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ILLITERACY ABOUT RELIGIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SIKHISM
Dr. Devinder Singh Chahal ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Dr Spancer Boudreau of McGill University, Montreal mentioned that teaching of religion is very controversial task since it is difficult to decide what is right and what is wrong in a particular religion since a teacher cannot be expert in all the religions. Dr Robert Jackson, University of Warwick, UK mentioned that incidence of 9/11 is an awakening since there is an increase interest to know religions. However, he said that research on religion has also increased to develop understanding of other religions to increase the spirit of tolerance. He has also mentioned that books on religions are written by those who don’t know religions. He further mentioned that how the same religion is being taught differently in different countries. I have also noticed that whereas the hijab is must in some Islamic countries but it is banned in Public Offices in another Islamic country, Turkey. Now somebody may pose a question: On the other hand it appears to me that Sikhi (Sikhism) in the West can emerge in its real perspective if the Sikhs and Sikh scholars can keep themselves away from influence of Vedantic philosophy and that of the new immigrants, who are popularizing the Sant Babas and the agencies, which are working against the basic principles of Nanakian Philosophy. Dr Isabelle Saint-Martin, University Sorbonne, France reported that education of religion from 1882 to 1923 in French school was mandatory: Duty before God. First book on religion for schools was published in 1877 and it was modified in 1906: Heaven – Dead. And use of reason was incorporated in the book. France is a secular country and in 1905 Church was separated from the State. She also mentioned that interpretation of religion in the contemporary world is too allusive. She also quoted some figures that Catholics are in majority forming about 60%, Islam is 6% and other religions are in minority (Sikhism was not mentioned may be because of insignificant number of Sikhs), however, the population of people without any religion is 26%, next to Catholics. I think the percentage of population without any religion is almost the same in British Columbia (BC), Canada as is in France. And such population is increasing in the other well-educated states or cities of the North America because of 9/11, a heinous act of cruelty on humanity in the name of religion. Although population of people without any religion is increasing still many religious groups claim that interest in religion is reviving. But I think it might be due to the after effect of 9/11 that people want to know why any religion would do such a horrendous destruction and killing. The other reason is that most of the people seek easy solution to their personal problems through religions as is promised by the mentors of religions, especially the Sant Babas in Sikhism. The paper of Dr Diane Moore, Harvard Divinity School at Harvard University, USA was very enlightening. Her emphasis was that the illiteracy about religion is wide spread over the globe. The significant consequence is that it fuels antagonism and hinders respect for pluralism, peaceful coexistence and cooperative endeavors. She also pointed out that teaching of religion is a very difficult task. There are no clear cut basic tenets since there is so much diversity in expressing these tenets by the so-called custodians of religions. S Avtar Singh Makkar, President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar has also realized the illiteracy about Sikhi (Sikhism) among the Sikhs although the scholars of other world religions are showing a great interest to know Sikhi [30]: Similarly, Dr Jodh Singh, Prof of Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala has discovered that the objective of many scholars is to amalgamate Sikhi into Hinduism [34]: “pRwcIn BwrqI sskwr juVy hoey Kwsqor qy BwrqI ivdvwnW ivcoN bhuiqAW ny is~K Drm dI invyklI pCwx nU DuDlwaux Aqy is~K Drm nU iek nvW Drm mnx qON ienkwrI hon nwl nwl sRI guru gRQ swihb ivc Awey pOrwixk nwvW Aqy QwvW Aqy SbdwvlI nU lY ky ies nvyN Drm nU ihdU Drm ivc hI rlg~f krn dI koiSs ArBI hY [” (Many of the scholars associated with ancient Indian philosophy, especially from among the Indian scholars, have begun to amalgamate the Sikh Dharma into Hinduism by fogging its unique identity and refusing to accept Sikh Dharma as a new Dharma by exploiting the use