"Imagine…No Religion too,…"

By Amar Prakash

"Imagine ... No religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace..." John Lennon wrote these words and concluded with: "You may say I'm a dreamer,..." Well, I don't have to imagine or be a dreamer to realize this because Guru Nanak gave us "no religion."

When Guru Nanak emerged from his Meditation, he was quoted as saying: 'There is no Hindu and there is no Muslim. Then who's path should I follow? I will follow the path of Truth.' Was he saying that Hinduism and Islam had ceased to be relevant religions and that he was going to start a new religion that would be a syncretism of both? No, he was saying that there was no religion and if he were alive today he would say: 'There is no Sikh.' His next utterance was Mool Mantar. We only have to look at the first line of Mool Mantar to understand what he was talking about. To really understand this, you have to look at what Ek Ong Kaar, Sat Nam means. Does it mean 'There is one God (Creator) and Truth is His Name?' Or does it just mean 'There is One Truth?' I believe that it is the second. Was there truth before Guru Nanak? Yes, that is what is meant by Aad Sachch. "The Truth was in the beginning." It's the Truth that we are after. Truth is our Sat Guru. It may be a trite statement but 'The Truth will set you free.'

I believe that Guru Nanak was taking all the attributes that people believe that God or Gods possess and distilled them down to one idea and that is the Truth. The Truth transcends all other concepts. It is not limited by preconceived notions of what God is. Western and especially British concepts of God and religion are very limiting but have come to define the way Sikhs approach the teachings of the Gurus.

Sikhs had the Truth and the Truth was passed on to the Adi Granth. One of the Truths that Guru Nanak taught was the uselessness of rules and rituals. What do golden temples, marble floors, chauri sahibs made with silver strands, jedhadars, singh sahibs, siri singh sahibs, have to do with the Truth. Absolutely Nothing!! Because he knew what would happen to the Truth if it was turned into a religion, he taught a Spiritual Path. A Spiritual Path that entailed attaining the Truth.

Guru Nanak understood that religion and spirituality were mutually exclusive. Being religious has nothing to do with being spiritual.

And just how do we attain this truth? Nam Simran is remembering and contemplating the Naam or the Truth. Chanting or meditating on a mantra such as WaheGuru is a dead end. You will never attain any understanding of the Truth by this method. Jap is the title of Jap Bani, which means a meditation. Meditation can be defined as engaging in devoted religious contemplation or transcendental spiritual introspection. I have come to the realization that the true meaning of "Jap" is contemplation. This becomes more apparent when you realize that "Rahao" is the only command and appears several thousand times in the Guru Granth.

What is Rahao? The Rahao line of a Shabad is the essence or meaning of the Shabad. What does Rahao mean? Loosely translated it means Pause but it means more than that. It means Pause and Contemplate the previous line. It is said that Sikhi is a meditative religion but what it really is, is a Spiritual Path of Contemplation.

"God's name, Truth, is the real pilgrimage place which consists of contemplation of the word of God, and the cultivation of inner knowledge." Guru Nanak

"The state of Contemplation of the Lord in His Praises, is the Highest state of Mind of Sehaj, the Essence of Worship, which takes man to Highest Eternal Wisdom, Joy and Eternal Truth." Guru Arjan

Before you can begin to Contemplate you must first have meaning. Gurbani should be read and studied in the language that you understand. Phonetically reading Gurbani or reading a transliteration of Gurbani without meaning is an empty ritual and as Kabir would say, empty rituals are like churning water. No matter how long you churn, you will never get butter.

diD kY BolY ibrolY nIru ]1] rhwau ]

"Mistaking it for cream, the people are churning water." Bhagat Kabir

Through contemplation I have come to understand that everything in Sikhi is Transcendental, it's all in the mind, and what most people believe is grounded in Maya. Somewhere along the line, what was symbolic became real and what was real became symbolic. It's as if Sikhi has been hijacked by the people who most do not understand the Truth.

Awsw mhlw 5 ]

dwnu dyie kir pUjw krnw ] lYq dyq aun@ mUkir prnw ] ijqu dir qum@ hY bRwhmx jwxw ]

iqqu dir qUMhI hY pCuqwxw ]1] AYsy bRwhmx fUby BweI ] inrwprwD icqvih buirAweI ]1] rhwau ]

AMqir loBu iPrih hlkwey ] inMdw krih isir Bwru auTwey ]

mwieAw mUTw cyqY nwhI ] Brmy BUlw bhuqI rwhI ]2] bwhir ByK krih Gnyry ] AMqir ibiKAw auqrI Gyry ] Avr aupdysY Awip n bUJY ] AYsw bRwhmxu khI n sIJY ]3] mUrK bwmx pRBU smwil ] dyKq sunq qyrY hY nwil ] khu nwnk jy hovI Bwgu ] mwnu Coif gur crxI lwgu ]4]8]

"Aasaa, Fifth Mehl: They give you donations and worship you. You take from them, and then deny that they have given anything to you. That door, through which you must ultimately go, O Brahmin - at that door, you will come to regret and repent. 1 Such Brahmins shall drown, O Siblings of Destiny; they think of doing evil to the innocent. 1Pause Within them is greed, and they wander around like mad dogs. They slander others and carry loads of sin upon their heads. Intoxicated by Maya, they do not think of the Lord. Deluded by doubt, they wander off on many paths. 2 Outwardly, they wear various religious robes, but within, they are enveloped by poison. They instruct others, but do not understand themselves. Such Brahmins will never be emancipated. 3 O foolish Brahmin, reflect upon God. He watches and hears, and is always with you. Says Nanak, if this is your destiny, renounce your pride, and grasp the Guru's Feet." Guru Arjan

Guru Arjan warned us about this many years ago but we have not heeded his warnings. The farther away we get from the Guru's teachings of the Truth, the more we will stray.

