Okay, so at UW it's actually called RS 202, but was essentially an introductory course to Sikhism (and in my case, all things India).
I knew very little about Punjabi culture before taking this course, but as one of four non-Sikhs (or those with Sikh ties) in the class, I learned TONS. I definitely have more thoughts on the course than what I'm going to write about here, but in general there were a few "macro-level" concepts that stuck with me after the exam.
A few things everyone should know about Sikhism before we go any further:
1) It is monotheistic. There is one, universal God in Sikh doctrine.
2) It emerged about 600 years ago out of the Punjab region of India.
3) It has a guruship. Guru Nanak was the first (founder). There were 9 others. The Sikh scriptures are now considered the guru (this is an overly simplistic explanation according to the prof, but it works for here).
4) Karma exists in a Sikh worldview. Liberation from a cyclical system of rebirth is a goal.
5) Punjabi food is great.
Sikhism makes a lot of really cool points. If you read Sikh scripture (the Adi Granth), you'll find a TON of passages that sound like they're taken straight out of the Psalms. Or Genesis for that matter. Check this one out:
"The self-existent God became manifested in Nam [the Name]. Second came the creation of the universe. God pervades and revels in the creation." (AG 463)
My first reaction was HOLY MOLEY. The Sikh scriptures just took Genesis 1 and gave me the Colesnotes version.
It's funny; people may write off the philosophies and theologies of others simply because its either not their own religion, or more often, its not in their own religious language. I learned a lot by taking this course. Not only about Sikhism as a religion, a history, and a culture, but about how in the end many of the tenets and doctrines of the world's religions are simply universal observations about humanity's pursuit of God. And more importantly, His pursuit of humanity. If God has revealed Himself in all of creation (and I don't just mean birds, mountains and the rest of the stuff people Instagram and hashtag "Creation", I mean the Universe and all its laws, workings, and the ways of its inhabitants)--then He's perfectly able to reveal His truth within the framework of other religions.
Oh no! She's a universalist!
Sheeesh.
No.
Though perhaps not the whole picture, or the right direction, other belief systems are marked by our shared desire to explain the unmistakable presence of "more" in the universe. Of goodness. Of preeminence. Of the glorious truth of a loving God. From what I gather, we don't observe similarities in religions because of the existence of some shared neurosis but because there is one true God that pervades and revels in the creation He has made.
And in Christ, He's called us to His side; freely, by grace. And unfortunately, we (regardless of religious conviction) always seem to complicate the free grace and unending love of God. We make systems of His love. Don't mind me, but I'm-a-gonna preach now. The thing I love about the Christian worldview, and why I call myself a follower of Christ, is the wonderful notion that only in Christianity is free grace found. And found abundantly. No systems, no karma, just love. I regret everyday that I sit in pride, thinking that there must be something more because, well, I don't understand it all or why it's that simple (because obviously if God was really God, my 25lb brain would be able to fathom Him and all His ways). Well, that's the beauty of it. It is that simple, and no, I'm not supposed to understand it all. The observations of God's prevalence throughout the universe convinces me that He wants us to get this. To show us that no matter how we try to explain it away or systematize it, He's not only the Lord of everything, but that He's made a way for us to know Him more than we could on our own. I've heard a lot of pretty convincing ways of explaining God throughout my degree, but none such words stick quite as much as when Jesus said, unashamedly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father except through me."
The preface?
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that all who believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
I'll never understand exactly how or why. Isn't that strange? I'll soon graduate with a degree in Religious Studies and I don't have God figured out? Heaven forbid.
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