Issue 8.5 - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia

with reciting the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book
of Sikhs, in the gurudwaras. The holy book is read
for 48 hours non-stop, known as Akhand Path. This
ends on the day before Guru Nanak Jayanti. A day
before the festival, a procession is carried out
starting early in the morning, called the Prabhat
Pheris. The procession starts from the gurudwara
and moves ahead towards the localities. Five armed
guards, representing the Panj Pyares lead the
procession carrying the Sikh Flag called Nishan
Sahibs. They even carry a Palki (palanquin) which
holds the Guru Granth Sahib placed firm and
decorated with flowers.
As the procession proceeds, the followers sing
shabads (religious hymns) while the local bands
play religious music. The day of Guru Nanak Jayanti
begins at around 4 or 5 a.m. with singing Asa-di-Var
(morning hymns) and hymns from the Sikh
scriptures. This is followed by Katha which
continues till noon. A lavish Langar or special
community lunch is served to the people present at
the gurudwara. People volunteer for this service as
they consider it to be seva (service) and bhakti
(devotion) towards Lord.
I am not the born; how can there be either birth
or death for me?
Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without
a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.
Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth
and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant
filled with the love of God.
God is one, but he has innumerable forms. He is
the creator of all and He himself takes the human
form.
Thou has a thousand eyes and yet n¬ot one eye;
Thou host a thousand forms and yet not one
form.
The lord can never be established nor created;
the formless one is limitlessly complete in
Himself.
Death would not be called bad, O people, if one
knew how to truly die.
There is but One God, His name is Truth, He is
the Creator, He fears none, he is without hate, He
never dies, He is beyond the cycle of births and
death, He is self illuminated, He is realized by the
kindness of the True Guru. He was True in the
beginning, He was True when the ages
commenced and has ever been True, He is also
True now.
From its brilliancy everything is illuminated.
Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve the Name
22 | Bhavan Australia | Nov 2010
of the Lord, and become the servant of His
servants.
Through shallow intellect, the mind becomes
shallow, and one eats the fly, along with the
sweets.
He who shows the real home in this body is the
Guru. He makes the five sounded word
reverberate in man.
As fragrance abides in the flower
As reflection is within the mirror,
So does your Lord abide within you, Why search
for him without?
The True One was there from time immemorial.
He is there today and ever there you will find.
“Thou host a
thousand forms and
yet not one form.”
He never died nor will he ever die. ... Look within,
you will see Him there enshrined.
Whatever be the qualities of the man with whom
a woman is united according to the law, such
qualities even she assumes, like a river, united
with the ocean.
I don’t die... He who is merged with the
omnipresent is never gone.
The word is the Guru, The Guru is the Word, For
all nectar is enshrined in the world Blessed is
the word which reveal the Lord’s name But more
is the one who knows by the Guru’s grace.
Guru Nanak
Source: http://festivals.iloveindia.com