As Yosuf Al Islam (Cat Stevens,) a British convert, said: "I thank Allah that I met Islam before I met Muslims." I sometimes wish that I had met the Truth as taught by Guru Nanak before I met Sikhs. This is not to say that there are no Sikhs who understand the Truth, but that they are few and far between.

Thoughts on Christianity

By Leo Tolstoy

Editor's note:

This essay by Leo Tolstoy is a critique of Christianity, "The Religion." With very little word modification it could be a critique of Sikhi, "The Religion," or a critique of any "Religion," even a critique of "Religion" in general.

I have included this essay by Tolstoy because there are many parallels between the developement of Christianity and Sikhi. It has been around 500 years since the time of Guru Nanak and it was at a similar time period that Christianity was wrestling with the same issues as Sikhi is facing today. Tolstoy was writing about some of the same issues that both religions faced and are facing: truth vs religion and the place of dogma.Sikhi has one advantage over Christianty, in that there is the Guru Granth. Jesus never wrote anything down, so the only source of what Jesus said is the Gospels. This would be like Sikhi being totally based on the Sakhis.

*****************************************************************************

The true Christian teaching is very simple, clear, and obvious to all, as Jesus said. But it is simple and accessible only when man is freed from that falsehood in which we were all educated, and which is passed off upon us as God's truth.

Nothing needful can be poured into a vessel full of what is useless. We must first empty out what is useless. So it is with the acquirement of true Christian teaching. We must first understand that all the stories telling how God made the world six thousand years ago; how Adam sinned and the human race fell; and how the Son of God, a God born of a virgin, came on earth and redeemed mankind; and all the fables in the Old Testament and in the Gospels, and all the lives of the saints with their stories of miracles and relics, are nothing but a gross hash of superstitions and priestly frauds. Only to someone quite free from this deception can the clear and simple teaching of Jesus, which needs no explanation, be accessible and comprehensible. That teaching tells us nothing about the beginning, or about the end, of the world, or about God and His purpose, or in general about things which we cannot, and need not, know; but it speaks only of what man must do to save himself, that is, how best to live the life he has come into, in this world, from birth to death. For this purpose it is only necessary to treat others as we wish them to treat us. In that is all the Law and the prophets, as Jesus said. And to act that way, we need neither icons, nor relics, nor church services, nor priests, nor catechisms, nor governments, but on the contrary, we need perfect freedom from all that; for to treat others as we wish them to treat us is possible only when a man is free from the fables which the priests give out as the truth, and is not bound by promises to act as other people may order. Only such a man will be capable of fulfilling, not his own will nor that of other men, but the will of God.

The reader should understand that the belief that the Gospels are the inspired word of God is not only a profound error, but a very harmful deception. He should remember that Jesus himself did not write a book, nor did he transmit his teaching to learned or even to educated men, but spoke for the most part to illiterate people, and only long after his death were his life and teaching described.

The reader should also remember that a large number of such descriptions have been written, from which the church selected at first three, and later a fourth Gospel, that out of the great mass of literature about Jesus they accepted much that was inaccurate. and that there are nearly as many faulty passages in the canoncal Gospels as in the rejected writings. Nor does it follow, becauce the teaching ofJesus is inspired, that all the descriptions are inspired. He should remember that these official Gospels are the work of many human minds; that over the centuries they have been selected, enlarged, and commented upon; and that the most ancient copies which have come down to us are only from the fourth century. The reader must remember all this in order to disengage himself from the idea, so common among us, that the Gospels, in their present form, have come to us directly from the Holy Spirit. If he does so, he will admit that, far from it being blamable to disencumber the Gospels of useless passages, and to illuminate passages the one by the other, it is unreasonable not to do this and to consider every one of these verses sacred.

On the other hand, I pray my readers to understand that, if I do not consider the Gospels to be sacred books, coming directly from the Holy Spirit, even less do I regard them as mere monuments in the history of religious literature. I am conscious of both their theological and historical significance, but I do not consider either of these important. What I see in Christianity is not a divine revelation nor a mere historical phenomenon, but a teaching that gives us the true meaning of life.

When, at the age of fifty, I first began to study the Gospels seriously, I found in them the spirit that animates all who are truly alive. But along with the flow of that pure, life-giving water, I perceived much mire and slime mingled with it; and this had prevented me from seeing the true, pure water. I found that, along with the lofty teaching of Jesus, there are teachings bound up which are repugnant and contrary to it. I thus felt myself in the position of a man to whom a sack of garbage is given, who, after long struggle and wearisome labor, discovers among the garbage a number of infinitely precious pearls. This man knows that he is not blameworthy in his distaste for the dirt, and also that those who have gathered these pearls along with the rest of the sackful, and who thus have preserved them, are no more to blame than he is, but, on the contrary, deserve his love and respect.

