The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-05-19


Friday night, the subject was divided
into three chapters The lecturer frs
explained Sikhism, then Jainism, ane
closed with the always interesting fire.
said in part:
Sikhism grew up in the midst of Hin
duism; the founder was a Hindu, and
| at first he made an attempt to unite
| the warriors of both Hindu and Islam
/ in one common faith for the peace OF
| India The word Sikh means wOrshlpeI
and devotee. Nanak was the founders
name; he was born of Hindu parents
about 1880 A D.. and at an early age
showed extreme piety and insight into
the realities of religion. At his initi-
alton or confirmation Nanak asked the
parish priest deep questions that he
could not answer, and then Nanak de-
scribed eloquently the real meaning of
the religious life. He worshiped in
both Hindu and Mcslem temples and
declared that men lost sight of religion
in studying the details, and that he
worshiped only the one, invisible, self
existent, incomprehensible, all-pervad-
Huxley's complaint that scientists lost
sight of science in studying detail
Leaving Hinduism, Nanak labored to
bridge the gulf between the warning
faiths, and gathered a vast following.
But while he had hoped to avert war;
he was soon forced to arm his follow
ers in self-defense, and from this small
beginning grew the Sikh empire of the
following two centuries. They are to-
day the finest types of humanity in
India-free, bold, loyal and trust
worthy.
The key of Guru Nanak's preaching
was profound devotion, and hatred of
sham. In philosophy he was We
dantin, and in the scriptures, the
'Grantha," there is nothing for Hindu
to cavil at. He should have been re-
newing force in the Hindu religion. His
definitions of the religious man are
very much to the point; for instance:
He who in his mind knows the Lords
will to be for the best; He who |
neither fears nor causes fear: ITO |
whom there is no alien, no enemy"
At Guru Nanak's death the corpse |
was laid out and covered with a pail, |
md then an. argument arose. The
wanted to bury it; the
Hindu disciples wished 1t to be Gre
mated. While they were undecided /
someone suggested that they mediate
so that the Guru could show them
what was right, when 10! the corpse
lad vanished into its etheric elements.
The master-souI of the Guru had done
What the disciples should have expect
q of one so great, and applied the
hemistry of the higher life to save
hem from quarreling.
A very fine exposition of the great
octrine that a man is responsible for
is own soul-growth is found in the
Irantha in two sentences-'In the field
f Karma he reapeth whatever he SOW
tn. He soweth himself, he reapeth
imself''
JAINISM.
Here we find ourselves in a different
from that of the Sikh. The
ain lives in an atmosphere of calm,
philosophic quiet, and his religion is
Irgely a question of conduct. The
hole system may be summed up in a
Man, by peace, by not in t
lring any living creature, reaches Mir i
ana, which is peace. The whole COM
unity lives in a very perfect brother |
pod. c
Jainism is an offshoot from Hindu
m that took place two thousand years
more before Buddhism came into ex- s
tence. Many travellers, however, con- {
Use the two. Like the Hindu, the Jain f
bids to the four-caste system, but the 7
Lstes intermingle with the Hindu castles
/ an equal footing. In point of num- {
ers the third, the merchant caste, pre- \
onainates. The ascetics the Sanyasi ?
ass, may come from any caste, and t
re the teachers. Men and women take /
this life and, being numerous, the f
aims are a very well educated and t
telligent community. a
Though the Siddharta, the canon +
al scripture of forty-five books, was a
rst put in it's present form in the year
o B. c., before which it was handed Y
own orally, yet it's tradition is none I
lie less accurate. They give immense '
Tcles Of time, just as the Hindu does, t
II the development of the human race, a
1tting the origin of their civilization .
ack several hundred thousand years. T
heir tradition gives the names of a
great saints or teachers q
lat have kept the knowledge of the Il
,ra ma tbyyav IN raaop hofnrp 10 :.