Blessed is that Gurdwara, the Guru’s Door,
where the Truth is glorified.
SGGS 153
There has been a lot of misconceptions amongst the Sikh masses about the real deep divine meaning of the word “Gurdwara”.
Let us dive deeper into the Braham Gyan Sarovar (Ocean of Divine Wisdom) and look at the reality, the Eternal Truth, the element of “SAT” in the word “Gurdwara”. This word (shabad) is divine, it has come from God. And that “The Word” (Shabad) that we commonly know as Gurbani or Shri Guru Granth Sahib :-
- is the Braham Gyan (Divine Knowledge),
- the Gyan Guru (Guru of Divine Wisdom),
- the Gyan Saroop of Akal Purakh (Immortal Being embodied in the widsom of Himself)
- is the Eternal Truth,
- defines the passage to merge with the Param Tatt (Supreme Reality);
- is the divine essence.
The word “Gurdwara” comprises of two Words “Gur” and Dwara”.
GUR
The divine meaning of the word “Gur” is :-
- the Braham Himself,
- the Akal Purakh Paar Braham Parmesar Himself,
- he “SAT” the Eternal Primal Truth Himself,
- the Param Jyot Himself,
- the part of the Braham which is beyond the three qualities of the Maya (Rajo: Hopes Desires Wishes; Tamo: Lust Anger Greed Attachment Pride, Slander Gossiping Jealousyi, Raj Joban Dhan Maal Roop Rus Gandh Sparsh; Sato: Daya Dharam Sanjam Santokh),
- the Nirgun Saroop Puran Parkash of Akal Purakh.
DWARA
The word “Dwara” means the door to the Dargah (God’s court) where the “Gur” is residing in His Nirgun Saroop (Transcendental State).
This door to the Dargah is with in our body itself, there is already a Jyot (God’s Light Energy) inside us that is keeping us breathing and alive. Our lifeforce is the Jyot:
The Lord infused His Light into you, and then you came into the world.
SGGS 921
This Jyot gets diminished due to the influence of Maya. We breath and remain alive due to the presence of this Jyot inside us, and this Jyot is a part of the Nirgun Saroop of Braham. The moment this Jyot is withdrawn by Paar Braham Parmesar (Supreme Lord) the death of the body comes.
This door has the following purpose :
- it connects our soul and body to the divinity and eternity,
- it is connected to the Dargah and to the Charans of Akal Purakh (Lotus Feet of God), to His Nirgun Saroop which is beyond the three qualities of Maya and is called the Dassam Dwaar (Tenth Door).
Through the Gurdwara, the Guru’s Door,
some are blessed with loving faith, and the Tenth Door is revealed to them.
SGGS 922
TENTH DOOR – DASSAM DWAAR
The Tenth Gate is the home of the inaccessible, infinite Supreme Lord.
SGGS 974
By practicing control over the nine gates,
one attains perfect control over the Tenth Gate.
SGGS 943
The nine doors are: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, skin, and two organs. In almost all the people this tenth door is closed due to the influence of the Maya. There is one in tens of millions who is fortunate to have this door open and by virtue of this they are always connected to the Akal Purakh. Continuous Amrit keeps on flowing in to their inside from this Dassam Dwaar:
The unstruck sound current of the Shabad vibrates and resounds in the Tenth Gate;
the Amrit Naam trickles down there. ||2||
SGGS 1002
Such souls keep on hearing the Anhad Shabad Dhunis (divine music) on a continuous basis. This is the real Amrit, the Atam Rus Amrit. By virtue of this tenth door all the seven seas – Sat Sarover of spiritual energy within our body are also connected to the Nirgun Saroop Akal Purakh Paar Braham Parmesar. These centers of spiritual energy keep on continuously flowing the Amrit inside the body:
My eyes are wet with the Nectar of the Lord,
and my mind is imbued with His Love, O Lord King.;
SGGS 448
This also makes every bit of our body drenched with Amrit all the time and infact the Amrit starts to flow outside our body. When that stage is reached, then Akal Purakh’s Charans (Immortal Being’s Lotus Feet) inside us get saturated and we become completely merged in Braham.
At this stage the person’s inside becomes a Gurdwara, and that is the real Gurdwara.
PILGRIMAGE
The stages through which we pass during this process of Bandgi (Dharam Khand, Gyaan Khand, Saram Khand, Karam Khand and Sach Khand) is the real pilgrimage. This inside pilgrimage is the real pilgrimage.
Cleanse yourself with the Name, at the sacred place of pilgrimage deep within.
SGGS 4
This inside Tirath (pigrimage) is the real Tirath, the outside Tirath is the Athsath Tirath (Bathing in 68 Holy Places) and Gurbani says:
This filth (of the mind) cannot be washed off, even by bathing
at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage.
SGGS 87
Only the inside Tirath will remove all the filth from inside us and will make the Jyot inside us become one with Almighty. The outside pilgrimage – Athsath Tirath – will never be able to clean us from inside. We will never be able to be one with Akal Purakh. All the outside Gurdwaras are Atsath Tirath. The real Gurdwara is the Hirda (spiritual heart), the Dassam Dwaar (tenth door) and the Sat Sarovar (seven seas / chakras) inside our own self.
We need to :-
- do Bandgi and complete the inside Tirath,
- be one with Akal Purakh,
- merge in Akal Purakh,
- get to the Param Padvi and reach that level when we are able to realize our real Gurdwara and become a Sant Hirda,
- start enjoying the Atam Rus Akhand Kirtan of Anhad word and Braham Gyan on a continuous basis,
- become a source of Amrit for others a real Gurdwara for others
- then serve the truth and deliver the truth to others:
Jan Parupkari Aaye Jeea Daan Dey Bhagti Laayen Har Siun Leyn Milaaye.
Where such a Sant Soul the soul of a BrahamGyani lives becomes a Baikunth (heaven) itself. Wherever such a soul sits becomes a Mansarovar of Atam Rus (Ocean Of Soul bliss). It becomes a Sarovar of Braham Gyan (Lake of Divine Wisdom). It becomes the real Gurdwara.
Those whom You cause to listen to Your divine wisdom,
find peace at the (inner) Gurdwara, the Guru’s Door.
SGGS 919
Therefore, for doing the inside pilgrimage and to realize the real divine inner Gurdwara do the following :-
- pray for Gur Parsaad;
- concentrate on Naam Simran;
- completely surrender to the Gur and Guru with full and complete commitment and belief,
- fully trust in the Gurbani, Gur and Guru;
- practice Gurbani in your daily life to the extent that you become Gurbani yourself;
- do seva and parupkaar to help the poor;
- give Dasvandh of time and earnings to the Guru,
- complete your Bandgi,
- be one with the Akal Purakh and the Guru;
- merge in Him;
- get Jivan Mukti.
Dassan Das (Slave Of God’s Slaves)