When I perceived that only light enables men to live, I sought the source of this light. And I found it in the Gospels, despite the false teachings of the church. And when I reached this source of light, I was dazzled by its splendor, and I found in it answers to all my questions about life, answers which I recognized as being in complete harmony with all the known answers gained

among other nations, and, to my mind, surpassing all other answers. I sought a solution to the problem of life, not to a theological question. And that is why I did not care about knowing whether Jesus is God, or whom the Holy Spirit proceeds from, etc. For me, the only important concern was this light, which for eighteen hundred years has been shining upon mankind,

which has been shining upon me as well, and which shines upon me still. But to know, in addition to this, how I ought to name the source of this light, what elements compose it, and what kindled it, did not interest me in the least.

Up to the present time, some people, conceiving Jesus to be the second person of the Trinity, accept his teaching only as it accords with that pseudo-revelation of the Holy Spirit which they find in the Old Testament, the Epistles, the Edicts of the Councils, and the Patristic writings, and preach a strange creed founded on these, which they assert to be the teaching of Jesus. Other people, who do not believe that Jesus is God, understand his teaching by the interpretation of Paul and others. But even though they believe that he was a man, they would deprive him of the right every man may claim, of being answerable for his own words, and in trying to explain his teaching, they credit him with what he would never have dreamed of saying.

Contemplation

By Amar Prakash

One of the first things that we learned in 3HO about Sikhi was that the Jap in Japji Sahib, was the only command in the Guru Granth and we Japped (Chanted) everything. But, was chanting what Jap was all about? Jap in this case is not even a command but is the title of Jap Bani and means Meditation. The truth is that Mul Mantar is it's own separate Bani and the first line of Japji is "It was True In The Beginning."

What is the meaning of meditation? Meditation can be defined as engaging in devout religious contemplation or transcendental spiritual introspection. I have come to the realization that the true meaning is contemplation. This becomes more apparent when you realize that Rahao is the only command and appears several thousand times in the Adi Granth.

What is Rahao? The Rahao line of a Shabad is the essence or meaning of the Shabad. What does Rahao mean? Loosely translated it means Pause but it means more than that. It means Pause and Contemplate the previous line. It is said that Sikhi is a meditative path but even more so, it is a Spiritual Path of Contemplation.

"God's name is the real pilgrimage place which consists of contemplation of the Word (Naam), and the cultivation of inner knowledge. " Guru Nanak

But what is the name of God. Contrary to popular belief the name of God is not WaheGuru. The chanting of WaheGuru is a fairly recent phenomenon which rises out of ignorance and misunderstanding of what the Gurus were talking about. There is absolutely no mention of WaheGuru in the Adi Granth except where Bhatt Gayand uses the term in praise Guru Ram Das. The chanting of WaheGuru is nothing more than some magical mystical mumbo jumbo that is being foisted off on the ignorant masses along with outrageous miracle stories that are not to believed.

When I was in 3HO I had many so called Kundalini and Tantric experiences but it only been through contemplation that I have experienced true Ishnaan moments.

Most people believe that Ishnaan is physically taking a dip or taking a bath. But this is not true. How can you take a dip in something that is ethereal, Amrit?

Ishnaan is a mental state where you feel that your Tenth Gate (the True Gurdwara) has been opened and within your brain you are taking a bath in the Ambrosial Nectar:

mnu mqvwr myr sr BwTI AMimRq Dwr cuAwvau ]1]

"Let your mind be intoxicated with the stream of Ambrosial Nectar which trickles down from the furnace of the Tenth Gate.1" Bhagat Kabir page 1123

Your eyes tear:

AMimRqu bolY sdw muiK vYxI ] AMimRqu vyKY prKY sdw nYxI ]

"Those who continually chant the Ambrosial Words of Nectar see and behold this Amrit everywhere with their eyes." Guru Amar Das page 118

And you can taste the Amrit:

siqguir idqw hir nwmu AMimRqu ciKAw ]

"The True Guru has blessed me with the Lord's Name, and I have tasted the Ambrosial Nectar." Guru Arjan page 523

"The state of Contemplation of the Lord in His Praises, is the Highest state of Mind of Sehaj, the Essence of Worship, which takes man to Highest Eternal Wisdom, Highest state of Mind of Sehaj" Guru Arjan

What is the first step in gaining the Highest "Eternal Wisdom, Joy and Eternal Truth?" Before you can begin to Contemplate you must first have meaning. Gurbani should be read and studied in the language that you understand. Phonetically reading Gurbani or reading a transliteration of Gurbani without meaning is an empty ritual and as Kabir would say, empty rituals are like churning water. No matter how long you churn, you will never get butter. And that is exactly what chanting WaheGuru is, water.

diD kY BolY ibrolY nIru ]1] rhwau ]

"Mistaking it for cream, the people are churning water." Bhagat Kabir

Here Now or Here After?

