Around the World: Lesson 5

Overview

Understanding Sikhism

Sikhism arose in the late fifteenth century as a reform movement out of Hinduism in northern India, founded by Guru Nanak—a contemporary of Martin Luther. According to Sikh tradition, Nanak disappeared for three days at age thirty and returned claiming enlightenment, declaring, "There is neither Hindu nor Muslim, but only man." His teaching rested on three principles: worship of one god alone (rejecting Hindu idol worship), seeking that god through inward meditation rather than pilgrimage, and the equality of all people regardless of caste, gender, or background. He kept the Hindu doctrines of karma, reincarnation, and maya (the world as illusion), but rejected ritualism and asceticism in favor of honest, married, householder life.

After Nanak came nine more gurus, ending with Guru Gobind Singh, who established the Khalsa ("pure") order. Faithful Sikh men observe the five Ks: uncut hair (kept under a turban), a wooden comb, a sword, a steel bracelet, and a special undergarment. Before his death, Gobind Singh declared that no further human gurus would follow; instead, the Granth—the collected poetic writings of the gurus—would itself serve as the living guru. Salvation in Sikhism is the soul's eventual merging with god, attained through meditation, good works, and breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation, said to span as many as 8.4 million life forms. The five evils (lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego) keep a person in bondage and are countered by five "weapons": truth, compassion, contentment, humility, and love.

For all its emphasis on devotion and discipline, Sikhism offers no assurance of salvation. A devout Sikh works tirelessly without ever knowing whether liberation is near or impossibly far away. When a loved one dies, there is only goodbye. The contrast with the gospel could not be sharper. Where Sikhism teaches that god is reached by climbing—lifetime upon lifetime of meditation and merit—Scripture proclaims a Savior who has come down to us. In Christ, liberation is not a distant hope dependent on our striving but a present reality: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" John 8:36. "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23. And unlike a merging that dissolves the self into an impersonal whole, union with Christ preserves us as the persons God made us to be, fully known and fully loved.

As G.K. Chesterton observed, the circle of Eastern religion is fixed and bound, returning forever upon itself; the cross opens its arms to the four winds. That is why our calling to bear witness matters so deeply Matthew 28:18-20. Sikh neighbors, like all people, are made in God's image and are loved by him. They labor under a yoke that offers no rest and no certainty. We have been given the one word that can free them: the finished work of Jesus Christ, who promises not endless rebirth but resurrection, not the dissolving of the self but life everlasting in the presence of the Father. Pray for boldness, learn enough to listen well, and speak the cross.

Transcript

Lord, we thank you so much. 2s

We thank you that you have led us to the truth, the truth of our sinfulness, the truth 4s

of redemption in you and the truth of eternal life in you and you alone. 11s

Lord, we ask that as we wrap up this adult education series that you would strengthen 17s

our faith that you would put your words upon our lips so that we would be bold and find 23s

the courage to speak the fullness of your truth to those who have not heard or who have 31s

not yet believed. 37s

Lord, we lift all of this to you in the name of Jesus Christ. 39s

Amen. 43s

Okay. 44s

So we started with Judaism. 45s

Then we went to Islam. 48s

Then we jumped to the eastern side of the world and looked at Hindu, moved into Buddhism, 50s

and today we are going to do Sikhism. 58s

Sikhism. 62s

I guarantee you know who the Sikhs are. 63s

Yes. 67s

You know them by the turbines. 69s

Turbans over uncut hair, which we will get to. 72s

So Sikhism, it comes directly out of Hinduism. 75s

It's from the northern part of India. 84s

Most familiar we know Sikhs, the men, to wear the turbines over their uncut hair. 88s

Perfect example, Punjab in the movie Annie. 97s

Remember him and how he takes his turbine off to help save her from the helicopter or 101s

like lowering down from the helicopter, he was a Sikh. 107s

So, and if you don't remember the movie Annie, well, too bad. 111s

So, the origins of Sikhism come out of a reform movement in Hinduism. 115s

And remember when we talked about Hinduism and then Buddhism, there are lots of changes being made. 127s

