Mehtab Singh

http://www.earthportals.com/Portal_Messenger/nanak.html Universal Redemptive Research Findings on the: Prophet Guru Nanak - The Founder of Sikhism Paper presented at the Assembly of World Religions in Washington DC Nov. 1997 His coming meticulously recorded in the Hindu Vedas and the Puranas By: Bhai Kirpal Singh Gill Founder: World Spiritual Foundation Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Faith, was born in Nankana Sahib near Lahore now in Pakistan in 1469 and breathed his last in 1539 at the age of 70. He was endowed with extra-ordinary spiritual powers from a very young age. The biographies on his life are replete with strange episodes of these miraculous occurrences. As with many other universally known Prophets, he did not undergo any set formal education. On the very first day of his admission into the village school, he expounded a beautifully worded revelation in verse and set to a classical musical measure (raga) describing the various stages of life, interposed with a plethora of poignant Divine directions, every stanza starting with each letter of the Hindi language alphabet. The teacher then went over to his father and told him that instead of teaching Nanak, he had received through his noble young son, a profound lesson from God, on how best he the teacher could function better. This was remarable indeed. Through Guru Nanak's own genius and the spiritual illumination that came from his long spells of Meditation, there shaped the character of the creed which he was to proclaim to the world and which became the basis and foundation of the Sikh relegion. There were 9 other gurus (Prophets) that consecutively followed his lineage, all receiving Divine revalations but only under his name NANAK without attributing any such revelatory passages to their own names. This culminated in the 11th the last and eternal Guruship bestowed on the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), which has been called the Mona, meaning the , silent Guru, being in book form, as recorded in the ancient Hindu and other such contemporary resources, the VEDAS. This thus has a millennial dimension which will come to light in the pages that follow. Guru NANAK was one of the few, if not the only prophet who travelled widely outside the country of his birth, throughout the then known world. It is recorded in some detail of the four marathon trips mostly on foot, which he embarked upon in the four cardinal directions, the North, South, East and the West. To the North he scaled the Himalayan Ranges to enter deep into the Tibetan regions. To the East he went all the way into Burma now known as Myanmar, and to the South right down to the tip of the Indian sub-continent and on into Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and lastly to the West through Afganistan and Iraq into Saudi Arabia entering Mecca and beyond into parts of Turkestan and the southern reaches of Russia. He left behind rare relics and other such signs, which have now been uncovered to prove the authenticity of his far flung travels. Before he died he is credited to have made millions of followers within the ranks of the Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists and those with no previous religious leanings. On his demise there was a tussle betwen his Muslim and Hindu devotees, as to who should claim his body for the usual burial and other such rites. It is recorded that the two parties agreed on a simple formula, to place a row of fresh flowers on either side of his body, one to belong to the Muslims and the other to the Hindus, and that whichever side the flowers would remain the fresher the next day, that side party would be eligible to claim his remains. When the following day arrived, the flowers on both sides were as fresh as ever, but the body had disappeared to merge into and become one with the elements! Perhaps more than any Prophet in history Nanak's coming on Earth was predicted profusely with uncanny accuracy as recorded in some detail below. This has resulted after long and arduous research into the ancient doctrines many dating thousands of years before his actual birth. These are numerically listed below for ease of reference, not necessarily in chronological order. The Vedas and Puranas in which these direct references have been found recorded, are known to be amongst the oldest chronicles in the world. These references are as under: 1. In the Hindu epic the RIG VEDA (i) In Mandala 7, Ush 5, Mantra 5 and Chapter 6 "Bee chakram prithoi aishai ta khestraaeh Vishnu mansai das sayaan throvaah so asaya keeryo janaas oeroo khashatra so janama chakaar (8)" meaning "when in the world the sinful ways will be on the rise and noble behavior will vanish, as the disappearance of the moon when on its wane on the darkest night, there will appear Vishnu as a prominent Prophet from the Keshatra Clan and will manifest in consecutive form through 10 Prophets to bring back the ways of virtue to the ailing world." (ii) In the same Vedas, in another part even in the name NANAK and the clan he belongs to is recorded thus - "Sri Nanak gureng vareng saklaath heythoo. Heitha samasth jagathaa va veithee kaetheng" meaning "For the preaching of religious ways and the earning of good karma, there will manifest Guru NANAK from the clan of the Veithees" (iii) At another position in the same Vedas is entered under Mandala 1 Soothak 5 and in the 7th Mantra thus - "Eeth eethei Vishnu reinn chakramei threihaa nathathei patham" meaning "The Prophet in the Kali Yuga will manifest three attributes. As an Avtar propounding Truth, as a Householder establishing family life and at the same time be a Raja Yogi" 2. The YUJAR VEDA As in the RIG VEDA quoted above, in the YUJAR VEDA also the Prophet in the Kali Yuga will manifest three main characteristics thus - "Vishnu bee chakrageih treithaa neikthei patham samudhseiaa paaeh serei swahaa" meaning "Vishnu will appear again, manifesting three main characteristics, Avtarhood, Householder family life and be a Rajah Yogi as well" Although in the above two quotations the name of Nanak does not directly appear, reference to being a householder family man, would point to him because he was among the first few Avtars (prophets) who was married and begetting children. Incidentally in Hindu mythology, VISHNU is the primordial Godhead Prophet, who incarnates on Earth taking many differing forms and the ensuing names thereto. 3. In the BHAVEKHATH PURANA "Baavekhath" means "future foretelling". There are numerous places in this famous Hindu epic where the advant of Guru NANAK is directly alluded to. These instances are listed hereunder - (i) "Theraa bhaareng thereshtwah keli krethem maha krethyaa. Aeveng vaee tharam parchaariang bhavekhthee thaa kalau. Thatha vei loka rakheiaartheng maleishana naas heithwei paschmeitlheng subh theisay vath wensei chei Nanaka naam nach rekhiang brahem geaanaik manas bhavekhet kaloe skunth thatar verth kaleaah har (35)." meaning "In the Kali Yuga when goodness in the world is deteriorating there will appear a Prophet from the Beithi clan named NANAK who from birth will be endowed with extra-ordinary spiritual power. He will preach on the nobility of life and the eradication of the sinful ways" (ii) In another portion of this book the following short cogent quotation supplies further pertinent information on the advant of Nanak "Guru thaa Brahma, Guru raa Vishnu, Guru raa dev maheshra saakhyaar Parbrehem Thasmei NANAK nameh" meaning "The Guru of the prophets, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiv ji is God almighty himself. This very Creator will manifest itself as a human, in the form of one whose name will be NANAK Note the clarity and explicitness in which the coming of Nanak is predicted. (iii) Further down in this book is recorded the following detailed assertiveness about Nanak and the type of mission and work he shall perform. It appears to emanate from the Godhead itself. "The Kali Yuga shall dawn on Earth with radical mainisfestation of destruction of Karma and Dharma to such an extent that every situation shall be colored by sinful activities. At that distressful moment, the Creator shall send down a spiritual liminary in the form of NANAK from the Khatria clan. He