Guru Nanak ... First Sikh of Sikh Dharma

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First Master of Sikh Dharma
Guru Nanak 1469-1539
By Ek Ong Kaar Kaur

"The ignorant impose their darkness on the Light of Truth.
Those who see divisions do not know God. Those who
know Him proclaim His Oneness." -- Guru Nanak

"From a woman, man is born.
Within a woman, man is conceived.
To a woman a man is engaged and
married. A woman becomes a man's friend.
Through a woman, the future generations come.
When a man's woman dies, he seeks another woman.
To a woman he is bound. From a woman, kings are born.
From woman, a woman is born.Without a woman, there would
be no man at all. How can a woman be called bad?" -- Guru Nanak

"A woman is sixteen times more effectively intelligent and
more sensitive than a man, and she can handle all walks of
intelligence better than any man. Man is given the physical, and
woman is given the intelligence to balance it out." -- Yogi Bhajan

Guru Nanak Dev was born November 10, 1469 in Talwandi, which is now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, Pakistan. His father's name was Mehta Kalyan Chand, but was known as Kalu Mehta. His mother's name was Tripta Devi and he had one elder sister, Bibi Nanaki. His wife's name was Mata Sulakhni Ji. He had two sons. His elder son was Sri Chand and his second son was Lakhmi Chand.

Born into a Hindu family, Guru Nanak rejected the notion of divisions between people based on religion. He taught the Oneness of the Creator and the fundamental brotherhood and sisterhood of all. He stated that the experience of the Divine dwelled within every person, so there was no difference between people based on caste, creed, gender or nationality. His simple but profound philosophy rested on recognizing the fundamental Divinity of all people. When lived in an awareness of the Divine Light within all, human life could become a profound experience of love, truth, patience, peace and contentment.

Rai Bular Bhatti, a wealthy land owner, and Nanak’s sister, Bibi Nanaki, were the first people who recognized divine qualities in Nanak. They encouraged and supported him to study and travel.

Guru Nanak achieved his state of enlightenment, or realization, sometime around the age of 30. After disappearing into a river and meditating in the water for three days, Guru Nanak emerged having had a powerful vision of the nature of reality, Divinity and human existence. He recorded that vision in a song - known as Japji Sahib - the Song of the Soul. With Japji Sahib, humanity has a rare picture of what a Master experienced at the moment of his enlightenment described in his own words.

Guru Nanak on the road

Japji Sahib became the foundation of this new spiritual tradition. After his enlightenment, Guru Nanak spent 15 years traveling through India, Asia and Persia. He brought people together of all traditions and sang Divine songs in praise of the Creator, the Creation and the journey of the spirit through time and space. During this time, he also collected songs from other mystics that resonated with his own visions and experience of the Divine. After his travels, he settled down and lived as a farmer, continuing to teach those who came to learn from him.

When it became clear that the death of Guru Nanak Dev was near, a dispute arose among his followers. His Hindu followers wanted to cremate the remains while his Muslim followers wanted to bury the body following Islamic tradition. Nanak brokered a compromise by suggesting that each group should place a garland of flowers beside his body, and those whose garland remained unwilted after three days could dispose of his body according to their tradition. However, the next morning, upon raising the cloth under which the Guru’s body lay, only the flowers shared between his followers were found. The Hindus cremated their flowers whereas the Muslims buried theirs. He died in Kartapur Ravi, Pakistan at the age of 70.