And with Hinduism, all the changes are fine because everything is fine. 134s

Everything is accepted, right? 141s

So, it comes out of this reform movement within Hinduism. 144s

And there are 10 gurus at the center of Sikhism. 149s

10 gurus. 156s

The first guru is guru Nanak or Nanak. 157s

It's guru N. So, guru Nanak. 165s

And this guru bless you. 174s

Was the same as a contemporary of Luther, not that they were buddies. 176s

I don't think that they ever even crossed paths, but same time period as Martin Luther. 180s

So, it's kind of interesting that reformation was happening in the Christian church. 186s

There was also reformation happening in the Hindu church at that time. 191s

And this guru, he at 30, so he was married, he had some kids at 30. 196s

He disappeared for three days. 201s

He went off and he returned and he was claiming that he had been enlightened. 204s

That sounds familiar too. 210s

We see that coming up a lot. 212s

So, he disappeared and then came and said he had a vision. 213s

He said there is neither Hindu nor Muslim, but only man. 217s

So, whose path shall I follow? 222s

I shall follow God's path. 224s

God is neither Hindu or Muslim and the path which I follow is God's. 225s

He said that he had been taken to the Sikh God's court. 231s

And when we say God, when we talk about God in Sikhism, we are going to lowercase 236s

because it is not the triune God. 241s

So, he said he was taken to God's court and he received enlightenment. 245s

And the enlightenment which he received is different than the practices and teachings of Hinduism and Islam. 249s

So, Hinduism and Islam were very, very rampant in northern India, where he was. 259s

And so, he said that he was enlightened, taken to God's court, given a cup of nectar and had this vision, had this revelation to him. 266s

And the foundation of this Guru's teaching includes three principles. 278s

The first one is that mankind is not to worship idols, which in Hinduism you remember, a lot of idol worship. 285s

Man is not to worship idols, but only the one true God, which little G-God. 297s

Okay, so worship only God. 307s

Sikh God. 316s

The second one is that one should seek this God in one's own heart through meditation, not in places of pilgrimage. 318s

Remember, in both Hinduism and Buddhism, or I mean Islam, sorry, there's a lot of pilgrimageing, right? 328s

You have to go to certain places, you have to do these things, you have to have to have to. 335s

And so, Guru Nanak said, nope, we worship only the Sikh God, the one true God, and no pilgrimage. 340s

Oh, and it's through meditation. 353s

That means, yes, meditation. 362s

The other one is that people of every caste are equal in the eyes of their God, and thus can equally worship him. 366s

This is a huge break from Hinduism. 376s

So, we're going to put equality. 379s

Because in Hinduism, as you remember, the caste system, there were different levels of life. 384s

And to be of high caste was good. 392s

You had life pretty well. 396s

Low caste Hindus were not even allowed to worship, because they were too low. 398s

And so, he, Guru Nanak said, nope, there is equality. 405s

And we'll find in a little bit here, that stretch not only from the caste system, but also gender, race, like equal. 412s

Equal across the board. 421s

And then, finally, that God is found in all religions, that he cannot be limited. 424s

Okay, that got really sloppy, sorry. 438s

So, that says God found in all religions. 443s

That's bad when you can't read your own handwriting. 448s

Okay, so he rejected Hinduism in the caste system. 450s

He rejected Hinduism in idol worship, but he very much accepted the teaching of Maya, which is that illusion state that we live in as humans. 456s

That we don't, in the nature of this world, everything is an illusion. 474s

Right? And he also very much taught and believed in karma and in reincarnation. 481s

He emphasized the rejection of acetism, of closing oneself off. 487s

So, he was not a proponent of the monk life, which some Hindus were. 495s

And so, that was part of that reform that he was making also. 502s

He was very much a proponent of married life, household duties, living, living life. 508s

