Compare And Contrast Sikhism And Denominations

The vast majority of people around the world are connected to some form of faith, or religious group; Sects and Denominations. These both mean a distinct religious group or movement. Denominations are branches inside a religion that work under a common name, tradition, and identity. Sects are a group of people who separate from a larger, fixed religious “Denomination” (Miller, 2010). This is because their set of beliefs differ in some paramount ways. All religions work under a common set of beliefs, traditions, or identities. The religions that are being compared, and described, are Sikhism and Hinduism. Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent at about the end of the 15th century (En.Wikipedia.org, 2018). Hinduism
Saivite Hindus believe in self-discipline. They worship in their temple and participate in inner peacebuilding activities such as yoga. They do this because they strive to be one with Siva. The path Saivites usually follow can be branched into four developing stages of belief and practice. These are called charya, kriya, yoga, and jnana. These are basically used to reach a higher state of wisdom, and a higher maturity level of the soul (Monastery, 2018). The second major sect is known as Shaktism. Shaktas worship the Supreme as the Divine Mother, Shakti, or Devi (Monastery, 2018). Shaktas also use yoga, but they use it alongside rituals to call forward cosmic forces and awaken the great kundalini power within the spine. Kundalini is believed to be latent female energy within the spine (Monastery, 2018). Shaktas also use chants, real magic, and holy diagrams to accomplish this task. The spiritual practices in Shaktism have similarities to the ones followed in Savism,but God's Power as opposed to Being, and embracing evident opposites are of greater importance (Monastery, 2018). The third major sect in Hinduism is Vaishnavism. Vaishnavites worship the Supreme as Lord Vishnu and His incarnations (Monastery, 2018). Vaishnavites are dualistic and greatly devotional. Their religion largely consists of Saints, scriptures, and temples. Yoga is also of great importance to Vaishnavites (Monastery, 2018). Lastly, the fourth major sect of Hinduism is Smartism. Smartas
I will focus on the top 4 major Sects. The first major sect would be Udasi. The creator of this sect is the eldest son of Guru Nanak, Baba Siri Chand. Baba was a celibate who preached celibacy to all his advocates (Aurora, 2018). The second major sect is Sindhi Sikhs. They derive from the region of Sindh, in Pakistan. They are grand respecters of the Guru Granth Sahib and its Gurus. They take part in all the festivals and originate from all kinds of backgrounds (Aurora, 2018). The third major sect in Sikhism is Radha Soami. They stay away from all types of intoxication (Aurora, 2018). Living an important life is very important to them, and they always strive to do so through natural ways. Lastly, the final major sect in Sikhism is known as Nirmalas. Nirmalas was created when Guru Gobind Singh sent his chosen advocates to learn Sanskrit. People in the Nirmalas Sect need to keep their hair uncut and live a monastic, studious life (Aurora, 2018).

Although both Hinduism and Sikhism are very different from the Catholic faith I was raised into, they also hold many similarities. I found this hard to believe at first, so I began to expand my knowledge of both religions. I then realized that both religions and the sects within them, for the most part, believe in a God. It is the Catholic faith. An example of a sect who believes in Saints would be Vaishnavism, which is a part of Hinduism. After gaining a deeper insight into