Religion has been a socio-cultural institution of human society. We can say that human beings have been born into this world with religion. We can even assert that religion is a necessity of the human condition, like breathing, drinking or eating. Ninian Smart has observed, "Throughout history and beyond, in the dark recesses of man's earliest cultures, religion has been a vital and pervasive feature of human life." 1
Mircea Eliade, the editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion has concluded, "Religion is a primal condition of life, not a cultural product" and added that religion "is an element in the structure of consciousness and not a stage in the history of consciousness." 2
Karl Marx, of course, declared God to be a fraud or some 'other worldly phantom' and that "Man makes religion, religion does not make man...it is the opium of the people." 3 However, it is religion that has survived the Marxist onslaught, while the edifices built on Marxist ideologies, are crumbling and cracking all over the world.
Sociologists seem to be grudgingly coming to terms with the phenomenon of the religion in man. Emile Durkheim stated, "We admit that these religions rest upon a specific experience whose demonstrative value is, in one sense, not one bit inferior to that of scientific experiments, though different from them." 4
Turner recognizes that "Religion is a social cement, binding individuals and social groups into a communal order." 5
Joachim Wach and William James have described the religious experiences of mankind but we have so far not agreed on a definition of religion. Suffice, perhaps, it would be to say, that religion is something concerned with the reality that underlies and sustains the world of appearances and the innermost being of man. 6
All religions owe their origin to some ineffable experience of their human founders which was described by them through symbols, ceremonies, rituals, language, oral or written idioms, parables and myths.
Dr. Radhakrishnan, holding the same views, said, "All the religions owe their inspiration to the personal insights of their prophet founders." 7
John Hick takes us further, when to the genesis of religions he postulates the reasons for the diversity of religions in human society. "The great religions are all, at their experiential roots in contact with the same ultimate divine reality, but their differing experiences of that reality interacting over the centuries with the different thought forms of different cultures, have led to increasing differentiation and contrasting elaboration." 8
This observation is strikingly similar to Guru Nanak's view, who said that just as one sun makes for many hours, days, months and seasons in the year, similarly one Creator has appeared in different forms to humanity. 9
The ineffable experience that the founders of religions had, was somewhat "imperfectly" described by them in the language and tradition of the socio-cultural group to which they belonged. The linguistic capability in man is unique among the living beings and man has been improving his linguistic capability as he has been advancing in his mastery over the world, but still, there are areas of perception and feeling for which communicable linguistic symbols have not been developed and a large part of what we call religion lies in such areas. It is perhaps on this account that all the major religions of the world are covered by two religious traditions i.e. Abrahamanic and the Indian or Hindu tradition.
The Jews, Christians and Muslims, who follow faiths which comprise the Abrahamanic tradition, came to India fairly early, but there were hardly any attempts at promoting mutual understanding of the Indian and Abrahamanic traditions.
It was the Muslim conquest of India, that produced the north Indian Sants and the Muslim Sufis, who tried to work out a common ground for the two traditions. We had a culmination of this movement in Guru Nanak and his successor nine Gurus.
The design of the world has been constantly evolving, with human beings too, changing with it. The source responsible for the change in the human being, and his environment, has been constantly revealing itself to humanity in order for humans to remain attuned to that source and adjust themselves to the changing surroundings.
According to John Hick, historically religious development can be described as "Movement of Divine self-revelation to mankind."
This hypothesis suggests to us that, "The same divine reality has always been self-revealingly active towards mankind and that the differences of human response are related to different human circumstances. These circumstances, ethnic, geographical, climatic, economic, sociological, historical, have produced the existing differentiations of human culture, and within each main cultural region the response to the divine has taken its own characteristic forms." 10
Prophets and founders of religions were those human beings who were charged with a mission to put humanity back on a straight path that was in danger of being lost to them due to the 'fog and mist' produced by the changes in man and his environment.
