Sikhism

Those who know the importance of Bhagti feel like Guru Nanak Sahib that forgetting God is just like death and brooding upon His Name is life and joy. Without the nectar of God’s name, the polgrim dies his misery. But Bhagti is possible after certain conditions are fulfilled:

• Faith in God

• Following Truth

• Unattachment and desirelessness

• Control over throught,word and deed

• Association with holy men(Satsang)

• Humanity and submission to Hukam.

The Guru says, “The man of God rejects salvation. He wants only love of God and nothing else. The joys of heaven are nothing as compared to the merging in the Divine Spirit. The ultimate goal of man is union with God. Man does not become God, only the spark merges in the fire. This is called self-identification.” A man may have done many noble deeds but if he has not undertaken meditation on God, he cannot have any hope of Mukti. Guru Nanak Sahib says in Asa-di-Var: “That is true knowledge when the thruth is in the heart, when the dirt of falsehood vanishes and life is pure and clean. That is true living when one fixes one’s love on truth and finds joy in the hearing of the Name.”

Almost all the great religions of the world emphasis the need of a preceptor or Guru or holy man for the attainment of salvation. The Vedas enumerate the qualities of a religious guide. Even Guru Nanak Sahib empha-sises that bliss can be obtained only through the grace of the Guru. Sikhism does not recognise either chosen prophets or chosen people. Guru Nanak Sahib did not insist on a physical Guru (Dehdari}. His own Guru was God Himself. What is important is not the person but the word-”The word is the Guru. The Guru is the word. If the devotee follows what the word says, surely the Guru will save him.” That is why Guru Gobind Singh Sahib installed Sri Granth Sahib as Guru for all time. We do not need any man as Guru because the word is now with us. Guru Arjan Sahib says, “Without a Guru, liberation cannot be won. The Guru is my boat, which will ferry me across the rough ocean of existance.” The Guru destroys illusions and attachment to worldly objects. Guru Ramdas Sahib says: “The Guru is the Sikh and the Sikh who practices the Guru’s word is equal to the Guru.” Guru Gobind Singh Sahib says, “I live and have my being in the Khalsa.” The Guru lives in the form of the Panth. He resides in the Sangat. All the Gurus are identical with Nanak. Guru Gobind Singh Sahib passed on the corporal succession to the Panth, which is regarded as the embodiment of the Guru. The Panth represents the Guru and it is progressing, With the passage of time, the Panth is evolving. It is a dynamic and corporate personality with authority to make decisions (Gurmatas) binding on the Sikhs. In this way, there is a two-fold concept of Guru-dom, one permanent, the other progressive. The Word is the embodiment of eternal and changless truth, while the Panth is the progressive, collective personality of the Guru in Sikhs. Guru Granth Sahib is the living embodiment of the Ten Gurus. It is the living flame of the Name, which lights the lamp of the disciple. There is no place for a living Guru in the Sikh religion, because Gurbani is Guru and Guru is Gurbani. After all, what the Guru does is to guide the disciple by means of words, in the same way Guru Granth Sahib guides the Sikh through its song-message. When a Sikh is in doubt about any principle of Sikhism, he refers the matter to the Panth for decision.

Many good thoughts and noble sayings are found in sacred books but mere reading cannot help much. It is only the first step. Guru Nanak Sahib says :”If a man reads books throughout his whole life, till breath leaves his body, only the Holy Name is valuable, all else is vanity of the self.” Again, “the scholar is an idiot if he has greed, avarice and pride.” What is important is the practice of the Name and the cultivation of virtue. An ounce of practice is preferable to a ton of knowledge. Ethics and laws tell us what to believe and what to do ; they are like signposts. But one has to do the walking oneself. One can-not reach God by books or by rituals. Scriptures are our guides for action. They cannot fill the disciple with divine love. The knowledge of Vedas does not bring liberation: “God is beyond the Vedas, beyond the holy books.” He can be found within the self by digging inward.