will spread the message of NAAM, the Holy life Force, by introducing the primacy of meditation and thus washing clean the sinful ways by the waters of love." Note the beautiful and comprehensive description of the happening. (iv) There is yet another quotation from this same Bhavekhath Purana indicative of Nanak and the 9 prophets that consecutively followed his lineage : - "When in the world there is the deteriorization of noble Dharma, then Vishnu will re-incarnate through 10 Prophethoods and will preach on the universal and omnipotent value of NAAM. (the Holy Life Force)" 4. In DHIGVAJEH PURANA "During the reign of the 8 Muslim rulers, Vishnu will incarnate in 10 human forms and after them will appear a (Mona) SILENT Guru (meaning the SGGS, the Sikh Scripture) who will only respond where the response is solicited." The word SILENT is of great importance - it refers to the Sikh Scriptural Book (SGGS). This is the first time in the history of Religion that a Sacred Book was elevated to the status of a Prophet. Unlike a Prophet in body form with the inherent capacity to make utterances, a Book has to be categorized as being basically 'Silent'. This is indeed a startling revelation, pinpointing the coming into the world of a (mona) Silent Guru, thousands of years before the actual occurrence. The eight Muslim Rulers were 1. - Sultan Lodhi, 2. - Babar, 3. - Humanyuh, 4. - Akbar, 5 - Jehangir, 6 - Shah Jahan, 7 - Aurangzeb, 8 - Bahadur Shah, These precisely were the Rulers in India during the period in which the 10th Sikh Guru came into being. This further emphasizes the authenticity of the revelation and the happening. 5. Through PATANJALI the great Indian (Hindu) Sage Patanjali, one of the top Indian Yogis of old, came 2180 years before Guru Nanak. In his Ashram while lecturing on the Prophets of the Kali Yuga, the Iron Age, he singled out Guru Nanak as the one who will be outstanding. When asked what will be his prime mantra, He replied. - "Wahyanti karyanti jathputi athak etwaha brahamadeya, teisah Gur et WAHEGURU" meaning "He will use a unique single syllable mantra which has not been utilized before at any Age or Era. This will be WAHEGURU." Waheguru mantra, which means "Lord of Wonderment" has since been popularised by Guru Nanak and all the nine other Sikh Gurus that followed him. 6. In VISHNU PURANA In the VISHNU PURANA there is recorded an interesting dialogue between VISHNU and a famous Rishi UMBREEK. Vishnu is said to have informed Umbreek that he will once again take birth in the Kali Yuga. The Rishi then enquired when about will that be and what will be your name then? Vishnu replied that this will happen when the Kali Yuga has proceeded for 4500 years and that I will take birth in the Shatri Sooraj Bansi clan, when I will be named, NANAK. In this same Purana it is further recorded: - "Sri Nanak santang saageaami Sri asech, sri asech, sri asech, sri asech" meaning "Sri NANAK will once again appear in the world in a variety of incarnations; this is for sure, this is for sure, this is for sure." Computing the date of Guru Nanak's birth from the above mentioned figure that took place when the Kali Yuga had proceeded for 4550 years, reckoning the total durations of Kali Yuga now to be about 5090 old. It is to be noted that this figure of 4550 is pretty close to the 4500 years predicted by VISHNU JI above. Incidentally, the clan in which Guru Nanak was born was also known as a Shatri Sooraj Bansi indicated above. CONCLUSION From the above it is evident that Guru Nanak must have had the largest number of premonitional references to his coming compared to the advent of the other Prophets in all the various Ages and Epochs. Therefore the Prophet Guru Nanak's advent into the world is indeed of millennial significance to even the coming future times. NANAK The word NANAK is a combination of two sanskrit terms. 'Na" and 'Anak'. The meaning attached to these words is "Not-but-One". The message conveyed by the Guru's name and the education imparted by him through the Sacred Scriptual verses, usually commence with the words "Ik Oengkar". This phrase too means Non-but-One. One God only. MOOL MANTRA There is a very interesting episode in Guru Nanak's illustrious life. When he was still very young, even before his `teens, he took a dip into the river alongside his house for his regular morning ablutions, but this time he dissapeared into the waters, missing for two days and nights. On the third day he re-appeared from out of the water with the following Verse on his lips, which is now called the MOOL MANTRA (the primordal Mantra ), which appers at the commencement of every Chapter and sub-Chapter in the SGGS, the Sacred Scripture of the Sikhs. It is one of the most comprehensive definitions of God and is amongst the most powerful of all the world's Mantras. This is how the Mool Mantra reads in its original version. - "Ek Oengkaar Satnaam Karta purekh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal Moorat Ajoonee Sai- Bhang Gurparsaath" meaning "The True One and only Omnipresent Immortal Essence of Reality. The Creator, the Omniscient and Omnipotent, the Incomprehensible (the fearless). Before all Beginnings and after all Endings. Beyond Time, Space and Form (and enmity). Free from the cycle of Births and Deaths, the Self-manifested. The Loving Merciful Enlightener (Realised with His Grace through total Submission to His Will)." WORLD SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION We in the World Spiritual Foundation (WSF) had recieved premonitions that there existed a common and similar syatem of Meditation, otherwise known as Profound Prayer and Worship in all Religions, and is to be found enshrined in all their various Scriptures. After long and laborious research we have happily discovered that such a system does indeed exist in all the worlds' aknowledged Scriptures. The main reason why this has not been discovered during all these Centuries is because all the references to it are usually couched in enigmatic, allegoric and metaphoric language, never fully understood by the various patriarchs of each Religion, whose Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God within, has not been sdequately enlivened and awakened. This is known as Aath Para Shakti amoung the Hindus, Zatt Allah and Roh Illahi among the Muslims, Naam Kellah among the Sikhs, Buddhahood among the Buddhists, Ki or Chi orTaO amoung the Chinese and the Japanese. VIBRANT CELESTIAL MEDITATION Among all the Scriptures, this common and similar Meditation System is found most comprehensively described in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) the Scripture of the Sikhs, spearheaded by the Prophet Guru Nanak. For want of a better name, we in the WSF call it the VIBRANT CELESTIAL MEDITATION (VCM ). ANGELIC REVELATIONS It is significant to mention herein that even the worlds' latest spiritual psychic, Madam Patricia Dixon, who hails from Tasmania, AUSTRALIA, who has written 3 books on the "Coming Earth Changes", emphasising the dire need for proper meditation, has openly picked the WSF's VCM meditation systems as the most suitable technique for the coming age of Aquarius leading to the Golden Age, the Sat Yuga. She recieves her revelations from the higher Angelic sources, predicting massive physical (geographical) and climatic changes at the turn of the Century, preparing the peoples of the world in a positive manner to withstand the otherwise catastrophic Earth changes that are in the offing. In her own characteristic styles the recommended system as the Vibrant Celestial (moving) Meditation, thus emphasising the vibrant nature of this meditation system. NIRVANA Briefly described, the VCM Meditation System is basically Simple, Natural, Effortless, Loving and Loveful, Deep surrender to the Divine within, resulting through the grace and gift of the Creator, an Ecstatic and Euphoric Reaction and a most welcome Response, culminating in total redemptive emancipation and self-realization. ( NIRVANA ). During the Responsive and Reactive mode mentioned above, the awakening of the Holy Spirit within, will result in touching all our Senses, the Physical, the Mental, the Visionary, the Auditory, the Vocal and all other subtler attributes of man.