of ancient names (of God) and (of sacred) places mentioned in the Aad Guru Granth Sahib.)However, it is not being realized by the custodians of the Sikhi that Sikhi is being portrayed as Vedantic philosophy or as a syncretism (amalgamation of Hinduism and Islam) [2, 19, 21, 24 & 36]. Such literature is making it difficult for the scholars of other religions to understand Sikhi in its real perspective [19]. What Is Religious Literacy? Besides, I would like to add that general knowledge about sciences is very important to study the principles of any religion. It could be easily inferred from the above information that illiteracy about religions is worldwide. And it is a difficult task to teach religion since the custodians and scholars of religions are not sure what is right and what is not because of divided opinion among the scholars of the same religions. The same situation about illiteracy is found in Sikhi (Sikhism) that it is being represented differently by different scholars. For example, many scholars are saying Sikhism is syncretism – a mixture of Hinduism and Islam and now Sikh and Hindu scholars are declaring that Sikhism is based on Vedanta and Guru Nanak had nothing new to offer to the humanity [2, 19, 21, 24 & 36). Shan [28] has quoted many references in which Sikhism has been declared as syncretism or amalgamation of Islam and Hinduism. On the other hand Lewis [19] had observed that: However, my study of the philosophy of Guru Nanak embodied in his Bani indicates that it is original and unique and is not based on Vedantic or Islamic philosophy, therefore, there cannot be any characteristic of syncretism in Sikhi founded by Guru Nanak [6-8]. Dr Moore wants people to know that “religious illiteracy is often a contributing factor in fostering a climate whereby certain forms of bigotry and misrepresentation can emerge unchallenged and thus serve as one form of justification for violence and marginalization.” [22] Some governing powers of the world are exploiting the illiteracy about religions by initiating riots when needed and then controlling after attaining the objectives. Mandair [20]. While discussing ‘The Global Fiduciary: Mediating the Violence of Religion’ he describes how the fiduciary of Sikhism was exploited by governing power of India during 1980s: “Hence the state monopolizes violence in order to constantly secure the peace. More insidiously though, this schema helps the state to manipulate a knowledge about the fiduciary structure of religion and religious identity in order to manufacture violence and then switch it off at will.” After quoting the above statement of Dr Mandair I posed the following question to Dr Moore at the above Symposium held at Montreal: Terry Sandbeck [27] thinks that religious illiteracy exists because there is a tendency today among religious people to put more emphasis on religious piety than on religious knowledge. There are about 4,200 religions in the world so it is understandable that most people cannot have much knowledge about all of these religions. However, you would think that most people would be conversant with their own religion. This assumption would be mistaken. American religion tends to be Bible-based — a Gallup poll in 2002 discovered that 93% of Americans own a Bible. But do they know what is in it? The same situation is found in Sikhism. The majority of the Sikhs own Holy Scriptures, Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS) at their homes but to treat it as an object for worship rather than to know the philosophy in it. Critical analysis of the following observation of Dr Gopal Singh [31] clearly indicates that due to improper understanding of the Guru’s Word, the Granth started to be worshipped more than read, uttered as a magical formula or a mantra for secular benefits: Under the circumstances explained above by Dr Gopal Singh [31], now in almost all the Gurdwaras in the world, whether they are under the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar or any other organization, the AGGS is treated almost as an idol [29] although the idol worship is condemned in Nanakian Philosophy. The practice of reciting of many Akhand Paaths of the AGGS under one roof or in many rooms has become an important feature of many Gurdwaras [5]. Deliberation on the Sabd (verse) is totally absent except that which is done by a few parcharak (preachers) without involving the Sangat (congregation) in the deliberation of the Sabd. But deliberation of Sabd by an expert is rarely allowed in Gurdwaras; however, dogmatic parchar by Sant Babas is most welcome in almost all the Gurdwaras of the world. I think because of the above fact the publishers of “The Cambridge Factfinder”, has mentioned under the subheading of Beliefs in Sikhism as: “Worship of the Adi Granth” as one of the beliefs [9 - p 411]. The remarks of Sardar Saran Singh, Editor, The Sikh Review, Kolkata in the report by Dr Grewal [15] confirms that ‘Belief in Sikhism’ is worshipping of the Holy Granth (AGGS): “The extraordinary happenings concerning the holy volume of Guru Granth Sahib, worshiped by the people of Domegaon, district Ahmednagar, and recounted in this article were first narrated to us by the late Air Marshal Shiv Dev Singh, PVSM, who retired as Vice-Chief of India’s Air Staff and had commanded the Ahmednagar area, some 25 years ago. The miraculous phenomenon of the Godavari flood water receding as the people of Domegaon brought out the ancient hand-inscribed volume of Guru Granth Sahib for worship, without knowing its contents in Gurmukhi, has evidently been long a part of the folklore. This legend has now been personally verified by Col. D.S. Grewal who currently commands a Training Regiment Centre at Nasik, Maharashtra.” (Ed. SR) DISCUSSION REASONS FOR ILLITERACY ABOUT SIKHI (SIKHISM) Philosophy of Guru Nanak remained unexplored in its real perspective right from the time of demise of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708 till to the beginning of 21st century. In old Sikh literature (Janam Sakhis – biographies), Guru Nanak has been described only as a mystic man of God with all spiritual powers to perform miracles of various types, but never represented as a philosopher or scientist of the Period of Renaissance, who promulgated universally acceptable philosophy for the humanity of Current Science Age. Misrepresentation of Sikhism Dr Taran Singh [40], the then Head of Department of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, has reported that the Sikh and non-Sikh writers of 17th to 19th centuries had accepted that Gurus’ philosophy is Vedic and is not different than that of Brahmanic or Hindu philosophy: Dr Taran Singh [40] further admitted that the research in universities could only establish that the truth in the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS) is not different than that of ancient India and strangely he calls it as a powerful achievement: From the above statements of Dr Taran Singh it becomes quite clear that Gurus’ philosophy was not only accepted as Vedic by the early Sikh scholars of 17th to 19th century but the contemporary religious scholars are also confirming it so. Let us look into some more examples: Dr Suniti Kumar Chatterji, President, Sahitya Akademi has belittled Nanakian Philosophy in the ‘Foreword’ to the book Guru Nanak: Founder of Sikhism written by Dr Trilochan Singh, who is held in high esteem as a scholar, and the book was published by Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Delhi [41]. This book was written on the eve of celebration of the 500th Birthday (Parkash Divas) of Guru Nanak. It is ironic that Trilochan Singh failed to notice Chatterji’s following statement belittling the Guru: “The people of the Punjab (and along with them those of the rest of India) became immediately conscious of the value of Guru Nanak’s advent and his teachings after he began to preach to them; and Guru Nanak built up and organised during his life time a very important religious persuasion which was broad-based on the foundations of Vedantic Monotheistic Jnana and Puranic Bhakti. The faith preached by Guru Nanak was nothing new for India, it was basically the old monotheistic creed of the ancient Hindus as propounded in the Vedas and the Upanishads - the Vedanta with its insistence upon Jnana or Knowledge of the One Supreme Reality. And this monotheistic basis was fortified, so to say, to put the matter in a simple form by Bhakti or faith as inculcated in later Puranic Hinduism. The Sikh Panth was nothing but a reformed and simplified Sanatana Dharma of medieval times.” The book, Selections from the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs’, is the part of the Indian Series of the Translations Collection of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [42]. It was published in accordance with an agreement between UNESCO and the Government of India, and for furthering mutual appreciation of the cultural values of East and West. This book was printed in 1973 just after the celebration of 500th Birthday of Guru Nanak. The sacred writings of the Sikhs have been translated by the prominent Sikh theologians, scholars and historians like, Trilochan Singh, Jodh Singh, Kapur Singh, Bawa Harkrishan Singh and Khushwant Singh. Dr S Radhakrishnan undermined the philosophy of Guru Nanak in INTRODUCTION to that book as follows: It is clearly apparent that Dr Radhakrishnan failed to comprehend Nanakian Philosophy and refused to accept that the Guru founded a new faith based on unique and universally acceptable philosophy. And he further undermined the philosophy of Guru Nanak by saying that Guru Nanak elaborated the views of Vaisnava saints whereas Guru Nanak has emphatically condemned the Vaisnava views in his Bani. Most probably under the influence of INTRODUCTION given by Dr Radhakrishnan, Arnold Toynbee remarked about Guru Nanak in the UNESCO’s book as follows [42]: Arnold Toynbee has gone a step further than Radhakrishnan by putting his words in the mouth of Guru Nanak to disclaim that he is not the founder of unique philosophy and he had explicated the philosophy of his forerunners. Recently another Professor from Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Jodh Singh, has not only reiterated the previous observations of Dr Taran Singh from the same university but has warned that serious efforts are going on to erase the uniqueness and originality of Sikhi (Sikhism) from religious literature. And to bring back the Sikhs to their original status of the time before Guru Nanak to subdue them: “Ajoky smyN ivc ieh prq~K hY ik is~K Drm auqy AdroN Aqy bwhroN dbwA pwey jw rhy hn qW ik ies dy pYrokwr AwpxI suqqr pCwx Bulky auQy jw KVn ijQoN ieh c~ly sn [ Aijhy bwnxU bnHx dIAW koiSsW ho rhIAW hn ik is~KW dy mnW ivc Aijhw rol Gcolw KVw kIqw jw sky ijs kwrn ieh sRI guru gRQ swihb jI dy isDWqW qON iQVk jwx Aqy muV Dwrimk, smwijk Aqy rwjnIiqk gulwmI dw jIvn jIx leI mjbUUr ho jwx [ ies kwrj ivc Bwrq ivc Aqy ivdysW ivc bYTy kuJ is~KI srUp ivc idsx vwly is~K ivdvwnW ny vI kwPI vD cVHky sihXog id~qw hY Aqy sRI guru gRQ swihb smyq gurmiq swihq nwl sbdq rcnwvW dI pRmwxIkqw auqy pRSn icnH lwey hn [” Considering the various references discussed earlier it becomes rather obvious that Nanakian Philosophy has not only been misunderstood by the theologians, but, even the well educated Sikh scientist scholars have failed to comprehend and analyze Nanakian Philosophy in its originality. For example, the following phrase is usually quoted by Sikh scientist scholars to declare Gurbani as scientific: “swcy1 qy pvnw2 BieAw pvnY qy jlu3 hoie ] Dr Virk [44] is unaware of the fact that this is not the concept of Guru Nanak or revealed by God to Guru Nanak since it is an ancient philosophy known before Guru Nanak. Moreover, this is ancient concept accepted in other religions and it is unscientific and illogical too. Because, water was formed by the combination of Oxygen and Hydrogen. And it took millions of year when Oxygen was formed after the first element Hydrogen was formed. When Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago the gases escaped from it to the atmosphere where from the gaseous water was condensed and fell down in the form of rain on the Earth. Therefore, water did not give rise to Earth or the so-called Trebhavan but otherwise the Earth released the gaseous water, which ultimatly fell on the Earth. Still more to it, Dr Virk conveniently avoided to translate the formation of Trebhavan from water in this phrase. Almost all other enterpretors translate ‘jl qy iqRBvxu’ as formation of ‘Three Worlds’ from water. This too is unscientific and illogical. Because the Earth was formed first then water was formed on the Earth as explained above. Moreover, from astronomy point of view there are no such things like ‘ThreeWorlds’ This is a myth found in ancient philosophy. Therefore, these two phrases are not indicating any scientific vision in the AGGS or the that of Guru Nanak as has been presented by Dr Virk in his book. It is a wrong concept found in the anceint philosophy of other religions. Still more to it, Dr Virk has conveniently avoided to interpret the next phrase: inrmlu6 mYlw7 nw QIAY sbid8 rqy9 piq hoie ]3] from the above quote, which conveys the real concept of Guru Nanak. Let us examine this phrase critically. Most of the time Sikh scientists or Sikh theologians who write about creation in Sikhism indiscriminately quote these phrases: swcy1 qy pvnw2 BieAw pvnY qy jlu3 hoie ] The complete stanza is composed of three sentences but the third sentence, inrmlu6 mYlw7 nw QIAY sbid8 rqy9 piq hoie ]3], is usually ignored to be a part of the first two sentences by many writers. However, it is usually translated word by word by most of the Sikh scientist theologians and researchers as follows: This is the translation by Manmohan Singh, which is published by the SGPC, Amritsar [srigranth.org]. And this interpretation is copied as such or presented little differently by others. Moreover, this translation is based on the one of the oldest translation called Faridkotwal Teeka [srigranth.org]. I have noticed that Faridkotwal Teeka is the prototype translation, which is based on Vedantic philosophy and mythology. Thereafter, this translation has been followed by almost all translators with slight modifications; however, nobody has done any serious research to interpret Gurbani in its real perspective. And nobody has dared to give an alternative interpretation lest he/she is excommunicated from Sikhism. In spite of the above facts I have tried to interpret it as close to the real theme as possible by keeping in mind the current scientific information and use of logic. First of all it is very important to look into the whole Sabd in which the real theme is that Guru Nanak is advising the Sikhs to understand the God and follow God’s Hukm (Laws of Nature). By doing so he remains pure and does not fall into any delusion. The first two sentences, which are based on ancient philosophy, are translated as follows: Here Guru Nanak is presenting the concept of creation as is accepted in other religions (Vedanta). It is scientifically wrong since water has not given rise to the so-called Three Worlds (Trebhavan). It does not represent Guru Nanak’s concept of origin/evolution of the Universe since it is an ancient and wrong concept. At the end of this phrase Guru Nanak is advising how to become nirmal (pure – clearheaded). Therefore, Guru Nanak is presenting his concept in the third sentence (which is usually ignored or wrongly translated or interpreted). The possible correct interpretation has been done as follows: Let us look into another example where Sikh and non Sikh theologians and scholars have failed to understand the Commencing Verse of the AGGS, which is commonly called as Mool Mantra: Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) was established at Amritsar, India on November 24, 1969 to commemorate the 500th Birthday (Parkash Divas) of Guru Nanak. It is both residential and an affiliating university. In conceiving the future course of the University, the objectives enshrined in the Act 1969 emphasize that the new university would make provision for imparting education and promoting research in the humanities, sciences, especially of applied nature and technology. Studies and research on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak, in addition to working towards the promotion of Punjabi language and spreading education among educationally backward classes and communities were the other commitments. The University Grants Commission’s sponsored first Seminar on ‘Mool Mantra’ was organized by the Department of Guru Nanak Studies in March 1973. The proceedings of the Seminar were edited by Professor Pritam Singh, retired Professor and Head, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, GNDU, under the title, The Ultimate Reality – As Guru Nanak Saw It. But it took 12 years to publish the proceedings under a new title, The Sikh Concept of the Divine, in 1985 [37]. During this Seminar instead of looking into the originality and uniqueness of logo (< ) coined by Guru Nanak it has been confirmed by the stalwart Sikh and non-Sikh scholars that it is based on OM, the Trinity system of Vedantic philosophy, whereas, Guru Nanak is against the existence of God in Trinity [8]. In this Seminar Parma Nand [23] undermined the originality of philosophy of Guru Nanak by declaring that < (Oankaar) is not a new word coined by Guru Nanak but he borrowed it from Upanishads because ‘Oankaar’ or ‘Omkaar’ has been used in various Upanishads. The only thing Guru Nanak did was to add numeral ‘1’ to confirm the ‘Oneness’ of God, which is also found in the Upanishads. Alas, when the contemporary Sikh scholars for unknown reasons have exhibited their failure in comprehending Nanakian Philosophy in its originality, it certainly seems like an insurmountable task to explain the quintessence of Guru Nanak’s philosophy to the masses. Now there are two major questions to be addressed:
My study of the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS) clearly indicates that the Gurbani in the AGGS is original, unique, and logical when it is interpreted critically, scientifically and logically. Besides, it is also evident that though the philosophy was formulated during the 15th and 16th centuries by Guru Nanak, it has universal acceptability and applicability even during the 21st century of the Current Science Age [4,6-8]. Some non-Sikh scholars have also expressed similar views about Guru Nanak’s philosophy. For example, the statement by Rajanish Kumar, Director of Language Department, Punjab, about the universality of Guru Nanak’s message is noteworthy [18]:
Toynbee admits that “Mankind’s religious future may be obscure;” I agree with him to a great extent since the population of non-believer in religion is increasing. I also agree with his second observation that “…the Sikh religion, and its scriptures the Adi Granth, will have something of special value to say to the rest of the world.” His above observation inspired me for conducting research to explore if there is any uniqueness and originality in the philosophy of Guru Nanak embodied in his Bani, which could have special value to the rest of the world? The Institute for Understanding Sikhism, Laval, Québec, Canada has held some seminars and written some books during the last ten years to portray the originality and uniqueness of Nanakian Philosophy [4, 6, 7]. Recent book on this issue, NANAKIAN PHILOSOPHY: Basics for Humanity, is a stepping stone for further research. [8]. In continuation of the above mission I have applied the current scientific knowledge and logic in my all research articles and books as suggested by Albert Einstein to make the Gurbani ennobled and more profound: ORIGINALITY AND UNIQUENESS OF NANAKIAN PHILOSOPHY I have picked up three topics (God, Origin of Universe, and Hukm – Laws of Nature) to prove the originality and uniqueness of Nanakian Philosophy. I hope this will also eliminate the illiteracy about Nanakian Philosophy and Sikhism among the theologians, philosophers, scholars and researchers. A. GOD 1.
siq nwmu krqw purKu inrBau The One and Only, Oh, the Infinite1; (Not governed by any other – Not under any Law of Universe); If one examine this definition critically it will not be difficult to be accepted by the whole humanity including the atheists. Therefore, < has been interpreted as ‘The One and Only, That, the Infinite’. That means infinite amount of energy has been so strongly compacted into a single unit which is so small that it is not easily discerned and this state is called as ‘Singularity’ and is also called as ‘Nothingness’ by scientists (discussed later). The irony is that Sikh scholars, who are under the influence of Vedantic philosophy, failed to interpret it scientifically and logically. First < has been declared as’ Ek Oankaar’ by Bhai Gurdas in Pauri # 49 of Vaar # 1 [33]. Then this ‘Ek Oankaar’ was declared as the representative of OM as in Vedanta in Faridkotewala Teeka [Srigranth.org ]. Then Prof Sahib Singh [39] accepted ‘Ek Oankaar’ as OM. Thereafter, almost all the Sikh scholars followed Prof Sahib Singh and now < is accepted ‘Ek Oankaar’, which represents OM in Vedanta. For more detailed information consult references # 8. This encouraged Perma Nand [23] to declare that ‘Ek Oankaar’ is found in Upanishads and it represents OM, therefore, there is no originality in the philosophy of Guru Nanak. Had the Sikh scholars interpreted < scientifically and logically as explained above then nobody could have dared to say that there is no originality in Nanakian Philosophy. inrvYru (Nirvair): There is another attribute of God assigned by Guru Nanak that God is Nirvair (without enmity). The Nobel Laureate, Elbert Einstein (1879-1955 CE), has expressed this attribute as: “Subtle is the Lord but malicious He is not” [25]. AjUnI (Ajooni): Guru Nanak says God is Ajooni (God does not come into anthropomorphic form). Here again this attribute was also realized by Einstein that “God does not come into anthropomorphic form” [25]. When I presented this attribute, “God does not come into anthropomorphic form” of God assigned by Guru Nanak at Breakfast Conference of Universal Foundation at Montreal on 24th February, 2010 a Hindu lady opposed and another participant wanted to know more about this attribute. In another International Conference, Interfaith Understanding and World Peace, held at the Punjabi University, Patiala on March 2-4 a Swami Dr Jan K Brzizinsky, Gaudiya Grantha Mandhira, Rishikesh said that God does come into anthropomorphic form at closing ceremony. Still another Swami at conference held at Nanded, Maharashtra, on September 25-28, 2008 raised