Guru Nanak

Mul (Mool) Mantra from Japji Sahib
By Guru Nanak in Gurmukhi script

Translation from Peace Lagoon
By Premka Kaur

Ek Ong Kaar - The Creator of all is One
Sat Naam - Truth is His Name
Kartaa Purakh - He is the Doer of everything
Nirbhau - He is Fearless, without anger
Nirvair - He is Undying
Akaal Moorat - He is Unborn
Ajoonee Saibhang - He is Self-illumined
Gur Prasaad - This is revealed through the True Guru's grace
Jap - Let us Meditate
Aad Sach - True in the beginning
Jugaad Sach - True through all the ages
Hai Bhee Sach - True even now
Naanak Hosee Bhee Sach - O Nanak, He shall ever be True

The Mystical Process of the Divine
As described in the Mul Mantra

When talking about Divinity, sometimes we look outside of ourselves to discuss and define God. The Creator becomes, through our own conversations, everything a human is NOT. All-powerful. All-knowing. All-seeing. All-loving. All-kindness. It is as if we humans have taken certain experiences that give us a sense of comfort, that give us a sense of security on the earth; and projected their most perfect and continual expression on a Divine Being who can do and be everything we would most like to be, but aren’t.

When Guru Nanak talks about Divinity, his language, his perception, his vision is so all encompassing that Divinity intermingles with and provides the foundation for everything in the Universe. It is the secret ingredient that gives rise to our human experience. Every single aspect of being human, whether we ourselves would judge it as “good” or “bad” is embraced as part of the Divine. It’s a union. A yoga – if you can forgive the word – between finite perception and Infinite expression. The duty we have in our human body, Guru Nanak tells us, is to simply allow ourselves to become aware of this truth, and to live in a state of gratitude for it. That’s all.

Guru Nanak gave the Mul Mantra as the essence of the Sikh teachings. Recently, while meditating on it, it dawned on me how inter-dependent the phrases of the Mul Mantra really are. For a long time the Mul Mantra seemed to me a group of adjectives describing the experience of Divinity. But like a seed that breaks open to create roots – what I saw was that the Mul Mantra is not just a description. It defines a process through which we can become aware of the reality of the Divine inside us. Each line describes a state of consciousness and understanding that state becomes a pre-requisite to developing an understanding of the state of consciousness described in the next line. Mul Mantra

Mul Mantra Dissected

Guru Nanak teaching

Ek Ong Kaar - One Spirit Beyond moves within the Creation - Coordinating, Consolidating, Continually Creating.

To keep the Creator separate from the Creation is not the way of Guru Nanak. To see them in a joyful play, intermingling, evolving, finding new expressions of Itself – that is his gift to us. “God” is not out there somewhere – pulling strings or watching in judgment. The Divine dwells inside every molecule as a Living Force, constantly expressing myriads of forms, though all forms are ultimately unified in the One.

"Think about it. You grew your magnificent brain, perhaps the most
complicated thing in the world. And you grew it without even thinking
about it. A supremely intelligent Life Force of unknown origin created and
sustains this wondrous miracle of life. It's what we refer to as God." Hari Singh

Most people’s search for Spirit begins in an external way – and so Guru Nanak gives us at the beginning a compact definition of the Force that Runs the Entire Universe. It is One – Ek. It has vibration, sound – Ong – and from sound, from vibration, It expresses Itself in form – Kaar. But the Oneness and the sound and the form are merged in every moment, in every thing – continually playing together. A current runs through the entire Creation. And like children playing with paints, Ek Ong Kaar never creates the same picture twice.

Sat Naam - And this Spirit Within me is my True Identity.

If I can accept what Ek Ong Kaar means – then I must also accept the Presence of the Divine within myself. Perhaps –I do not always see or feel that Presence. But Guru Nanak tells us – it is that Divine Presence within us that is our real identity. Our real name. Our real existence. What I see myself as today, “a 38-year-old woman, Sikh, grew up in South Jersey, loves to read, likes chocolate, etc.” is a very temporary thing that will change as I age, or vanish as soon as my breath leaves my body. But beyond these definitions, these stored memories, opinions and tastes of a lifetime – there is a Presence, a Life, a Spirit that will keep going. This Presence is part and parcel of the play of Ek Ong Kaar. And that is my True Identity. Sat Naam.

Kartaa Purakh - It Does All and Causes All to be Done. It Protects me through all incidents of Time and Space.

This line takes a bit of subtlety to understand. Because in the previous two phrases, Guru Nanak describes first the Power that runs the entire Universe. Second, he shows that this Force behind all of Creation lives inside of my own self, as well. And then what he would like us to understand is that this Power – which flows through all of Creation and flows through me – Does everything and Protects everything.

