Kristina Myrvold
Visiting professor
Engaging with the Guru : Sikh Beliefs and Practices of Guru Granth Sahib
Author
Summary, in English
The Sikhs have perhaps taken the concept of a sacred scripture much further than any other religious community by treating the Guru Granth Sahib as a living guru. This essay analyzes various religious beliefs and practices by which contemporary Sikhs construct and maintain conceptions of their scripture as a guru with spiritual authority. A distinction is made between religious practices that serve to mediate and interpret the semantic content of the scripture, performative acts that are enacted to transform the social world, and rituals that aim to give the scripture a careful ministration and celebrate different stages of its worldly life. The various ritualized uses of Guru Granth Sahib can be approached as external strategies by which the Sikhs personify their scripture and make it socially alive as a living guru.
Department/s
- History of Religions and Religious Behavioural Science
Publishing year
2012
Language
Swedish
Pages
185-200
Publication/Series
Postscripts
Volume
6
Issue
1-3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Equinox Publishing
Topic
- History of Religions
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1743-8888