‘Guru Nanak had nine successor World Teachers, who through precept and’ practice, fulfilled and applied the teachings of Nanak, the First, to the changing and growing politico social situations of the day, and in their own independent revelations and testaments explained and ex egtised the contents and implications of Guru Nanak’s revelations now recorded in the Sikh Scripture, GURUGRANTH. ‘The tenth Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh (16651707) was the last manifestation of Nanak who passed on the preaching and practice of Sikhism as the World religion to the Collective Corpus of all the believers inspired and guided by the Word, as revealed and recorded in the Sikh Scripture. Ever since, the Sikh Scripture occupies the central focus of the all Sikh congregations collectively of all the believers of Sikhism, and is called the Panth, “the way of life” Nanak the tenth, further ordained (1699) the order of the Khalsa, to establish, to perpetuate and to legitimatize the pattern amongst governments, societies and states of the world, wherein the Sikh values of life, * truthfulness, honesty, mutual trust and, loyalty, productive labor and communal sharing, gratitude and integrity of conduct, authentic living and above all spiritual transformation that raises man to what St. Teresa of Avila, the Christian Mystic, refers to as “ spiritual marriage”, wherein a God filled man returns to Society for its service and education. These are the Sikhs whom one meets in all parts of the world, bearded, unshorn and turbaned, symbolizing natural, spontaneous, unmanufactured or fashioned, pristine integrity of man.

NATURE OF THE REVELATION OF NANAK

is the first born in India who claims that the religion he preaches is a revealed religion,” 1 am completely dumb as I am/and I speak as 1am made to, by God” —”

I utter and preach the work Justas it comes to me.” Our knowledge of the psychological character of the religious experience and its matrix is so minimal that it is not possible for us to make positive statements about divine revelation.

Koranic revelation is not a living experience between God and man, a happening into which God Himself enters, but it is a book. The first word of Mohammed’s revelation is, “read” and gilded page’ of a book is shown to him, the book that the angel has brought down from heaven. Islam was a book religion from the first momentum. Jesus left no written word to his followers and is reported as having full authority of and identity with his Father, The God. For what he was preaching. The Seers, Rishis of Vedas grasped, without necessarily comprehending, eternal sounds, Sruti, and then passed them on to future generations in mnemonic formulae and therefore the texts of Vedas are claimed as unman made, apaurseya, and eternal, Coexistence with the beginning of the Existence, Anadi. ‘The “voices “ heard extraordinary men, throughout the ages, such as Socrates and Joan of Arc in the West have been known to be of obscure _— origin, proven unreliability and dubious authenticity. Mysticism is a variety of human experience that might be interpreted but in itself is non-sensory, nonintellectual and alto gather nonverbal and ineffable.

Guru Nanak claims direct contact with super sensuous Truth and the Divine Person the “speech “of whom is sensory, intellectual and verbal, experienced with an immediacy and simultaneity that carries with it its own authenticity and which is fashioned into a mould of poetry and song The nature of Guru Nanak’s revelations is, thus, shown.as unique and mysterious in character and origin.

To be continued…

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 25, 1994