History
Looking For Guru Nanak
by ARTHUR
I’m not even sure how I got it, surprisingly, but in the short time I lived in Idaho, I received an interesting gem. It’s a book called Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint Perspective, by Spencer J. Palmer.
I’ve always enjoyed books about world religions, especially the obscure and forgotten, but I was expecting something rather bland, or apologetic, or dismissive. I was pleasantly surprised. This one was actually very unbiased, concise, and interesting. It didn’t break any new ground, necessarily, except that it offered interesting comparisons and contrasts with other major world religions.
I found that book packed in an anonymous box last week and decided to give it another read. As I read about Guru Nanak I was struck by one tiny thing: how comparatively little we really know about him or his life. How can anyone believe in a prophet whose life we can’t relentlessly scrutinize?
I’m not going to go into detail about his life here. A quick appeal to Wikipedia will take care of the information you need to get started, I guess, but let me get to the thrust of this post.
How do we test the fruits of a prophet we know so little about? As I read, my mind went over the prophet I feel I know so well, Joseph Smith, and I was impressed by how we scrutinize his life for tiny details. Every scrap of information about his life has been scoured by historians, theologians, apologists, and lay-people, for clues as to whether he is a true prophet, and yet no-one to date has really been able to come to a consensus. Was he a charlatan? A saint? A prophet? A nut?
Right around the time of Christopher Columbus, northern India was embroiled, as it is now, in a theological struggle between Hindu and Muslim. To be fair, Guru Nanak does have a few interesting sources about his life (all written after his death), but for the most part, we know little about him compared to Joseph Smith.
The people in the north of India spent their entire lives agonizing and struggling over their age-old question: which religion is right, Hinduism or Islam? No doubt many people prayed mightily towards Heaven asking for divine guidance. Is Hinduism worth dying for? Was Mohamed really a true prophet?
That struggle was personified in Guru Nanak, whose simple initial revelation, “There is neither Hindu nor Muslim,” must have jarred most of his listeners. “Neither Hindu nor Muslim?” they must have asked themselves. “What else is there?”
I felt moved with immense compassion as I read about this struggle, especially in light of the invasion of India by the Moguls. Here was a whole civilization, turned over by wars and religious strife, foreign to Americans, who lived and died struggling with the great questions of the soul, and here was a prophet among them, Guru Nanak, who offered peace, and eschewed outward ordinances in favor of clean living and always remembering God in your heart.
How can I possibly determine whether Guru Nanak is a true prophet if I have so little information about him? Where are all the documents? Stanford hasn’t done any word imprint studies on his writings, his mother never wrote a biography of his life. There are definitely no Sikhs here in Lexington repeatedly bearing testimony to me, “I know that Guru Nanak was a true prophet.”
Not to say there isn’t any information about him (and, to be fair, there are some Sikhs here in Lexington, if you seek them out, pun intended) but it seems quite lean compared to what we have about Joseph Smith.
[Courtesy: Mormon Matters. Edited for sikhchic.com]
December 10, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: S. Singh (England), December 10, 2011, 2:45 PM.
My suggestion to the author: you'll find what you're looking for in the Guru Granth Sahib. There are many English translations available, some of them very good.
2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 10, 2011, 4:16 PM.
There is a saying: when you are ready, a teacher is found. In this case, Arthur, you found Guru Nanak himself who personified the ideal life without any ostentation, just in ordinary human ordinariness. He was loved by all: Taidee bandas mai ko-ay na dithaa/ too naanak man bhaanaa/ ghol ghumaa-ee tis mitar vicholay jai mil kanth pachhaanaa" [GGS:964.4] - 'I have not seen any other like you. You alone are pleasing to Nanak's mind; I am a dedicated sacrifice to that friend, that mediator, who leads me to recognize my Husband Lord."
3: Gurdip Kaur (New York, U.S.A.), December 10, 2011, 7:03 PM.
I also believe that Guru Granth Sahib has the ability to answer your questions. Of course, it all comes down to faith. You can either believe that God sent his message through Guru Nanak or not. Even without document proof. I believe one is often pushed to pursue evidence but some things are just rooted in faith. God bless.