Sikhism includes a comprehensive system of self-education. The function of education is to prepare the aesthetic and emotional back-ground in which the individual may pet an opportunity for self-growth. Besides this, Dharma must inspire all the instruction and atmosphere in educational institutions. It is the knowledge of the Hand. the knowledge of the Head and the knowledge of the Heart. The education of the Hand means the realization of the dignity of labour and the readiness of the individual to earn his living with manual work. It also includes the service of humanity with the hand. Guru Nanak Sahib says: Those who earn their living,By the sweat of their brows, And give it to the needy Are the people who know, The path of Truth and Virtue. Make knowledge your merchandise,Truth the horses you take to sell, Tie up virtues as your travelling expenses, Think not in your heart of the morrow, When you reach the land of your love, You shall obtain endless joy. Guru Nanak Sahib gave a practical demonstration of this system of education by training his successor Sri Guru Angad Sahib. It was the training of the disciple through discipline. Man is to merge with the higher self, with Beauty. Truth and Goodness. This makes education both creative and purposeful.

Guru Arjan Sahib has mentioned five aspects of the actual experience of the union of the individual soul with the Universal Soul. Firstly, the darkness of ignorance disappears and the indi-vidual realises the wonder of God’s universe. Secondly, there is an inner illumination, a kind of revelation – an enlightenment, not of the intellect but of mystic exaltation. Thirdly, the individual gains equipoise, a state of indefinable peace and confidence, coming from the loss of the ego. This sense of tranquillity-shanti-is due to the identification of the self with Divinity. Fourthly, the individual begins to love the entire humanity and is filled with a great longing for the service of his fellow-men. Fifthly, the individual realises everything as emanating from God. His soul which had emanated from God is united with the Ultimate Source.

Sikhism does not inculcate belief in caste. No man is born great or low. Guru Amardas says, “All colours and forms are thine.” Guru Arjan Sahib gives the simile of the potter. The clay has been moulded in different forms. All men are the vessels of God. People may follow different faiths or divide themselves under different labels, but essentially man is one and indivisible. Whoever meditates on God becomes as great as He. Look at Ravidas the cobbler, Sadhna the butcher, Saina the barber. They were raised to the pedestal of saintliness and honoured by all. Just as the philosopher’s stone transmutes iron ore into gold, in the same way God’s name changes a low-born person into a Bhagat. God’s name cleanses and purifies. It burns away all impurity. A person of high caste is worse than one of the lowest caste if he does not meditate on the Name. Moreover, caste is of no consequ-ence in the next world. In God’s Court, men shall be judged by their thoughts and deeds, and not by their family or pedigree. The Guru brought the four castes under one banner. And yet he taught us to be humble and poor in spirit, because with-out it, we cannot sublimate egoism(humai).

The Gurus held woman in high esteem. So with the rise of Sikhism, woman gained in dignity and social position. Some ancient scriptures denounced woman as unworthy of teaching or religious exercises. Woman was regarded as evil and unclean. Guru Nanak Sahib challenged this view: Why should we treat woman with contempt and cruelty? A woman is not to be condemned on the ground of her sex. Guru Granth Sahib says: Of a woman we are conceived,Of a woman we are born, To a woman we are betrothed and married, It is a woman who is a friend and partner of life, It is a woman who keeps the race going, Why should we consider women cursed and condemned,When from woman are born leaders and rulers. (Rag Asa, I) Religious gatherings and Kirtan were thrown open to women; they could participate on equal terms with men in temporal and secular observances. Bhai Gurdas ji, the veteran Sikh theologian affirmed: ” Woman is man’s other half, and as such, helps him in attaining to salvation.” Guru Hargobind Sahib called woman ” the conscience of man.” Khande di Pahul(Amrit) is obligatory both for man and woman. The rules of conduct and the sphere of religious duties are identical both for man and woman. In religious meetings, men and women sing and lecture like equals. Guru Amardas Sahib condemned the practice of widow-burning (Sati): He said, “They are not satis who burn themselves with the dead bodies of their husbands. Those are real Satis who die of the mere shock of separation from their husbands.” Thus the equality of sexes is emphasised in Sikhism