The True Guru

Guru - The Divine Light

GU- means darkness and
RU- means Light.

In Sikhism the word 'Guru' is, thus, defined as the Light that dispels all darkness, and that is called JOT (Divine Light). Guru Nanak was, therefore, the EMBODIMENT of Divine Light:

'Gur Nanak Dev Govind roop.' 'Guru Nanak is embodiment of the Light of God.' Ang 1192 SGGSJ

The Guru in Sikhism is a perfect Prophet or Messenger of God in whom the Light of God shines fully. The True Guru is in union with Divine Lord of all. Thus he ushers the devotees, the seekers of Truth into a spiritual path of truth. Through the Guru the Glory of the Lord is transmitted to humanity. Literally Guru Nanak's body was a platform from which God Himself spoke and delivered His message- Gurbani (Divine Word). God manifested Himself through Guru Nanak:

'Gur meh aap samoai sabad vartaya.' 'In the true Guru (Nanak) He installed His Own Spirit Through him, God speaks’ Ang 127 SGGSJ

God is in the Guru and Guru is in God. Though God is everywhere and in everybody but His traits are illuminated through the Guru. The Jot (Divine Light) that enshrined Guru Nanak's body and the Primal Jot of God are, therefore, one and the same:

'Gur Nanak Nanak har soai.' 'O Nanak, Jot of Nanak and God are one.' – Ang 865 SGGSJ

When Guru Nanak conferred Guruship on Bhai Lehna (later called Guru Angad), the JOT was passed on and Guru Angad too became the embodiment of Divine Light. In the same way all the nine Gurus were the embodiments of Gur Nanak Jot (like a candle lighting another candle). The tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh then conferred the Guruship on Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (Holy Scripture), which too became the embodiment of Divine Light. Gur Nanak JOT is, therefore, enshrined and preserved in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the Living Guru for ever. For the Sikhs, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the manifestation of the Guru's Spirit.

When the Sikh Gurus were alive Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was then called Adi Granth as it had not been given Gurgaddi then due to Guru Ji being on earth in a physical form. Now Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the total Guru, so to call Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji - Adi Granth now is very disrespectful!

Sikhism endeavors to uplift the human soul from the shackles of Maya (materialism). It aims at a virtuous life which leads to the ultimate realization of a state of Eternal Bliss. The objective of Guru Nanak's Guruship was to give instructions in the True Name, to save humanity from immersing in the ocean of distress and misery arising out of worldly life, and to blend the human souls with their Creator, thus, emancipating them from the cycle of transmigration breaking all barriers and bonds of sufferings. This is the essential character of Sikh faith.

The essence and diamond of real peace

In kaljug the mortal wonders around after Maya and tries to find peace by chasing money and pleasing the opposite sex. People will do anything for money and the opposite sex, their whole lives are based upon pleasing others and their own dark desires. Going to work, clubs, pubs and parties they spend their lives in search for peace. They chase around the worldly illusion forgetting that it is an illusion. No one has found peace through worldly things. The internal pain and suffering never goes no matter how much one make try and cover it up. The fear of death is always there no matter how brave one may act. Without remembering the lord and living a life according to Gurbani one has:

Negative energy/ is never content/ wastes time in false illusive pleasures/ is never satisfied/ Feels pain and fear burning with the fire of Sin/ The mind is full of evil intentions and corruption/The soul is impure and ones intellect is diseased.

You do not control your seed and semen, and yet you claim to practice abstinence. You are lured by the tastes of the tongue and sex organs. Ang 903 SGGSJ

He does not preserve his semen and seed, and does not chant the Shabad. Ang 945 SGGSJ

But by living according to Gurbani one has:

Positive energies well up inside them/Their soul becomes purer/The feeling of pain goes away/ feeling of contentment in the sanctuary of the lord/ stopped chasing the false and sinful pleasures of the world which lead to hell/ a pure mind which becomes attached to the lord and all corruption is gone.

Your Name, O Lord and Master, is the Purifier of sinners, the Giver of peace, immaculate, cooling and soothing. Ang 207 SGGSJ

In the Lord's Sanctuary there is soothing coolness, peace and tranquility. He has extinguished the burning fire. Ang 210 SGGSJ

The Dark Age of Kali Yuga is so hot; the Lord's Name is soothing and cool. Ang 288 SGGSJ

Those who meditate on You, Lord, those who meditate on you-those humble beings dwell in peace in this world. Ang 11 SGGSJ

The created Universe emanated from within You; there is no other at all. Whatever is said to be, is from You, O God. He is the True Lord and Master, throughout the ages. Creation and destruction do not come from anyone else. ||1|| Such is my Lord and Master, profound and unfathomable. Whoever meditates on Him, finds peace. The arrow of the Messenger of Death does not strike one who has the Name of the Lord. ||1||Pause|| the Naam, the Name of the Lord, is a priceless jewel, a diamond. The True Lord Master is immortal and immeasurable. That tongue which chants the True Name is pure. The True Lord is in the home of the self; there is no doubt about it. ||2|| some sit in the forests and some make their home in the mountains.
Forgetting the Naam, they rot away in egotistical pride. Without the Naam, what is the use of spiritual wisdom and meditation? The Gurmukhs are honored in the Court of the Lord. ||3||
Acting stubbornly in egotism, one does not find the Lord. Studying the scriptures, reading them to other people, and wandering around at places of pilgrimage, the disease is not taken away.
Without the Naam, how can one find peace? ||4|| No matter how much he tries, he cannot control his semen and seed. His mind wavers, and he falls into hell. Bound and gagged in the City of Death, he is tortured. Without the Name, his soul cries out in agony. ||5|| The many Siddhas and seekers, silent sages and demi-gods cannot satisfy themselves by practicing restraint through Hatha Yoga. One who contemplates the Word of the Shabad, and serves the Guru - his mind and body become immaculate, and his egotistical pride is obliterated. ||6|| Blessed with Your Grace, I obtain the True Name. I remain in Your Sanctuary, in loving devotion. Love for Your devotional worship has welled up within me. As Gurmukh, I chant and meditate on the Lord's Name. ||7||
When one is rid of egotism and pride, his mind is drenched in the Lord's Love. Practicing fraud and hypocrisy, he does not find God. Without the Word of the Guru's Shabad, he cannot find the Lord's Door. O Nanak, the Gurmukh contemplates the essence of reality. ||8||6|| Ang 906 SGGSJ

