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Nishan Sahib
While walking to work, I took this picture of a Sihk gentleman praying to a flagpole.
So it’s not just tha Abrahamic religions which make their followers perform strange and illogical rituals. What good will it do you to pray to a flagpole – standing in the cold with Leithers walking past you thinking you’re a bit strange?
Well it turns out that it’s not the flagpole which is holy, it’s the saffron flag you can see wrapped around it. This is a nisahan sahib. It was originally white but changed to saffron by “Guru Hargobind” 1609 to suggest the golden colour of the holiest site of the Sikh religion, the Harmandir Sahib.
The Sikhs just like the Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in one god, of course the differences between their versions of the “one, true god” are the source of endless troubles – delusion is a global phenomonon.
Tags: Religion
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November 20th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Dear David,
“One True God” means God that is for whole humanity, God that is our creator.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev says in the first prayer of Guru Grant Sahib that “Sabna jia kaa ikk data so main visr na jaaie”
which says that “Since there is one provider for all living things, O God let me never forget this fact”
Which means when a Sikh pray he/she prays for whole humanity and not just Sikhs. Which might not be same as other religions.
Guru Nanak again says that there are many many many paths to the Same and the only God. All paths are good. Sikhs do not say “My path is Good” and that is the reason that Sikhs do not convert other people just tell them to do good DEEDS.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hi Sandeep,
Good of you to post on my blog. I think we are not ever going to agree on religious issues but from my limited reading of British history in India and the Raj, I do know that we owe the Sikh community a debt of honour for their sacrifices on the allied side in WWII.
Good luck
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 am
Ummm sikhs do not pray to flagpoles…i have no idea what this man is doing…but sikhs do not believe in any idol worship and sikhs believe that god is everywhere and in everyone and there is no one direction that points to god. Flagpoles are also not considered to be holy, they are just a symbol, nothing more. Honestly, do not judge a race of people due to one man and one picture you took of that one man in an awkward moment.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 am
I suggest you do some research on the Sikh flag. In no way is that man in an “awkward moment.” Are you implying he was in some way mentally distressed?
I’d also like to make it very clear that I’m not judging anyone’s race.
What I am doing is judging the illogical, irrational, nonsense that is all religion and the abject dependence on some external mythical being that prompts so much violence and distrust in the world. I find it guilty.
I hope that’s clearer for you.