Reddit mentions: The best sikhism books

Right, quit worrying.

First up, any decent Sikh won't care if you're gay. Why? Well, the guru didn't say anything about sexual preference.

"But what about marriage?"

Well, again, we don't care. Seriously. (The enlightens ones of us don't)

The whole marriage thing comes about for a simple reason: have kids and teach them Sikhi. BUT, same sex marriage is legal im a lot of places AND you can have kids if you're gay. Adopt, surrogate, buy from an African family like Angelina Jolie did... You CAN have kids.

Now, the books... Google "gurbani" and [The guru] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00I77BDX6/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1474823494&sr=1-7&pi=SL75&keywords=guru+granth+sahib) can be found in English (it's what I read) BUT it's a translation. You might not get the full understanding of it unless you learn gurmukhi. To prove this, if I said "I lead the lead lead to the bow to bow to the bow."... See how words can be interpreted poorly?

IF you can find a gurmukhi teacher you can learn the language easily. Trust me.

Lastly... Naming.


Deedpoll allows you to change your name to ANYTHING. IF you want to have a Sikh first name, you can. You want a Sikh middle name? Go for it!

The name change in Sikhi is because the guru says we should take the name singh/kaur(?Spelling?) When we take amrit. Only then is it mandatory and it's mandatory as a "family" name. I say "family" name because in China, the family name comes first. So western names are Bob Smith... In China it would be Smith Bob and so after a change it's Bob Singh and in China, Singh Bob. It's even weirder in Mexico. That's: given name > fathers name > grandfather's name > family name e.g. Estaban Jose Jesus Cortez becomes estaban Jose Jesus sing.

I went through one name change in my twenties, it's easily done. I'm going to do the same after amrit.

I like this because we Sikh are all one big family and a share a family name.

P.s. I'm a 36YO white convert, ex-Jehovah's witness. Beat that! ;)

HTH. IF you need anything else, feel free to ask. Also, please forgive any errors. I'm on my phone and auto correct is a swine#

It was a wakeup call for me when I visited a bookstore in NYC that had 3 aisles of book on christianity, 2 isles on Judaism and Islam, and 1 aisle on Hinduism and Buddhism. I couldn't find a single book on Sikhism (except for a book on the poetry of Kabir, that I bought). So I wouldn't expect any books in the mid-west (yet).


There are a few SGGS websites as mentioned on the sidebar. I'll make a shameless plug for a website I'm working on for exploring the Guru Granth Sahib -- www.granth.co. It is a work in progress but you can read it page by page in 53 languages, jump to sections or look at random hymns. We have some useful features planned (including search and custom pothis).


Regarding Sikh / Punjabi history, I liked Kushwant Singh's "History of the Sikhs" (two parts). A book I was given recently was The Sikhs in Canada. I flipped through it and it looks interesting. I'll post a detailed review in a month when I can finish reading it. At a slightly advanced level, I recently started looking into Recent debates in Sikh Studies. I found it to be as it's namesake -- an attempt to objectively assess the recent debates in Sikhism. Finally, The Sikh Religion by MacAuliffe is a must have for anyone interested in Sikhism (First volume here )


On a more cultural perspective, you can check out some of Robbi Clipper Sethi's books like Fifty Fifty

This would be the best late, late, late birthday present of all time if you could help.
The Tree of Enchantment

Tao Te Ching

Sikhism

Grimoire of Crowley

Angel Tech

The Upanishads

And any of the Vedas pretty, pretty please? Much and thanks!!! ALSO Your link of Angels, Demons by Lon Milo DuQuette is broken, I think.

Hi you can check this out!
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Or I could start a fight and recommend this one! https://www.amazon.com/Sikhism-Hew-McLeod/dp/0140252606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506345691&sr=1-1&keywords=sikhism+hew

In actual fact it was my introduction to Sikhi well over a decade ago and I don't care what anyone says, his translations in the back are outstanding.

Maybe the didn't.


You should start with this book:
http://www.amazon.com/History-Literature-Identity-Centuries-Tradition/dp/0198070748/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1426874239&sr=8-3&keywords=JS+Grewal


This guys is the best historian out of Punjab, has never had his dastaar knocked off for what he's written, and is recognized internationally for the quality of work he's done which is all source based.

The access to all the online material - texts, videos, audio (kirtan). But it all started with initial understanding via this book -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sacred-Writings-Sikhs-K-Singh/dp/8125017909/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505812711&sr=1-4&keywords=Sikh+writings

the first time I was able to understand what Gurbani meant. I was born into a Sikh family - the usual - no in depth knowledge in the family and could not understand what was going on in the Guruduara. Learnt the first 3 banis via memorization (don't know Gurmukhi but am trying to learn now). This memorization helped a lot to learn more about pronunciation, vocabulary and the structure of Gurbani. So when listening to other bani/kirtan, there is better understanding.
So on the path.

found this online, hope it helps. http://www.gurbanifiles.org/translations/English%20Translation%20of%20Siri%20Guru%20Granth%20Sahib.pdf

and this looks good too. http://www.amazon.com/Shri-Guru-Granth-Sahib-Vol/dp/160620100X/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344421667&sr=1-8&keywords=guru+granth+sahib+in+english

I would suggest you 2 things to start

1)

Get to know about life of Gurus.

Just buy this one

The Sikh History

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sikh-Religion-Forgotten-Books/dp/1606200992

Why i told you to read Sikh history first.

As you will read life of Guru's you will connect why they said something. In which context they told something and when you will read Gurubani you will get full picture in your mind.

2)

Start reading the Japji Sahib , english translation.

Japji is the daily prayer of Sikhs , just start reading it and understand its meanings.

This step you start after you are done with reading at least life of Guru Nanak from book i mentioned above.

There are many websites from where you can get English translations , you can also download on your mobile.

I'm reading a translation of the SGGS in English. this one

My understanding is that these are not exceptions to the "rule". The Gurus are not following the literary style of the bhagats - rather Guru Arjan and Guru Amardas are providing their commentary to the thoughts first expressed by other bhagats including Kabir and Farid. These are meant to clarify the thoughts expressed by the other bhagats so as to make the bay consistent and avoid any misinterpretations. In doing so, they rightly chose to keep the moniker associated with the bhagats themselves.

For more, read Bhagats of the Guru Granth Sahib Bhagat Poets of Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Jhalman Singh Gosal.