Farhad

Well, after reading some books (including Guru Granth Sahib), I realized some things : - My conception of a personnal God seems to be wrongs according to sikhism. Actually, it all depends on my own education. I always found the islamic/christian conception of God as quite... Weird. All loving, all merciful, but able to find enemies and punish them for the whole eternity ? I respect people who believe in that, but I do not agree with those statements. - The question about who achieved the Truth through sikhism has a very clear answer : Guru Nanak and his followers are great examples when we take time to study their lifes and teachings.

You are right ; I forgot another meaning of it, maybe more symbolic than religious. The number three is sometimes associated with flesh, mind and soul. To unite them is an important goal at least in christian meditation (hesychast), by breathing practices and mantra reciting. Your statement about the dharmic trinity is also very interesting : I didn't notice this concept also exist in christianity, and also in ancient european religions. Just take a look at celtic mythology and the triskel symbol, this is pretty close by its sense.

Sat Sri Akal I certainly won't learn you something if I tell you the following traditionnal story : Nanak came to a river after a youth of virtue and spiritual righteousness. Then, it is said he disappeared during three days. This time is common in many religious traditions : I was born in a christian family, learnt the life of Jesus, and noticed many times he came back to life after three days in the grave. The gospels insist to show he resurrected after those days : those holy scriptures disagree about many subjects, but the concept of three days comes again and again, regardless of the gospel you can use. Knowing Nanak's story reminds me the book of Jonas, in which a prophet of God is trapped in a whale for... Three days. I am pretty serious when I study religions, and even more when I want to compare some of their teachings. So, I would not use different elements at the same time if they didn't have a few common points. But those three days you can find in many traditions seem to give a deep symbol of : - Fulfillement. - Getting a divine mission. - Becoming closer to God than most of men. My personnal opinion would be the next : the number three could symbolize keeping ahead of duality. Going out of black/white, good/bad, right/wrong, at least in the human sense. It reminds me of the yin-yang symbol, eventhough many people of western origins do not really understand what it implies. To conclude, I would believe in a symbolic element during Nanak's learning, with very deep implications... But that's only my understanding, and your opinions are welcomed Regards, Farhad.

Hi N30 S!NG (do I have to add "ji" ? I guess so ) I would like to thank you for your very nice, clear and deep answer : it is far better than comparing one Google result to another... Anyway, I just noticed you're interested in life after death : so do I, it is even a very important issue in my daily thoughs. But I like sikhism since it gives answers some religions never gave me : I discovered in your answer karma exists, and that's to me a good explanation to many events happening in life (or beyond). Actually, I have some difficulties to imagine God as all loving, all compassionnate, all forgiveness and all kind : I grew up with the idea of heaven and hell as eternal an eternal truth. But both in the Quran and in the Bible, I discovered a God half good and half revengeful... I agree there are differences between islam and christianity regarding life and death, but living in fear is one of the results those religions gave me when I was younger. It is only my personnal case, I know people being muslim or christian and living it perfectly. I know it is different in sikhism, and studying this religion in details is still a good idea. I've got to order a few books about that. I am pretty interested in the cases you quoted in your second answer : could you please quote any kind of example related with removing of karmic consequences ? Dhannvaad ! My best regards, Farhad.

Greetings to you all, Firstly, I would like to introduce myself : I am french, english isn't my mother tongue, so I am trying to do my best to find people interested in sikhism. I discovered this great religion after studying many others : I began with taoism, islam, then christianity, and many many other things... And to be honest, nothing ever had any deep importance to me, eventhough I studied it seriously. Nevertheless, until I discovered sikhism, ! I would not say my life changed within those few days, but I think I found several answers to important questions : who we are, who is God, what is the goal of a life on earth... To sum up, I am only disappointed by the very few books existing in french about sikhism But as you can see, my profile name is "Farhad" : it suggest loneliness, at least in a spiritual acception. There is no one to discuss with me about sikh philosophy and theology, since most of people in my area are catholic or muslim. This forum seems to me to be a great place to ask a few questions ;pardon me if those are basics, but they all came from my very little and really young knowledge. 1) Is there any condition for an individual to spend eternity in heaven or hell in whole sikh litterature ? I tried to find informations, but they sometimes do not really agree one with another... 2) I know Waheguru can forgive anyone if he repents, but under which conditions ? I suppose the notion of forgiveness maybe contradicts the concept of karma (if at least this word exists in sikhism). Does forgiveness of the King make karmic effects disappear ? 3) What is the exact role of demons in sikhism ? I heard they are individuals existing only by their ego, but do they live forever ? I would suppose they do not, but it is only a supposition. 4) Is it necessary to meet a spiritual master to meditate in sikhism ? This condition exists in many traditions, but I would be glad to repeat the Name of the Lord by myself if this is possible. 5) Do you know in sikh history some cases of people who reached God by this spiritual way ? As Jesus said, "Consider a tree by its fruits" ; I suppose this tradition is efficient, but an inner advice is still important to me. Thank you for answering, sorry again if I commited some mistakes in my understanding of this religion, I am only a student at that time. I am only looking for answer, in no way for hurting people Farhad.