The experience of the Prophets and founders of religions was not available to the followers and as time passed, the content of the religious truth got overlaid with forms and rituals that instead of supporting and strengthening the religion, tended to smother and choke its vitality. This set the stage for the appearance of a new synthesis, a prophet with divine revelation or a new religion. This seems to be the purport of what Lord Krishna had said in Bhagvadgita, "I bring myself into being whenever there is decline in righteousness and the prevalence of unrighteousness in consequence." 11
The Sikh holy scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), are replete with references about God intervening in human affairs to project His glory and provide protection to His devotees.12
In the Abrahamanic tradition, the Bible and Quran describe how God has been sending His prophets to guide man from time to time. Jesus Christ said in the Bible, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill." 13
The maximum change that humanity and the world has witnessed so far, has been brought about in the last five hundred years. We became aware of the new world and the new means to harness and manipulate the forces of nature. Contemporaneously and even preceding it, we cannot fail to take note of the unprecedented religious ferment, witnessed in both the religious traditions. It was the Bhakti and the Sikh movement in India, and the Reformation and Sufi saints in Christianity and Islam.
Guru Nanak was born in 1469 followed by nine Gurus who were one with him in spirit, the last being Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708).
The fifth Nanak, Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1581-1606) decided to compile the works of his four predecessor Gurus and his own writings, arranging them according to the ragas of the Indian music system. The fifth Guru specifically numbered each verse to guard against interpolations. He himself signed at the end of each raga in token of authentication of what he had dictated to the scribe, Bhai Gurdas. Guru Nanak makes it clear that what he had written did not come to him from his own mind but it came from the God Almighty.14
Guru Arjan went over the religious writings that were current till his time, and wherever he came across a similar Divine inspiration, he included it in his compilation. This unique compilation after the addition of verses of the ninth Nanak is the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the living Guru of the world.
The nearest term that we can use for the SGGS in Abrahamanic tradition is what the Bible describes as Word or Logos. 15
The SGGS is the latest revelation available to humanity as it was completed, by Guru Arjan in 1604. The whole 1430 pages of the SGGS are addressed to humanity in general regardless of caste, race, color, creed, belief or sex. The equality of all men and women before the one and only God (for whom numeral one has been used) has been the refrain of the SGGS. 16
Guru Arjan at the close of the compilation says that in the SGGS he was placing before humanity a platter which had in it Truth, contentment and contemplation. All through, and everything in it is the name/word of God. Whoever partakes from this platter gets redeemed. Only those whom God, in his grace, blesses are able to partake from this platter. 17
The divine revelation or sacred teaching in all the religious traditions, is intended to link humanity to Reality, or God. This is the literal meaning of the word religion derived from the Latin word religare which means 'to bind together.' Exigencies of the worldly situation for humanity, however, are such, that in all the religious traditions, we find, that either human beings subvert religion to make it a tool for achieving their worldly ambitions, or, they take refuge in religion through renunciation of the worldly responsibilities and strive for their individual salvation.
Guru Nanak was a householder and so were all the successor nine Gurus. Asceticism among the Sikhs was not encouraged. It was emphasized that in God's Order, the family life and its obligations, were the means provided for developing and strengthening one's capability to achieve salvation or union with the Reality. The world of appearance and change, in which man lives, is a creation of the True One. He sustains it, destroys it, and He has his abode in it. Guru Nanak has called it to be the true abode of righteousness and goes so far as to say that the whole purpose of the creation is to project the Lord's glory through His devotees.18 The vicissitudes of a householder's life enable a man to transcend his haumai or 'ego-self'. Without transcending haumai, no spiritual progress is possible.
Guru Nanak, in his teaching, also built upon the relationship that an individual has with his cultural group. A person can grow up as a human being only in a cultural group as Kroeber has observed. "It (culture) is acquired by learning from other individuals of the species, and it is practiced somewhat modified by each member of the human race, individually, and his modifications enter into the continuum or joint product, which is passed on to subsequent individuals. The chief mechanism which makes communication of human culture possible, is the faculty of symbolization and speech." 19
Sikhs were enjoined to get together at a convenient place to sing hymns and listen to the word of the Gurus and these bodies were called sangats that became the basic units of the emerging Sikh community. The early Sikhs derived their identity from the "Sikh sangats." The Gurus and Bhai Gurdas have emphasized that sangats were the abode of the Guru/God.