By Amar Prakash

"Be Here Now" is what Guru Nanak was talking about. Most religions are concerned with what happens to you after you die. Sikhi is concerned with what happens to you before you die. Although there are many mentions of reincarnation, the effects of Karma, heaven and hell, Chitar and Gupat etc., in the Guru Granth, these are only meant to be understood metaphorically. Owen Cole wrote about Guru Nanak: "...such ideas are not the one's which concern him utimately. His preoccupation was with enabling his listeners to become one with God and so escape the death of separation which awaited them if they persisted in duality."

Guru Nanak said what happens to us after death was a mystery: 

Byqu cyqu hir iksY n imilE jw jim pkiV clwieAw ]JUTw rudnu hoAw duoAwlY iKn mih BieAw prwieAw ] sweI vsqu prwpiq hoeI ijsu isau lwieAw hyqu ] khu nwnk pRwxI cauQY phrY lwvI luixAw Kyqu ]4]1]

"In the fourth watch of the night, O my merchant friend, the Grim Reaper comes to the field. When the Messenger of Death seizes and dispatches you, O my merchant friend, no one knows the mystery of where you have gone. So think of the Lord! No one knows this secret, of when the Messenger of Death will seize you and take you away. All your weeping and wailing then is false. In an instant, you become a stranger.You obtain exactly what you have longed for. Says Nanak, in the fourth watch of the night, O mortal, the Grim Reaper has harvested your field." page 74

His concern was with conquering the fear of death: 

AMimRq kw rsu ivrlI pwieAw siqgur myil imlwey ] jb lgu sbd Bydu nhI AwieAw qb lgu kwlu sMqwey ]3] An ko dru Gru kbhU n jwnis eyko dru sicAwrw ] gur prswid prm pdu pwieAw nwnku khY ivcwrw ]4]3]4]

"Only a few obtain the sublime essence of the Ambrosial Amrit, united in Union with the True Guru. As long as the mortal does not come to understand the mystery of the Shabad, the Word of God, he shall continue to be tormented by death. Whoever finds the door of the One True Lord, does not know any other house or door. By Guru's Grace, I have obtained the supreme status; so says poor Nanak." Guru Nanak page 1126

mukiq Bugiq jugiq qyrI syvw ijsu qUM Awip krwieih ] qhw bYkuMTu jh kIrqnu qyrw qUM Awpy srDw lwieih ]2]

"Liberation, comfort and proper lifestyle come from serving You; You alone cause us to serve You. That place is heaven, where the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises are sung. You Yourself instill faith into us." Guru Arjan page 749

kauqk kof qmwisAw iciq n Awvsu nwau ] nwnk koVI nrk brwbry aujVu soeI Qwau ]2]

"In the midst of millions of games and entertainments, the Lord's Name does not come to their minds. O Nanak, their home is like a wilderness, in the depths of hell." Guru Arjan page 707

As usual the Guru's are speaking about Transcendent concepts in a metaphorical manner. It is a big misunderstanding to see these as real. One example of this is the concept of Sach Khand.

kir kir vyKY ndir inhwl ] iqQY KMf mMfl vrBMf ] jy ko kQY q AMq n AMq ] iqQY loA loA Awkwr ] ijv ijv hukmu iqvY iqv kwr ] vyKY ivgsY kir vIcwru ] nwnk kQnw krVw swru ]37]

"In the realm of Truth (Sach Khand,) the Formless Lord abides. Having created the creation, He watches over it. By His Glance of Grace, He bestows happiness. There are planets, solar systems and galaxies. If one speaks of them, there is no limit, no end. There are worlds upon worlds of His Creation. As He commands, so they exist. He watches over all, and contemplating the creation, He rejoices. O Nanak, to describe this is as hard as steel!" Guru Nanak page 6

Sach Khand is not something that you go to when you die. Sach Khand is a state of mind that you enter when you are alive.

I remember going to a Bhog for a friend of mine, who had died. There was a lot of chanting of Akal, Akal, to help the soul's passage to Sach Khand. The truth is that if you are not in Sach Khand when you are alive, no amount of chanting after you are dead will get you there. It is also a misguided belief that Guru Gobind Singh rode his blue steed into Sach Khand. This is the kind of misunderstanding that can fill your mind when you literally interpret Gurbani.

Devolution

By Amar Prakash

Back in the 1970's, there was a band called DEVO. They were one of those one hit wonders but they did have an interesting philosophy and that was: that the human race was no longer evolving but instead was de-evolving, hence DEVOlve.

In recent days as the Dera Sacha Sauda debacle has been unfolding, I have been wondering if we are observing the death knells of Sikhi as it finally Devolves into insignificance and becomes nothing more than a Cult of Thugs. People can stand there in absolute amazement, wondering why the youth is turned off to Sikhi. Well you only have to look at both sides of this sick affair to understand some of the reasons. To paraphrase a bumper sticker I once saw: "If you are not appalled by the state of Sikhi, Then you are just not paying attention."

The Guru's gave us a great gift: Gurdwara, The Gateway to the Guru.

gurU duAwrY hoie soJI pwiesI ]

Through the Gurdwara, the Guru's Gate, one obtains understanding.

Guru Nanak, p. 730

Just as it is in the rest of the Guru Granth, Guru Nanak makes use of the metaphor. Here Gurdwara is a metaphor that represents that transcendental Gateway that the Guru passes through to guide us on our path to understanding EK.

But what has happened to the Doorway? Through misunderstanding and literal interpretations of Gurbani, that Doorway has been slowly bricked shut, one brick at a time.

Over the years, Sikhs continued adding bricks of misunderstanding until the Gateway was closed. Then they stood before the non-existent Gateway and proclaimed what a great wall and religion had been built. As they stood there admiring their work, they decided to add golden domes and beautiful marble to the wall and they declared that God must really love them for allowing such a beautiful wall to be built.

When some pointed out that the Gateway had been bricked shut, they were told not to 'fiddle with Sikh traditions' and swords were unsheathed, excommunications were delivered, and those who insulted "Sikh religious sympathies" were jailed.

The status quo had been maintained because after all, that is what was important. But the Sikhs were still standing on the outside maybe never to walk through the Guru's Gate and a tear may have fallen from Guru Nanak's eye as he realized that everything had been for naught.

"Break on Through to the Other Side"

By Amar Prakash

I don't know what Jim Morrison, of the 60s rock band, The Doors, meant when he wrote these words, "Break on Through to the Other Side," but I do know that this is the True message of the Guru Granth.

But to understand what we have to Break on Through, we have to look at the language of the Guru Granth and the language of the Guru Granth as the Language of Metaphor.

What is a metaphor? A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them. The use of metaphor can be further considered to contain the following classifications:

* allegory: An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important attribute of the subject

* parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson

Why did the Bhagats and the Gurus use the Language of Metaphor? Human language is very limited. It is limited in that it can only be used to describe the empirical. When language is used to describe the transcendent it falls short because it is impossible to describe the infinite, the indescribable and the unknowable. Deng Ming Dao in his book, "Everyday Tao," stated: "It's hard not to use metaphors. As we try to negotiate more and more complicated subjects, we resort to metaphors to aid understanding.... The only intellectual way we have to describe the infinite is through the imperfect vehicle of the metaphor." Joseph Campbell, best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion, put it this way: "The person who has had a mystical experience knows that all the symbolic expressions of it are faulty. The symbols don't render the experience, they suggest it. If you haven't had the experience, how can you know what it is?"

The misunderstanding of the concept of metaphor has been a road block in the path of all religions. Let us take a look at how it is used in the Guru Granth. Probably the easiest and most obvious metaphor is the one about the 'dogs tail.' Here is an example:

Apnw Awpu qU kbhu n Cofis suAwn pUiC ijau ry ]4]

You can never escape your own inner tendencies, like the crooked tail of the dog. ||4|| Guru Nanak, p 990

Are the Gurus talking about a dog's tail? I don't think that I would be stretching the point, to say that you would have to be an idiot not to see that the Gurus were talking about something else. They are talking about a closed mind that is so filled with bad teachings that it can never be opened to the truth. This is exactly a description of the State of Sikhism today. Its mind is closed with misinterpretations and misunderstands of what the Gurus were actually talking about. It is a mind that has taken metaphors in the Guru Granth and literally interpreted them as fact thus not being able to look past the literal to see the transcendent.

In past articles I have explored how metaphor has been used in the Guru Granth. I have discussed concepts such as Sach Khand, Gurdwara, Aad Sach..., Amrit and Ishnaan, and Halal.

Literal interpretation of these and just about everything else builds walls and not doors to the transcendent. I talked about this in the article entitled "Devolution."

We stand before this wall with great fear and trepidation. Why? Because that wall is made up of all of our beliefs that we hold so dear. But we must "Break on Through to the Other Side" to get to what the Gurus were talking about and this is a very scary proposition. This also means understanding that even God is a metaphor. Joseph Campbell said it best when he wrote: "God is a metaphor for that which transcends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that."

Before those that have the Akal Takht on speed dial are frantically calling to say that I have committed blasphemy by saying that the Gurus were atheists, let me say that would be very far from the truth. However Guru Nanak had no love for religion. I explored this in "Imagine ... No religion too..."

The Gurus were talking about something that transcends any concept of God. Joseph Campbell stated: "The transcendent transcends all of these categories of thinking. Being and non being, those are categories. The word God properly refers to what transcends all thinking...

"Half the world thinks of God as a fact, a real being; these are the theists. And the other half of the world denies that God is such a fact...; these are the atheists. But neither half seems to know how to approach things metaphorically...."

But the Gurus understood the use of metaphor, in fact the entire Guru Granth is an analogy, an extended 1430 page metaphor describing the transcendent, EK. EK is the one. What is EK? You'll only know when you become one with it. This is what Guru Nanak meant when he uttered Mul Mantar:

<> siq nwmu krqw purKu inrBau inrvYru Akwl mUriq AjUnI sYBM gur pRswid ]

There is One Truth

The Doer of everything, fearless, without anger, Undying, Unborn and Self-Illumined.

This is revealed through, the True Guru's Grace.

