Guru Nanak by Swami and media

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Light and Love

 

26 November (By some sources between 24 and 26 November) is the 536th

birth anniversary of Guru Nanak (Guru Granth Sahib).

Guru Nanak's life and actions for humanity encouraged/encourage people from

the past to today to perform selfless service. He wished to equalise all

religions as no one of them supported violence and hate in the name of God. His

works declare oneness of humanity, respect to women, sefless love and they have

an universal significance for all religions.

Swami in His discourses many, many times noted to the significance of

Guru Nanak's teaching for India and all humanity.

Below is a tiny selection of Swami's insights about Guru Nanak and meaning

of his teaching. He even compares Guru Nanak with great avatars from the past.

 

"In the year 1459 A.D., Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru, started the

practice of bhajans (community singing). This practice gathered momentum over

the years and in 1798, the great South Indian saint-composer Tyagaraja invested

Bhajans with raga and tala (musical form and rhythm). Since then bhajans have

acquired national vogue in all parts of the country.

Bhajans should not be treated as one way of spending time. They are intended

to harmonise the feelings, the singing, and the rhythmic beats of the

participants so that they experience in unison the oneness of the Divine.

"(Exerpts from Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Volume 19. Chapter 22).

"The body, mind and Atma (spirit) constitute a human being. The three

demonstrate the nature of man and enable him to grow to his true stature. They

represent the three concepts of Action, Awareness and Realisation. The body is

the instrument for practising Dharma. It is the means of discharging all one's

duties. The mind is the source of good and bad thoughts. The world is

understood only through the mind. It is the instrument for judging between

right and wrong, the impermanent and the everlasting. It represents Awareness

or understanding. The Atma represents the pure, effulgent, eternal and

unchanging Consciousness. It shines within man as illuminating flame. The

Sastras have characterised it as Divine. The Upanishads have declared that God

dwells in the cave of the heart. The Bible has declared that the Divine can be

experienced only through purity of the heart. The Quran also declares that

purity of heart is essential for experiencing God. Guru Nanak declared that

only through good thoughts, good speech and good actions can one realise the

Divine. All faiths are one in proclaiming the supreme importance of purity of

heart." (Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Volume 19. Chapter 27).

 

"Guru Nanak favoured community prayers in preference to individual prayer

in isolation. When all people join in unison to pray to God, their prayers will

melt the heart of God. In a large gathering there must be at least one who prays

with a pure heart. That prayer will reach God. Hence, devotees should take part

in community bhajans. They should participate in community service and involve

themselves in the life of the community. This is the noblest path." (Sathya Sai

Baba. SSS. Volume 23. Chapter 36).

"When all the participants in a bhajan sing in unison, what sacred

vibrations are produced and what Divine energies are released! When these

vibrations fill the world, what changes cannot they bring about! When one sings

alone, the heart is merged in the song. But when many sing together, it acquires

a Divine power. That was the reason why Guru Nanak commended community

singing."(Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Volume 24. Chapter 4).

"Guru Nanak first started the practice of community singing. When many

voices join together and pray as a single voice, it is called community bhajan.

He started this and it spread throughout the nation. Such holy persons took

birth in India and taught many such good things. How delightful is the sound

when so many sing together in unison. That is nothing but unity in diversity.

We must do the same and enjoy real happiness. Bhajans may also be sung by

getting together family members or a small group of people, and derive

happiness from it." (Summer Showers in Brindavan. Discourses of Bhagawan Sri

Sathya Sai Baba. 2002, p. 208 -209. Prasanthi Nilayam).

"Guru Nanak was the initiator of the practice of community singing of

devotional songs. He believed that through such community singing the common

man can ennoble his life and experience the presence of the Divine in everyone.

Through that experience, one can become a knower of the Brahman (jnani).

Ratnakara, who led the life of a highway man, became the sage Valmiki after

prolonged meditation on the name of Rama. He got the illumination out of which

the Ramayana was born. Moses was another great figure of old times who achieved

Godrealisation by continuously dwelling on the name of God." (Sathya Sai Baba.