This line may be difficult because it is difficult to believe that the Divine is the Doer. Our mind tells us that, “I am the doer. I am the one who is acting. I am the creator. I am the manipulator. I am the one who can move things and create my life as I want to. I am.” The moment the mind hears that it is NOT the doer, it protests, creates doubts, arguments, becomes defensive and storms around. The mind can become competitive with Divinity, and try to prove that it IS the doer, it IS the protector – and nothing is greater than itself.

We call this ego – and there’s a purpose for it. Because the intricate truth is that the Divine dwells in you, as well as in everything, so you are part of that Creative Power, and part of that Protective energy. You are not the entirety of it. But in your Spirit, you are part of it.

The misunderstanding comes because of the mind. The purpose of the mind is to serve the soul. It is created to apply its intelligence to carry out the commands of Spirit. When a human being flows with the experience of her own Spirit and the mind serving that – then it is easy to understand Kartaa Purakh. Where the “I” is not experienced as the Doer at all. Where everything is arranged and taken care of by the hand of the One.

But when the mind does not know how to listen to or surrender to our own Inner Divinity, then it follows its own impulses and desires. And in that experience, nothing ever quite turns out the way it wants. That builds frustration, anger and fear. The balance of our lives as human beings rests on this point. If the mind can be trained to serve the Spirit, it can surrender its finite understanding of life and consciously enjoy the experience of the One in All. But if it is not trained to serve the Spirit, and it follows it own thoughts and desires – then that creates a life of passion, pain and death.

Nirbhau, Nirvair - It fears nothing, and knows nothing of vengeance or anger.

When I have seen these truths of Ek Ong Kaar, Sat Naam, Kartaa Purakh – then how can I ever feel afraid again? How can I ever be angry? Fear and anger come from ego – from my limited perception needing to protect my own security and identity. But if the Divine has blessed me to understand this Force that runs through all, that runs through me and that Does everything – then whatever I experience is the Divine. So why would I react to what I see with fear or anger – if it is all part of the One?

Not that we shouldn’t set boundaries or fight injustice. Guru Gobind Singh was a master of seeing the Divine on the battlefield, of praying to every aspect of the Creator while wielding his sword. It’s more about the way in which one sees life. Anger and fear cannot coexist with love. To fight and see the Divine in the enemy – to know the duty and yet to keep compassion in one’s heart – this is the way of the Sikh. Where fear and anger are – the Guru’s words are not. Where the Guru’s words are, fear and anger have no ground in which to grow. This, to my own mind, is the reason why the Sikhs in history could face such terrible tortures and horrors and still shine - Because they had cracked this secret of the Mul Mantra. And the experience of Divinity within themselves and within the entire creation was so powerful and so great, that even in the worst circumstances, they could see the Divine in the other person. And so they could go through the challenge with love instead of fear and vengeance.

Akaal Moorat - Deathless, It comes into form.

Moving beyond fear and anger, a perception, an awareness opens up within ourselves. And suddenly we can touch that Deathless Spirit inside. Our projection as a human begins to channel that Light. And we become the Image of the Undying while on the earth.

It isn’t a mental trick or a philosophy. An argument or a policy. It is something that begins to blossom when we move beyond fear and anger. Because when we begin to live beyond fear and anger, and feel our power from the deepest, most true, most genuine love inside of ourselves – then the fact that we are Deathless begins to make itself known to our conscious mind. In that awareness, we can represent Deathless Divinity in our every day life. Through our words, through our actions, through our dress, through our every interaction. We present in form the truth and reality of the Deathless Divine. In time, this gives rise to living the Rehit. For in the Rehit, Guru Gobind Singh gave the Sikhs a discipline and a structure to be Akaal Moorat – to be the Image of the Undying, the Deathless in Form.

Ajoonee - In Itself, It has never been born.