Thats Anjum Chaudhry. He is former head of Al Muhajiroun, a severely fanatical group, and I am not sure if its outlawed or not yet. He isn't Shia either.

The qualities of the Khalsa are explained very well in Khalsa mahima. The Khalsa is so dear to Gurujee, that He goes on to say "Khalsa meri jaan ki jaan". People have the habit of calling "meri jaan" to someone they love like their life, or maybe more than their life. But Gurujee's words are a step ahead. He calls Khalsa the life of His life. These are not hollow words of a mere human being. Gurujee proved them right by sacrificing EVERYTHING for His Khalsa. May Dasmesh Pita bless us with the qualities of the Khalsa.

http://publication.samachar.com/pub_articl...ww.samachar.com BARGUNA (Bangladesh): Hungry survivors scrambled for food on Sunday as rescue workers cleared fallen trees and twisted roofs from roads to reach remote villages after a cyclone battered Bangladesh, leaving 2,300 people dead and thousands homeless. Relief officials said the death toll could rise sharply as rescuers reach more isolated areas. But relief items — tents, rice, water — were slow to reach many survivors. The death toll from tropical cyclone Sidr, the worst storm to hit the country in a decade, rose to at least 2,300 as officials made contact with coastal regions that had been cut off by the storm, said Selina Shahid of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society said the toll could hit 10,000 once rescuers reached outlying islands. Mohammad Abdur Rob, chairman of the society, said the estimate came from the assessments of thousands of volunteers taking part in the rescue operations. On the devastated coast, rescue workers struggled to reach many survivors. — AP India’s offer New Delhi Staff Reporter writes: President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have expressed their condolences over the deaths and pledged support and relief to the people of Bangladesh.

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hai mai marja...leh, hadh hogi yaar...tu apna banda aa, apologize nah kari ja...moderator na howe kisi passey da... Yes I didn't point out that it was based on my discussion with someone, because that would mean doing my own vaDyaaee, something I don't deserve. Veeray Guru Nanak comes in our hearts the moment we shed our ego. Don't know about you, but I am light years away as of now.

