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I understand reminders as a generalized practice, but this metaphor is one I'll have to meditate on: "Every day, he wears a silver bracelet that symbolizes a h

I understand reminders as a generalized practice, but this metaphor is one I'll have to meditate on: "Every day, he wears a silver bracelet that symbolizes a handcuff. “Remember, you are handcuffed to God. Remind yourself to not do bad things,” Pal says. It reminds him to be kind in the face of ignorance and hatred."

asark 7y ago
My knowledge of Sikh religion is pretty limited, but as I understand it, they join most other major religions in seeing the world and ordinary, secular life as full of temptation and moral danger... but unlike most major religions, they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life. This is striking since there's so much agreement on retreat-from-the-world being valuable and even laudable in other faiths. Many traditions hold ultimate enlightenment and engagement with the divine as being actually, or at least practically, impossible without it. IOW Sikhs deliberately practice their religion on hard mode. Badass.
- nsenifty 7y ago
  Hinduism calls it Karma yoga[1] - the path of selfless action. It is portrayed in no way inferior to other approaches. Do you work well with passion without attachment towards results. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga
  - kbenson 7y ago
    > Do you work well with passion without attachment towards results. I assume by "results" you mean recompense or renown, since you mention doing work "well". I only mention it because to me "results" are what I use to define whether my work was done well, and aren't what I think of when considering whether it was materially beneficial for me.
    - ASTP001 7y ago
      I think the key there is "attachment." I think seeing the results without being attached to it can also improve analysis of the outcome with respect to the quality of input if there is less personal/emotional attachment to the work that is being accomplished.
    - fellellor 7y ago
      The idea is to focus on doing your job well and release yourself from the pressure of the side effects, like fame and other things that are expected rewards for a job well done. Getting those rewards might represent their own bit of karma yoga, with separate effort. It is silly to think a divine entity is going to descend from the heavens to ensure that you get your just rewards for doing a good job.
    - rramadass 7y ago
      The idea is to do one's work without emotional attachment to "results". In modern day psychology it is called "self-distancing". It is nothing mystical but commonsense. The way to understand the rationale is; even though "self-effort" has to be put forth towards a goal, because there can be so many other factors involved in deciding the outcome (most important being random chance) that it is best to have no emotional ties to outcomes. That way one does not fall into despair and a negative frame of mind if things turn out wrong but still can choose to experience joy when things turn out well.
- arshneet 7y ago
  I'm a Sikh, and that's very correct. Sikhism discourages living as a recluse or retreating from the world. You are supposed to actively participate in the society, while continuously learning how to become a better person. That's the literal meaning of the word 'Sikh' - a disciple or learner.
  - steve19 7y ago
    Protestant Christianity is the same. It doesn't preach living apart from the world. Not entirely sure about Catholics. Orthodox have always struck me as living apart to some extent but I may be wrong and would be interested in hearing from a follower of Orthodoxy.
    - arshneet 7y ago
      I don't know much about Protestants, despite having lived in England for a while. I live in Canada and regularly travel to the US, and still don't know about Protestantism deeply. The little bit I do, has generally led to a positive opinion, as it aligns somewhat more with what I'd believe in.
    - daveFNbuck 7y ago
      There are thousands of protestant sects. Just about any generalization you make about them is going to be wrong. Many of them teach that the secular world is sinful and to be avoided.
      - steve19 7y ago
        By far the largest denominations do not teach that. I am sure 0.0001% of the world's 1 billion protostants like the handful of westbro baptists nut cases might believe that. You can find extremists in every religion.
        xtian 7y ago
        They might not teach it but many do practice it in lots of more or less subtle ways.
- ars 7y ago
  > they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life. I'm not really an expect in this, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism seems like it's about half the religions that encourage it and half that don't, and some seriously discourage it, like Judaism and Islam.
- dsfsafasfasf 7y ago
  "but unlike most major religions, they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life." I think that would be a mischaracterization of major religions. For example Christianity has its mystics and ascetics, but they it doesnt preach that all, or even the vast majority should pursue this path. Instead, Christianity teaches that its faithful should take time to retreat and pray, to go back into the world a more faithful servant of God. Even the Saints and ascetics don't retreat from the world but rather seek silence. St. Benedict, the paradigm of the Catholic monk would leave the monastery every month to meet up with his sister.
- dmos62 7y ago
  The Sikh history provides at least one explanation for this. They're a very new group, formed around the 1600s. For a long time they lived in adverse conditions, at odds with local rulers, disadvantaged by numerical inferiority. Given that monk culture is a form of specialization, similar to how a professional army is a specialization, and that specialization can't appear in adverse, numerically difficult situations, that could explain why Sikhs don't have monkhood, instead preferring rounded jack-of-all-trades social roles. For an opposite extreme, there's The Kingdom of Tibet, which until Chinese occupation had 1/3 of its (male?) population in monastic life. That's extremely special; if only it had lasted.

