Harbans Lal

Introduction

Sri Guru Granth Sahib was compiled four centuries ago to overcome the conflict among and between religions, between heaven and Earth, between the sacred and the secular, between the human and the Divine, and between the past, present and the future. The Divine wisdom and illumination in the Guru Granth Sahib is not just a borrowed bridge between Eastern and Western faiths and philosophies, and neither is it a sacred book inspired by other faiths and doctrines as some suggest.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib is actually a uniquely revealed repository of divine Light for all who wish to learn, explore, and seek the Light of one Spirit in the one world. I encourage people to open their hearts and take this universal light as a gift. It is a gift of God to all humanity and each one of us.

Looking Back to Move Forward

Today, I call upon you to begin looking at the future. Today we must look to the future. Our past is now far. As Farid reminds us daily,

That which is coming is near, and the past is left far behind (Fareed, SGGS, p. 1378).

It is the future that is near and at hand than the centuries old past. We must look to the future because that is closer to us and it is tomorrow. It is closer than the past 400 years. It is closer because of the speed with which we are moving into a global village of multicultural living, a world of science and technology, and a world of riches and personal freedom. Speed with which we are moving into the future is scaring rapid. I worry that almost in a blink of eye we may be left behind.

The global community that you have aroused through your seminars, conferences, and celebrations is now seeking information on the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib that we must provide. We must make available its guiding principles for civil society.

Some look into the future and are discouraged when they compare it to our past. They see us being overtaken with niceties and ignore the essentials. They see us impressing them with ceremonial splendors and elaborate edifices which we use to decorate the gift of Guru’s teachings but ignore the fact that many of these niceties impose restrictions on the message not being made available to overwhelming majority of the global faith communities.

To these skeptics the future is not so bright unless we drastically modify our priorities. We should carefully look at the metaphor that Guru Nanak used in his verse to describe the ways in which clergy usually take over the gifts of God’s knowledge that the prophets bring to the world.

Says Nanak, this is the Boat of Truth but its use to ferry across will be through contemplation of the Guru’s teachings (Nanak, SGGS, p. 20)

However,

If I look behind there were planted sprouting grape vineyards, but when I foresee these vineyards I see them as burning bushes (Nanak, SGGS, p. 20)

Today we should reach back to our past to insure the future, and define the promises of the last 400 years that we are committed to keep. This will require first to look within and ask ourselves if we committed. Conferences, research institutes and all scholarly work is crucial but not enough. Retrospection is also required.

Fareed, if you are a master of wisdom, then, do not keep on writing blackened essays. Rather, Look underneath your own collar instead (Fareed, SGGS, p. 1378).

It is time we review the message and set the goals that can inspire the future generation to remember the glorious teachings of our gurus and our rich heritage. But we cannot pass it on if we unless we first receive it ourselves. In the words of a seer,

“To look back to your roots is to take the first step forward,. For it is in the past that we are celebrating that should lead to the present, and from the present we move on to the future.”

Guru’s Priority is Interfaith Scripture

Guru Arjan asked a Sufi Fakir, Mia Mir, to lay the foundation stone of a temple where the Pothi Sahib was compiled. In honor of all spiritual leaders, Sikh Gurus included verses of holy saints of other faiths. This way song of the saints, the Sufis and the bards, of Hindus and Muslims, the Brahmins and the untouchables were elevated to reveal the glory of the One Reality.

In selecting the language of this new age scripture, the gurus used a language that allows for diversity and that is enjoyed widely in Southeast Asia. Guru Arjan principally employed the language of the saints, the language that evolved during the medieval period, but he preserved the revealed message in 22 languages of the Indian subcontinent and all neighboring cultures. It contains expressions from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, Arabic, Bengali, Sindhi, Marathi etc. Another remarkable fete was that Guru Arjan elected music to form the basis of the rhythms of the hymns (Gurdas, 29, 7).

He used music to not only preserve the originality of the composition, as poetry written in this form is difficult to imitate, but more so to provide the divine experience through the medium of music and the sounds of God's creation. Through this medium the true meaning is revealed to our seeking minds. As we chant the Granth's verses the universe speaks to us in metaphoric images. The body's energetic vibrations bind us to the spiritual light of universal intelligence.