Moshin Fani, who was a contemporary of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Nanak, had witnessed the proliferation of the Sikh sangats all over the country and a later observer, Sujan Rai Bhandari, was struck by the feeling of kinship that prevailed among the Sikhs and the devotion they displayed for their Guru. The striking feature of the Sikhs that he noticed was their getting together in sangats to sing hymns of their Gurus.20
This was a unique contribution of Guru Nanak to religion particularly in the Indian tradition. The sangats were the units devised by the Sikh Gurus, where transformation was to be brought about in man from self-centeredness to what John Hick calls "reality-centeredness" that was the objective in all religious traditions. It was in this endeavor that the individual needed to draw strength from the group.
Guru Nanak made it clear that religion was not something merely to be debated about but it was a way of living much more than a way of cognizing the truth. He said that truth is higher than everything but higher still was the truthful living. 21 It is like walking on a razor's edge. It is a path on which human beings often stumble and even fall and what sustains them is Guru's word, God's grace and the support of the sangat.
Guru Nanak shared the religious view about humanity that there is an element of divine in every human being.
It is said in the Bible that God created man in his own image and also that he is created out of dust. 22 Similar is the position in the Quran: So, when I have made him and have breathed into him of my spirit. 23
The third Nanak, Guru Amar Dass, said "O, My body, the Lord put His light in you and so you came in the world." 24
The SGGS goes on to state that the divine blessing on a human being continues after birth if he remains steadfast in his faith in God. "God protects us in the mother's womb and no harm comes to us. The same God is our refuge in life. You must understand with your sense of discrimination." 25
Gurbani, the word of the Guru, recognizes that human beings enjoy mastery over all other forms of creation. It says, 'You enjoy mastery over all other forms of life and you are the over-lord of this earth." 26 There is a clear recognition that at a physical level, a human being is no different from other animals. "God has created your body in accordance with His design and you must know that it must, for sure be reduced to dust." 27
The physical body, however, is the medium and the receptacle where divine light is lodged. It is the kindling of this light that redeems the physical part. Whenever the divine light in a human being, gets connected to the divine light or energy that sustains the universe, that human body becomes blessed and holy. Human birth, therefore, is considered a unique opportunity for fulfillment of the purpose of human existence.
Bhagat Kabir has said, "Precious is the human birth, it comes not to hand again, as the fruit when ripe, falls and does not stick to the tree again." 28 Gurbani enjoins that "One who in the heart enshrines the lotus feet of the Lord and whose tongue utters His name, nurture well such human body, for it cherishes God." 29 Conversely a life lived for the enjoyment and preservation of the physical body, is held to be worthless and for such a person, it was better that he was not born.
The physical body of every living organism survives, develops and procreates during the life span of the organism, within an over all system, in our biosphere. The mind, as a consciousness and response organ is present even in the simplest organism like amoeba. We take the mind to mean as an organ which provides consciousness, memory, reason, intellect, feeling, emotion, intuition and will; we can say that the mind is a complex phenomenon which is provided for the survival of the organism as well as for enabling it to manipulate and adjust to the environment.
The Sikh Gurus have made the human mind a primary focus. Guru Nanak does not approve of any religious practice, ritual or learning that does not bring about a change in the human mind and he emphasized that the mind alone can bring about the required change in the mind. Mind is also recognized as being connected to the divine. "Mind you are a spark of the divine light, so grasp the true source of your being." 30 The mind has been described as always fickle and at the same time a very powerful human faculty.
The dichotomy in which the human mind is caught is because of its function to serve the physical body of man in which its needs, desires and compulsions of survival, make it go after various objects, while its other function requires it to discriminate and decide what is socially and religiously right or wrong. This dichotomy has been the subject matter of study of philosophers, psychiatrists and wise men but they could not resolve it because the dichotomy is created by God Himself and only through religion, the dichotomy can be resolved.