Two thousand years before Guru Nanak, It was written in the "Tao Te Ching:"

There was something formless yet complete,

That existed before heaven and earth;

Without sound, without substance,

Dependent on nothing, unchanging...

Its true name we do not know;

Tao is the by-name that we give it.

This is another persons description of the transcendent that he calls Tao, what we as Sikhs call EK. And like those, who's goal is "To be one with the Tao," our goal is "To be one with the One EK." Some would argue that this is not according to Gurmat but I would say that this is exactly what Guru Amar Das was saying on page 788 when he wrote:

mÚ 3 ]

Dn ipru eyih n AwKIAin bhin iekTy hoie ] eyk joiq duie mUrqI Dn ipru khIAY soie ]3]

Third Mehla:

They are not said to be husband and wife, who merely sit together.

They alone are called husband and wife, who have one light in two bodies. ||3||

The meaning of this is totally metaphorical and if you take this statement literally, you will not understand that Guru Amar Das is not talking about an earthly marriage but a spiritual one between the husband, EK, and the wife, yourself; becoming one with the One.

In "Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor," Joseph Campbell writes: "...Mythology is often thought of as other people's religions, and religion can be defined as mis-interpreted mythology.

"That is reading the words in terms of prose instead of in terms of poetry, reading the metaphor in terms of the denotation instead of the connotation."

But this is exactly what modern day Sikhi has become, a religion that has mis-interpreted mythology, or metaphor. Sikhism has become a bunch of "petty ideologues," with the Guru Granth having been turned into a "how to book," with ridiculous talk of it's technologies. The Guru Granth is not about how to become liberated but is about being liberated. For example the following Shabad is found on page 305. This Shabad is the most referenced example of what a Sikh is to do to become liberated. But is really a reference to what you do when you are liberated.

mÚ 4 ]

gur siqgur kw jo isKu AKwey su Blky auiT hir nwmu iDAwvY ] audmu kry Blky prBwqI iesnwnu kry AMimRq sir nwvY ] aupdyis gurU hir hir jpu jwpY siB iklivK pwp doK lih jwvY ] iPir cVY idvsu gurbwxI gwvY bhidAw auTidAw hir nwmu iDAwvY ] jo swis igrwis iDAwey myrw hir hir so gurisKu gurU min BwvY ] ijs no dieAwlu hovY myrw suAwmI iqsu gurisK gurU aupdysu suxwvY ] jnu nwnku DUiV mMgY iqsu gurisK kI jo Awip jpY Avrh nwmu jpwvY ]2]

"Fourth Mehla:

One who calls himself a Sikh of the Guru, the True Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Lord's Name. Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe, and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar.Following the Instructions of the Guru, he is to chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har. All sins, misdeeds and

negativity shall be erased.Then, at the rising of the sun, he is to sing Gurbani; whether sitting down or standing up, he is to meditate on the Lord's Name.One who meditates on my Lord, Har, Har, with every breath and every morsel of food - that GurSikh becomes pleasing to the Guru's Mind.That person, unto whom my Lord and Master is kind and compassionate - upon that GurSikh, the Guru's Teachings are bestowed.

Servant Nanak begs for the dust of the feet of that GurSikh, who himself chants the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. ||2||"

This misunderstanding results in concentration on the superficial where appearance is more important than substance. Where the messenger is more important than the message.

In an article, "IN GOD'S NAME, WHAT WE DO," on the Kheper website, it is written that: "Religious identities are our big ego trip. We cling to our religious symbols without even bothering to know too much as to what they stand for, establish religious dress codes, but seldom know its significance, and proclaim our fanatic religious cries, with warrior-zeal, little realizing that, just as a handful of swallows do not necessarily make summer, these symbolic identities do not necessarily confer us any Spiritual benefit. In order to qualify to be a true Sikh (Khalsa), for instance, one is required to have seen the Pooran Jyot- the lamp within." 

A good example of how Sikhs have strayed, is the use of Kirpan. Metaphorically it is a weapon to cut through negativity and ignorance. Physically it is a weapon to be used to defend yourself and the defenseless or in a righteous cause to defend the Panth. It is not to be used to defend your "religious sentiments" or to cut off someone's head because they wore a pink kurta and stuck a feather in his turban. If Sikhi can not survive this trivial matter then maybe it does not deserve to survive. The Punjab government has issued an arrest warrant on charges of "disgracing" the Sikh religion. I would contend that Sikhi does not need any outside help in disgracing itself.

Please, pick up your Kirpan and use it to cut through that "wall" of ignorance and "Break on Through to the Other Side."

"Losing My Religion"

By Amar Prakash

Today, I have made the decision to lose my religion. This is not to say that I am leaving the Spiritual Path that was given to me by Guru Nanak but that I am losing this religion called Sikhism.

That's me in the corner

That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don't know if I can do it

REM

Ten years ago when the song that contains the above lyrics was popular, it was inconceivable for me to even think about the idea of "losing my religion." Recently, I have come to the conclusion that that is exactly what Guru Nanak wanted us to do and we should be "trying to keep up with" Nanak because that is what he did in writing Mul Mantar.