SSS. Volume19. Chapter 24).

About Guru Nanak's life path is possible to read from article by Sharika

Muthu "Nanak - The Great Equaliser"in Indiatimes Spirituality, 25 november

2004.

Below this article in a little short form is shared.

Born in Talwandi village (now in Pakistan) in 1469, to a hard-working

accountant and a simple housewife, Nanak was, from his childhood, a rather

unusual child.

Acutely inquisitive, he demanded answers to the most complex philosophical

questions. When he was old enough, the child was sent to the village

schoolmaster to be taught Hindi, Persian, Arabic and math. Gifted with an

extremely sharp mind, he learnt his lessons quickly, questioning his teachers

constantly.

Nanak’s uncommon personality was reflected in other incidents also. After

school every day, when it was time for him to graze the cattle, he would lose

himself in deep meditation for hours together, while the cattle strayed far

away.

When his persistent questions did not meet with satisfactory answers, he

would engage in profound discussions with Hindu and Muslim holy men who

happened to be passing through the village.

When Nanak turned 13 , his father arranged for him to be invested with the

sacred thread, as is the custom among Hindus. However, the youngster had

outgrown none of his childhood precocity, and when the unsuspecting priest

approached him, thread in hand, Nanak burst out with:

Let Mercy be the cotton, Contentment the thread, Continence the knot and

Truth the twist. O priest! If you have such a thread, do give it to me. It'll

not wear out, nor get soiled, nor burnt, nor lost.

That was effectively the end of the ceremony.

 

Realising that their son was growing rather unmanageable, Nanak’s parents

decided to marry him off. Nanak made no objection, and even settled down

happily with his gentle wife Sulakhani.

 

Within a few years, he had two sons. With a family to support, he soon took

up a job as an accountant in charge of the stores of Daulat Khan Lodi, the

Muslim governor of Sultanpur. Nanak worked hard during the day, and in the

evenings, regaled his family and friends with melodious songs, sung to the

accompaniment of the rabab (an oriental string instrument) played by his

childhood friend Mardana.

Guru Nanak started the institution of langar or free community meals where

everyone was welcome. Nanak was now a happy family man , a responsible

householder and a fond father. All seemed peaceful and perfect. However, this

was not to last long. His destiny took a strange turn one day, when he went to

the river to bathe – something he had done every day for thirty years.

But this morning was different. Nanak waded in to the river, immersed

himself completely – and did not come out. Mardana called out to him, but there

was no reply. Finally, a tearful Mardana broke to the shocked village the news

that Nanak had drowned.

 

After mourning Nanak’s strange and untimely death, the village sorrowfully

went back to its mundane routine. And then, suddenly after three days – Nanak

appeared - emerging from the river at exactly the same spot as he had

disappeared.

The awe-struck villagers soon realised that he was not the same man. There

was a radiance on his face, a light in his eyes. And when he opened his lips,

he said:

“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 birth and death,

He is self-illuminated, and He is realised 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 that point onward , Nanak began – literally and otherwise – a new life.

He gave up his job, distributed his money and belongings among the poor and set

out on a journey to spread God’s message.

Accompanied by his friend Mardana, Nanak travelled on foot, covering the

length and breadth of the country and the vast sub-continent. The singing Hindu

youth and his rabab -playing Muslim companion must have made a strangely moving

pair as they urged people to love one another and the one God who has created

us all.

 

Thus Nanak founded a new religion – a religion of simplicity, unity and

amity. He preached the unity of all mankind, the unity of all regions and above

all, the oneness of God, whose children all human beings are.

Incidentally, ‘Sikhism’, the religion which Nanak founded, means the

religion of those who accept a teaching – the Hindi word for ‘teaching’ being

Seekh . So all those who accepted Nanak’s teachings became Sikhs. And the

teaching was the simplest possible – love all, be kind to the poor and praise

God – the One Maker. Source:

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/268437.cms

 

Namaste - Reet