I respect that they have a tradition that considers religious practice most valid when it occurs in the world[1].
Many other religions have strong ascetic and/or monastic traditions, and they tend to consider those practitioners to be, in some sense or other, the holiest. Retreat from the world tends to be the advised path for the purest, or at least most successful, pursuit of religious study and practice.
Not the Sikhs. They're like, "Pft, that sounds like religion on easy mode. No thanks, I'm going to have a job, a spouse, and kids, and still manage to practice my religion well, because I'm not a wimp." This despite their religion featuring all the usual the-world-distracts-you-from-salvation warnings.
> Blind spirituality: Superstitions and rituals should not be observed or followed, including pilgrimages, fasting and ritual purification; circumcision; idols & grave worship; compulsory wearing of the veil for women; etc.
This is probably one of the things that surprised me the most. Other religions put these things first, Sikhism just bans them outright. You'd think a religion that doesn't reinforce its importance with obtrusive rituals wouldn't survive but here it is alive and kicking ass.
Many other religions have strong ascetic and/or monastic traditions, and they tend to consider those practitioners to be, in some sense or other, the holiest. Retreat from the world tends to be the advised path for the purest, or at least most successful, pursuit of religious study and practice.
Not the Sikhs. They're like, "Pft, that sounds like religion on easy mode. No thanks, I'm going to have a job, a spouse, and kids, and still manage to practice my religion well, because I'm not a wimp." This despite their religion featuring all the usual the-world-distracts-you-from-salvation warnings.
[1] See #6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhis...