Sikhism

===Power and Devotion (Miri and Piri)===
{{Main|Miri piri}}
'''Miri-Piri''' is a doctrine that has been practiced in Sikh religion since the seventeenth century. The doctrine of the "Mir" (social and political aspects of life) and the "Pir" (guides to spiritual aspect of life) was revealed by the first Guru of Sikhism, [[Guru Nanak]], but propounded by the sixth Guru of Sikhism, [[Guru Hargobind]],<ref name="Marty">{{cite book |last=Marty |first=Martin E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doCmVaOnh_wC |title=Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance |date=1996 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=978-0-226-50884-9 |page=278 |author-link=Martin E. Marty}}</ref> on 12 June 1606.<ref name="jas">{{cite book |author1=Singh, Dr Jasraj |title=A Complete Guide to Sikhism |publisher=Unistar Books |isbn=9788171427543 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFm9_Jc1ykcC&dq=miri+piri&pg=PA182 |date=2009 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404133041/https://books.google.com/books?id=rFm9_Jc1ykcC&dq=miri+piri&pg=PA182 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="grove">{{cite book |author1=Grover, William |title=Making Lahore Modern: Constructing and Imaging a Colonial City |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=9781452913384 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NRcKIZ2Y00C&dq=miri+piri&pg=PA211 |date=2008 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404133045/https://books.google.com/books?id=6NRcKIZ2Y00C&dq=miri+piri&pg=PA211 |url-status=live }}</ref> After the martyrdom of [[Guru Arjan|his father]], Guru Hargobind was elevated to the Guruship and fulfilled the prophecy that was given by the primal figure of Sikh, [[Baba Buddha]], that the guru will possess spiritual and temporal power. [[Guru Hargobind]] introduced the two swords of Miri and Piri symbolizing both worldly (social and political) and spiritual authority.<ref>Jakobsh, D. R. (2012). ''Sikhism''. University of Hawaii Press.</ref><ref name="jas" /> The two [[kirpan]] of Miri and Piri are tied together with a [[Khanda (sword)|khanda]] in center, so the combination of both is considered supreme,  Where action informed or arising out of the spiritual heart completes one's purpose and meaning in the world of action: [[spirituality]].<ref name="jas" /><ref>Singh, D. (1992). ''THE SIKH IDENTITY''. Fundamental Issues, 105.</ref>

[[Guru Nanak]], the first Sikh Guru and the founder of Sikhism, was a [[Bhakti]] saint.<ref name=richard>{{cite journal |first=H. L. |last=Richard |year=2007 |url=http://ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/24_3_PDFs/139-145Richard.pdf |title=Religious Movements in Hindu Social Contexts: A Study of Paradigms for Contextual 'Church' Development |journal=International Journal of Frontier Missiology |volume=24 |issue=3 |page=144 |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-date=16 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616022633/http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/24_3_PDFs/139-145Richard.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> He taught that the most important form of worship is ''Bhakti'' (devotion to [[Waheguru]]).<ref name="Mayled2002">{{cite book |last=Mayled |first=Jon |url= https://archive.org/details/sikhism0000mayl_l1v5 |title=Sikhism |publisher=Heinemann |date=2002 |isbn=978-0-435-33627-1 |pages=30–31 |url-access=registration}}</ref> [[Guru Arjan]], in the ''[[Sukhmani Sahib]]'', recommended the true religion is one of loving devotion to God.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kohli |first=Surinder Singh |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ED0syBKqafMC |title=The Sikh and Sikhism |publisher=Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London.--> |location=New Delhi |date=1993 |isbn=978-81-7156-336-4 |pages=74–76}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Nirmal |title=Searches in Sikhism |date=2008 |publisher=Hemkunt Press |isbn=978-81-7010-367-7 |location=New Delhi |page=122}}</ref> The ''[[Guru Granth Sahib]]'' includes suggestions on how a Sikh should perform constant Bhakti.<ref name="Mayled2002" /><ref name="sggs305306">{{cite book |translator-last=Khalsa |translator-first=Sant Singh |url=http://www.srigurugranth.org/0305.html |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib |publisher=SriGranth.org |date=2006 |at=pp. 305–306 (verses 305–16 to 306–2) |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821171802/http://www.srigurugranth.org/0305.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Jhutti-Johal2011">{{cite book |last=Jagbir |first=Jhutti-Johal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=91xotkSSyzUC |title=Sikhism Today |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-4411-8140-4 |page=92}}</ref> Some scholars call Sikhism a Bhakti sect of Indian traditions,<ref>Cole, William Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi (1997). ''A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy''. Abingdon-on-Thames, England: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-7007-1048-5}}, p. 22.</ref><ref name="davidlorenzen">Lorenzen, David (1995). ''Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action''. Albany: [[State University of New York Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2025-6}}.</ref> adding that it emphasises "''nirguni Bhakti''", i.e. loving devotion to a divine without qualities or physical form.<ref name=davidlorenzen/>{{Rp|1–3}}<ref name="hardip">Syan, Hardip (2014). P. 178 in ''The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies'', edited by P. Singh and L E. Fenech. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-969930-8}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mandair |first=Arvind-Pal Singh |date=2011 |chapter=Time and religion-making in modern Sikhism |pages=188–190 |title=Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia |editor-first=A. |editor-last=Murphy |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-0-415-59597-1}}.</ref> While Western scholarship generally places Sikhism as arising primarily within a Hindu Bhakti movement milieu while recognizing some [[Sufism|Sufi Islamic]] influences,<ref>Elsberg, Constance (2003), ''Graceful Women''. [[University of Tennessee Press]]. {{ISBN|978-1-57233-214-0}}. pp. 27–28.</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=William Owen |last2=Sambhi |first2=Piara Singh |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |date=1995 |isbn=978-1-898723-13-4 }}</ref>{{Rp|3, 42–3}} some Indian Sikh scholars disagree and state that Sikhism transcended the environment it emerged from. The basis of the latter analysis is that Bhakti traditions did not clearly disassociate from Vedic texts and their cosmologies and metaphysical worldview, while the Sikh tradition clearly did disassociate from the Vedic tradition.<ref name="Singha">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nRodBu9seiIC |series="Sikh Studies" series, book 7 |title=Evolution of Sikhism |publisher=Hemkunt Press |date=2009 |location=New Delhi |page=8 |isbn=978-81-7010-245-8}}</ref>

