Guru Nanak Dev Ji, also referred to as Baba Nanak ('Father Nanak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus, was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī village (present-day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan) in the Lahore province of the Delhi Sultanate, although according to one tradition, he was born in the Hindu month of Kartik (November; known later as Katak in Sikhism).
Guru Nanak is said to have
travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of ik onkar (ੴ,
'one God'), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the
eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and
political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.
Nanak's words are registered
in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda,
in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of
the major prayers being the Japji Sahib (jap, 'to
recite'; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying
respect); the Asa di Var ('ballad
of hope'); and the Sidh Gohst ('discussion
with the Siddhas').
It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity, divinity, and the religious authority had descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when
the Guruship was devolved on to them.
The goal of man, taught by the
Sikh Gurus, is to end all dualities of "self and other, I and not-I,"
attaining the "attendant balance of separation-fusion, self-other,
action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life."
Guru Nanak, and other Sikh
Gurus emphasized bhakti ('love',
'devotion', or 'worship'), and taught that the spiritual life and secular
householder life are intertwined. In the Sikh perspective, the everyday world is part of an infinite reality, where increased spiritual awareness leads
to increased and vibrant participation in the everyday world. Guru
Nanak described living an "active, creative, and practical life" of
"truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" as being higher
than the metaphysical truth.
Through popular tradition, Guru
Nanak's teachings are understood to be practiced in three ways considered being
the three pillars of Sikhism:
·
Vand Shhako (share & consume'): Share
with others, help those who are in need, so you may eat together;
·
Kirat Karo (work honestly): Earn an honest
living, without exploitation or fraud; and
·
Naam Japo (recite His name): Meditate on
God's name, so to feel His presence and control the five thieves of
the human personality.
Langar ( Community Eating)
1.
Vaṇḍ Shhakō is one of the three main pillars of the
teachings of Guru Nanak. It means to share what you have and to consume
it together as a community. This could be wealth, food, etc. The term is also
used to mean to share one's wealth with others in the community, to give to
charity, to distribute in Langar, and to generally help others in the
community who need help. A Sikh is expected to contribute a portion of their
wealth or income to people in need or to a worthy cause.
It
also means to share the fruits of one’s labor with others before considering
oneself, thus living as an inspiration and a support to the entire community.
2.
Kirat
Karō -
the term means to earn an honest, pure
and dedicated living by exercising one's God-given skills, abilities, talents
and hard labor for the benefit and improvement of the individual, their family
and society at large. This means to work with determination and focus by the sweat of one's brow and not to be lazy and to waste one's life to time.
3. Nām Japna requires the remembrance of God or
the Akal Purkh, the supreme formless power that is timeless and
deathless, by repeating and focusing the mind on a singular repetition of
one of God's various names or qualities.
Nām Japō is
one of the Three Pillars of Sikhism along with Kirat Karo and Vand
Shhako. Critical importance is given to the meditation in the Guru
Granth Sahib as the way in which humans can conquer The Five Evils -ego, greed, attachment, anger, and lust and to bring peace and tranquility into one's mind. Through Nām the devotees are
able to harness Godly qualities and remove the five thieves or evils.
4.
Other important teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are
:
Ø Submission to the Will of God – "Hukam rajai challa, Nanak likhiye naal" O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey the Hukam or His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.
Ø
There is
One God. It is interpreted as "one and only one, who
cannot be compared or contrasted with any other"
Ø
Goodwill for all- Sarbhat dah phalla or Sarbat
da bhala is a Punjabi term which
means "welfare of all" "may everyone be blessed" or "may good come to all".
This is a term which forms an important part of the Sikh prayer called the
Ardas. It encourages and compels the Sikh to ask for the "well being of everyone in the
world". In establishing this concept, the Gurus have set a new
standard for the Sikhs – not only should the Sikhs pray for their own
well-being but also needs to ask for the blessing for "all the
peoples of the world".
Ø
Always Speak The Truth - "Sach Sunaisi Sach Kee Bela"
Guru
Nanak Dev Ji in front of King Babar “You are not Babar but
JABAR”. We should always speak the truth with no fear.
“Sach ki bani Nanak aakhai sach sunaisi sach ki bela”
- I have related the true Word of the True Lord as per His Will.
Ø Sewa And Simran
Guru
Nanak says that no one can save anybody else. It is only a Guru who guides us to
safety and to be saved, one has to follow the right path of SEWA and SIMRAN
told by him. Do SEWA and you shall be given a place of honour in the Court of
the Lord.
Ø
Shun five Evils
The common evils far exceed
in number, but a group of five of them came to be identified because of the
obstruction they are believed to cause in man's pursuit of the moral and
spiritual path. The group of five evils in Punjabi are:
§ kam (Lust),
§ krodh (Rage
or uncontrolled anger),
§ lobh (Greed),
§ moh (Attachment
or emotional attachment) and
§ ahankar (ego)
Ø Importance of Guru (
teacher)
According to Guru Nanak Dev Ji attainment of God is impossible without the
help of a Guru. Deep darkness of ignorance prevails without
a Guru. He acts like a boat for a person to reach his destination.
Guru
Nanak Dev Ji lays great emphasis on having the importance of Guru in one’s
life. Salvation occurs not from pilgrimage or rites etc, but through heart,
spirit and soul.
Ø No Discrimination
His
idea of a caste-free society transpired also in his concepts of Sangat and Pangat.
The classic example of this is the Langar
– langar is the community kitchen of a gurdwara which serves meals
free of charge to all visitors—without making a distinction of religion, caste,
gender, economic status, or ethnicity. The meals are mostly vegetarian with a few exceptions. People
sit and eat together, and the kitchen is maintained and serviced by Sikh
community volunteers.
The
quality of this community eating or Langar
is that the person serving food does not know whom he is serving and the ones
being served do not know by whom they are being served.
Ø
Against Rituals/Superstitions
Guru
Nanak Dev Ji preached against superstitions, false rituals, worship of
demo-gods and goddesses. He stressed that only One God, the Formless, is to be
glorified.
Friends, let us make sure that we all follow the wonderful teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and make ourselves a better person and the entire world a better place to live in.
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So knowledgeable. Beautifully written sir 👍
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