That is the response I gave to a Christian who was trying to propagate his theory that Jesus is the only way. So your logic applies to him, not to me. Sikhs don't "sell" Sikhi as the "best commodity" (at least I don't). I don't care if someone thinks their faith is the best, but then they should be ready to answer some questions. Singing the love song is all cool but only as long as the other person understands it. If he doesn't, then there are other raags we are given by Gurujee to use. We don't initiate conflict, rather we finish it. And since you yourself have stated that "through the ages of translations from language to language that the message has not been somewhat skewed", that makes my point even stronger as Gurbani is Akal Purakh's unaltered word. Jesus Christ's words may have been altered by his followers, I don't know, but Gurbani is perfectly unaltered. I am the last person to badmouth divine personalities as I hold them all in high regard. Be it Shri Ram, Shri Krishan, Hazrat Muhammad Sahib, Imam Ali, Gautam Buddha or Jesus Christ. As far as I know, I don't think I have said anything insulting to any of these on any forum. Besides, comparing is totally different from insulting or slandering. The truth is that all avtars came down to play the role they were supposed to, came to the places and people they were supposed to, did deeds they were supposed to. I did NOT tell this person "Its my Prophet who did this...". I asked him a question "What if I told you about a Prophet who....." and then took it from there. Surprisingly he was left speechless and became a good friend of mine. Why? Because I didn't respond like a fanatic. Rather I put him a question which he couldn't answer. Saying "My Prophet did this..." is directly attacking someone's faith, which is what I didn't do. And a good post by veer Maha Kharag Singh

Some 6 and a half years ago I emailed the webmaster of a Nihang website asking him the same question. The Nihang Singh did reply, and not only did he lay out the myths and rumors but also put forward the circumstances in which a "supposed messiah" was to appear. Here are some portions of that email i received...

Bhagvad Gita Chapter 4

What about these... The reason I've used only 1 line certain places is to emphasize the fact that there are enough shabads in Gurbani where Nanak is used not just because its the conclusion of the shabad, rather it is specifically singing the glory of Sahib Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee.

With all due respect to satkaarjog Jesus Christ, all we need to do is ask the question if they ever heard about Sahib Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Jee Maharaj Sachey Patshah, who sacrificed His life for a totally different faith He didn't profess Himself, who didn't demand any acknowledgment or even a minor "thank you" from the Hindus, and didn't even remotely ask them to convert to His faith as a "payback" for His sacrifice (as compared to "No one comes to the Father but through me").

Veerji I wasn't attacking your post in particular. I meant it as a collective thing when I said "Lets not...", implying all of us discussing here. Sorry for the misunderstanding .

That doesn't justify or allow smoking either. Gurbani is full of examples where Gurujee holds simran and prem in the highest priority and mocks certain practices. None of those practices are justified just because Gurujee made a comment that "unless you do simran with prem, everything else is useless". Lets not start propagating the notion that as long as one does simran/bhagti with love, its ok to smoke, because it is NOT.

From what we know about Sikh history, Dasmesh Pitah Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee Maharaj had asked the Sikhs to assemble at the Vasakhi of 1699 with uncut beards and kesh. I have been thinking, would anyone know if someone preserved that handwritten invitation letter? Probably atleast one sidak vaali Gurmukh family must have preserved it? Right? Thank you

