Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

I'm Mr. Hutchinson and this is R.

E, Religious Education.

We're going to be learning all about Sikhism in this unit.

We've got lots of lessons to really get to grip with this fascinating religion.

I can't wait, I find R.

E so interesting.

I think it is fascinating to learn about the beliefs and experiences and practises of what people around the world believe in terms of whether there's anything greater than us, gods and angels, what is beyond reality and the history of all of those different religions and how they're lived today.

I think it's so interesting, I can't wait to share that with you.

And today we're going to be delving into the religion of Sikhism.

And we're going to start today's lesson by asking, well, how did this religion begin? How was this religion founded? Now right at the start, I just want to bring in some sort of nuance and some complexity here because for many religions, they, we talk about how they were founded, sometimes by a person not always, and when they first sort of came into the world, but lots of followers of religions consider their religions to be timeless, to be eternal.

So although there might have been a first time that that religion was uncovered or revealed, that the actual religion is timeless.

Having said that we're going to look at how Sikhism is usually understood to have begun, and that's what we're going to do today.

So by the end of today's lesson, you should have a good understanding of that.

In terms of how our lesson will break down, we're going to start off with a big picture of all sorts of different religions.

We'll then learn about a Holy man called Guru Nanak Dev Ji, or just Guru Nanak.

We think about how Guru Nanak's teaching interacted with the idea of community and equality, especially.

And we've finished off with an end of lesson quiz which will help you to bring all of your knowledge together.

So in each of these lessons there will be a quiz at the end with usually five questions, and you can go through those and it'll just remind you of the key pieces of information and make sure you've learned those bits of knowledge so that as we go through the unit you learn more and more and more, you're reminded of the different things so that you're a real expert on Sikhism by the time we end this unit.

Let's get started.

So, first of all, different religions.

Let's start with a big picture.

Sikhism is one of many religions.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of religions.

You can see here some symbols, which symbolises some of the major religions and just some of them, there are lots lots more.

So, hopefully you've got a piece of paper or a notebook or an exercise book and a pen already.

If you haven't paused the video and get that because in our lessons we're going to be doing lots of writing where you can pause the video, have a go at the exercise and then start the video again.

So if you haven't already got one then, pause the video and grab that now.

If you have, make sure your distraction free and have a go at this first task for me.

How many religions can you name? Pause the video and make a list of all of the religions that you can name.

Super.

Hopefully you've got a really great list there of lots of different religions.

I wonder how many you got.

Did anybody get more, any more than five? More than 10? More than 20? Gosh, some of you know a lot about religion already.

Well done, excellent work.

So there are many many major religions.

There are many religions, there are many major religions, different sorts of religions practised all over the world.

Often in terms of the major religions, we grouped them into two sorts of groups.

So I think it's worth knowing about.

So we sometimes talk about the Abrahamic Religions, named after the Prophet Abraham.

Abraham, Abrahamic Religions.

And the Abrahamic Religions who consider Abraham to be a great prophet.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam all consider Abraham to be a key prophet and one of the earliest prophets.

It's not just the Abrahamic Religions though which began in the Middle East, there are also what is sometimes known as the Dharmic Religions which are usually taken as religions from the Indian Sub-continent around India and Nepal, that's sort of area.

And the Dharmic Religions have a little bit of a different approach and the major Dharmic Religions are usually taken to be Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Sometimes there are some others like Jainism, who at which are taken into that.

And these are two sorts of different kinds of approaches to religion, they're two different understandings of religions, have different histories and we're going to be looking at the Dharmic Religions today, which is Sikhism, one of the most recent Dharmic Religions.

Let's have a look at how Sikhism and Dharmic Religions and Abrahamic religions sort of map onto world history timeline.

So I think sometimes it can be helpful that there are lots of religions, they started at different times.

I think it can be helpful to sort of get a sense in terms of history of where they come.

So let's have a go at that now.

I'm going to show you some of the different religions and the times that they were founded.

