amardeep Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 Sath Shri Akaal Jee. i am working on this schol project, on people converting from one religion to another. so i would like to know how many people apc. have converted to Sikhism, and from which religion most of them came from there must be some info and numbers on the net aaye???... and also, are there any converts in here? its for a school project with the theme "Changing lives". Thank you in advance.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijaydeep Singh Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 Gurfateh Das is one from Hinduism. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAadmin Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 Vijaydeep Singh Ji, Please tell us the sangat your story. What inspired to convert? What did u find appealing in Sikh Dharam? I am sure it will inspire low mortals like me, who take sikhi for granted 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amardeep Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 arent u a sikh convert yourself neo singh? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdsingh80 Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 amardeep ji you can visit the following site of a convert darcy star http://lionchild.wordpress.com/ he regularly visit sites sikhsangat and forums.waheguroo.com and very much intereseted in spreading sikhism 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijaydeep Singh Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Gurfateh For Das main thing for devotion is our God Akal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaheediyan Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Everyone who is a Sikh is a convert. No body is born a Sikh, we only truely become Sikhs when we accept our 10 Guru Sahibaan and their teachings and instructions, and submit to Vahe-Guru's will, of our own free will. Although I was born into a "Punjabi" family, and was told I was a Sikh, I only ever considered my self a Sikh when I took my Guru's amrit. It is from this point that NIT became part of my life, and learning became an instruction/necessity rather than a past-time or option. It is the combination of acceptance, submission, learning and living in acordance with our Guru's words that defines a Sikh in my opinion. Only God knows how many Sikhs there are, no survey or statistic will ever be reflective, be it of counting Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Buddists, Christians or Jews. Wearing the uniform or flying the flag means nothing without being able to live according to Gods will as revealed in whichever way. Vahe-Guru 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAadmin Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 you are right veer ji 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amardeep Posted June 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Sath Shri Akal.. sorry im not trying to be rude, but i can not really use any of your answers(except the one who gave the link, thank you very much) for anything...... the topic of my school report is "changing lives" and therefore i need to talk to westernes(or people from other religions as well) that has given up their past life and taken in the Gurus... i was not looking for the definition of a sikh.. but its okay..the deadline is over, so i changed the subject to converts to Islam instead... Waleichum Salam.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaheediyan Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 The point was you could have asked any Sikh (someone who has taken Amrit) and been born in a western country (irrelevant of ethnic background), what drove them to it. You could have visited many forums, posed the question and got hundreds of replies. If you wanted "White" Sikh thoughts, then Sikhnet is always best as it is run by "White" Sikhs. Personally, I feel the question is of culture rather than race, and most people irrelevant of race who live in the west have developed similar cultures. For UK "non-Punjabi Sikhs", in case you need the info in the future, best contact point is: http://www.karamkriya.co.uk/ky_what.htm Vahe-Guru 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SAdmin Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Rural Sikhs from Punjabi background have followed different faiths/cults. Most of them were Jathera worshipper (ancestor worshipper) and also followed couple of rural Peers/Babas before adopting Sikh culture and faith. Most of the Punjabi rural Sikhs were follower of Gugga Jahir Pir, Sakhi Sarvar & Seetla Mata cults before Sikhism. And then there was a huge population who were living as ancestor worshipper. Most of the urbanized Sikhs had great influence of Vedic culture and philosophy but their faith changes from region to region. Khatris, Brahmins and Rajputs converts to Sikhism were mostly Vedic Hindus hence Vedic culture follower. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh47 Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Jathera was the predominent faith of the Jats of Punjab who later adopted Sikh Dharm. It was about ancestor worship. Some Sikhs of Jat background still carry out rituals for their ancestors. That is why you will see many Samadhs in the Pends of Punjab. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAadmin Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 wow didn't know this stuff about jatts, thanks much for your post sadmin and singh47 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaheediyan Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Jatherai is a pagan faith which stemmed from early aryan immigration from eastern Europe (around Albania etc). Many rural folk in Eastern Europe still keep jatherai. And it is a misconcept that they belong only to jat, all castes have jatherai, it is matter of whether your ancestors were from Eastern Europe rather than caste. The immigrants from Eastern Europe were not only farmers, they required blacksmiths, builders, tailors etc in order to be productive. The Jatt race theory is a myth, a race is not made up o farmers alone, it is made up of all skill sets needed in order for the community to be successful. Farmers make up the large % of population in Punjab historically, hence incorrectly, many common practices/traits of the people in Punjab have been incorrectly branded jat. Vahe-Guru 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh47 Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 I don’t think that Jathera was an Aryan (Vedic/Brahmanic) faith. Jats/Rajputs/Gujjars are descended from the Sakas and Huns and with local Indians. Jathera stems from the ancient pagan beliefs of the races from the steppes. The Vedic/Brahmanic faith was much more advanced metaphysically than the paganistic beliefs of races from the steppes of central Asia. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Javanmard Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 For once I agree with Singh47. He is right indeed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAadmin Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 For once I agree with Singh47. He is right indeed. awwwwwwwwwwww, lets hug each other yaar, kiss each other on cheeks off course show brotherly love, make up for all hardcore debates you lot been doing. tut tut 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbreakable Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 .. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Javanmard Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Well, if Singh47 is right then he's right. I am not the kind to be dishonest and hide the fact that he is right, and I have no problem with him being right in this very case. Regarding folk religion in Panjab and jathera: I recommned Bhatti, H.S.2000.Folk Religion: Change and Continuity, New Delhi: Rawat Publications. The book is written by a scholar of Panjabi University Patiala and deals with folk religion in Panjab. It deals with ancestor worship, the cult of Gugga Pir, Sakhi Sarvar and Sitla Mata. He then goes on about how folk religion relates to greater religions such as Islam, Sikhi and the other diverse Indian traditions. I warmy recommend this book as well as a few months in the pend. Listen, observe and you'll see! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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