Must See Video! The Deathlessness of the Akal Thakht

Girl Gang Raped! She is only 13

DHAKA, Bangladesh, May 8 (Compass Direct News) – Muslim villagers in Mymensingh district eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter, the girl's father said.

Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said that at around 3 a.m. on Friday (May 2) the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of Laksmipur village in Fulbaria sub-district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital.

Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats.

“I did not pay attention to any of the threats or hindrances – I continued evangelical and pastoral activities with prayer,” Das told Compass. “They targeted me to evict from this area to stop the Christian activities. When nothing stopped me, then they wanted to leave me scarred for life, so that I would be upset and not be able to show my face to the society for shame, and therefore I would leave the village.”

Das, who became the first Christian in the area in 1986 and has been key in an increase to more than 250 Christians and the emergence of 12 churches, said the brutal attack was pre-planned and calculated to stop further expansion of Christianity in northern Bangladesh.

“Otherwise, why would they rape such a minor girl?” he said.

Elina Das is the only Christian student at her school, he said. “Always local boys used to tease her on her way to school,” he said, “and used to tell her filthy words against Christianity and western culture.”

Five villagers attacked her when she went from her thatched house to an outdoor latrine, said investigating officer Sanwar Hossen of Fulbaria police station.

“Five people lying in ambush in the pitch-dark near the toilet snatched her by gagging her mouth with her body scarf [and taking her] to a nearby tea stall, 400 meters from the house, where they gang-raped her,” Hossen said.

Besides the religious opposition of some residents, the officer said villagers had no personal or commercial conflicts with the Das family that could serve as a motive for the assault.

“There was no family vendetta or personal clash or enmity of Motilal with the local people for which his daughter would be raped,” Hossen said. “There was even no land dispute between him and the neighbors, because he does not have any land.”

Family members found Elina Das lying unconscious in front of the house that morning.

“When I woke up in the early morning, I saw my daughter lying unconscious in front of my house,” Das said. “ A few hours after the gang rape, they had left her in front of my house.”

Das said he suspected friends of the rapists and perhaps some of the rapists themselves observed them as they went to the police station to file charges, as they later threatened to harm them if they did not withdraw the case, he said.

“I have received death threats against my entire family if I do not withdraw the case,” Das told Compass. “We, all the family members, were afraid and took shelter in the same police station, where my wife, daughter, son and I stayed for two days and one night.”

Elina Das has identified two of the rapists and could identify the others if she saw them or their pictures, said Das. Police have arrested Shebul Miah, 22. The girl identified another suspect, 32-year-old Dulal Miah, alias Dulu, who remains at large.

Fearful of his life if he returned to his home, Das relocated to the home of a friend in Dhaka on Saturday (May 3).

Derelict Police

When Das initially went to police to file charges, he said, police were reluctant to register the case.

“Police told me that it was a false case,” Das said. “They also said that it was a fabricated drama. Police spoke with my daughter in filthy language and showed prurient interest in the details of the incident in front of us rather than filing the case quickly.”

Area Assembly of God (AG) pastor Sento Mir requested that the local denominational chairman encourage police to file charges. Following a phone call from him on Friday (May 2), police immediately agreed to investigate the incident and filed a rape case in the afternoon.

Area Muslims expressed their outrage at the brutal incident, and they are afraid that the assailants are backed by powerful people, Das said.

“We know Motilal Das as a good man in the locality, though he is a Christian,” said a Muslim neighbor, 42-year-old Ruhul Amin, who owns a tea stall in the nearby area. “He had not any personal clash or enmity with others in the village.”

Mir, the AG pastor, said Das will not be able to return to the area unless justice is served.

“If the arrested rapist is not judged properly and is released from jail without any judgment, Motilal Das cannot live in this area,” Mir said. “He along with his family members should leave the village, otherwise they will be in serious trouble.”

Likewise, he added, if the identified absconding rapist is not caught and convicted, the family will no longer be able to live in the area.

Bangladesh on ‘Watch List’

The day of the rape, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) announced annual recommendations for countries to be designated “Countries of Particular Concern,” but it did not include Bangladesh.

Rather, the commission put Bangladesh on its “Watch List” due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government. Other countries on the Watch List are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

According to USCIRF, Islamist radicalism and violence, the threat of serious violence and continued discrimination against members of religious minority communities remain significant concerns in Bangladesh.

Frontline Comments:

This is why Guru Ji gave us the kirpan to protect us from evil doers like this in this dark age. Death Before DIshonour!!