So Islam, it's usually taken to have founded around 622, the religion where the crown was revealed to Mohammed over a period of about 20 years, but about 622 CE.

So CE, common era after year zero.

Judaism, much earlier.

So Judaism, that c by the way there, just in case you're wondering what is this c here? This c means circa, it's a Latin word and it means about, approximately.

So not entirely sure it might be around that time.

So a circa 1800 BCE, before the common era.

Sometimes that's just BC but sometimes it's BC and sometimes we use BCE.

It doesn't matter what you use, we're using BCE.

So 1,800 years before the year zero, before the common era, there was Judaism.

Even earlier than that, about 2000 BCE and especially because it's a sort of oral tradition within Hinduism, perhaps we're going back much further with Hinduism.

So that's about 4,000 years ago, over 4,000 years ago In fact.

Sikhism on the other hand, 1500 CE.

1500 CE after year zero.

So only about 500 years ago.

So in terms of religions, Sikhism is quite young.

It's quite a new religion.

It's only about 500 years old.

Buddhism was about the sixth century BCE, before the year zero.

So Buddhism came after Hinduism after Judaism but before Islam and Sikhism.

And the last one that we're looking at is Christianity.

Christianity really began, death of Christ around 30 CE, about 30 years after year zero because of course our calendar starts counting years from the birth of Christ.

So about 30 CE was Christianity.

So we've got the different religions there but you'll notice that they're sort of jumbled up and not in order and I think it's really helpful to have that chronology of what order did these religions come in.

So I'm going to give you another task now.

I'd like you to put them in order, so if you've got a ruler really helpful 'cause it's very important to make sure your work is really neat.

If you've got a ruler, draw your timeline from the earliest to the most recent and take those religions, I'm going to keep the dates there for you.

Take those religions and put them in order, plotting them on the timeline so that you can see the order of that some of these different major Abrahamic and Dharmic Religions.

Pause the video and give that task a go now.

Super, let's check it and see if you are correct to make sure that it's nice and neat and that you're happy with it and I'm going to show you the answers now.

So first of all, I'm going to put these Dharmic Religions along the top here.

So Hinduism, the earliest religion that we looked at there, 2000 BCE.

Next came Judaism.

I'm putting it at the bottom 'cause it was the Abrahamic religion.

Then Buddhism came under the Dharmic religion, about 530 BCE.

Next was Christianity, then Islam, and the most recent that we're looking at today is Sikhism.

And where of course, about 500 years after that.

So, this religion of Sikhism quite a new, quite a recent religion.

How did it all begin? Who began this religion? Let's take a look at that now together.

So it began with somebody called Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Now, some of those words there mean, not particularly to do with a name, that's sort of title, so guru meeting teacher and Dev and Ji are sorts of words of, they're words that show respect for elders or for Holy people or for teachers.

So earlier in his life, he would have just been known as Nanak and later on, became known as Guru Nanak and then Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

And Nanak, let's just go for Nanak for now, Nanak was born and lived about 500 years ago in this area here.

So you can see that this is modern day India and modern day Nepal and Nanak was, if we zoom right in, Nanak was born in an area known as the Punjab in Northern India.

So if we zoom back out, we can see the Indian sub-continent here, where do we live? Point where we live on this map.

Have a go and point where we live? Excellent, you should be pointing around here, the United Kingdom.

The Abrahamic religions, they were around the Middle East, this area here and the Dharmic Religions around the Sub-Indian continent here.

So zoom back in there now, and we'll look, we'll focus on area.

This is where Nanak was born.

This is where Nanak lived.

So here's a cartoon picture of Nanak because of course there were no cameras around there so we don't have any photos of Nanak.

Another quiz, born in 1469 and lived until about 1539.

Now, in the area at the time, there were some different sort of religious conflicts and tensions.

So Nanak was born to Hindu parents.

His parents were Hindus but about that time, there were some Islamic rulers who were around the area and taking bits of land and the religion was sort of like changing from Islam to Hinduism and there was a bit of sort of tension about which religion people should follow.

