Engaging with the Guru

Bibliographic Data

ID7212129
AuthorsKristina Myrvold (0000-0002-3366-7368, Lund University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume6
Issue1-3
Pages201-224
Publication date2012-06-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePostscripts The Journal of Sacred Texts Cultural Histories and Contemporary Contexts (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1743-887X • E-ISSN: 1743-8888
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/post.v6i1-3.201
OpenAlexW2092961906
LanguageEN
References cited20

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

Aesthetics · Construct (python library · Epistemology · Performative utterance · Philosophy of religion · Sociology · Philosophy · Religious studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora · Theatre and Performance Studies

Tools

Open DOI