This is described by Bhagat Kabir beautifully, "The habit of the mind is that it pursues itself. If, therefore, one kills one's mind what will one achieve? Who is the seer who can kill his mind? If one kills one's mind whom does one emancipate? It is through the mind that life force speaks and without the subjection of mind, one cannot worship God. Says Kabir that, he who can resolve this mystery finds the mind as the God of the three worlds." 31
When one embarks on the journey to control one's mind, one finds that mind is not like a blank paper. One has on it, already the impressions of one's actions, thinking and inclinations. Added to this are one's self-centered desires and aspirations. The only way one can get out of these ties, according to Guru Nanak, is through Nam which is awakening of God inside. The awakening of God inside requires that man transcends a God-created basic obstacle in his path i.e. his haumai.
We know, that every one of us lives in a human cultural group, and, in the interaction with the other members of this group he develops his personality. Our knowledge of the development of the human personality tells us that from initial concerns about one's own needs, a human being progresses and incorporates in his personality a concern for others in his cultural group and those who have the best integrated personalities, become truly altruistic with concern for the entire human race. 32
It is this development of personality or self in human being, which has been called haumai by Guru Nanak. The word has no exact equivalent in the English language. However, no one can grow up as a normal human person in human society without haumai. Gurbani mentions that among all living beings, human beings have been born with the infirmity of haumai. 33
Haumai is a snare in a sense, in which human beings are caught. Psychologists tell us that the perception of reality in the world by human beings is colored by their haumai described as self. 34
Religion is all about transcending this God given infirmity by human beings. Arnold Toynbee observed "Self-centeredness is one of the necessities of life because it is indispensable for the creature's existence. Self-centeredness is thus a necessity of life but this necessity is also a sin. It is a problem that continually besets human beings." 34a
Haumai identified as an infirmity in a human being by Guru Nanak, in a way, explains the Biblical concept of the "original sin." The Garden of Eden story perhaps symbolizes the development of self-awareness or haumai in human beings that resulted in them being driven out of the Garden of Eden. Adam becoming self-centered could not remain in God's presence. The possibility to work his way back, through the way shown by the founders of religions or prophets has been kept open for all human beings.
Guru Angad, the second Nanak says that "The nature of haumai is that we act in haumai. The bondage of haumai has bound us to the round of births and deaths. How is haumai born and in which way lies the release? This is the will of God that in haumai one follows the writ of habit or one gets pushed by one's past. Haumai is a chronic malady but within also lies its remedy. If the Lord be in grace, one practices the word of the Guru/God. Says Nanak that thus is this malady cured." 35
Haumai has also been described as a thin curtain that does not permit humanity to have a vision of the Divine. The fervor of the theistic devotion among Bhaktas and Sufi saints, and the accompaniment of music with hymns sung in praise of God, are all intended to help a person in rising above his haumai to have a glimpse of the Lord. Alas, our self-centered actions in the mundane world constantly strengthen the bonds of haumai.
Guru Nanak in Japuji, a part of the daily recitation for Sikhs, starts with describing as to how ritual purification of body, meditation, accumulation of worldly goods and all intellectual attainments are of no avail to us, unless we become an instrument of God's will. When one is able to remain in tune with God's will, only then one can be free from haumai.
Jesus Christ and Guru Nanak have used the metaphor of a new birth when a person treads this path of vision of God. "Let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me, anyone who wants to save himself will lose it but anyone who loses himself for my sake will find it." 36 Only the Guru-centered ones look into the mind within the body and worship God with love with which their haumai evaporates. 37
Humanity, for Guru Nanak, has only two classes. They are either manmukhs, the self-centered ones, or gurmukhs, the Guru-centered ones, whom scholars like John Hick prefer to call as the 'reality-centered' ones.
McLeod calls the manmukh condition of man as the 'unregenerate' condition where he seems to be in error. Manmukh condition of a human being is the normal condition of humanity as they perceive reality through the ego in their minds. It is only the gurmukhs who can see the world, and in it, the unfolding of God's design, as God is present in every particle. God's presence leaves him struck with wonder in every moment that passes.
The God-centered person is able to integrate his personality and control his mind with the Guru's word, 38 whereas the self-centered person merely talks and does not display integrity and character in his actions. He is blind to the presence of God around him and inside him. The Guru/God-centered individual acts without haumai. His actions and living are truthful and he lives in contentment.