And Nanak was really interested in this.

He thought, which religion is right? Which religion should I follow? And so he went on pilgrimages and he visited Holy sites and he spoke to Holy teachers to try and find out what those different religions said.

And Nanak had one big question really? Should I follow Hinduism or Islam? Which is the correct religion to follow? What do they teach? Which do I believe? About Guru Nanak's life, about Nanak's life and I'm wrestling with this question and about the answer that he came to because his answer resulted in him needing to start a new religion entirely called Sikhism.

So again, to watch this video and as you're watching, I want you to have this in your head, this question.

What message did Nanak receive? So say spoilers, he goes into a river and he receives a big message.

What message did he receive? 'cause that's going to be really important for the religion and for you to understand what's driving his religion.

So watch this video now and in your head see if you can answer that question.

Wow, so interesting.

And I don't know about you, but I was watching that thinking I've had similar questions and thoughts to Nanak about what God might be like and why people argue about this sort of thing and, how different people are in tension with each other and conflict and fighting and what was fascinating there is that religious experience that Nanak had where he said that he saw God, he met with God and discovered what God was like and had a message from God.

How interesting, amazing.

So let's move on because I asked you to think about the message that Nanak received.

And so here's a question for you to see if you picked up on that, to see if you were watching carefully.

What message did Nanak receive from God? Was it that there are many different gods and people should worship all of them? A, was it B, God has made everything and loves everyone equally? Was it C, some people are more important than others in God's eyes? Or was it D, only some special people can understand God? Which of those is the best answer to what message Nanak receive from God? Pause the video and you got to put your finger on the correct answer or you could even write down the correct answer.

Pause the video and give that a go.

Excellent, let's see if you're right, get ready, one, two, three.

God has made everything and loves everyone equally.

It was a real message of equality there that for Nanak, there was no such thing as a Hindu or Muslim, that everybody was equal amongst God and that God was, loved everybody equally regardless of their status.

So why is that so important? And why was that quite a revolutionary? This message of the sort of equality was actually quite revolution, it was quite different.

It would challenge a lot of what was around Nanak.

So why? Well, at the time there was something called a caste system and the caste system still exist it's, there's still a lot of debate and people disagree about how and where and why it's sort of put into place, but the caste system puts people into different categories, into different groups and they're sometimes called castes.

Those groups are called castes.

Now at the time when Nanak was preaching, different people were forbidden but if you were in a different caste or different group you're forbidden from mixing or interacting or even eating with people in a group different to you.

And those in a higher caste were seen as better than people in a lower caste or a lower group.

So, what would determine which caste that you are in? Well, things like your job and the family, how much money you had.

So at the top, the Brahmins were priests and teachers.

The next caste down where is rulers, Kings, chiefs and all sort of warriors.

The next caste down, there were merchants, so people that trade, crafts people, skilled workers, anybody that owns land.

And then the lowest caste, Sudra has sort of farm workers, unskilled workers, servants.

And below that, there's actually a sort of a outcasts.

So out of the caste system, there was sometimes called the untouchables or Dalits.

And there are people who clean up the street or toilets, deal with sort of like waste and nobody was supposed to interact with the untouchables at all.

In fact, you shouldn't even accept food if an untouchable has touched it and you shouldn't eat that food.

So that was the system that Nanak was sort of like living in and around and so this message that he gave of everybody is equal, was really revolutionary.

Let's see if you can remember who was in the different caste system.

So I put them in order here from the highest caste of Brahmans, down to the outcast of Dalits and here are the different jobs.

So your task is to pause the video and write out the caste name, first of all like Brahmin and then next to that just write which sorts of people would be in that caste, in that top caste.

And complete that for all of the different castes, see if you can remember which were in which.

Pause the video and get that go now.

Awesome work, let's see if you are right.

So the Brahmins were the priests and the teachers and intellectuals.

If you've got it wrong, don't worry, you can correct it now so that you've got the correct caste system in your notes and your work.

If you've got it right, give yourself a tick and well done, you're awesome.

The next caste down.

Just mark in your work as I reveal these and if you need to pause to make any corrections that's fine too.

So, this was the caste system that Nanak was working within and the reason that, he, his concept of God, the message he received from God told him that there should be no caste system like this, because he thought that God was unmanifest.

So, if you're manifesting, then you're sort of like physically real, you're sort of like, you have a sort of like a body whereas for Nanak, God, although there is just one God, it's a monotheistic religion, there's just one God in Sikhism, God is sort of unmanifest.

God is in everything.

So, he, so God is the manifestation of, by which and in which we all live and move and have our being.

So God is, within Sikhism, God is greater than all of reality, greater than the universe but in all of the universe, all of the universe is in God.

So God is reality, God is the Supreme reality.

And because as far as sikh is concerned, God is in everybody, then everybody should be treated and loved with that sort of respect for God.

And this idea was called Ik Onkar and that's sometimes the name given to God or the concept to call this idea of God in everything.

And this idea is sometimes shown with this symbol here of Ik Onkar.

If you'd like to, you can pause the video and have a go at copying that out, that might be a fun thing to do.

And this idea of, although there being one God, God being all of reality and everything being in God, this idea is sometimes known as panentheism.

So there's polytheism, lots of gods, monotheism, one God and then panentheism.

So Sikhs all monitor, yes they believe that there is just one God, there are multiple different sorts of gods that you worship, but they believe that the nature of that God is panantheistic, that God is all of reality.

Some tricky stuff to get your head around but I know that you're really smart.

And because there was this idea of God in everybody and everybody being equal, Nanak immediately started this idea of Langar which is the community and community eating together, especially eating together.

So Langar means a free kitchen.

So Nanak would bring everybody together, regardless of their caste, regardless of any of their characteristic that they all welcome to come and have free food and eat together.

And that really was a way of showing this equality within Sikhism.

So, let's put all that together in a big answer, your big task for this lesson to finish off.

How did Guru Nanak's understanding of God challenge the society that he lived in? And some of the things that you might like to talk about here is the caste system that he was living, but then Langar, this concept of the free kitchen, the community meal.

Ik Onkar, this idea of the concept of God and panentheism of God is being in all reality.

So pause the video and write a few sentences, a paragraph maybe more, answering this question as best you can.

Do the best job that you can do of how did Guru Nanak's understanding of God challenge the society that you lived in.

Pause the video, give that a go, It's going to take you a few minutes and that's okay.

It's your last big task for today's lesson and afterwards we'll come back and I'll show you what I wrote to see if we did something similar.

Awesome work.

Read back through your work, make sure you're happy with it and I'm going to show you mine.

You can make edits based on mine or you can give yourself ticks if you're mentioning other things, and mentioning similar things, you might've even put your own ideas in that I didn't put, well done if you did, I can probably learn from your answer.

So I wrote, Guru Nanak lived in and amongst communities with a caste system.

This meant that some people were considered better than others and different groups or castes were discouraged from mixing.

Guru Nanak understood God is present in all things a concept known as Ik Onkar.

This idea of God is being greater than, but present in all reality is sometimes called pantheism.

To show that everyone's equal within before God, Guru Nanak began Langar, a free kitchen where all people were welcome to eat together.

So you'll see as I wrote my answer, I looked at those key words and thought, how can I make sure I write at least one sentence and bring all of those ideas in? And that helps me to use the technical vocabulary and the key ideas from this lesson.

Hopefully you included those key words as well in your answers.

And that's the end of our lesson.

Well done.

You've worked really hard and you've already learned lots and lots about this religion of Sikhism, when it began, who its founder was and what the teaching of Guru Nanak was.

We're going to learn so much more about Sikhism and I can't wait to do that with you so make sure that you tune in for our next lesson in this unit and I'll see you then.

There's a quiz to complete at the end of this lesson so click next and complete that quiz to lock in those facts in your brain and make sure you remember them for a long time and I'll see you next time.