asark 7y ago

My knowledge of Sikh religion is pretty limited, but as I understand it, they join most other major religions in seeing the world and ordinary, secular life as full of temptation and moral danger... but unlike most major religions, they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life. This is striking since there's so much agreement on retreat-from-the-world being valuable and even laudable in other faiths. Many traditions hold ultimate enlightenment and engagement with the divine as being actually, or at least practically, impossible without it. IOW Sikhs deliberately practice their religion on hard mode. Badass.

nsenifty 7y ago
Hinduism calls it Karma yoga[1] - the path of selfless action. It is portrayed in no way inferior to other approaches. Do you work well with passion without attachment towards results. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga
- kbenson 7y ago
  > Do you work well with passion without attachment towards results. I assume by "results" you mean recompense or renown, since you mention doing work "well". I only mention it because to me "results" are what I use to define whether my work was done well, and aren't what I think of when considering whether it was materially beneficial for me.
  - ASTP001 7y ago
    I think the key there is "attachment." I think seeing the results without being attached to it can also improve analysis of the outcome with respect to the quality of input if there is less personal/emotional attachment to the work that is being accomplished.
  - fellellor 7y ago
    The idea is to focus on doing your job well and release yourself from the pressure of the side effects, like fame and other things that are expected rewards for a job well done. Getting those rewards might represent their own bit of karma yoga, with separate effort. It is silly to think a divine entity is going to descend from the heavens to ensure that you get your just rewards for doing a good job.
  - rramadass 7y ago
    The idea is to do one's work without emotional attachment to "results". In modern day psychology it is called "self-distancing". It is nothing mystical but commonsense. The way to understand the rationale is; even though "self-effort" has to be put forth towards a goal, because there can be so many other factors involved in deciding the outcome (most important being random chance) that it is best to have no emotional ties to outcomes. That way one does not fall into despair and a negative frame of mind if things turn out wrong but still can choose to experience joy when things turn out well.
arshneet 7y ago
I'm a Sikh, and that's very correct. Sikhism discourages living as a recluse or retreating from the world. You are supposed to actively participate in the society, while continuously learning how to become a better person. That's the literal meaning of the word 'Sikh' - a disciple or learner.
- steve19 7y ago
  Protestant Christianity is the same. It doesn't preach living apart from the world. Not entirely sure about Catholics. Orthodox have always struck me as living apart to some extent but I may be wrong and would be interested in hearing from a follower of Orthodoxy.
  - arshneet 7y ago
    I don't know much about Protestants, despite having lived in England for a while. I live in Canada and regularly travel to the US, and still don't know about Protestantism deeply. The little bit I do, has generally led to a positive opinion, as it aligns somewhat more with what I'd believe in.
  - daveFNbuck 7y ago
    There are thousands of protestant sects. Just about any generalization you make about them is going to be wrong. Many of them teach that the secular world is sinful and to be avoided.
    - steve19 7y ago
      By far the largest denominations do not teach that. I am sure 0.0001% of the world's 1 billion protostants like the handful of westbro baptists nut cases might believe that. You can find extremists in every religion.
      - xtian 7y ago
        They might not teach it but many do practice it in lots of more or less subtle ways.
ars 7y ago
> they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life. I'm not really an expect in this, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism seems like it's about half the religions that encourage it and half that don't, and some seriously discourage it, like Judaism and Islam.
dsfsafasfasf 7y ago
"but unlike most major religions, they discourage retreating from the world and ordinary secular life." I think that would be a mischaracterization of major religions. For example Christianity has its mystics and ascetics, but they it doesnt preach that all, or even the vast majority should pursue this path. Instead, Christianity teaches that its faithful should take time to retreat and pray, to go back into the world a more faithful servant of God. Even the Saints and ascetics don't retreat from the world but rather seek silence. St. Benedict, the paradigm of the Catholic monk would leave the monastery every month to meet up with his sister.
dmos62 7y ago
The Sikh history provides at least one explanation for this. They're a very new group, formed around the 1600s. For a long time they lived in adverse conditions, at odds with local rulers, disadvantaged by numerical inferiority. Given that monk culture is a form of specialization, similar to how a professional army is a specialization, and that specialization can't appear in adverse, numerically difficult situations, that could explain why Sikhs don't have monkhood, instead preferring rounded jack-of-all-trades social roles. For an opposite extreme, there's The Kingdom of Tibet, which until Chinese occupation had 1/3 of its (male?) population in monastic life. That's extremely special; if only it had lasted.