In his article "Evolution of the Concept of God," Rawel Singh talks about how the concept of God has evolved through human history. I think that it is very interesting that he uses the term "concept" because that is exactly what God is: a concept but more accurately a metaphor. He talks about how the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament, which is different than the Islamic God, which is different than the Hindu God and even different than Nanak's God. But how can all of these be true? And even more importantly, Is man a creation of God or is God a creation of man?

How can God be Akaal Moorat, the Timeless Being if he keeps changing through time? But is it God that Nanak is talking about or is it Sat? I believe that it is Sat.

Ek Ong Kaar Sat Naam

There us one Truth

Sat is Karta Purakh, the Creative Force.

Sat is Akaal Moorat, the Timeless Being.

In the descriptions of God in various Religions, God is said to have birth, form, even death, fear, and anger. In Mul Mantar, Nanak dispels all these descriptions of God with: He is without birth, without form, without death, without fear and without anger. But is he saying that these are the attributes of God? No, these are all the attributes of Sat.

This whole idea can be extremely frightening and full of doubt. However, once you have passed through that fear and doubt, it is incredibly liberating.

Along this same theme, Wajinder Singh wrote:

My Guru is NOT a BOOK

My Guru Is NOT even a DEITY

The SHABAD is my Guru .... this Shabad is the Divine Knowledge (Gian)

This knowledge is the Guru, Gu-darkness (ignorance) Ru-light JOT (knowledge)

so my Guru is definitely not an Idol, i don't have to follow around my Guru

But when i read / hear the shabad ALL i can HEAR is my Guru SPEAKING

So how could i force others to see my Guru this way,

They don't accept nor believe in this GIAN knowledge

but I DEFINITELY do ..........and this is all that matters !

.... Eh Saagar Soi Teray Jo Har Gun Gavey

Throughout time, Religion has been the barrier that creates the "veil of illusion." As I described in Devolution, "Sikhs continued adding bricks of misunderstanding until the Gateway was closed. Then they stood before the non-existent Gateway and proclaimed what a great wall and religion had been built. As they stood there admiring their work, they decided to add golden domes and beautiful marble to the wall and they declared that God must really love them for allowing such a beautiful wall to be built.

"When some pointed out that the Gateway had been bricked shut, they were told not to 'fiddle with Sikh traditions' and swords were unsheathed, excommunications were delivered, and those who insulted "Sikh religious sympathies" were jailed."

ikv sicAwrw hoeIAY ikv kUVY qutY pwil ]

So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?

Guru Nanak page 1

The first step is understanding that the concept of God is the illusion and that Truth and only Truth was what the Gurus were talking about.

In "Break on Through to the Other Side," "We stand before this wall with great fear and trepidation. Why? Because that wall is made up of all of our beliefs that we hold so dear."

jy ko buJY hovY sicAwru ]

One who understands this becomes truthful.

Guru Nanak page 3

We also become free of unanswerable Theological questions, such as: What is the Name of God? Is Nanak God? Is the Guru Granth the word of God?

Our concern turns to: What is Truth? and How do we live a Truthful life?

jqu squ sMjmu nwmu hY ivxu nwvY inrmlu n hoie ]

The Naam, the Name of the Lord, is abstinence, truthfulness, and self-restraint. Without the Name, no one becomes pure.

Guru Nanak page 33

schu ErY sBu ko aupir scu Awcwru ]5]

Truth is higher than everything; but higher still is truthful living. ||5||

Guru Nanak page 62

ieknw scu buJwieEnu iqnw Aqut BMfwr dyvwieAw ]

Some understand Truthfulness; they are given the inexhaustible treasure.

Guru Amar Das page 85

All of this appears in the first 85 pages of Guru Granth, Why has it taken me so long to see it? Better yet, why has it taken so long for people to understand? Because what the Guru's are talking about is a moral framework that has nothing to do with religion. It's a framework that can be simply expressed as: Do the Right thing because it is the Right Thing to do, not because some religion threatens you with eternal damnation. Do we really need a religion or God to tell us that killing and stealing are not the Right Things to do? I think not.

In fact, some times doing the Right Thing is contrary to what your religion tells you. I remember one evening in India, as I was approaching Gurdwara Nadha Sahib, One of the legless beggars asked me for money. According to modern day Sikhi, we are told that Sikhs should never beg therefore you should not give money to any beggars. I had a 100 Rupee bill in my hand that I was going to donate to the Golak and walked by the beggar. A few steps later as I was looking at this magnificent Gurdwara, it dawned on me that this Gurdwara was as cold as the marble it was built of and there was no Truth there. I turned to the beggar and saw the Guru in him. I approached him and gave him my money, that he grasped it between his handless arms, instead of the Golak. Why? Because it was at that moment I realized that that was the Right Thing to do.

sloku mÚ 1 ]

imhr msIiq isdku muslw hku hlwlu kurwxu ] srm suMniq sIlu rojw hohu muslmwxu ] krxI kwbw scu pIru klmw krm invwj ] qsbI sw iqsu BwvsI nwnk rKY lwj ]1]

Salok, First Mehla:

Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran. Make modesty your circumcision, and good conduct your fast. In this way, you shall be a true Muslim. Let good conduct be your Kaabaa, Truth your spiritual guide, and the karma of good deeds your prayer and chant. Let your rosary be that which is pleasing to His Will. O Nanak, God shall preserve your honor.

