Doris Jakobsh | University of Waterloo (original) (raw)

Address: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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Papers by Doris Jakobsh

Research paper thumbnail of Sikhism, Interfaith Dialogue and Women: Transformation and Identity

This article locates the study of Sikhism and gender within the wider milieu of 'women and religi... more This article locates the study of Sikhism and gender within the wider milieu of 'women and religion'; in this context, the question of interfaith dialogue, women, and Sikhism is examined. Further, this article focuses on a recent controversy at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. Two British amritdhari (initiated) women were refused the right to participate in the Sukhasan procession, a ritual in which Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, is formally taken from its public platform and carried to its nightly resting place. The incident prompted a media uproar, particularly in India; it also became a hotly debated issue on the Internet. Given that the women at the centre of the controversy were 'Western' Sikhs of Punjabi origin, the incident led to a widespread petition within the diaspora. This article addresses the question of Sikh women's religious and ritual rights within the context of the apparent divide between the concerns of Sikhs in diaspora and Sikhs in the Punjab as well as interfaith concerns. It questions whether this incident is perhaps a watershed in terms of Sikh women's active engagement and resistance to discrimination within Sikh institutions and the community at large.

Research paper thumbnail of AUTHORITY IN THE VIRTUAL SANGAT SIKHISM, RITUAL AND IDENTITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Research paper thumbnail of Sikh Ethnonationalism and the Political Economy of Punjab

Journal of Asian Studies, 2002

This book explains how the Sikh separatist movement for Khalistan developed in the Punjab and why... more This book explains how the Sikh separatist movement for Khalistan developed in the Punjab and why it turned violent. In a style which is narrative, the author shows how internal power blocs within Sikhism shaped an exclusionary Sikh identity over the past 300 years. The ...

Research paper thumbnail of UNDERSTANDING RELIGION AND CYBERSPACE: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED, WHAT LIES AHEAD

Religious Studies Review, 2006

London: Routledge, 2005 Pp. xii + 224. $24.95, ISBN 978-0-415-96911-6.

Research paper thumbnail of 3HO/Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere: The Forgotten New Religious Movement

Religion Compass, 2008

This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an... more This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an immigrant from India known as Harbhajan Singh, a Khatri Sikh. His initial aim was to teach yoga in Canada, but the job he was promised did not materialize, and thus it was that he turned his attention towards California. In Los Angeles, he took on a new name, Yogi Bhajan, and soon surrounded himself with eager students. An ashram was built soon thereafter and by 1969 his ‘Healthy, Happy, Holy’ group was incorporated as a tax exempt organization. Although Bhajan was from a traditional Sikh family, he increasingly focused on Kundalini Yoga and Tantra in his teaching and practices. However, Sikh teachings were also incorporated into his message, a message that was largely directed towards a white, middle-class, counter-culture audience. Needless to say, the Punjabi Sikh community has had a mixed reaction to the ‘Gora’ (white) converts, particularly with regard to the accretions and modifications to the Sikh traditions, upheld by Bhajan and his followers. This article will address aspects of 3HO (or Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere) in its current manifestation that resembles characteristics of new religious movements, particularly its claims to universality and purity within its own manifestation of ‘true’ Sikh identity.

Research paper thumbnail of Sikhism, Interfaith Dialogue and Women: Transformation and Identity

This article locates the study of Sikhism and gender within the wider milieu of 'women and religi... more This article locates the study of Sikhism and gender within the wider milieu of 'women and religion'; in this context, the question of interfaith dialogue, women, and Sikhism is examined. Further, this article focuses on a recent controversy at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. Two British amritdhari (initiated) women were refused the right to participate in the Sukhasan procession, a ritual in which Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, is formally taken from its public platform and carried to its nightly resting place. The incident prompted a media uproar, particularly in India; it also became a hotly debated issue on the Internet. Given that the women at the centre of the controversy were 'Western' Sikhs of Punjabi origin, the incident led to a widespread petition within the diaspora. This article addresses the question of Sikh women's religious and ritual rights within the context of the apparent divide between the concerns of Sikhs in diaspora and Sikhs in the Punjab as well as interfaith concerns. It questions whether this incident is perhaps a watershed in terms of Sikh women's active engagement and resistance to discrimination within Sikh institutions and the community at large.

Research paper thumbnail of AUTHORITY IN THE VIRTUAL SANGAT SIKHISM, RITUAL AND IDENTITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Research paper thumbnail of Sikh Ethnonationalism and the Political Economy of Punjab

Journal of Asian Studies, 2002

This book explains how the Sikh separatist movement for Khalistan developed in the Punjab and why... more This book explains how the Sikh separatist movement for Khalistan developed in the Punjab and why it turned violent. In a style which is narrative, the author shows how internal power blocs within Sikhism shaped an exclusionary Sikh identity over the past 300 years. The ...

Research paper thumbnail of UNDERSTANDING RELIGION AND CYBERSPACE: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED, WHAT LIES AHEAD

Religious Studies Review, 2006

London: Routledge, 2005 Pp. xii + 224. $24.95, ISBN 978-0-415-96911-6.

Research paper thumbnail of 3HO/Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere: The Forgotten New Religious Movement

Religion Compass, 2008

This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an... more This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an immigrant from India known as Harbhajan Singh, a Khatri Sikh. His initial aim was to teach yoga in Canada, but the job he was promised did not materialize, and thus it was that he turned his attention towards California. In Los Angeles, he took on a new name, Yogi Bhajan, and soon surrounded himself with eager students. An ashram was built soon thereafter and by 1969 his ‘Healthy, Happy, Holy’ group was incorporated as a tax exempt organization. Although Bhajan was from a traditional Sikh family, he increasingly focused on Kundalini Yoga and Tantra in his teaching and practices. However, Sikh teachings were also incorporated into his message, a message that was largely directed towards a white, middle-class, counter-culture audience. Needless to say, the Punjabi Sikh community has had a mixed reaction to the ‘Gora’ (white) converts, particularly with regard to the accretions and modifications to the Sikh traditions, upheld by Bhajan and his followers. This article will address aspects of 3HO (or Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere) in its current manifestation that resembles characteristics of new religious movements, particularly its claims to universality and purity within its own manifestation of ‘true’ Sikh identity.

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