Article by Victoria Sheriff from Swansea

"I had been frustrated for many years. I couldn't find a religion! Christianity didn't have a belief in reincarnation, but Buddhism didn't have a belief in God. I believed in such a mishmash of things I didn't think it would be possible to find a religion to follow.

I remember thinking I'd have to set up Vicky-ism! Then at the end of my first year of university, when I was eighteen, I picked up a book on Sikhism and was hooked. I don't think I've ever read an 'academic' book so quickly.

Sikhism was everything I'd ever believed. Sikhism teaches about one God, visible through everything in the world. It teaches about the total equality between all men and women. It teaches that God can be found through all religions, not just Sikhism. It even teaches my beliefs about life after death. According to Sikhism, if you have kept God in your hearts throughout your life you will go to heaven. If you have not you are reincarnated to have another chance!

I had always believed in reincarnation for as long as I could remember. What I couldn't understand though is how, when my Grampa died, I knew that he had gone to heaven. Sikhism explained it for me. Yes, Grampa wasn't Sikh, he was Christian, but I know he kept God in his heart, and that was enough to grant him access to heaven.

By the time I had finished that book (Teach Yourself Sikhism by Owen Cole [1994]) I knew that I was a Sikh.

But being a Sikh is very difficult. Sikhism developed in the Punjab in India about five hundred years ago, and as a Western convert, not from a Punjabi culture, I face many problems.

For example, the main text, the Guru Granth Sahib, is of utmost importance in Sikhism and is only available in Punjabi. (There are a couple of English translations available, but they are very expensive and not very good!).

This means that I could go to a Gurdwara (the Sikh place of worship) but I would have no idea what is going on. I wouldn't be able to understand the service because I don't speak Punjabi. I have great difficulty with languages (I can't even speak Welsh) and I don't think I could ever fully appreciate the words if they were not in my own language.

To learn Punjabi would almost go against the Sikh teaching, as Guru Nanak (the first Sikh teacher) taught in Punjabi, rather than Sanskrit, because he believed religion should be in the language of your heart. I want to worship in English, but Sikhism does not accommodate this.

I wonder if my task in life is to bring about change, and bring Sikhism into the English language. I hope that I will learn Punjabi after university and even help bring about an acceptable English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib.

I may have found my religion, but my frustration remains, as I don't feel I can fully participate in it. I love my family, and I love living here in Wales, but I wish that I didn't have to be from a Punjabi family to fully appreciate the Sikh religion. I want to be me, Welsh and Sikh.

Article by Victoria Sheriff from Swansea