Agurmukh lives in sahaj which is tension-free living where goodness comes naturally to him. Being in tune with God's will, he lives in the present. The past does not worry him and he has faith about the future that everything will work out for the good of the Guru/God-centered. This is in line with what the Bible says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." 39 Many verses in Gurbani have a similar theme.
The Abrahamanic tradition religions have an angel of God, who has a role to lead humanity astray. The angel is called Devil, Satan or Iblis. He was responsible for the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the heaven. Gurbani is of the view that in the design of God for man in this world, he has created an agent called Maya that leads a self-centered man astray. It is mentioned in Anand Sahib, "as is the fire of the womb within, so is the fire of Maya without. Both fires are alike, and yet are the play of the Lord. When the Lord so wills, one is born into this world to the great joy of the kindred. And then one is no more attuned to God and the writ of Maya begins to run. Maya makes us forsake God and love for other things wells up in the mind. Nanak says, that they who are attuned to God, by the Guru's grace attain to God in the midst of Maya." 40
EIncidentally, the Bible describes the Devil as a serpent who tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; and in Gurbani too, in many verses Maya is described as a serpent. 41Maya and haumai in Gurbani have a symbiotic relationship. Both are God created and work to strengthen each other, either singly, or together they lead human beings away from God. "Maya is where one is bound to pain and pleasure and one acts in haumai." 42
EThe remedy for both Haumai and Maya is to pray for the grace of God/Guru, live according to the will of God, and keep the word of God/Guru in mind and God's name in one's heart. It is the reconstruction of the self view that one has evolved from one's own experience and wisdom and is replaced by a self based on the divine word, abiding faith in God's/Guru's grace; and praying to Him to always guide and save one from temptation as is indicated in Sura-AI-Fatihah of the Quran or in the Bible, (St. Matthew 6:9-13) or in "Gauri Bavan Akhri" in the Guru Granth Sahib. 43
The society that Guru Nanak envisages is a society of equals without distinction of race, caste, creed, color or sex. It is clearly brought out in Gurbani, that every age has its religion and its God-ordained seers or prophets, and in the present age, the religion was the awakening of God in man (Naam) in the company of the God-centered or gurmukhs.
This awakening was possible through different religious traditions of humanity. Guru Nanak has laid out a highway for mankind who venture to set on the God-ward path. The social order for society could be monarchy but ideally it is a democracy, in which justice must prevail, all citizens must be free, fearless and equal, no one should be subjected to exploitation and oppression. 44
A Sikh is expected to earn his livelihood and share it with others. Guru Nanak made his preference known, when he said that he would like to associate himself with the lowest of the low and he saw the blessing of God in a society which ensured that the lowest of the low were well looked after. 45
Guru Nanak's teaching is summed up in "Naam Japo, Kirt Karo, Wand Chhako" i.e. recite the divine Name, earn your living and share your earnings with others. 46
The Guru had witnessed the conquering of India by Babur and the accompanying destruction, and pillage. There are four verses of Guru Nanak on this subject. He declared that Babur had come to India with a wedding party of sin to forcibly consummate his marriage with the Indian bride after having the marriage rites performed by Satan.
Guru Nanak however, did not see the destruction and rapine of Babur's attack as being outside God's design. He said that if the community had realized their having strayed away from God and had not devoted themselves to merely seeking sensual pleasures and amassing of wealth through sin, the calamity could have been avoided.