a question that there is no originality in Nanakian Philosophy. Similarly, in Ibrahimic religions although God is One but still their God is different than that of Guru Nanak. It clearly proves that although many of the religions believe in One God but still the God of each religion is different than that of others. So it appears that God still remains a delusion [10]. i) Kudrat (Nature) is God Then in the following phrase Guru Nanak considers that Kudrat (Nature) is God: ii) Kudrat as Nature and God Pervades in it iii) God Created by Itself and Pervades in Nature Bradley [3] summarized his observations about the views of scientists about God as follows: The seventeenth century philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, said [14]: God is Nature. According to Green the ‘Nature is everything’ [14]. In Nature there is mass, energy, atoms, molecules, life, thought, people, societies, galaxies and perhaps even multiple universes as speculated. When a question was posed to Albert Einstein, do you believe in God? His answer was: Had Einstein read Nanakian Philosophy about Nature as God he would have said: To another Question about religion Albert Einstein answered: Now I would like to pose the following questions to the theologians and philosophers of the world:
Now the question to ponder upon is that how come the above attributes of God, assigned by Guru Nanak about 540 years ago, have been realized by scientists who were unaware of philosophy of Guru Nanak. I think this is because the truth is always discovered sooner or later by the discriminative intellectuals. This is the best proof about the universal acceptability of basics of Nanakian Philosophy. Does this mean: If God reveals truth to Prophets, Gurus, Bhagats and Sufis then God also reveals the truth to scientists and philosophers? B. ORIGIN OF UNIVERSE Had Carl Sagan studied ‘Origin of Universe’ in Nanakian Philosophy then his above statement would have been different and might have said that Guru Nanak had laid the foundation of a such new religion, Sikhi (Sikhism), since the origin of Universe in Nanakian Philosophy is comparable to that of Big Bang, the theory accepted by many scientists. Let us look into origin of Universe according Nanakian Philosophy. i) Origin of Universe According to Nanakian Philosophy This phrase has been interpreted very literally by many scholars. But if we keep in view the present day science and the Methodology [8] of Guru Nanak used by him to express his philosophy allegorically, metaphorically and symbolically then its interpretation would be quite different than that of others. Thus its interpretation is as follows [8]: If we take pswau ,(Pasao) means to expand. And kvwau (Kavao) means ‘sound’ not ‘word’ or ‘note’ since kvwau is from kvw which means strength, force, Energy [35]. It is important to understand the word ‘Sound’ and ‘Bang’. ‘Sound’ means vibrations traveling through air, water, or some other medium, especially those within the range of frequencies that can be perceived by the human ear. ‘Bang’ means sudden loud noise. ‘Bang’ also means burst of energy or activity which could be without any sound or noise as happened at the time of Big Bang. Therefore in case of ‘Big Bang’ no sound was produced at that time it was just a burst of energy. In that case kIqw pswau1 eyko kvwau2 can be interpreted as: With the new meanings of kvwau (Kavao) the above phrase now is interpreted as follows: The above interpretation is an improved version which was given in my previous work [8] and it is more comparable to Big Bang Theory. The word, drIAwau (Daryao) in the above phrase is usually literally interpreted as ‘rivers’ by many scholars. Keeping in view the Methodology used by Guru Nanak to express his philosophy ‘drIAwau’ has been used as a metaphor for ‘things’. What are those things? Scientifically what appeared after the ‘Big Bang’ was a large number of galaxies each composed of a large number of stars (Suns) and their planets? Therefore, the ‘lK drIAwau has been used to represent ‘many things’ because of limited vocabulary available at that time. However, one must understand that no water was formed immediately after the Big Bang. It took billions of years to form water on the Earth. Therefore, ‘lK drIAwau’ (rivers) is a metaphoric expression of ‘many things’ (that means starting from elementary particles to particles to nucleosynthesis to nuclear to atoms which give rise to many galaxies. The concept of ‘drIAwau’ (Daryao ) in Nanakian Philosophy as ‘things’ has been strengthened and explained