The Sikh Bulletin

The Sikh Bulletin m`Gr- poh 544 nwnkSwhI November-December 2012protons, and 92 electrons. The atom is the smallestparticle of an element.When Guru Nanak says, “pMc qqu suMnhu prgwsw ]…14]”,it means all the atoms found in this Universe originatedfrom Nothingness, which is, in fact, highly concentratedform of Energy, according the formula of E = MC 2 asdiscussed earlier at pages 186-187 as Energy andMatter.Human body and Atoms (Elements)Human body contains trillions of atoms of manydifferent elements. There are atoms of Hydrogen,Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus,...but your bodyalso contains many atoms of calcium, nickel,potassium, iron...even gold. In all, there are 92 differenttypes of atoms, most of which can be found in themolecules that make up the tissues of your body.When Guru Nanak uses this term, ‘pMc qqu (FiveElements)’, it does not mean Air, Water, Fire, Earth,Sky or Ether but many atoms of different elements. Inthe following phrase Guru Nanak explains that brain ismade of different atoms of many elements:iehu 1 mnu 2 pMc 3 qqu 4 qy jnmw 5 ]Aggs, m: 1, pMnw 415This 1 brain 2 was created 5 from many 3 atoms ofdifferent elements 4 .AGGS, M 1, p 415.This phrase clearly confirms that Mann (Mind/Brain) isa matter made of atoms of different elements but not theso-called SOUL or SPIRIT as is understood in ancientphilosophy and theology. In the following phrase GuruNanak further adds that the whole human body is madeof atoms of many elements.pMc 1 qqu 2 imil 3 iehu 4 qnu 5 kIAw 6 ]Aggs, m: 1, pMnw 1039.From the mixing 3 of the many 1 atoms of differentelements 2 , this 4 body 5 was created 6 .AGGS, M 1, p 1039.Note: Although the ‘five elements’ are mythicallyrepresented as Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Sky or Etherbut scientifically it should be represented as Carbon,Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus. Theseare the basic five different types of atoms required toform any organic matter or any living body, although alarge number of many atoms of other elements are alsorequired. Therefore, when Guru Nanak talks about ‘pMcqqu (Five Elements)’, it means Carbon, Hydrogen,Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus and many moreatoms of many (total of 92) different elements.From the above two phrases, it becomes crystal clearthat according to Nanakian Philosophy Mind and Bodyare one entity, the matter. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)also reached the same conclusion about Body andMind that both are physical substances and nodifference exists between them. Now this subject fallsinto a new field of medical science, Neuroscience,which explains clearly that ‘Mind’ is ‘Brain’ and the‘Consciousness’ is the result of physical and chemicalreactions carried out by neurons and synapses in the‘Brain’ (Fig. 22-6).The Laws of UniverseAfter the Big Bang and along the origin of Universecertain laws called the basic Laws of Universe (Lawsof Nature) to govern every action and reaction in theUniverse, including every living organism, alsooriginated. Although all the laws have not beendiscovered, Stephen Hawking [11] is of the view thatduring the next 100 years or even in the next 20, wemay discover a complete theory of basic Laws of theUniverse. With this discovery there will be no limit tocomplexity of the biological or electronic systems wecan build under these laws.It was Guru Nanak who explained during the 15 thcentury that every action and reaction in this Universeand living organism is being carried on under the Lawsof Universe. These laws are also called as ‘Laws ofNature’; therefore, the terms ‘Laws of Universe’ and‘Laws of Nature’ are interchangeable. These laws havebeen explained as hukm (Hukm) in details in Chapter16.Traditional and Scientific InterpretationFrom the above discussion one can easily understandthat how much scientific and logical interpretations ofthe above phrases differed from that of the traditionalinterpretations found in the Sikh literature. Therefore,the readers should not be surprised if myinterpretations of Gurbani are different from that of theK. T. F. of N. A. Inc. 3524 Rocky Ridge Way, El Dorado Hills, CA. 95762 20