Right? He broke from the Hinduism, or from Hinduism, in the core belief of the equality of all people. 517s

So, we have Guru Nanak who started everything, but there are, whoo, we're down to one page. 525s

But there are ten gurus, as I said, that are center in Sikhism. 536s

And one reaches enlightenment through learning the way and the word of the ten Sikh gurus. 543s

Sikhs speak of their scriptures, the grant, by itself, or as itself being a Guru. 554s

So, we have the ten gurus, their writings and teachings, which a lot of them are, if you think of Psalms, 561s

like how we have that poetic musical psalm in our scripture, that is what the Sikh scripture is similar to. 571s

And that is the grant, grant, I want to make sure I'm spelling this correctly, yes, the grant. 581s

So, this is their scripture, the grant. 588s

And it's a collection of everything that the ten gurus had written or spoken, especially their poetic hymns. 592s

And this then is said to be in and of itself a living Guru. 605s

So, for Nanak, truth was of utmost importance. 613s

He rejected rituals, the rituals of Hinduism, the rituals of Islam, because he said anyone can perform a ritual perfectly, 617s

but it has nothing to do with the heart. 627s

And all the rituals were an outward happening. 630s

They were an outward action, but they have nothing to do with the heart. 635s

And for him to know God, little G-God, was done through meditation, done through the heart. 641s

He taught that the Sikh God is everywhere, and that he isn't found only in a holy place, and he's not found in only one religious tradition. 650s

Similar to Hinduism, it proclaims devotion to what is the one true God, but the one true God can be found in any religion, in any form, and in any tradition, just like Hinduism. 660s

But they're saying that this one God is in all religions, and that he may be addressed or named by different names or address differently, but all are valid, that the Sikh God is God. 677s

The Sikh God, however, does not have a physical presence. 697s

So Muslims and Hindus, because there was this equality, and because there was this openness, and because Guru Nanak was a very common man, and spoke with the common vernacular, 705s

because of this, both Muslims and Hindus who heard him were very drawn to him, and they were very drawn to what he taught. 725s

He really worked hard toward universal brotherhood. Brotherhood is used very loosely here, because he rejected gender inequality. 734s

In fact, women in the Sikh religion keep their own names. They do not take on their husband's name. 743s

So everyone keeps their own name, and both have the same opportunity to know God, both have the same responsibilities, as far as knowing God and being enlightened. 751s

So Guru Nanak started it, then you have this series of gurus that are appointed one after the other. 768s

And then we come to the tenth Guru, who is probably the most influential Guru after Guru Nanak. 776s

And his name is Guru Gobind Singh, and he is known for the order of Kalsa, which means pure. 786s

So he initiated some certain protocol, which we are going to talk about those. 803s

He initiated two protocol for the faithful Sikh to follow the Sikh men. And then in the 20th century, three more protocols were added to that. 809s

So we have five obligatory practices for Sikh men, and they are known as the five Ks. 820s

The first one is Kurpan, which is that one must carry the sword. 825s

So that's one that Guru Gobind Singh had instituted. So he was not only known as a spiritual guide, but he became a military leader as well. 831s

And so there was a lot of conflict between the local Muslims and the Sikhs. 844s

And so Guru Singh had ushered in this law, this obligation to carry a sword. 851s

And then the other one that he ushered in was Keshe, which is that one must never cut his hair. 860s

So that hair is kept under the turban. Then the three that were added are Kanga, which is to use a wooden comb twice a day, Kacha, which is wearing a special undergarment, and Kara, which is donning a steel bracelet. 867s

So Sikhs to be a faithful Sikh follower and a man, you would not cut your hair, you would comb through it twice with a wooden comb, you'd carry your sword, you'd have the silver bracelet, and you'd keep or wear special undergarments. 886s

That, I keep looking here, this is not Guru, that's Grant. Guru Singh was assassinated, but before he was killed, he told the other Sikhs, he said, there are not going to be any more Guru's. 904s

