Taught in English
Introduction to Sikhi
Not currently running · last taught Summer 2023
How do we understand Sikhi in the present age? Is it a syncretic mix of Hinduism and Islam? Is it a movement within Hinduism? Can we call it a religion?
How do we understand Sikhi in the present age? Is it a syncretic mix of Hinduism and Islam? Is it a movement within Hinduism? Can we call it a religion? If we call Sikhi a dharam, how do we understand it in contradistinction to the idea of religion in the West and that of dharma among the Hindus? The above questions have their origin in modernist and historicist theoretical approaches that have been defining the field of Sikh Studies until recent times. Introduction to Sikhi will be an interdisciplinary course offering philosophical reflections on key Sikh concepts to have a fresh look at the history and religion of the Sikhs. The course will reflect on the spiritual foundations of the social transformation that the marginalised groups in Punjab and beyond experienced as a result of the advent of Sikhi.
- Reflections on the idea of religion and the Sikh contribution to it.
- Praxis before the conceptual orientation: Understanding the Sikh difference
- Sikhi and the spiritual/religious binary
- Divinity within temporality
- Shabad, Naam, and the divine within
- Humanism and the Sikh idea of Human
- The relevance of Sikhi in the contemporary world
From students of this course
“Understanding the concept of sikhi is not a easy thing to do. One could spend his own life in understanding it and still find I know nothing . But reciting gurbani, attending Katha, Kirtan and taking such courses( intro to sikhi ) could bring one person near to their bigger objectives. I learnt many new lessons and too in a manner that I never thought of.”
“Introduction to Sikhi was an interdisciplinary course which offered philosophical reflections on key Sikh concepts like Sewa, Simran, Ardas, Naam, Shabad, Divine within temporality, Humanism ,spiritual / religious binary, Sikhi idea of Human and Dharma and its distinction with respect to Islam and Hinduism traditions that provided to me a fresh look at the history and religion of the Sikhs. Course began with critical analysis and commentary challenging…”