Deathless in Form. Never been born. Though the mind has no capacity to logically map it, our Spirit has always existed and will continue to exist always. No death. No birth. No beginning. No end. Just one big play, one continuous learning – shifting from form to form through time and space.

Feeling the reality of the Deathless Spirit inside, and understanding that there was never a beginning to us anyway– the mind can penetrate through the fog of time and surrender its finite ego to something far bigger.

Saibhang - Flowing through the cycles of Birth and Death, It Moves by Its Own Purity and Projection.

Life needs definition to fulfill itself. And for most of us – the mind gives us our definition. We are “lawyers,” “engineers,” “lovers,” “ministers,” “writers,” “rebels,” – words, pictures, images that direct how we use our breath, our voice, our creativity to form our own lives.

Guru Nanak gives us a different definition. Saibhang. It’s a definition that applies to the soul, to the spirit. And in that definition, our own inner purity flows through time and space, calling one experience after another forward until we can consciously merge back in Union with Ek Ong Kaar. With the Source. With the One. Completion.

This definition applies once we understand that we are Deathless in Form, Never Been Born. In that vastness of Identity – Saibhang becomes a guideline for how to approach life, how to engage the very tiny bit of time that we have on the earth – in this body, in this experience. Rather than looking to create a finite identity and security for ourselves, Saibhang asks us to see our life in the context of a much larger journey. And to keep flowing forward, to complete who we are, so that the mind can consciously merge into the Limitless of Self and allow that inner Divinity to complete the journey.

Gur Prasaad - This understanding shall come to you as a sweet blessing, as a gift, through the Guru.

We need a teacher. We need a guide. Only an idiot believes that his or her mind can figure everything out on its own. We needed someone to teach us how to tie our shoes, how to dress ourselves. Then older - how to count, how to write letters. And yet this most sublime and important lesson of all – the lesson of what a human being is, of the purpose of the human life – we can sometimes so arrogantly assume that we need no teacher for that at all.

It is the proof of God in a world that questions the existence of the Divine that so many teachers have come to give us a path home. For the Sikh, that Teacher is the Shabad, the Divinely-given Word of the Guru. And by meditating on that Sound Current of the Shabad, It trains the mind into the reality of all that the Mul Mantra has described. So we seek that blessing, that gift that comes through the Guru. For just as we could never teach ourselves how to tie our own shoes, so too – the journey to merge into Divinity needs an example to follow, needs guidelines, principles, and a Voice that can remind us of the truth when we wander off the path.

Jap - In every moment, continue in its Continual Remembrance.

There is only one command in all of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. There are many many suggestions, but just one order to obey. Jap. Repeat. Continue to meditate on this. Over and over and over again. With love in your heart. Surrender. And remember.

As someone who does marketing, I know that the law of marketing is repetition. It doesn’t matter how fancy the ad, how large or expensive. Repetition is the key for someone to remember your message. To be able to identify your product. The market needs to see the ad over and over and over again – to remember.

Guru Nanak understood this basic psychology of the human being. And so he gives this command in the Mul Mantra. Repeat. Remember. Meditate upon it over and over and over and over again – so that you can identify it. So that you can learn the truth of it, and see it for yourself. Ultimately, the Guru can only point us in a good direction. It is up to us to do the work. And for the Sikh, Jap is the work.

Aad Sach; Jugaad Sach; Hai Bhee Sach; Naanak Hosee Bhee Sach - From the start this Truth was True; All through Time and Space It is True; Even now, this Truth is True; Nanak, It shall ever be True.

The seal of the Mul Mantra is the declaration by Guru Nanak that what has been described in the previous lines – about the nature of the Divine, about that Divine identity within us, about the process to become awake to that reality, about the need for the Guru, and the order to just keep repeating – all of this is True no matter what age, no matter what time and space. The Mul Mantra gives the essence of reality from before the Big Bang to the end of the physical Universe as we know it and beyond.

