Sat Naam
Question:
We do not need living Gurus or Sants. God alone is the giver of grace and Gurprasadi Naam. What do you think?
Answer :
We should be looking up to Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji for answers to all of our questions. What is house of Nanak? Let’s understand this first. The house of Guru Nanak is Sachkhand – not any different from the house of other Gurus or Brahmgianis – regardless of the caste, creed, colour or the faith. All faiths or religions merge in Sachkhand (like all rivers merge in the ocean eventually) if followed truly.
Now, let us talk about `past practices’. Aren’t we supposed to follow the past practices established by our Gurus? The SGGS Ji itself was compiled in the past for all of us to follow for everyday guidance in complete (not only limited to spirituality). It cannot be classified as “has been”, rather it is a total truth and it prevails through all ages. What are you saying that we should not be believing SGGS Ji? Is it a thing of past for us now? What does it mean? Should we just bow in front of it and worship it as a stone?
Wasn’t Bhai Lehna blessed with the Gurparsadi Naam by Guru Nanak Dev ji? Why did he need grace of a Living Guru – Guru Nanak? The Lord was there for him even before he met Guru Nanak Dev Ji. This is because he was destined for a Gurparsadi Naam only through Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Just as I had heard about the SatGuru, so I have seen Him to be that.
He re-unites the separated ones with God; He is the Mediator at the Court of the Lord.
He implants the Mantra of the Lord’s Name, and eradicates the illness of egotism.
O Nanak, he alone meets the True Guru, who has such union pre-ordained. ||1||
SGGS 957
Did Gurparsadi Naam not go on through other Gurus the same way? Why did Bhagat Kabir Ji, Bhagat Pipa, Bhagat Sain and others went up to a Living Guru – Bhagat Rama Nand Ji?
The True Guru gives His Sikh the wealth of the Naam.
SGGS 286
Now, the fifth Satguru Arjun Dev Ji sent Mata Ganga to a Brahmgiani – Sat-Ram Das – Baba Buddha ji for blessings of a son. Was the Guru out of line here in seeking for the graceful blessings of a Brahmgiani? Absolutely not. The fifth Guru’s family was destined without a son. It was His servant Baba Buddha Ji who blessed the Guru-Ghar, when Mata ji went to seek for his blessings in a extremely humble manner.
Gurbani says:
The devotee can release anyone from my bondage,
but I cannot release anyone from his.
SGGS 1252
The Brahmgianis can change the destiny over and above what Lord has written for us. On the other hand, the Lord declines to change the blissful deeds of a saint.
The Saints hold the key to it in their hands. ||2||
SGGS 893
The fifth Guru’s family respectfully bowed in front of a Brahmgiani for his blessing. Are we common Sikhs (trapped in Maya with our own manmat) superior to the Gurus, and would not do what our Gurus did? If we don’t, then we are planting seeds for nothing else but hell.
God is everywhere. So why do we go to Gurdwaras? Why do we bow in front of SGGS Ji.? There must be good reasons to do so. The SGGS Ji represents the Divine Wisdom (Brahmgyan –Dhur ki Bani ) that came through the hearts of the Gurus and Bhagats. The Lord does not have a physical body or a color or a creed. He is beyond cycle of death and birth. How does he communicate or how will He? He conveys his wisdom and message through his saints, prophets like Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Mahavir Jain, Krishna, Guru Nanak, and other Gurus and Brahmgianis. Can we deny it?
In the Company of the Holy, one dwells with the Supreme Lord God.
SGGS 271
Why does a religion start with the blessings a saint or a prophet under His will?
In the Society of the Saints, I see God deep within my being.
God’s Name is sweet to me.
SGGS 293
When you doubt the need for the living Sants you are denouncing the Lord, the SGGS Ji – His true wisdom, Gurus, Bhagat and Brahmgianis. Are you saying that Sukhmani Sahib is a waste –when it praises the pargatyo jyotes –Brahmgianis, sadhs, sants?
One whose mind is a home for the Supreme Lord God
– his name is Sat Ram Das, the Eternal servant of Truth.
SGGS 274
A Braham Gyani, is a living God Himself on the earth, and Akal Purakh resides in His Hirda – He is completely absorbed and united with the Almighty, there is no difference between Paar Braham and a
Puran Satguru.
O Nanak, the God-conscious being is Himself the Supreme Lord God. ||6||
SGGS 273
The individual who cannot appericiate the grace of Sat Ram Das (Servant of Eternal Truth) or Brahmgianis has already forefeited his bhagti. The SGGS Ji clearly defines a “Satguru”, and how he blesses us via a living human form.
The one who knows the True Lord God, is called the True Guru.
SGGS 286
The Lord is everywhere all the time. So why did Baba Makhan Shah Lobana look for the ninth Guru? There must be a great need for the Guru.
Remember, all this happens under His Total Will. The Almighty sends his special sons – Brahmgianis, Prophets, from time to time for a reason. He is going to keep on doing this forever.
In each and every age, He creates His devotees
and preserves their honor, O Lord King.
SGGS 456
We need to acknowledge Him and His embodiment – Sants and Brahmgianis. Furthermore, we are blessed if we find one such saint. SGGS Ji says we ought to surrender ourselves (manmat) to serve them.
They are absorbed in Him and can give us the true wisdom in a very simplistic manner. When we go to the company of a Sat Ram Das, we cannot simply be selective for our own selfish desires. We do not stop with an incomplete knowledge and trap ourselves in the wicked ego. In doing so, we are doing like what the 330 million gods and goddesses (devtas) did.
Yet, these devtas probably did not slander anyone. We need to go along the total journey. It will not be complete if you turn your back on a Gurparsadi Naam.
Without the True Guru, the self-willed manmukhs do not find liberation;
they wander around like lunatics.
SGGS 39
If someone starts slandering the saints, then they dig themselves into a deep hole of mental sickness. Once again, He preserves the Honour of His beloved Saints. All the slandering of Baba Ji has not affected him a bit, yet he is glorified even more with his ever luminous face. SGGS Ji clarifies –
One who slanders the Saints, O Nanak, shall be reincarnated over and over again. ||1||
SGGS 279
Furthermore, let me tell you without even naming or thinking about a sant, and without understanding the total path of truth if you go against the truth alone, your bhagti is still forefeited. This advice is still a blessing to help you and others.
We are conveying the message of truth per SGGS Ji and nothing else. We are tasting the amrit – ambrosial nectar (naam-khumari) with the blessings of Sant-Satguru Baba ji, and the grace of the Lord. Baba Ji asks everyone to chant Lord’s name “Satnaam”.
When we say Dhan Dhan Parbrahm Parmeshar, we mean it with luminous faces. If there is any bit of falsehood in what we are doing here, then the Lord within us will not glow our faces, rather He would darken us. You can see it for yourself.
A Brahmgiani is beyond what words can describe in any Dharam or Puran, Kuran, Ved Kateb, or even SGGS Ji . The SGGS Ji clearly says so (the absolute truth):
These letters shall perish; they cannot describe the Imperishable Lord. ||1||
SGGS 340
If you want to be a Sikh, then please be a true one per SGGS ji. Surrender yourself completely and give up the inferior self-willingness (manmat) or duality (dubidha). This again happens with a Brahmgiani’s kirpa per SGGS ji. If you do not acknowledge a saint or a Brahmgiani, then the inner darkness will prevail for ever. If the Sikhi path does not suit you, follow whatever other faith you like but be a true follower of your Guru, and the Lord. The very basics are the same. Essentially all the faiths in pure form lead to the one and the only one God.
This write-up is made possible by the grace of the Lord, and the blessings of a Sant-Satguru.
A Humble Servant