From The Frontcover Of 'Sikh Theology Of Liberation' By Dharam Singh 

The book is an objective study deal­ing primarily with the concept of libera­tion in the context of Sikh theology with most of the canonical literature serving as the source material. In the process, it also endeavours to bring out the distinct identity of the Sikh faith, ·especially its emphasis, on the affirmation of self and world because of their being the mani­festations of the Real One. Since man and the material world he lives in are relatively real, Sikhism denounces as­ceticism in favour of a householder's life, and declares that it is possible for the spiritual aspirant, guided by the sabda­guru, to strive for and achieve his ideal.

The ideal of the spiritual aspirant in Sikhism is jivan mukti, and the Sikh emphasis on it vis-a-vis videh-mukti im­plicitly accepts the necessity of outward social relations for the achievement of self-realization. Since all human beings are the manifestation, in spirit, of the One, they must endeavour to imbibe all humanly realizable attributes of the Divine. Thus, the qualities of love, jus­tice, equality, altruism, etc., in man will transform this material mundane world into an ideal social setup. Such a social order is not only conducive but also necessary for the spiritual and ethico­moral development of man leading to his ultimate liberation.

The book, written in a simple and lucid expression, is a successful attempt at addressing the liberation motif and implicitly to some other allied problems of Sikh theology and philosophy in a systematic manner. 

About The Author Of The Book 'Sikh Theology Of Liberation' 

DHARAM SINGH, a postgraduate and M. Phil in English literature, has been working as Lecturer on the En­cyclopaedia of Sikhism at the Punjabi University, Patiala. The M. Phil disser­tation he wrote was on the social philos­ophy of Mulk Raj Anand, the premier Indo-Anglian novelist. He has to his credit several research articles dealing with different aspects of Sikh philos­ophy and theology.