4: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, U.S.A..), December 10, 2011, 10:01 PM.
The universality of the religion founded by Guru Nanak emphasizes in his teachings that his religion does not belong to a particular section of people but to the whole mankind. Guru Granth Sahib on page 72 says: "naanak satgur aisaa jaanee-ai jo sabhsai la-ay milaa-ay jee-o" - 'Nanak says, the true Guru is one who unites all". Although Guru Nanak's religion is now being practiced by a certain section of humanity, known as Sikhs, its universality has an appeal for all because of its practicality. Guru Nanak had no earthly Guru. His Guru was God Himself who had entrusted him to awaken mankind to a divinely existence. We Sikhs in our gurdwaras take pride in the four doors of each place of worship, symbolizing that it is open to anyone and everyone, regardless of his/her religion, ethnicity, status, gender, etc. A door points to each cardinal direction - East, West, North, South. This literal open-door policy has been practiced for half a millennium to date.
5: Ravinder Singh (Westerville, Ohio, U.S.A.), December 11, 2011, 10:58 AM.
Why be so caught up with whether Guru Nanak was a true prophet or not? Not for us to judge. Hear the message - that should suffice.
6: B. Singh (Canada), December 12, 2011, 2:15 AM.
I tend to agree with Ravinder (Comment #5). When dealing with individuals considered to be saints, prophets, etc., we have no real way of scientifically determining the nature of their relationship with the divine. All that they have left for is to scrutinize are their messages. If Guru Nanak's message resonates with you and allows you to find meaning in your existence, then try and live by it.
7: R. Singh (Canada), December 12, 2011, 9:12 AM.
Fixation on prophethood was the centrepiece of most religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the Middle-East, and on the human guru in the East with Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and the like. In Sikhi, for the first time there was one who took the failings/ constraints of the human out of the picture and asked us to focus on the the Word - the Shabad-Guru. Emphasis on the message, not on the messenger! This query is understandably by one who is not aware of the development of the thought on the subject, which took in with complete awareness of all major religions/ sects of the time, nourished by the compost created by the interaction of the two big streams of the time. Personality cults take away from the value of the thought, limiting personal emancipation of humans, while the 'Shabad-Guru' concept is the key to understanding Guru Nanak, via Guru Granth, the 'saviour' (conduit) manifest and responsive, in the entire creation revealed to the seeking individual mind. "Shabad-Guru - Surt dhun chela": when the perception dissipates, what is sought is found. That is the portrait of Guru Nanak and the other Nanaks, where knowledge that does not stagnate in a personality, a limited utility excercise does not enslave the human mind.
8: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 12, 2011, 6:10 PM.
R. Singh ji (#7): You have rightly expressed Guru Nanak's sole emphasis on shabad - 'shabad dun chela'. He did not say 'come unto me' for salvation, and termed himself the lowliest of the low as a lesson in utter humility. Guru Nanak's shabad: "sir nanak lokaa paav hai balihaaree jaa-o jaytay tayray naav hai" [GGS:1168.14] - 'Nanak places his head on the feet of such people; I am a sacrifice to Your names as many as there are, O Lord". A lesson for interfaith which he gave: 'Be true to whatever religion you follow."
9: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, U.S.A..), December 16, 2011, 3:13 PM.
The key point in Guru Nanak's religion is the doctrine of Guruship. Guruship is the cardinal principal of his religion, although now practiced by Sikhs only. However, its basic teaching is the belief in the oneness of all life and in the unity of the One Supreme Being. "Mat ko bharam bhulai sansaar gur bin ko-ay na utras paar" [GGS:864] - "Let no one remain in doubt that it was ever possible for a person to be saved without the Guru". While other main religions believe in prophethood, Sikhism believes in the existence of the Guru. We, Sikhs, had Ten Living Gurus and the 10th Guru designated the scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, as our everlasting Guru. This scripture constitutes our sole spiritual guide. The first thing when we go to our gurdwara, as a mark of respect, we bow before this Eternal Guru in respect.