GURMAT - THE PATH OF LIGHT 

THE PRESERVED TREASURE

Guru means Destroyer of Spiritual Darkness, i.e. Enlightener.  Sikhs are the 'students/followers' of God - WaheGuru - the Wondrous Enlightener. All the saints and religious teachers of history have been Sikhs. Their central doctrine was the same truth through time, is true, and will be true through time. The key doctrine is the Name. This means the Living Presence/Praise of God who is best served through constant and loving singing and meditation, the discipline of Nam Simran. One realises this Name through the Guru. God can only be known through God's Grace. All the Prophets, saints, and buddhas have uttered the Name using God as their Guru.

What God communicates is known as Gurbani, the Word of the Guru. The only Gurbani written by the people to whom it was communicated are the Ten Sikh Masters who were blended with this Divine Word and are, therefore, also called Guru. However, to clarify the difference between Creator and created God is called WaheGuru, the Ten Sikh Masters are called SatGurus.

The SatGurus are a bridge to reach WaheGuru. All other Gurbani was written after the death of the people to whom it was communicated; therefore, it has been corrupted and misunderstood by the people. Thus, while the Name is the One Source of all religions, in other faiths it is hard to find. It is hidden in different wells and one has to find this clearing a way through personality cults, superstitions, accounts of history and science and other additions. In Sikhism the Name was preserved in the Gurbani. The Gurbani was installed as Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Bridge/Book of Enlightenment.

The Gurbani is the communication of God. As it has come from God, if you attune yourself to it, it will return you to God. It is a bridge from your mortal ity to God's Immortality; life without God is bitter, the Gurbani is sweet. For this reason the Gurbani is also called Amrit Bani, the Honey-Sweet Drink of Immortality. As you utter it, you can taste its sweetness. It clears the spiritual darkness of your mind and the filth of your soul. Its washes you clean and you feel increasingly whole. You begin to sense that the One God's Light fills all things with light and beauty. There is nothing to fear, nothing to hate, nothing to crave.

 

Dr Kanwar Ranvir Singh