http://www.sikhspectrum.com/102002/mission.htm SikhSpectrum.com Monthly Issue No.5, October 2002 The Mission of Guru Nanak : A Muslim Appraisal by Professor Mushirul Haq Copyright © Professor Mushirul Haq Looking back to the days of my childhood I still remember that I had no chance of seeing a Sikh because there was none in my village in the eastern part of U.P., far away from the Punjab. We were only told that Sikhs were different from the Muslims in their religious beliefs. The prototype image of a Sikh in our plain mind was somewhat similar to that of Tagore's Kabuliwalla. Sikhs were believed to be the worshippers of Guru Nanak who was known to us through our Urdu textbook which contained a poem by Iqbal in which he had paid rich tribute to him:. The land where Chishti delivered the message of truth. The land where Nanak sang the song of God's oneness, The land where the Tatars made their home, The land which lured the Arabs from Arabia, That land is my home, that is my home.1 However, all we knew of Nanak was that he was born to Hindu parents, but had spent his life moving from one place to another spreading the message of truth and the oneness of God. Since we were told that only the Muslims believed in the concept of "tawhid", the oneness of God, we naturally concluded that Guru Nanak at some time may have changed his parental religion and got converted to Islam. That was quite convincing a conclusion. But why then were the Sikhs not Muslims? If Guru Nanak was a Muslim, then, logically, the Sikhs ought to be Muslims! There was no Sikh in our village to answer the question. Once in a year there used to come an old Sikh to our village in the company of some real kabulliwallas whose business was to sell quilts on credit to village people on exorbitant rate of interest. We had, however, no courage to talk to either of them; they conversed only with the elders. We used only to watch them from a distance. The Kabulliwallas were very particular in going to the village mosque like other Muslims. Their Sikh friend went neither to the Mosque, nor even a temple. So he was not a Hindu either. Also, he was not a Christian because he spoke Urdu, wore a beard, and ate with his hands, whereas a Christian, according to our knowledge, was to converse in English, clean shave his beard, and ate with fork and knife. So who was he? With the passing of time the question fell onto oblivion, and the inquisitive mind was lulled by the popular notion that the Sikh faith, preached by Guru Nanak, was in its initial stage a manifestation of Islam, but was eventually lost in the Hindu environment. It was, however, quite late that I realised that to fully understand people like Guru Nanak it is really immaterial to ask if he was influenced by this religion or that religion. It is because the purpose of religion, I think, is to establish real, live and personal contact of man with God. The contact, naturally, then, has to be established in accordance with the conditions and the environment in which people are living. For this reason, factors like social and economic conditions, linguistic differences, historical realities, and geographical situations have to be taken into consideration. Since such factors may or may not differ from one to another, any similarity in external factors between two or more religions should not always be taken for granted. In fact, the only and real factor common among different religions is the divine message which is conveyed to the people through various means. A religion devoid of such message is no longer a religion. But the existence of the divine message among various religions cannot be taken to mean that one religion has necessarily borrowed the message from another, because, as it has been pointed out, this very common message is the real essence of every religion. Once it is understood that religion by itself is not a purpose but only a means of leading people nearer to God, there is no difficulty in realising that every religion can stand by itself. Likewise, it should also be understood that every individual is competent by his nature to be commissioned by God for spreading the divine message in the world. The choice however, always rests with God. In the language of the Qur'an, man is to fulfill God's will on this earth. In this respect the language spoken by him, his race, his social status, or his economic condition are not the real qualifications for his being chosen by God spreading the divine message. The only thing required is a pure and responsive heart. There is hardly any evidence available to show that Guru Nanak ever studied the Islamic texts. Nor it can be said that he spent any considerable time of his life in the company of the ulama who could have taught him the basic tenets and teachings of Islam. The only source available to Guru Nanak for knowing Islam was in fact the Muslim society of his time. Therefore, if Guru Nanak was at all in debt to anyone for what he said, it was only those common Muslims among whom he had the occassion to live. But were those Muslims in a position to influence the heart of a man like Guru Nanak? I doubt very much. In order to answer this question we have to examine those teachings of Guru Nanak which are supposed to have been borrowed from Islam. The features common between the two are, for example, belief in the One, Omnipresent and Omnipotent God, and the equality of mankind. It appears as if, it was Islam which directed Guru Nanak towards such realities. But if we go into the depth of the matter we will see that such an assumption has really no ground. There could have been justification in assuming that Guru Nanak was influenced by Islam if his insistence upon, say, monotheism was found only in Islam. As a matter of fact, monotheism is the real foundation of almost every religion. Even in an apparently polytheistic religious community people have always been believing in an unseen Power who was the creator of the world and its destroyer. As an extreme case, we may take the example of the so-called polytheists of Mecca at the time of Prophet Muhammad. It is said that the Meccans did not believe in the existence of the supreme God. But according to Qur'an they did believe in one supreme God, known to them as Allah. The Qur'an says: And if thou went to ask them: who created the heavens and the earth, and constrained the sun and the moon (to their appointed work), they would say: Allah.2 Not only that, they believed that Allah had created the universe but also that they, too, were created by the same God. Again the Qur'an says: And if thou ask them who created them, they will surely say: Allah.3 However, the point is that monotheism cannot be taken as the sole property of any particular religion. Every religion in one way or the other affirms the existence of the one Supreme God. It is not the religion but the people who differ with each other in comprehending the truth of religion, and thus give the impression that there are many religions. As Maulana Abul Kalam Azad says: One of the greatest causes of the differences and conflicts in this world is the unity of truth and the varieties of names and terms. Truth is one and the same everywhere, but it has various dresses. Our misfortune is that the world worships 'terms' and not their meanings. Thus though all may worship the same truth, they will quarrel on account of differences of terms...If all the curtains due to external forms and terminologies could be removed and Reality were to appear before us unveiled, all the religious differences of this world would suddenly vanish and all quarrelsome people would see that their object was the same, though it had different names.4 It, therefore, can be said that if he possessed a pure and receptive heart, Guru Nanak, like Prophet Abraham, could have independently realized the oneness of God. According to the Qur'an, Prophet Abraham was born in a predominantly polytheistic society, but was always in search of the real God. One night he saw the stars twinkling in the sky and took them for God. When they became dim after the rising of the moon he rejected them and bowed before the shinning moon. In the morning sun appeared to him as the God because it had obliterated all the stars and the moon. By the time of sunset Prophet Abraham was again to change his opinion. None of them was God: the real God, to Abraham, was the one who was driving and controlling the stars, the moon and the sun.5 Similarly, it cannot be taken for granted that Guru Nanak could not have learnt about the equality of mankind without knowing Islam. It is true that the Hindu India of Guru Nanak's time had almost forgotten the concept of equality of mankind, and it was Islam which reminded the Indians that all humans were equal, but we must remember that there is a difference between belief and practice. No doubt that the Muslim society of Guru Nanak's time believed in the ideal of equality, but their belief hardly manifested itself in their daily life. According to the Qur'an, piety and good deeds are the only standard for judging the status of a man.6 If only this teaching the Muslims had followed sincerely they could have attracted many more people towards Islam, especially in a society which was caste ridden. But what happened in actual life was that the Muslims practically disregarded the Islamic ideal of equality and lived in a kind of society where one was, like in a caste-society, judged not by one's own deeds but by the fact that one was born in a particular family. For example, the Sayyids, the so-called descendents of Prophet Muhammad, were given an unduly highly place in the society as against those Muslims who were unable to trace their geneology to the Prophet or to his companions. Commenting on the social life of the Indian Muslims of that time Professor Mujeeb says: Law and custom made further division on the basis of kufw, which signifies similarity of status, culture, vocation, way of living. It governed the contradiction of marriages. The Sayyid, for instance, could practice any profession, they could be rich or poor, but it would be considered unfortunate if a Sayyid girl married someone who was not a Sayyid.7 That was utterly against the teachings of the Prophet who is reported to have told his own daughter, Fatimah, that she should not rely for her salvation on her father: instead she should do good work to present before God on her own behalf on the Day of Judgement. But the Muslims had forgotten the admonition. In such a situation, it is rather difficult to believe that his contemporary Indian Muslims could have convinced Guru Nanak that Islam really stood for equality of mankind. In fact, it was not so necessary for Guru Nanak to look at any particular religion for the high ideals of life. Man is instinctively after them. If one stands for fulfilling God's Will, one undoubtedly has to esteem the high ideals. Guru Nanak stood for them: hence the striking similarities between his and Islam's teachings. However, leaving aside the question of influence one cannot fail to see the affinity between the two. See, for example, how the Qur'an and Guru Nanak have described God. According to the Qur'an:57:3 "He is First and the Last, the Outward and Inward; and He is the Knower of all things." To Guru Nanak: "The True One was in the begining; the True One was in the primal age. The True One is now also, O Nanak; the True One also shall be."(Japu) When this and other passages from the Qur'an and the hymns of Guru Nanak are placed side by side, one can understand the reason of the Muslims' regarding Guru Nanak as one of them. II This is also a fact that even though Muslims at large esteemed Guru Nanak, the Muslim orthodoxy did not take much notice of what he was saying or preaching. Before knowing the reason of the indifference of Muslim orthodoxy towards Guru Nanak it must be made clear that by the term Muslim orthodoxy, we mean the class of the 'ulama' which was the backbone of the government in the medieval India. This class supplied the personnel for the judiciary and other religious establishments. The Shaykhu-Islam, the Qaziz, the Muftis, to name a few, were recruited from this class without whose help no government at that time could properly function. The Muslim orthodoxy considered it its duty to keep a watchful eye on every heretical movement emerging from amongst the Muslims. But as a rule it did not take exception to movements arising amongst the non-Muslims as long as they did not directly aim at the disintegration of the Muslim society. In such a situation, we can understand the reason behind the indifference of the Muslim orthodoxy to the movement initiated by Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak was born of Hindu parents. At no time did he claim to be a Muslim. His being a Hindu by birth made him an outsider as far as the Muslim orthodoxy was concerned. And this saved him from persecution to which a Muslim would have ordinarily been subjected had he said half of the critical things against Islamic traditions that Guru Nanak did. Guru Nanak is reported to have said to Babur: There are millions of Muhammads, but only one God. The unseen is True and without anxiety. Many Muhammads stand in His court. So numberless, they cannot be reckoned. Prophets have been sent and come into the world. Whenever He pleaseth, He hath them arrested, and brought before Him. The slave Nanak hath ascertained, That God alone is pure and all else is impure.8 Babur is said to have listened to it. But could he have allowed a Muslim to say so? Near impossible, I should say. The century in which Guru Nanak was born was in fact the century of religious ferment insofar as the Muslim community was concerned. There were Muslims who claimed themselves to be the mahdi, the rightly guided one, and were ultimately persecuted on the behest of the ulama because their utterances were regarded contrary to the Islamic faith. A well known example of this trend was Sayyid Muhammad of Jawnpur (1443-1504) who was forced to run from pillar to post on account of his cryptic sayings.9 Sikh literature suggests that Muslims used to meet Guru Nanak and listen to him. There are evidences to show that sometimes they even had religious discourses with him.10 Nevertheless, it cannot be said that Guru Nanak ever asked any Muslim to renounce Islam in order to become his disciple. Formal conversion was not the mission of Guru Nanak. People may not like my saying so but it is a fact that Guru Nanak would have failed in his mission had he started proselytizing people. Normal conversions in fact mean the rejection of one set of norms and codes in order to accept another set of norms and codes. But so long as the heart is not converted, mere transfer from one religion to another is like changing a dress. That was immaterial in the eyes of Guru Nanak. If a man extinguished his life to keep the divine light burning he served the purpose of his life. As long as one did it the Guru did not care much whether one called oneself a Muslim or a Hindu. The Guru says: Heavens and earths are numerous. Prophets, saints, avatars, and sidhas have attained perfection through devotion to God. And everyone who strives in the worship of God, by whatever path he wishes, becomes a favourite of God. The means of (attaining) proximity to God is no-injury to any living being. Be righteous then you become freed (saved). Righteousness from you (shall bring to you) success from God.11 Probably that was the reason that Guru Nanak did not like to give categorical answers to questions in which he was asked to name his religion. The best example of this is found in his dialogue with the sidhas who wanted him to state his 'name', 'sect' and 'tenets'. Without committing himself to any name, sect, or tenets, Guru Nanak replied: I dwell in God who hath His seat in every heart; I act according to the will of the True Guru. I came in the course of nature, and according to God's order shall I depart. Nanak is ever subject to His will.12 The same