How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?

Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326

Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?

We can see that great saints like Kabir and Ravidas etc… descended from the Ramananda sampradaya which is still the largest ascetic order in India.

What is your biggest mistake or regret?

ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥

We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,

Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||

What were Sauron's powers in The Lord of the Rings (LOTR)? Did he have any magic or anything like that?

Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!

I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||

ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥

What are some common historical misconceptions?

He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),

Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,

ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥

How do I find a luxury service apartment in Gurgaon?

ਮਰਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਮਗਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਆਇਆ ॥੨॥

ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥

I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||

Do people really never face any hidden costs or surprises with surgeries in countries with single-payer healthcare like the NHS?

Now here in this verse

ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥

So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!

Where did Noah build the Ark? Was it in a desert or near water?

I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||

ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥

— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen

What are the most outrageous violations of restaurant buffet etiquette have you seen?

NOW…

My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||

ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥

In what ways does Bollywood represent India's culture to the rest of the world through movies, songs, and dance? Is this representation accurate?

ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.

Why did Britain steal Gibraltar from Spain?

ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥

From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195

Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir

Why do companies cull employees during financial downturns without saying so?

He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||

As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,

ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥

My boyfriend wants to break up over too many petty arguments. To me, they are molehills because I truly love him & don't really think twice about them. If he loved me would he work through it?

Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.

Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.

The influence of Kabir is significant on Sikhism. The following Bani from Ang 1136 is attributed to GURU ARJAN DEV but if you observe at the end you can see that he was talking in the spirit of Sant Kabir.

Kabir (a weaver)

then who is there to know what happens without?

ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥

ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥

ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥

The views of Kabir are very much in parallel to the Advaita philosophy and it is obvious that as the disciple of Ramanandacharya he will carry forward with his chosen NIRGUN BHAKTI.

There is a reason why I mention ROOTED and thus NOT implying that it belongs to one of the numerous sects in Sanatana Dharma like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Smartism etc…

Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.

ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥

Sain (a barber)

You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.

ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥

He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.

Here ਰਾਮੈ is Rama and not just lord. Kabir died chanting the name of Rama DESPITE him not finding any result of penances done in holy cities in his previous birth. Another example to show how much Kabir valued personal devotion to Rama in his own NIRGUN style.

Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||

How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?

CONCLUSION:

———————————————————————————————————————

I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.

There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.

That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||

ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.

ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥

ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥

================================================================

ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥

ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥

ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥

Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.

———————————————————————————————————————

Says Kabeer, this is what I say:

Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.

— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.

ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥

ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥

I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.

ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ

ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥

That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||

I am like a fish out of water,

Sikhism is fundamentally rooted in BHAKTI tradition and thus ultimately in Sanatana Dharma. There is no doubt about it despite what modern McSikh acrobatics try to claim otherwise

Ramanandacharya was a 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet saint who amalgamated Advaita with Vaishnava Bhakti. He was the pioneer in validating NIRGUN and SAGUN Bhakti as parallel paths.

For him Dharma was beyond everything physical including the desire for heaven because was fully into the NIRGUN . The last verse shows that according to him the company of the enlightened Sadhus is heaven which is again a typical teaching of Sanatana Dharma.

———————————————————————————————————————

Ramanandacharya’s teachings were centered on pure and personal connection with the God Rama and didn’t believe in any kind of formal ritualism. He used the common vernacular language instead of Sanskrit so that everyone could understand.

ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥

Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.

ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧

ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥

=======================================================

The divergence of Kabir’s views from Vedanta is seen in the fact that he fully opposed religious symbolism of ALL KINDS and not just IDOLS.

ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥

Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like

ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥

Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.

Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,

I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.

Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and

ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥

The Sant Sampraday of Sikh panth integrates the warrior spirit of the Nihangs and Khalsa, the service of Seva panth and the renunciation of Udasi/Nirmala saints.

ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥

I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||

Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?

The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||

— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||

We can understand that Kabir despite being in favor of formless worship was very much embedded in the Dharmik fold but always preached in the spirit of the transcendental nature of Brahman to the point that HE LOST THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN HINDU AND MUSLIM.

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।

ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥

There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,

ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥

ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥

Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?

Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92

Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)

There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!

ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥

One day, a desire welled up in my mind.

For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;

With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||

Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,

At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||

Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know

Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.

Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325

To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.

If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,

Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.

Raamaanand Jee, First House:

Wherever I go, I find water and stones.

Bhakti movement began in South (Tamil Nadu to be precise) and slowly spread to Northern parts of India. This movement was extremely popular because of its simple fundamentals which could be understood by even commonfolk. Vaishnavism, Shaivism etc… were already connecting with commonfolk from a long time and this Bhakti movement reinforced it by making the devotee feel a personal connection with the deity.

ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥

ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥

I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.

I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.

Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,

For a superficial McSikh who is interested only in separation and not enlightenment the views of Kabir can be easily shown as a denouncement of Hindu practices.

All the men and women of the world are His living forms.

ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥

You are totally pervading and permeating in all.

These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,

ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Actually, this part of the Ang 326 is widely used by McSikhs to show that Sikhism considers Hindu pilgrimages as useless and thus drives home the point again that the “religion” has got NOTHING to do with Hinduism.

Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!

Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325

Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||

ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.

From where did the word Maya come? Isn’t it a typical Vedantic concept discussed profoundly in Advaita? It definitely isn’t a concept pioneered by Kabir or even his teacher Ramanandacharya! It is ultimately from Sanatana Dharma!

Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?

As mentioned above Guru Arjan Dev was talking from the perspective Sant Kabir whose views we have discussed much earlier here. We know that Sant Kabir continuing in the Ramanandi Sampradaya went further away from the mainstream ritualistic Hinduism and was journeying more towards a SEAMLESS Dharma.

My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||

Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)

ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥

Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥

The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||

ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥

I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;

The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.

I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.

Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;

Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.

Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.

Guru Nanak (right) and Bhai Mardana (foreground) with Bhagat Kabir (left). This painting is found in the B-40 Janamsakhi, written and painted in 1733. The painting was made by Alam Chand Raj

Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.

I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.