by Guru Arjan so that the metaphor, ‘drIAwau’ (Daryao), may not literally be misunderstood as ‘Rivers’ as has been done by some scholars in the above phrase of Guru Nanak: eyk1 kvwvY2 qy siB3 hoAw4 With one1 source of energy (sound2 - bang) everything3 originated4. Note: ‘eyk kvwvY’ in the above phrase is same as ‘eyko kvwau’ in Guru Nanak’s previous phrase. Although Origin of Universe with one ‘word’ is available in other religious scriptures, but Guru Nanak has gone quite further in explaining the origin of Universe, by using a word kvwau , which is from kvw - means strength, force, Energy [35]. It makes this finding about the Origin of Universe quite unique and different than all that is found in other religions. ii) Sunn(suMn) – Is It Nothingness? Let us look into ‘Void’, ‘Sunn’ and ‘Nothingness’ from scientific point of view. Kaup [17] defines ‘Nothingness’ as follows: ‘Nothingness’ does not mean ‘without anything’. In fact the thing is there but it is in a so small volume that it appears to be ‘Nothingness’. This ‘Nothingness’ as described by Kaup [17] actually is the pinnacle of perfectly symmetrical uniformity of matter, space, energy and time. According to the ‘Big Bang Theory’ the energy was in such a small volume that has been termed as ‘Nothingness’ by some and as ‘Singularity’ by others. From the above scientific information by Kaup it becomes very clear that this ‘Nothingness’ was already termed as suMn (Sunn) by Guru Nanak during 15th century. It is also termed as ‘Joyt’ (highly condensed energy) by Guru Nanak. The following discussion will further strengthen it. iii) suMn (Sunn) in Nanakian Philosophy Although the word suMn (Sunn) was known in the ancient philosophy, it was Guru Nanak who had explained suMn (Sunn) in its real perspective. For example, during the discourse between Guru Nanak and the Siddhas, the Siddhas posed a number of questions about suMn (Sunn) to Guru Nanak (for details consult Siddh Gost in AGGS pp 938-946). A few questions posed by the Siddhas to Guru Nanak about suMn (Sunn) are as follows: Guru Nanak replied as follows: iv) Origin of sun (Sunn) Anhq2 sunu1 khw qy hoeI3 In the following phrase of the above verse: C. HUKM i) Hukm as Laws of Nature ii) Hukm (Law) as God iii) God’s Subject (hukmI bdw) As explained above a scientist can be considered as a “Hukmi Banda’ (God’s subject), who discovers the Laws of Nature/Universe (Orderliness) and uses them for the welfare of humanity as quoted by Einstein: In another statement Einstein says about the universal orderliness and his belief in it as follows: It appears from the above discussion on Hukm – The Laws of Nature/Universe - has been equated to God by Guru Nanak and scientists. Previously God has been equated to suMn (Sunn – Nothingness) and < as ‘One and Only Infinite’ to Singularity. And the man in general or the scientist who studies Laws of Nature/Universe and obeys these laws is called ‘Hukmi Banda’ CONCLUSIONS Dr Jodh Singh also of the Punjabi University, Patiala has recently reported that Indian scholars are trying to amalgamate Sikh Dharama into Hinduism by fogging its unique identity. S Avtar Singh Makkar, President Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar also admits that “... for all of us it is an issue of worry and warning of danger that a large number of families connected with Sikh Dharma are becoming unaware of this invaluable heritage.” It is evident that originality and uniqueness of Sikhi has been so much misconstrued that it is difficult to say if Sikhi, being preached or taught today, is the same which was founded by Guru Nanak. Now it can be easily concluded that to put Sikhi back on its original track the Sikh theologians, scholars and researchers must understand the basics of philosophy of Guru Nanak embodied in his Bani. This will become a stepping stone to construct an integrated and comprehensive philosophy of Sikhi (Sikhism). REFERENCES
http://www.waterwind.com/spinoza.html
(http://www.sikhnet.com/news/extraordinary-tale-faith)
(*Paper presented at National Seminar, Global Concerns and the World Religions, held at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar on March 25-26, 2010.) Revised: 08.05.2010 Prof Devinder Singh Chahal, PhD, Institute for Understanding Sikhism, 4418 Rue Martin-Plouffe, Laval, Quebec, Canada H7W 5L9, Email: sikhism@iuscanada.com
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We are neither going to heaven or hell or into reincarnation of
any other lives after this life.
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