I'm the last Guru. 919s

I know, yes, so he said, I'm the last Guru, instead the Grant is going to be the living Guru. 922s

You have our writings here, this is now your Guru, this is what you follow. 934s

So Sikhs have the Grant, and they have a holy place called the Golden Temple. 943s

The key teachings in Sikhism is there's one God, there's only one God, and that's where it really deviates from Hinduism, because in Hinduism you have several multiple Gods. 952s

All of those are valid in Sikhism, but they're really that one God. 967s

So these numerous Gods are really the one Sikh God. 974s

Okay, man is to remember God at all times, this is that meditation, meditation, meditation, there are prescribed times of prayer each day for the Sikh, but really a Sikh should remember his God or her God at all times. 980s

It's very God and meditation focused, that is very central to this religion, because when one forgets God, one ceases to live. 999s

They're just living in a state of illusion, they're living in that Maya, in that illusory state of existence. 1012s

He's living a lie. 1020s

The Grant teaches man's goal is to merge with God, to be united with him. 1021s

So Guru Nanak had the vision, and he was enlightened. 1028s

He became one with this God. 1035s

He was designated by God to then enlighten others. 1042s

So the path to salvation is the way of the Guru, the Grant. 1050s

Salvation depends on what you do and how well you do it. 1057s

It's that climbing, the ladder again, we're right back to karma. 1060s

It's all works. 1064s

It's works based, works, works, works. 1066s

Nanak offers the way of wisdom. 1070s

So Guru, and this is, I thought this was pretty interesting, Guru means darkness. 1073s

And Rhu means, oh, light, sorry, light. 1082s

So Guru means, dispeller of darkness. 1090s

So, okay. 1095s

So we've got these gurus, the dispellers of darkness. 1103s

And because Nanak is thought to have merged with God, he is the perfect Guru. 1109s

Which then puts him at a divine status. 1117s

Because all of a sudden Nanak is the perfect Guru. 1123s

And so he is divine. 1127s

It's this weird circular thing. 1131s

Because he has now merged with God. 1134s

According to Sikh scriptures, without the Guru, spiritual wisdom and liberation from bondage is not attainable. 1138s

The Guru, grant, the living Guru is necessary. 1147s

The way of the Guru is necessary for salvation. 1151s

And the way of the Guru breaks the cycle of reincarnation. 1156s

Now this is very interesting that the author that I was reading from, he pointed out that as Christians, 1162s

we really need to resist the temptation of superimposing our theology and understanding into or terminology into Sikhism. 1170s

Because God is not a Guru. 1184s

We cannot equate God. 1188s

We know the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, is not a Guru. 1191s

And the Guru's are not God. 1197s

There's a difficulty that we have from the very beginning as Westerners. 1202s

Because we come into understanding creation with creation and the creator being separate. 1207s

We see creation as the works of the creator and as his goodness. 1218s

And they all speak to the creation around us, speaks to the glory of God, our creator. 1228s

But in Eastern philosophy, creation is in the creator and creator is in the creation. 1235s

And so it's one and the same. 1243s

We talked about that with Hinduism and Buddhism. 1246s

That there's this oneness that was in Buddhism. 1249s

That Hinduism where there's just one soul and everything has a soul. 1253s

And so the whole point was to merge into that one complete soul. 1259s

And so we can't use our own understanding, our own terminology, our own theology, and just place it on top of Sikhism. 1266s

Because do we worship one God and one God only? 1278s

Yes. It is not the Sikh God. 1282s

And the triumphant God does not fall under the category of the Sikh God. 1286s

God is reachable in Sikhism and he is encountered through devoted meditation. 1295s

So meditation is absolutely key in breaking the reincarnation cycle. 1301s

The divine Guru Nanak spoke of a possible 8.4 million life forms that a person might pass through before completing the samsara cycle. 1308s