Some Sikh sects outside the [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] region of India, such as those found in [[Maharashtra]] and [[Bihar]], practice ''[[aarti]]'' (the ceremonial use of lamps) during Bhakti observances in a Sikh [[gurdwara]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Karen |last1=Pechilis |first2=Selva J. |last2=Raj |title=South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BsbfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA243 |date=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-1-136-16323-4 |page=243}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Pashaura |last1=Singh |first2=Michael |last2=Hawley |title=Re-imagining South Asian Religions |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4SLhLakpsNsC&pg=PA42 |date=2012 |publisher=Brill Academic |isbn=978-90-04-24236-4|pages=42–43}}</ref> But, most Sikh gurdwaras forbid ''aarti'' during their Bhakti practices.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|201}}

While emphasizing Bhakti, the Sikh gurus also taught that the spiritual life and secular householder life are intertwined, and not separate. This logically follows from the panentheistic nature of Sikh philosophy.<ref name="Kamala1">{{cite book |last1=Nayar |first1=Kamal Elizabeth |last2=Sandhu |first2=Jaswinder Singh |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WTfKwGV6mBkC |title=The Socially Involved Renunciate – Guru Nanaks Discourse to Nath Yogis |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |location=Albany |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-7914-7950-6 |page=106}}</ref> In Sikh worldview, the everyday world is part of the Infinite Reality, increased spiritual awareness leads to increased and vibrant participation in the everyday world.<ref name="Nikky1">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UUWIEfAY-mMC |title=Hindu Spirituality: Postclassical and Modern |editor1-first=K. R. |editor1-last=Sundararajan |editor2-first=Bithika |editor2-last=Mukerji |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |first1=Kaur |last1=Singh |first2=Nikky |last2=Guninder |date=30 January 2004 |page=530 |isbn=978-81-208-1937-5}}</ref> Guru Nanak described living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" as being higher than the [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] truth.<ref name="Marwha1">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ROtEr_QdB3sC |title=Colors of Truth: Religion, Self and Emotions |publisher=Concept Publishing |last=Marwha |first=Sonali Bhatt |date=2006 |location=New Delhi |page=205 |isbn=978-81-8069-268-0}}</ref>

The 6th Sikh Guru, [[Guru Hargobind]], after [[Guru Arjan]]'s martyrdom, faced with oppression by the Islamic [[Mughal Empire]], affirmed the philosophy that the political/temporal (''Miri'') and spiritual (''Piri'') realms are mutually coexistent.<ref name="Marty1">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=doCmVaOnh_wC |title=Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |first1=E. Marty |last1=Martin |first2=Appleby R. |last2=Scott |date=1996 |pages=277–278 |isbn=978-0-226-50884-9}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi1" /> According to the 9th Sikh Guru, [[Tegh Bahadur]], the ideal Sikh should have both ''[[Shakti]]'' (power that resides in the temporal), and ''[[Bhakti]]'' (spiritual meditative qualities). This was developed into the concept of the "saint soldier" by the 10th Sikh Guru, [[Gobind Singh]].<ref name="Gandhi1">{{cite book |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit Singh |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qw7-kUkHA_0C |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London--> |location=New Delhi |date=2008 |isbn=978-81-269-0857-8 |pages=435, 676–77}}</ref>

The concept of humanity as elaborated by [[Guru Nanak]] refines and negates the "monotheistic concept of self/God", and "monotheism becomes almost redundant in the movement and crossings of love".<ref name="Mandair1" /> The human's goal, taught the Sikh gurus, is to end all dualities of "self and other, I and not-I", attain the "attendant balance of separation-fusion, self-other, action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life".<ref name="Mandair1">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dzeCy_zL0Q8C |title=Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality and the Politics of Translation |publisher=Columbia University Press |first=Mandair |last=Arvind-Pal Singh |date=2009 |pages=372–373 |isbn=978-0-231-14724-8}}</ref>