A sahajdhari is a person who follows Sikh teaching but does not keep the uncut hair and has not taken initiation, the word usually read as one who adopts the faith gradually or by ease.
Adherence without the marks
The sahajdhari accepts the teaching of the Gurus and lives by much of it, worshipping at the gurdwara and honouring the Guru Granth Sahib, but does not maintain the outward articles of faith, above all the uncut hair, and has not entered the Khalsa by initiation, so this is the least outwardly marked of the recognised degrees of Sikh adherence. The reading of the word as one who takes the path slowly or by an easy stage suggests a person on the way toward fuller observance, or simply one who follows the faith without its outward discipline.
Belonging and its boundaries
The category has been significant in Sikh history and in the disputes over who counts as a Sikh, since the definition of membership in the community, especially for legal and institutional purposes, has had to reckon with those who follow the teaching without the outward form, and the standing of the sahajdhari in such matters has at times been contested. The three terms together, amritdhari, keshdhari and sahajdhari, mark a descending scale of outward observance, and the sahajdhari occupies its furthest reach, the adherent who holds to the teaching while keeping none of the distinguishing marks, a place that shows both the openness of the tradition and the difficulty of drawing the line of membership.