That is the reincarnation cycle. 1321s

8.4 million life forms. 1323s

And being human is one of the final stages. 1328s

So as humans we're near the end of the reincarnation. 1333s

So that is probably good. 1338s

And freedom from that cycle of reincarnation means salvation. 1344s

There is a creed, the mule mantra, which means main chant, the mule mantra in Sikhism goes, and these are supposed this creed is told to be Guru Nanak's first words to come out of his mouth after being enlightened. 1351s

So, and just as we say our creed every single week, in a Sikh temple this would be said every single week. 1372s

Or every time that they get together to pray. 1381s

And I believe this is said at the start of every prayer. 1384s

One universal creator God, the name is truth, creative being personified, no fear, no hatred, image of the undying, beyond birth, self-existent, by Guru's grace, chant and meditate. 1388s

True in the primal being. True throughout the ages. True here and now. 1402s

Oh Nanak forever and ever true. Very interesting that Guru Nanak puts his own name into the creed. 1407s

If you go to a church and the pastor puts his or her name in the creed, leave. 1421s

Leave. 1430s

Another really important part of Sikhism is that truth and illusion, right? 1432s

Because everything around us is an illusion until we're meditating on God, until we're getting enlightened. 1440s

And there are different levels of enlightenment. God is the ultimate reality. 1449s

Men and women are to live honest and truthful lives which correspond with true reality which is God. 1455s

The world is marked by illusion which deceives mankind. And this illusion is a direct cause of five evils which are also referred to as five thieves. 1463s

The five evils or five thieves are lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment, and ego. 1475s

Those are the five evils. But there are five antidotes to these five evils. 1495s

And those are referred to as the five weapons. And those are used to fight off the evils. 1502s

And those are truth, compassion, contentment, humility, and love. 1508s

So the five evils are the closest thing that we get to in sin, in Sikhism. 1524s

The five evils are strong enough to keep one in bondage. 1533s

They are strong enough to keep one in bondage to that cycle of reincarnation. 1539s

They are strong enough to wreak havoc and destruction in lives. 1547s

Every single man and woman in Sikhism is to be held accountable to God and must answer. 1555s

Every person is in need of redemption in Sikhism. 1566s

Being trapped in the illusion of Maya being plagued by the five evils in bondage to reincarnation, man in Sikhism wants to be liberated. 1571s

But there is no assurance of salvation. Even if as a human one is near the end of the reincarnation cycle, you are not promised or guaranteed that it is the last stage or that it is the last life form that you will experience. 1583s

There is no assurance of an afterlife. There is no assurance of anything. 1603s

So when a Sikh is losing a loved one, it is goodbye. It is goodbye. There is no promise of anything. 1609s

There is no assurance of anything. One can do his or her best to fight off evils and to do what is right. 1625s

That karma, do what is good, do what is good, fight off evil by doing good, meditating on God, selfless service. 1634s

Evil can be overcome with good, but doing the best to what end. 1644s

No one knows what end is in sight. There is no assurance, no promise of anything. 1651s

Liberation in Sikhism is not the same as liberation in Christianity. 1660s

In Christianity, when we are liberated, when we know that gospel word, that we have been liberated, then we know that we are freed. 1665s

We are no longer held captive to death, to sin, to the devil. 1676s

But we have the fullness of life, eternal life in Christ. There is true freedom. In Sikhism, liberation is still connected to that samsara. 1682s

It is still connected to that reincarnation cycle. 1695s

Liberation is this end goal, merging with God, uniting with God, which can take innumerable lives to achieve. 1698s

Really one never knows when he or she gets there. There is no knowing. 1709s

The fact that that person is still here, well, you haven't reached it yet. 1718s

You have to do harder, work harder, do better. 1725s

I have had such an incredible time learning about these different faiths and different worldviews and religions. 1732s

It makes me appreciate not only the blessing of being Christian and having been called into faith. 1746s

It makes me appreciate the need for the commission, the need that we have as a Christian people to share. 1759s

