An addict is reborn
India’s Sikhs grapple with addiction and use religious practice to overcome it in this new documentary
Hi ReligionUnplugged readers,
India is climbing toward economic greatness.
With a growing population — one that may now be larger than China’s — and a country-wide push for manufacturing and startups, the country is garnering interest worldwide.
This growth poses questions about other aspects of a valuable life for India’s residents and what challenges stand in the way.
Our top story today, a 50-minute documentary, explores one of those challenges: a surprising substance abuse struggle in the Sikh-populated northern state of Punjab and how religious practice can help.
Unhealthy attachment is one of the five greatest sins in Sikhism, making addiction a particularly disgraced issue.
Pavitra, the main subject of this documentary, is a Sikh whose struggle with substance abuse represents the stories of many in the state.
You won’t want to miss this powerful story.
Video Documentary: India’s Sikhs Aim To Curb Substance Abuse In Punjab State
In Sikhism, a religion which originated in India about 500 years ago, unhealthy attachment is considered one of the five biggest sins. Therefore, alcoholism and drug addiction are discouraged. Despite this, the northern Indian state of Punjab, home to 16 million Sikhs, has struggled with substance abuse for decades. by Surabhi Singh
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Making Sweat Feel Spiritual Didn’t Start With SoulCycle by Cody Musselman
(ANALYSIS) The notion that fitness is a religion — a place where people find community, ritual and ecstatic experience — has become a common refrain. Can fitness really be a religion? Given the difficulty of defining religion, it’s an almost impossible question to answer.
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