The view has a parallel in the Abrahamanic tradition. The Bible refers to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin. When Abraham pleaded with God to spare these places for the sake of some righteous persons in these cities, God offered to spare the cities if he could find ten righteous persons. Ultimately the only persons spared were Lot and his daughters. 47 In the case of Nineveh, God spared the city as they changed their way of living on being warned. 48
The Gurbani view on this subject seems to be that God in his grace, if invoked appropriately, intervenes in the affairs of man to save him individually or collectively, not withstanding His own laws in which retribution followed for the self-centered. Guru Nanak associated the attributes of love and compassion with God while He remains an ideal Judiciary, "Thou are ever generous to the poor, an ocean of mercy. Thou seeth the transgressions of man, yet Thou remain ever bountiful." 48a
Guru Nanak has used the numeral one for God. A numeral is free from any cultural association and any likely confusion in the meaning in a linguistic symbol. After one, he has used the Hindu sacred symbol for the immanent God i.e. Onkar. The immanent God can be comprehended and named but the only name He can be given is Truth or Reality i.e. Satnam. About Satnam, it is said that it is He Himself and is the primal Name; Naam of Gurbani symbolizes His essence. He becomes the Creator Being, Karta Purakh; signifying that He has created something that is different from Him but at the same time He is dwelling in that, Purakh after Karta also means that He alone is the Creator. Guru Nanak mentions the next two attributes of the divine that He is fearless and sans malice i.e. Nirbhau, Nirvair. His projection in His creation is not affected by time i.e. he is Akal Murat. He is neither born, nor, does he die, i.e. Ajooni. His projection is through Himself i.e. Sai Bhang. The Guru is the Eternal Enlightener of man and all grace i.e. Gurprasad. The Guru aspect of God is all grace. Bhai Gurdas gives an idea of this grace when he says that if a Sikh takes one step towards the Guru, the Guru takes ten million steps to meet him. Guru, however is not the human form that could be seen as Nanak but it is the logos or the word described as Shabad in Gurbani.
The position of the Guru described in Gurbani is very akin to the position of Jesus Christ in the Bible, even to the extent that for a Christian salvation can only be through the grace of Jesus Christ, the God of Nanak comes within the reach of a Sikh through the grace of the Guru. The True Guru used the person of Nanak to manifest Himself but the Guru has been an eternal aspect of God. It is for this reason that 'Bhats' give credit to Nanak for the enlightenment of theistic devotees (Bhagats) like Jaidev, Ravidas, Trilochan, Namdev and Kabir who had appeared before Nanak. 49
Guru Nanak had stayed at Kartarpur during the last 17 years of his life. His stay attracted a large number of Sikhs and visitors. It was at Kartarpur that a daily routine was set for a Sikh. He was to get up very early in the morning having the Name of God in mind. After ablutions, he was to recite the Japji a composition of Guru Nanak. Thereafter, the Sikhs were to congregate in a Dharamsal for singing hymns composed by Guru Nanak and to listen to discourses on spiritual matters. Soon after sunrise they had to follow whatever occupation they had for earning their livelihood. They congregated again in the evening by sunset for reciting Rehras and Harikirtan. Before going to sleep they recited Sohila.
Bhai Gurdas has written about only two visits of Guru Nanak after he had settled at Kartarpur as a house holder, one to Achal Batala and the other to Multan.
Guru Nanak, during his travels, had a dialogue with the Sidhas or the Nath yogis which is included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib as Sidh Gosht. The purport of the dialogue was to show to the Sidhas that they did not have to renounce the world to achieve the salvation that they were seeking, nor was it necessary to suffer penances and austerities for that purpose. Was it not shameful that after renouncing the world, they had to go begging for food from householders of the world? The human mind which is the instrument for transforming human existence from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, did not shed its character with such practices. It is the word of the Guru/God that brought about such a miracle.
When Guru Nanak visited the Achal Batala fair, the multitude in the fair flocked to the camp of Guru Nanak, which made the Sidhas who were also there, jealous of Guru Nanak. They started demonstrating their powers to work small scale miracles to show their ability to disappear at will, or to fly in the air etc. The Sikhs who were with Guru Nanak could neutralize the 'Sidhas' and prevail over them, which in a way finished the Nath yogi challenge to Guru Nanak's mission.
