Guru Nanak Dev Ji

[singh]

Hey guys,

I know we been very active on this forum but i think we missed the whole point of it. This forum was to have sikhi discussion but i dont see many of those happening. Harman started something on women but i only saw like 2 people posting on that.... then i looked at Tom Curises thread and theres like 50 or so posts. So people get back to the real point of this forum.

I wanted to talk about Guru Nanak Dev Ji. I would like ask people what do they know about Guru Nanak Dev Ji's message to humanity and how did he follow his own teachings and how can we also follow his teachings as sikhs or non-sikhs?


Also to make this alittle more difficult and actually making us looking to Gurbani we should all try doing some research and provide a quote from gurbani (it can be in english translation with page reference).

[arjanb]

Yeah, I was wondering. I am not being rude by asking this question but I honestly don't know the answer... Besides founding Sikhism what do the guru's do for us if we are told to beleive in one god. I am just confused, I hear a lot about there being one god and to have faith in that one god but if Guru Nanak was our savior what exactly does being our savior mean and what exactly is he doing for us now...?

[Pally]

Hi Arjan (again)

I will try my best to answer your question, but if any one else has a better answer please feel free to post!

As Sikhs, we do believe in one God (being Waheguru). We believe that for all faiths there is One God that we all follow. The Guru Ji's were chosen Sikhs who spread the message of Waheguru. They were born (?) with the Waheguru's light and were different from the rest of us. All 9 following Guru's carried the light that Guru Nanak Dev Ji held, which now lies in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji started the beginnings of the Sikh Faith, but it was Guru Gobind Singh Ji that first declared Sikhism. Guru Nanak Ji spent majority of his life spreading the word of Waheguru (One God) through long journeys throughout Asia. He spread the message of equality and importance of holding faith in God. He set the foundations for Sikhism. I am not strong with my Sikh History, so please feel free to search the Internet for better information.

As for what the Guru's do for us now? Each of their Joths (Lights/messages) lie within the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Each Guru incorporated into the writings of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, all of which were direct messages they recieved from Waheguru (God). It's not as much about what they are doing for us NOW, its more about what they did for us and what messages they recieved. Yes, we should all see the Guru's existing within the writings of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib as each of their Joths still exist but their physical beings have passed on.

I hope this helps. I probably confused you. I am not the most knowledged person when it comes to the Sikh Faith but I try to learn as much as possible and hopefully, I helped you somewhat.

Forgive me for any mistakes,

Pally

[Inder]

another way I was told to think of it was ...

think that there were 9 more Guru Nanaks born after Guru Nanak (by born I mean the human body)

[vdhillon]

Hey Arjun,

The way I like to think of it is that the Gurus came here with a message that we are in the age of darkness (kaljug), and that this lifetime (our human life) is 1 of 8.4 million lives that we will experience and it is the ONLY one in which we can end the cycle of life and death (reincarnation). In fact, many people msitake the word "Guru" with teacher (I made this same mistake). However, Guru actually means "bringer of light to the darkness." Moreover, at the time of Guru Nanak Devji, the world was in chaos, people were egotistical and into materialistic things, there was mass inequality, etc. (all of this reminds one of the situation today, how are we any different from people back then? but that is a separate issue).

The Guru's came here to tell us of a shortcut - a way out of the cycle of life and death or in other words a way to bypass it so that ultimately our souls will go back to God. Their message was simple: do paat (simran and naam japo), earn an honest living, and share your wealth with others. This message should never be confused with anything else.

Going back to your question, what have the Guru's done for us? They told us how to get to God, why we shuold do it and reminded us of how lucky we are to be living as humans (as well as many, many other things). Their primary emphasis was always on God. The Guru's didn't want to be known as saviors, or prophets; they were messengers from God's court. Today Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji carries the light that was present in Guru Nanak Devji all the way to Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the last and final guru.

Thus, it is by the Guru's Grace that one will reach Such Khand (where Waheguru resides) and ultimately eternal happiness. This is why the Guru's are so important. Without them, we would not be able to end the cycle, or know anything about how to reach God. It is through their teachings that we can ultimately reach Waheguru.

There will be further clarification and explanation of Guru Nanak Devji's life and teachings this Wednesday (Oct.15, 2006) at SFU in the Grad Lounge, so if you would like to learn more, definetly come out

I would like to apologize if I had any errors or mistakes in this post.

[Inder]

for the people that are out of town/school/work or whatever reason can't make it to Wednesdays meeting, will there be a summary of the meeting here?

thanks

[vdhillon]

Definetly

[arjanb]

Thanks a lot for the information everyone. Will the meeting be held in English?

[Pally]

Hey Arjan,

Yes the meetings are held in English. I don't think it would go too well if meetings were in Punjabi, as not all youth are strong in the Punjabi language.



Pally