For us, as humans, to anchor ourselves to this knowledge can give us a deep sense of security. This seal exists to remove doubt, to create trust and faith. So that, by committing ourselves to the message of the Mul Mantra and realizing its truths, we have an opportunity to find the Divine within no matter what circumstance of life we have been born into.

Writing and creating dialogue about Divinity is so important. Since humans have existed – recorded history, myth and even before that – the way we discuss Divinity defines the purpose of human life. In a world that has gone mad through so many words, so many images, so much communication that confuses and competes – the Mul Mantra gives us a solid identity. It roots us in a reality so powerful and profound that our lives can be victories of joy, love and compassion in even the most difficult of times. -- Mul Mantra

Guru Nanak Dev Ji
By Vaninder (Lovey) Kaur

THE REDEEMER OF MANKIND
THE SAVIOR OF OUR TIME...

GURU NANAK DEV JI
THE CREATOR OF THE HOLY JAPJI
WHO IS THE BRIDGE FOR US
BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE HOLY CREATIVITY

FOR ‘NAAM’ IS ‘SAT’ AND ‘SAT’ IS ‘NAAM’
HE CHOSE TO GIVE US
THIS BEAUTIFUL BOND
AS WE GO THROUGH LIFE
OF NOW AND BEYOND.

GURU NANAK DEV JI, OUR GURU DIVINE
THE ONE, THE ONLY ONE
WHO TAUGHT THE BRAHAMANS
AND THE SHUDRAS
THAT A SOCIETY WITH CLASSES
WAS UNFAIR TO THE MASSES
OF THOSE UNTOUCHABLES
THAT WERE OUTCAST IN THE PAST
WERE THEN UPLIFTED
WITH THE GURU’S GRACE
ABOVE THE REALM OF CONTROL
FROM THOSE THAT TOLD THEM
THERE WAS NO HOPE...

MANKIND WAS IN A HELL OF DARKNESS AND UNCERTAINITY
AND GURUJI LIFTED US ABOVE THE ATROCITIES.

WHEN GURU NANAK SPOKE
THE WORLD LISTENED
FOR THE ‘BANI’ THAT PERMEATED
FROM THE GURU, CREATED
AN AURA OF PEACE AND LOVE
AND THE MESSAGE OF EQUALITY.

FOR THE GURU SAID, ESPECIALLY
TO THOSE THAT CRAVE
TRUTH, LOVE AND FAITH
TO GO ON UNRELENTLESSLY
IN SEARCH OF THEIR TRUE DESTINY.

IF IT WASN’T FOR THE CHANTING OF ‘TERA, TERA’
OR THE CRUSHED ARROGANCE OF ‘WALI KANTHARI’
OR EVEN THE EYE OPENER OF ‘RAIBULAR'...
AS HE SAW THE SNAKE
SLITHER AWAY, AFTER SHADING THE GURU’S FACE
AND SEEKED SOLACE IN THE FEET OF THE GURU
AND HIS GRACE...

FOR THE GURU
GUIDES THE DESCIPLE
INTO THE PATH AND INTO THE CYCLE
OF THE INSIGHTFUL, RECITAL OF GURBANI
LEADING TO THE REVIVAL
OF THE MIND, BODY AND SOUL.

THANKS TO THE ONE
A TRIBUTE TO THE GURU
FOR BLESSING US WITH ‘SIMRAN’
AND ‘SEWA’
AND TO MAKE US IN TUNE
WITH ‘WAHEGURU’.

CHANTING ‘WAHEGURU’S’ NAME
TO GET ABOARD THE HOLY SHIP
FOR GURU NAANK SAID, HIS SIKHS
WILL NOT SLIP...
FOR THEY HAVE THE ESSENCE OF FAITH
TO GO BEYOND THE STATE
OF WORLDLY THINGS
ON TO THE PATH THAT LEADS
TO THE HOLY PLACE
WHERE THERE IS ONE
‘NAAM’...
ONE FAITH,
THE ULTIMATE...

AND GURU NANAK WITH HIS GURBANI
GUIDES US
THROUGH THE PATH WE NEED TO TAKE. --