attitude Guru Nanak adopted when he is said to have met the King of Ceylon who wanted to know if the Guru was a yogi, a Brahmin, or a shopkeeper, a Hindu or a Muslim.13 III About a Persian poet it is said that one day he passed by the gate of a school where a teacher was giving some fantastic meaning to some of the former's verses. On hearing the school teacher's utterances the poet complained that who had taken his poem to the school. The same seems to have become the fate of the sayings of Guru Nanak. What would he say if he should come to know of the way he is being analyzed and scrutinized in the name of research and scholarship. The words and sentences from his hymns are picked out for linguistic and grammatical studies as if he was a linguist or a grammarian. Theological concepts are deduced in his teachings as if he was a theologian and had only come to introduce a new theology. His travel accounts are minutely scrutinised as if he was no more than an Ibn-i-Batutah. The routes and roads which are supposed to have led him to places like Ceylon, Baghdad or Mecca are checked to conclude that he had really been to those places. In fact we have reached a point where one is unhappy if every reported incident of Guru Nanak's life is not verified 'scientifically' and 'objectively', without giving enough attention to the fact that this attitude of ours is of no help in feeling the aura of Guru Nanak. Let us take, for example, his much debated visit to Mecca. It is reported that during his sojourn in Mecca, one day he stretched his feet towards the "Ka'bah", the House of God. On the objection of some Muslims that the feet must not be directed to the House of God, Guru Nanak is reported to have said that his feet might be turned in any direction they desired. The keepers of the House turned his feet in the opposite direction but, lo! the House also turned around and followed the feet of the Guru.14 Muslim and many non-Sikh scholars reject this and other similar stories, obviously for different reasons. However, there is no reason for anyone to be disturbed if this or other stories fail to satisfy the requirements necessary for scientific and objective study. In fact, such stories, whosoever its main character may be, should not necessarily be taken literally. They are basically meant for teaching people certain realities of life. For example, the above mentioned travelogue of Guru Nanak seems to have been narrated to hammer into people's head the idea of the omnipresence of God. Guru Nanak as well as his early biographers knew very well that Muslims believed in an omnipresent God. They might have also come across the following Quranic verse: Unto Allah belong the East and the West, and Whithersoever you turn, there is Allah's countenance.15 And also: It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for the love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask, and to set slaves free, and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and are patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress, such are they who are sincere. Such are the God-fearing.16 Keeping these Quranic admonitions in mind we can safely assume that the Mecca travelogue of Guru Nanak, was and still is a reminder to the Muslims who claim to believe in the omnipresence of God without really realising the implications of such a belief. What actually the story hinted at was the fact that the Muslims were reminded that their belief in the omnipresence of God must be manifest in their actions. The same was meant at Haridwar from where Guru Nanak was throwing water to his rice fields in Punjab.17 That was as much a reminder to the Hindus as it was to those millions of Muslims to whom Islam, the total submission before the will of God, has come to mean observing some rites and rituals on some fixed days. This is indeed a tragic phenomenon in the sphere of religion that sooner or later the simple and pure truth is lost in the jungle of rites and rituals. As for instance, on the question of sacrificing animals in the name of God, the Qur'an says: Their flesh and their blood reach not Allah, but the devotion from you reacheth Him.18 But the Muslims seem to have taken little notice of it. They appear to be more concerned with the 'flesh' and 'blood' than the devotion and piety which should come out from the life of those who offer sacrifices at the altar of God. This applies to every religious community without exception. IV To a man like me who was not born and brought up in the Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak may not appear in the same light in which a devout Sikh would like to see him. As an outsider I see in him a man who was determined to remind the people of their forgotten lesson of the oneness of God and the oneness of mankind. However, the difficulty in comprehending personalities like Guru Nanak arises chiefly because of the fact that people look at them with certain reservations. Since one believes that the truth lies only with the group to which one belongs, and the message conveyed through one's religion is final and complete, one hesitates to accomodate any new person who claims to have been chosen by God for conveying the divine message. The situation becomes worse when the person chosen by God for His work is found dissociating himself from all the religious groups of his time. Although his dissociation is only to reduce groupism in the religious sphere, he is always misunderstood. This happened to Guru Nanak also. He identified himself neither with the Hindus nor with the Muslims because he found them having gone astray from the real teachings of the religions which they claimed to follow. If Muslims and Hindus had realized the essence of his message they could have regarded him as one of them. But since Guru Nanak refused to be reckoned as either a Hindu or a Muslim, both the religious groups regarded him as one who was determined to weakening the roots of Hinduism and Islam. If we look at the problem dispassionately we will see the logic in Guru Nanak's dissociating himself from both of them. Once he was satisfied of having himself been divinely commissioned he could not have associated himself with either the Hindus or the Muslims, because the association would have destroyed his mission. His mission was to bring the people back to the original teachings of their own religions. He was to remind them that all the messengers and the prophets in history came only to lead people to the right path. These messengers never considered themselves belonging to one group. They were for all. It were the people who created a new group. Guru Nanak really did the right thing when he declared that he was neither a Hindu nor a Mussalman. Certainly that was not a denial of Islam or Hinduism. That was only a declaration that even those who called themselves Muslims were not really Muslims judged by the standards of their own religion. Nor was there a Hindu found in the world as he ought to be. Had Muslims and Hindus understood his message they would have certainly returned to the real teachings of their own religions. And that would have completed the mission of Guru Nanak. NOTES AND REFERENCES: 1 Iqbal, "Bang-e-dara" 2 The Qur'an, 29:61 3 Ibid., 43:87. 4 Abul-Kalam Azad, "Presidential Address, Bengal Khalifat Conference" in his Khutabat-e-Azad, Delhi, 1959, p.93 5 The Qur'an, 6:76-79 6 Ibid., 49:13 7 M. Mujeeb, "The Indian Muslims", London, 1967, p.211 8 Cf. Max Arthur Macauliffe, "The Sikh Religion," Oxford, 1909, Vol.I, p.121 9 For a detailed account of Sayyid Muhammad of Jawnpur, see M. Mujeeb., op.cit., pp.102-112 10 Cf. Macauliffe, op.cit., (between Guru Nanak and Sheikh Ibrahim) pp.84 ff, and (between Guru Nanak and Mian Mitha) pp.122 ff. 11 Guru Granth Sahib as quoted in "The Punjab: Past and Present", Vol. III, 1969, Parts I and II, Patiala, p.49. 12 Macauliffe, op.cit., p.171 13 Ibid., pp.154 ff. 14 Ibid., p.175 15 The Qur'an, 2:115 16 Ibid., 2:117 17 Macauliffe, op.cit., p.50 18 The Qur'an, 22:37

