Spiritualism - Eternal Voice

The Life & PhilosophyofGuru NanakBy K.T. S. Tulsiuru Nanak, the founder of Sikh Religion, and the first in theGsuccession of ten Gurus, was the soul of a powerfulcurrent of spiritual and social renewal. The birth of Nanak in1469 was spoken of, by the village priest, as very auspicious.The priest prophesied that he would not only be an adorer ofGod but lead many others to Him.ChildhoodA precocious child, Nanak, at the age of five, started askingquestions about the purpose of life. When sent to a Pandit tolearn alphabet, he surprised his teacher by composing a poemof mystic import. While his parents and sister were excitedabout his brilliance, they became worried by his lack ofattention to worldly tasks. He let the cattle, entrusted to him towander into a farmer's field and distributed money, that wasgiven for business to the needy. When his father summoned aphysician to examine Nanak, the physician declared that he hadno need of healing and that he was destined to heal many.Nanak, thereafter, went to live with his married sister, whoprocured him the job of a storekeeper in Sultanpur. While heperformed his duties diligently and won the admiration of all,it was here that he began to gather a group of disciples and withthem took to singing of hymns. He shared common meals withthem and urged his friends to lead a life of simplicity andrighteousness.Encounter with DivineOne day Nanak failed to appear for work after he had gone tothe nearby river Bein, for morning ablutions. He was missing forthree days and nights and was feared drowned. But instead, hewas in intimate communion with the Divine, during which hereceived a call for going into the wider world. The mysticalexperience is described as a direct encounter with the Divine.The first words uttered by Guru Nanak on his reappearancewere, 'There is no Hindu, no Musalman.' He announced to theworld that there is one God, who is beyond the religiousdivisions created by humankind. He was now 30 years of age,already married to Sulakkhani and was father of two sons.Leaving his family behind and taking Mardana as his solecompanion, he left Sultanpur for 20 years. Guru Nanakembarked upon four long journeys - to the East, South, Northand West. At the end of each journey, he returned to Punjab. Hewent to several important places of pilgrimage - Kurukshetra,Mathura, Haridwar, Banaras, Gaya as well as those in Bengal,Assam and Ceylon. He visited Sufi establishments in Pak Pattonand Multan. He traveled beyond India to Mecca, Madina andBaghdad in the West and Tibet and China in the East. He is alsobelieved to have traveled to Mount Sumero. During his travels,he held dialogues with Pandits, Sadhus, Yogis, Peers and Qajis notas an uncommitted seeker but as a teacher. While he challengedmany religious teachers of his time, he never challenged anyreligion. He proclaimed a new vision of one God, whose powergoes beyond names and forms. He won over his opponents notby magical power or intellectual acumen, but by moralpersuasion and the power of loving devotion. He was not asectarian reformer but a preacher of diving reality transcendingall particularities of race and clan.Guru Nanak's years of traveling ended around 1521, which alsocoincided with the establishment of Kartarpur. This was thetime of consolidation, in which religious verse was reduced towriting and patterns of worship of the community established.Morning prayers commenced before sun-up with the singing ofhymns. These were followed by a day full of work and endedwith hymns and prayers each evening. Guru Nanak did notestablish a vast organization but instead developed a simple,spiritual and moral discipline that had the capacity ofreproducing itself. It is here that the Guru's own word waspreserved in Guru Granth Sahib, running through the entire bodyof verse is one clear note of witness to the will and being ofGod. From this commitment arose the unbounded love, hisdeep compassion and active concerns for the welfare of man.His compositions are dedicated musings of the Creator and Hisattributes. In all this, he speaks as a witness to revelation:jYsI mY AwvY Ksm kI bwxI qYsVw krI igAwnu vy lwlo ] (722)J-ei-see m-ei aav-ei Khasam kee baan(h)ee T-ei-sar(h)aa karee giaan(u) v-ai Lalo.(As the Lord sendsh His word so do I deliver it.)alsohau Awphu boil n jwxdw mY kihAw sBu hukmwau jIau ] (763)Hao(u) aapah(u) bol(i) na jaan(h)daa M-ei kahiaa sabh(u) hukamaao(u) jeeo(u).(By myself, I do not even know how to speak; I speak all that theLord commands.)Guru Nanak's VersesIt becomes clear that Guru Nanak believed himself to beperforming a divinely appointed commission. All of GuruNanak's preaching is set forth in verse. No other way wouldhave been adequate to the range and depth of his moods, hisfervent longing for the Infinite, his joy and wonder at the beautyand vastness of His creation, his tender love for his fellow-menand his moral speculation and concern for the people. Hiscompositions reveal an abounding imagination and a subtleaesthetic sensitivity. His hymns are composed in commonlanguage - Punjabi, which was for the first time used extensivelyThe priest prophesied that hewould not only be an adorer ofGod but lead many others to Him.Eternal Voice Nov, 2010 - Jan, 20114 5