It is indeed astonishing when we think of factionalism and religious fanaticism of the period in which the Guru Granth was composed. Nevertheless, Guru Arjan could successfully compile a truly universal scripture to overcome conflict among and between religions, between heaven and Earth, between the sacred and the secular, between the human and the Divine, and between past, present, and the future. The Guru says,

The world is aflame with conflicts, duality, hatred, O God, shower your benediction to save it through whichever way it can be delivered, deliver it that-vise. Take care of all the beings. Produce Thou plenty of food and water and ridding them of pain and penury, ferry them across the world-ocean.

Judging by the events in the past few years, it is clear that profiling, labeling or defining “others” in contrast to “us” forms the basis for fanaticism. Fanaticism brings destruction of human spirit and the body. It serves as enemy of peace and basis for war between nations, peoples, and families. In the new world of science and technology, if we can learn to be sensitive to the harms we inflict on others through fanatic and discriminative belief systems, we will come a long way in establishing everlasting peace.

Agenda for the Future

Celebrating the Quadri-centennial has been the biggest celebration ever seen in Sikh history throughout the world. Not only in Amritsar where millions of people attended various celebrations and conferences, but all over the world this event was witnessed through conferences, media presentations, establishments of institutes and other centers of studies, Gurdwaras, publication of books and journals, and presentations on world platforms such as the World Parliament of Religions. Heads of many countries including USA, Canada, and Britain congratulated the Sikhs; many legislations passed by different states in North America honored the celebration and acknowledged the contribution of Guru Granth to their society. There has been no other time in human history when the message of Guru Granth Sahib has been more universally celebrated as right now. I also believe that there has been no other time in human history when the message of Guru Granth Sahib has been considered more relevant as right now.

This celebration provided a spiritual moment for all humankind as the Sikh Scripture is a precious jewel among the collective spiritual heritage of the world. It is the living Guru of the Sikhs as commanded by the Tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, but I believe, it is a spiritual gift to all mankind.

These celebrations will now compel us to address the world through the lens of our understanding of the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It will compel us to demonstrate our understanding of those principles in our individual and communal lives. It will compel us to engage our political, civic, and religious leaders on the values and ethics affirmed by its teachings.

I take this opportunity to offer ten principles from the teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib to those who are willing to accept responsibility that comes with holding public office and in our socio-cultural organizations and other religious institutions. These were formulated as the Guiding Principles for Civil Society at a recent conference of ONO/NGO meeting.

1. To Recognize presence of divine Light in every living being.

2. To recognize that the earth was created according to God’s cosmic blueprint, and it is therefore intrinsically good. Nature is our mother, our home, our security, our peace, our past, and our future. It is our obligation to treat natural things and habitats as our sacred temples and shrines, to be revered and preserved in all their intricate and fragile beauty.

3. God is the Creator and its creative manifestation extends to all humans. Therefore, all humans are intrinsically creative in partnership with God.

4. It is a human destiny to emulate the divine attributes such as Truth, fearlessness, love, an eternal personality beyond genetic and mimetic imprisonments, and free spirit that lives in gratitude.

5. To experience divinity in work and service, in art and science, in philosophy and religion, and in environment and creation.

6. To follow the principles of righteous living by believing in human equality, human dignity, justice, and inculcating human behaviors that cleanse the body and the mind.

7. To build institutions of altruism like langer or free community kitchen attached to every congregation, and institutions like Pingalwara for every unfortunate citizen.

8. To be an advocate for those who are most vulnerable in our society.

9. To exert spiritual and moral responsibility that will guide political leaders and political institutions, and to provide responsible guidelines for leadership of religious establishments.

10. To build a world without the dividing culture of “mera tera” (meaning “mine and yours”). It is a transgression of the divine principle of unity in God’s creation to profile and divide people as “us “and “them.”

These principles set our future agenda. We will make progress only when we discontinue to refract the world’s scriptural lights through prisms of our own designs. In the light of Sri Guru Granth Sahib we may see the Creator within each human being, and commit to promote multi-cultural living where the well being of every one is our greatest concern. This will go a long way to establish a world of peace and progress.


Copyright ©2005 Harbans Lal. About the author