Sensual Religion - Religion and the Five Senses - Graham Harvey
6. ‘Seeing’ my Beloved: Darśan and the Sikhi Perspective
Sensual Religion - Religion and the Five Senses - Graham Harvey
Opinderjit Kaur Takhar [+]
University of Wolverhampton
Opinderjit Kaur Takhar is Associate Professor of Sikh Studies and the Director of the Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. She has written numerous academic publications on the Sikhs, including her research in the Oxford Handbook on Sikh Studies (2014). Her publications and research on the Ravidassia community is recognised worldwide and she has presented her work in Universities across the world. She is an Editorial Board member of the peer reviewed journal Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture and Theory. Takhar is Associate Editor for a Special Issue of the peer reviewed journal Contemporary South Asia. Takhar was awarded a MBE in 2018 for her services to Higher Education and the community in Wolverhampton. She was given the award for ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ in February 2020 by Asian Today. She was awarded for her contribution to Sikh Studies at the Pride of India Awards, held in the House of Lords London in 2017.
Description
This chapter focuses on the concept of darśan from a Sikh perspective by analysing teachings from the Guru Granth Sahib on the subject of ‘seeing’ the Divine. Sikhi (Sikh teachings) emphasises the Ultimate Divine as formless and experienced through the senses. Indeed, Sikhi refers to this experience as blissful union with one’s Beloved.