Can you imagine being stuck? Never knowing, doing everything you possibly can. 1774s

But for what? The emptiness? 1783s

Being one with little G-god is all about being united with the great spirit, with the great soul, the soul of all. 1789s

But you never get there. You never get there. 1801s

That's sad. That's why we have been given that important mission to share the full truth. 1807s

Because we know that it doesn't matter how good we do, how hard we work. That's not what's important. 1817s

It's the spirit that drives us to. 1825s

But you're going through all these reincarnations that is, is there something like a soul that is going to stay in the same form? 1829s

Yes. He's asking, as you go through these reincarnations, is there this soul that jumps life form to life form? 1838s

Yes. At least in Sikhism. But yes. From my understanding, yes, across the board. 1846s

And that is you. And then you are given, but you wouldn't necessarily have memories of your other life forms. 1854s

Oh, my goodness. So the question was asked a few weeks ago about these levels of reincarnation. 1863s

There are several answers. There are, in Hinduism, there are classes of beings. 1871s

And in Sikhism, then, we also have those classes of beings. 1879s

So being human is you have gone through multiple life forms and you've really almost there. 1883s

But in Hinduism, you have these classes based on senses. 1892s

So like you have one sensed beings. That's like a tree, plants, water. 1901s

Then you have two sensed beings, which are worms and shells. 1908s

Then you have three sensed beings, which are bugs. 1913s

Four sensed beings are more bugs, but they're different bugs. 1916s

They're like spiders and bees and grasshoppers. 1922s

And then you have that next level, the highest tier, is the five sensed beings, which we would be part of that. 1927s

Animals would be part of that. But it's interesting because even within that, there really is a hierarchy. 1936s

Another question, and I had to bring this in. Yes, I love this. 1945s

Okay, so the other one that was asked recently was what's the deal with the cows? 1951s

What is the cow's sacred? 1959s

And so they didn't start out as sacred. 1965s

Hindus used to eat them, actually. They were sacrificed to gods. 1969s

The meat was eaten. But milk-producing cows have always been off limits for eating. 1975s

So this says that Hindus do not consider the cow to be a god, and they do not worship it. 1982s

However, they are vegetarians and consider the cow to be a sacred symbol of life that should be protected and revered. 1989s

The cow is associated with the mother of all gods. 1996s

And so that is why it is revered, because it's the mother of all gods. 2001s

Yes, they're docile, they're gentle creatures. 2011s

The 8.4 million life forms. 2015s

What's the math on that? 2018s

There is a reason why I am not an accountant. 2023s

Math and I are not always on good terms. 2029s

So I don't know how the math was figured out. 2034s

That is above me. Yes. 2038s

In this religion you never get any question, but in some of the other history, 2041s

the Hindu religion, the Hinduism, is your goal to become one part of the one god. 2046s

And if you did so, you lose that identity of that soul of your own. 2053s

You're not part of the infinite. 2058s

Okay, so his question, if you didn't hear it, he said, 2060s

okay, so, hold on. I'm trying to remember the beginning of it. 2064s

Hold on. He's going to tell you his question himself. 2070s

Well, I mean, you had said that in Sikhism, there's no where to go. 2074s

And I just wondered, is that true of all the Hindu religions? 2080s

Do they eventually become part of the one god? 2084s

And if they do, do they lose their identity? 2088s

Are they now part of that? 2091s

And their separate soul is now part of this universal god. 2092s

And so there is no self-identity anymore. 2097s

Okay, great question. 2100s

And it's the same with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism that really there is no, 2102s

I mean, supposedly there's an attainable end, right? 2110s

There is a goal that we're going after. 2114s

But, and that goal is to be one with the spirit, with god. 2119s

Both Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, it's all to be united with. 2127s

And it's a different understanding because remember, creation and creator are not separated. 2134s

And so, to have your soul united and merged with God, that's the ultimate. 2142s

And it's not a matter of losing yourself. 2153s

It's a matter of having that final unification. 2157s

Whereas we know that we are united in Christ, but we are still who we are. 2163s

Yes. 2174s

If it doesn't like the ball, the religion, the journey, it's not so much, it's the painting of goal, 2175s

but it's the religion itself about the journey of the fight. 2182s

So, he's saying, aren't those religions about the journey, about the journey of life? 2187s

There is, it's not so much about attaining the goal, but about the journey that they're on. 2192s

There is a goal, but that's not. 2196s

Well, the journey is part of it, but the journey is all the work to get to that goal. 2199s

So, I think that that would probably come down to the individual understanding. 2208s

I mean, just like with Christianity, we're disciples, we know that ultimately we will be in heaven with God, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 2212s

But it, what a sad thing to not live as a disciple, right, to live the fullness of the life that we have been given in Christ here and now. 2224s

And so, I think, I don't know that it's about just the journey, because the journey for a Sikh is always aimed at getting off of the cycle. 2237s

Right? To do that, you do have to live well. Yes. 2253s

But it's true. 2257s

But it's not, that is not the goal. The goal isn't to live well for the sake of living well. The goal is to live well to get off the ride. 2259s

Yes. 2270s

When did the Guru's live? 2271s

When did the Guru's live? So, Guru Nanak, the first one, was in like 1469. 2274s

I think that's when he was born. He was either born in 1469 or started his three-day vision enlightenment then. 2283s

And then it was a few years, few years, few years. I think the last one, Guru's Singh was in 1700 something. 2293s

I believe so. It was for a few hundred years that the 10 Guru's existed or lived. 2305s

Yeah. So, yes, very interesting. 2312s

So, he said that time frame, he surprised by it and said, the only thing that I remember people. 2317s

And yet they have the sections separate, the expectations for the men, for the ordinary people. 2324s

So, okay. So, it's surprising that in that time frame that there would be this equality of genders. 2331s

But then there were also separate expectations for the men. And what was that? 2338s

I was found hurt. How did that show up? 2345s

How did that show up? 2349s

Well, I think I cannot answer from a place of complete knowledge here. But, I'm going to own it. 2352s

No, but I think that we also have to keep in mind where they are. So, if this is India and part of the Indian life is just, this is your place in life. 2363s

Which the caste system definitely was a huge, huge making of that. But if that is still the culture that you're born into, that you live in, 2377s

then I think there's still going to be an element of that. So, while the men and women can have equal expectation of unifying with the God, equal expectation of meditation, equal expectation of karma doing good, being held accountable, they can simultaneously have the expectation of this is your role in this household. 2390s

Right, exactly. So, there was one other thing that I read. And this was like, before we started our class, and I had to, and this is weeks ago, but I loved this, loved this, loved this. 2415s

So, it was in one of my devotional books. And this is G.K. Chesterton, who said that Buddhism is centrifugal. But Christianity is, I always say this wrong, centrifugal. It breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in its nature, but it's fixed forever in size. 2432s

It can never be larger or smaller, but the cross. Though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction can extend its forearms forever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its center, it can grow without changing. 2457s

The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the forewinds. It is a signpost for free travelers. 2474s

I love, love that. The cross extends and continues to extend, whereas these other religions are stuck. 2484s

So, because we are out of time, I want to thank you for going on this journey with me. And I want to encourage you to keep learning. And when these opportunities arise, know that you speak the cross. You bring with you the cross. And there is nothing more liberating than the cross. Yes. 2500s

Quick and easy. 2527s

Oh man, hold on. Who brought the gospel to the Indian subcontinent? Hold on. This was in my Apostles class. We talked about this. 2534s

I was going to say I thought it was Thomas, but I had to think for a second. Come on now. We don't put on the spot when we have... 2543s

God bless you. Don't forget next week May 1st, adult education, Pastor Ibel is starting his class on resurrection. I am so looking forward to that as I always do look forward to his classes. But God bless. Thank you. 2556s

You 2581s