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=211639 A MONUMENT IN ISTANBUL MENTIONS THE NAME OF THE FIRST SIKH GURU IN ARABIC-PERSIAN SCRIPT Guru Nanak visited Turkey, claims Sikh scholar Gurmukh Singh Toronto, November 30: DID Guru Nanak almost reach Europe during his religious missions (udasis)? There has been mention of his reaching Turkey in his Janam Sakhis (tales written about the Guru by his followers such as Bhai Mani Singh and Meharban), but nothing could prove that the first Sikh guru actually went there. Now, a Sikh scholar from Montreal, Prof Devinder Singh Chahal, who runs Institute for Understanding Sikhism at Laval, claims that he has found evidence of the Guru’s visit to Istanbul, when he spotted a monument to the Turkish city. The monument, which has developed cracks, carries an inscription in the Arabic-Persian script mentioning the word Nanak. As Prof Chahal told The Indian Express, “In 1994, I went to Istanbul to attend a global meet on bio-energy. During that gathering, I took time off and went cruising in the Straits of Bosporus. On my way back, I found this huge monument in a park. It was fifteen feet high, and on it I spotted the word ‘Nanak’ at the end of the first line in the inscription. I know a little bit about the Arabic-Persian script, and I was thrilled to find the Guru’s name. I couldn’t read it further. So I took pictures of the inscription so that I could show it to others.’’ The Sikh scholar said he showed this inscription to some Turkish students in Montreal, but they could not figure it out. He said he found his answer when he visited Pakistan early this year. “There I showed the inscription to Iqbal Kaiser, who has written the book ‘Shrines in Pakistan’. I also consulted Afzal Haider, a lawyer who has also authored Baba Nanak. Both these men know the Arabic-Persian script which prevailed in the vast region during the Ottoman Empire. They translated the first line of the inscription in Punjabi: Jamanay da malik, hind da banda, rab da Nanak (The lord of the time and resident of India— Nanak the man of God,†he says. However, Prof Chahal says, “I have no idea about the date when the monument was raised. It has to be verified scientifically.†There is also speculation that the monument was raised by the Sikh soldiers who fought for the British in Turkey during the World War. “This couldn’t be true as Sikh soldiers had no knowledge of the Arabic-Persian script. Also, Sikh soldiers had fought in Egypt where they had reportedly found a stone in memory of Guru Nanak. Where is that stone and why didn’t they raise any such monument there?†Prof Chahal argues, “During his travel from Mecca to Baghdad, he did not take the direct route. Instead, he went to Baghdad via Istanbul. Historians, Kirpal Singh and Fuja Singh, say that Guru Nanak had taken a boat to Jeddah via the Gulf of Eden from Sonmiani. From there, he went to Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, Teheran and Kabul before reaching his birthplace Talwandi in Pakistan. But my discovery proves what Janam Sakhis say that Guru Nanak had gone from Mecca to Israel, Palestine, Syria and reached Istanbul in Turkey before heading for Baghdad.’’ Prof Chahal says he had informed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). “Some people from the UK are studying the inscription and trying to find many broken and missing words. I am going to Istanbul in February and we will seek help from the Turkish authorities to have access to archeological material to verify our findings,†he said. Pictures: http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak_in_Istanbul

332nd anniversary of Sahib Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Jee Maharaj's Shaheedi at Chandni Chowk 250th anniversary of Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Jee's Shaheedi at Sri Darbar Sahib

I was thinking the exact same thing today. I think 2 years ago one of India's news channels was broadcasting people's text messages on screen, and that day Diwali and Eid were about the same day. One of the text messages said the same thing. Diwali has Ali, Ramadan/Ramzan has Ram.

ok

Yes I am . Its ok :cry: :cry: LOL But penji, the person because of whom you are calling me immature, I don't think you would place him in the mature category if you were fair, would you? Anyways...forget it...no use doing syappa now...thats for some other people to do syappa as a ritual... Happy Bandi Chhorr Diwas ( ps: I have justified their syappa to Sunnis on 1 occassion...some 12ers were surprised!!! )

LOL...kyon bacheya kucheya magaj mukaan di gall karda veeray but i get ur point...

No pics yet?

I believe in Sikhi, for Sikhi is my religion and my faith - Mehtab Singh laa deyo kunDaa

Gal te theek aa...eh jeher nu launa pena, te sama kaafi lagna...

tony veeray kaanu apna sama swaa kari jande ho...bhajjan wala bhajj gya hunn shaddo parey...