"Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living"
Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles do not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.
The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors.
God
In Sikhism, God—termed Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: niraṅkār, akāl, and alakh.
The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term ēk ōaṅkār. ੴ Ik Onkār is the first phrase in the Mul Mantra referring to the existence of "one God
ik ōnkār satināmu karatā puraku nirabhǎ'u niravèr akāl mūrat ajūnī sèbhang guraprasād
One Universal Creator, the Name is Truth, Creative Being (personified), Without fear, Without hatred, timeless Image, beyond birth, Self-existent, by the Guru's Grace.
onkār brahamā utapata
From Onkār, the Creator Brahma was created
Sikh Gurus
Nanak Dev · Angad Dev · Amar Das · Ram Das · Arjan Dev · Har Gobind · Har Rai · Har Krishan · Tegh Bahadur · Gobind Singh · Granth Sahib
Guru Nanak
Nanak (1469–1538), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, now called Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan). His parents were Khatri Hindus of the Bedi clan. In fact, all ten Sikh Gurus were Khatri.
In his early teens, Nanak caught the attention of the local landlord Rai Bular Bhatti, who was moved by his amazing intellect and divine qualities. Rai Bular was witness to many incidents in which Nanak enchanted him and as a result Rai Bular and Nanak's sister Bibi Nanki, became the first persons to recognise the divine qualities in Nanak.
Both of them then encouraged and supported Nanak to study and travel. Sikh tradition states that at the age of thirty, Nanak went missing and was presumed to have drowned after going for one of his morning baths to a local stream called the Kali Bein. One day on his arival, he declared: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim". It was from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of what was then the beginning of Sikhism.
He is widely acknowledged to have made four major journeys, spanning thousands of miles, the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam, the second south towards Tamil Nadu, the third north towards Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, and the final tour west towards Baghdad and Mecca.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism
