbish, as if we understand it, by default it cannot be true.
If we accept that God is all powerful, all seeing and all knowing, then obviously something is amiss, there is too much tragedy in the world for a body to be such, the litmus test does not hold good, so either all the tragedy is a tough lesson and tough love from God, so that one day we may be free of life, or God does not care. If you buy the break the life cycle theory, I guess then that holds good, the starving girl in Africa who has just been gang raped for the third time today deserved it, it was her karam, bad for her, but hopefully she will learn, hmmm, I could not bow down before such a God, sure I can respect another's opinion on the matter, but for me, my God does not listen to prayers for Bunty's desire to find a husband over starving children. Of course the workings of God are beyond us, and there may be a reason that Bunty's lack of suitors is more important to God than tortured kids, but to me, whatever that reason is, does not justify the end.
So, to me, to pray, to ask, to beg, to want for anything from God is just a bad move, that God that grants these wishes on Karams, sounds more like an entity you do deals with, not a God. Of course one has to define God, but in Sikhism that is impossible so we really are {censored} in the wind.
I know that Sikhism strips ritual, idol worship, caste, sexism and intermediaries from the relationship with God, we know this, for fact, so we can discount all that, hmmm, not much of that going on...
I know that in Sikhism one uses one's brain above anything and everything else. I think we struggle with this, we reject common sense in the name of religion, if someone has to ask whether its ok for a surgeon to shave them before surgery, to my mind, that indicates no brain activity at all, just follow the rhetoric, yet such questions are common,
Here in the UK, I have noted an alarming rise in idiots sitting at red lights while ambulances sit behind them, sirens screaming, lights flashing, because the idiot will not go through the red light, because that is what the law says, such seems common in Sikhism, we seem to follow the law, to the letter, without discretion, without intelligence, without applying wisdom.
I personally find the behavior of those that sweat the small stuff the funniest, they give no thought to whether their actions are in line with God, but obsess over the peripheral, the small stuff, the irrelevant stuff, to some Sikhism is about great actions and then uniting with God, and living in bliss for eternity, to me Sikhism is about today, now, about seeing that ambulance and flooring your car through that red light, and to hell with the law.
So my take on God and life is not what I don't know, its about what I know and filling in the blanks
I could not insult a great religion by pretending to know all about it, but I get pleasure when thoughts that I feel are true, align with true Sikh philosophy, however, that does not make me a Sikh, not in the traditional sense anyway, and I cannot stand up and proclaim my thoughts and call them Sikh, for that would be an insult to the rest of you.
So that is what Sikhism is to me, and as for what is a Sikh, still no idea, other opinions welcome.