Guru Nanak p. 140

The above quote from Nanak is telling a Muslim how to be a good Muslim. But it also begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Muslim, recognize this person as a Muslim? I think not.

As I was reading this quote, it dawned on me what Nanak might say to a modern day Sikh. It would be something like this.

Let mercy be your Gurdwara, faith your Simran, and honest living your Guru Granth. Make modesty your Kakkars, and good conduct your rituals. In this way, you shall be a true Sikh. Let good conduct be your Golden Temple, Truth your Guru, and the karma of good deeds your Banis.

Again, This begs the question: If this is followed, would anyone, let alone another Sikh, recognize this person as a Sikh? Again, I think not. But the Truth is that this person would really be the True Sikh.

And this is the reason that I have decided to lose my religion. Not to stop being a Sikh but to become a True Sikh.

Veil of Illusion

By Amar Prakash

As I have delved further into the meanings of Gurmat and tried to understand what the Guru's were actually talking about, I began to have doubts about what Sikhism was telling us what Gurmat was. The two articles: "Losing My Religion" and "Break on Through to the Other Side" were written in response to these doubts.

Recently I read an article in the NY Times that brought to mind something that Guru Arjan taught on p. 138.

This world is an illusion; it dies and it is re-born-it comes and it goes in reincarnation.

The NY Times article stated: "Roger Penrose, the eminent British mathematician, is arguing that there is physical evidence that may predate the Big Bang. ... [He and physicist V.G. Gurzadyan] go even further, claiming that the evidence also suggests that our universe may 'be but one aeon in a (perhaps unending) succession of such aeons.' What we think of as our 'universe' may simply be one link in a chain of universes, each beginning with a big bang and ending in a way that sends detectable gravitational waves into the next universe."

This was amazing, in that this was exactly what Guru Arjan was talking about. This world is just an illusion and this is where Sikhism and all the other religions totally misunderstand this concept and believe that this world of illusion actually exists. Yes, it's actually there and everything is real but in the spiritual sense it's just an illusion (maya.) And this spiritual sense is what the Guru's were talking about. To the Guru's there are two planes of existence: the earthly or material plane and the spiritual or transcendental plane. The spiritual plane is what Gurmat is all about.

Our purpose in life is to lose our religion and break on through to the spiritual plane. This is what Guru Arjan was telling us in Kirtan Sohila:

jw kau Awey soeI ibhwJhu hir gur qy mnih bsyrw ] inj Gir mhlu pwvhu suK shjy bhuir n hoiego Pyrw ]3]

Use this life to achieve that purpose for which it was given, and through the Guru, the Lord shall dwell within your mind. Within the home of your own inner being, you shall obtain the Mansion of the Lord's Presence with intuitive ease. You shall not be consigned again to the wheel of reincarnation. ||3||

Kabir was telling us the same thing on page 1366:

kbIr mwns jnmu dulµBu hY hoie n bwrY bwr ] ijau bn Pl pwky Buie igrih bhuir n lwgih fwr ]30]

Kabeer, it is so difficult to obtain this human body; it does not just come over and over again. It is like the ripe fruit on the tree; when it falls to the ground, it cannot be re-attached to the branch. ||30||

What both Kabir and Guru Arjan are saying is that we have this one chance to understand and break on through the veil of illusion that is this worldly existence.

There has been much discussion if the protocols used in gurdwara are rituals or not. According to Gurmat not only are they meaningless rituals but they are also just illusions. Even gurdwara is an illusion and we are just fooling ourselves into believing that these are real. Everything exists only on the spiritual plane.

Even Ek Ong Kaar exists only on the spiritual plane. It is a mistake to believe that what Guru Nanak is speaking about is the religious God of this material plane but to Guru Nanak this meant "There is the One."

jy hau jwxw AwKw nwhI khxw kQnu n jweI ] gurw iek dyih buJweI ] sBnw jIAw kw ieku dwqw so mY ivsir n jweI ]5]

Even knowing the One, I cannot describe Him; He cannot be described in words.

Guru Nanak p. 2

But how are we to live on both of these planes? Guru Amar Das told us on page 28:

so jnu rlwieAw nw rlY ijsu AMqir ibbyk bIcwru ]2]

Those humble beings who are filled with keen understanding and meditative contemplation-even though they intermingle with others, they remain distinct.

When we are able to exist on both of these planes, then and only then do we finally join the Sadh Sangat. On this material plane we are only fooling ourselves that we are more than just part of the mob.

This is what Guru Ram Das is telling us on page 10:

hir hir nwmu imlY iqRpqwsih imil sMgiq gux prgwis ]2]

Obtaining the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, they are satisfied; joining the Sangat, the Blessed Congregation, their virtues shine forth. ||2||

But how do we break through this veil of illusion and become One with the One? The first step is to understand that this material plane is an illusion and that much of what we have learned or thought about Sikhi, including the idea that we are even Sikhs, has been a huge misunderstanding of Gurmat.