Next, the Guru visited Multan, a seat of Muslim divines. Bhai Gurdas calls it a Ziarat or pilgrimage. Guru Nanak is perhaps, the only religious figure in the Indian tradition, who has recognized and endorsed the Islamic spiritual tradition. His constant companion on his travels was a Muslim minstrel. Mardana, which was an anathema to the orthodox Hindus. Throughout, Mardana remained a Musalman. Guru Nanak's approach to Islam comes out clearly in his verse in Rag Majh. "Difficult it is to claim to be a Muslim, to do so one must love and act like a true Muslim. First, he must be devoted to faith in God and the Prophet. And remove all pride and vanity of wealth, through charity, as the file removes the rust. After becoming a Muslim, one should abide by Islam, and dispel all delusions about life and death. He should gracefully accept the will of God, and through utter dedication have faith in the creator. If then he shows compassion to all creatures, he would be worthy of being called a Muslim." 50
When the Muslim divines of Multan heard about the arrival of Guru Nanak, they sent him a cup of milk, full to the brim, which Guru Nanak returned after placing a jasmine flower on it. The full cup of milk had symbolized that they recognized Mohammad to be the last Prophet, so they saw no place for Guru Nanak as far as Muslims were concerned. Guru Nanak's reply through the jasmine flower symbolized that they were welcome to their full cup of milk, to which he was only adding fragrance from his side. This visit epitomized the success of Guru Nanak in finding acceptability among the religiously inclined Muslims, which gave rise to the saying "Nanak Shah Fakir, Hindu Ka Guru, Musalman Ka Pir."
Guru Nanak, as his Multan visit shows, did not approve of constricting boundaries of religious traditions, be it Hindu or Muslim. He showed that falsehood and pretense in religious traditions can be exposed by presenting the truth with love and humility and he would accept the truth wherever he found it.
Guru Nanak's message to humanity was to demonstrate omnipresence and omnipotence of God. Whoever set one's sail Godwards was a co-traveller and a friend for him. The divine word served to awaken God inside the human being and hearken to the God's effulgence and presence all over and around in the universe, known and unknown. It is God's will and order that prevails and the God/Guru-centered ones are those who can perceive this God's design/will and transcend their individual selves to be one with the universal self. He recognized the process of transformation from self-centeredness to God-centeredness among human beings and he laid out a smooth express highway by his example and teaching for everyone who was inclined to take this Godward journey.
Guru Arjan, addressing the followers of the Hindu and Islamic traditions, describes in one of his verses their different religious practices and sums up the discussion by saying that mere religious practices were of no avail. The purpose of religion is to make human beings recognize within themselves the will and order of the Supreme Being unfolding itself all around and inside them. 51 This capacity in human beings gets generated when they transcend their individuality or what Gurbani calls haumai. This requires human mind to be free from all its acquired wisdom and cleverness and its substitution by the word of God or Shabad in terms of Gurbani. 52
REFERENCES
1 Smart, Ninian; The Religious Experience of Mankind
2 Elide, Mircea; A History of Religious Ideas
3 Marx, Karl; Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
4 Durkheim, Emily; Elementary Forms of Religious Life
5 Turner, Bryan S.; Religion and Social Theory
6 Wach, Joachim; Introduction to the History of Religion
7 Krishnan, Radha S.; An Idealist View of Life
8 Hick, John; Truth and Dialogue
9 Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) p. 357
10 Hick, John; God and the Universe of Faiths
11 Bhagvad Gita
12 SGGS p. 1390
13 The Bible, St. Mathew 5:17-20
14 SGGS p. 763
15 The Bible, John 1:1
16 SGGS p. 1
17 SGGS p. 645
18 SGGS p. 1033
19 Kroeber, A.L.; An Anthropologist Looks At History
20 Mohsin Fani; Dabistan-i-Mazahib /
Sujan Rai Bhandari; Khulasaat-Ut-Tawarikh
21 SGGS p.62
22 The Bible 1:12,15
23 The Quran XV:29
24 SGGS P. 921
25 SGGS P. 1007
26 SGGS P. 374
27 SGGS P. 374
28 SGGS P. 1366
29 SGGS P. 554
30 SGGS P. 441
31 SGGS P. 329
32Journal of Humanistic Psychology; Vol. 31 No. 3 - 1991
33 SGGS P. 1140
34 SGGS P. 446
34a Toynbee, Arnold; A Historian's Approach to Religion
35 SGGS p.466
36 The Bible, St.Mathew 16:24,25 /
SGGS p. 940
37 SGGS p. 124
38 SGGS p. 87
39 The Bible, Romans 8:28 /
SGGS p. 403
40 SGGS p. 921
41 SGGS p. 510
42 SGGS p. 67
43 The Quran, Al Fatihah /
The Bible, St.Mathew 6:9-13 /
SGGS P. 261-262
