Beyond Otherness: Sikhism: New Mystical Experience and Interfaith Dialogue

Sikhism has a rich legacy of interfaith dialogue however, general survey of Sikh literature shows that intensive studies on interfaith dialogue are very few. In fact, Sikhism has been ignored in the studies of religion. Now the situation is changing, people from different traditions are eager to know about others. Moreover, in contemporary thought thinkers are recognizing the multiplicity of the truth. The scholars from different traditions are trying to reinterpret the religious thoughts for current needs of society. Besides, in present world, it is not imaginable for any faith tradition to claim that they have only real or original spirit. Now it is not possible for one religion to stay alive in sealed structure. In this emerging pluralistic world human beings are attaining knowledge from different faiths and testing various means for their peace of mind. People are becoming passionate to learn more and more about the religion. In addition to this, present world conditions necessitate for interfaith dialogue, for this flexible pluralistic approach is becoming a need of the day, because pluralistic perspective recognizes multifarious views for the truth. This work is an attempt to understand the theory of interfaith dialogue and its significance in general and inclusively the new mystical experience from Sikhism. In the wider context this book deals with the interfaith perspectives of Sikhism and its relevance to the contemporary world. It is an academic work based on Sikh scripture which examines the current issues of interfaith studies. The work has five main chapters. A brief description of important concepts of Sikhism and its institutions is given in an appendix which is useful to non-Sikh readers.