The following letter is very interesting and was sent to the SGPC by the Sikh scholar Dalip Singh. Basically saying that GURU refers to the JYOT – Light of God. Only a living person can have manifested JYOT inside them – not a scripture or statue. And that Guru Gobind Singh Ji made each and every enlightened Khalsa into GURU. And only referred to the scriptures as Ad Granth Ji – not Guru Granth.
- Guru cannot be a community eg 5 Sikhs, Sikh Nation or Panth.
- Guru cannot be a non-human entity eg not scriptures, not idols.
- Guru is only the one in whom the LIGHT has manifested.
Each of the original five Khalsas was a GURU KHALSA. The sants that have continued from that time have had the light passed through them too, so each of them is GURU KHALSA. Anyone God manifests Himself within is GURU KHALSA.
“Khalsa mero Satguru poora.”
Khalsa is my Perfect Satguru.
thanks
dust of your feet
====
Letter To
Giani Joginder Singh Ji, Jathedar Sri Akal Takhat Sahib
Mar 15, 2004
Subject: WHY CALL ANY GRANTH AS “GURU” – THE ALL PERVADING AND PERMEATING DIVINE JOT OR LIGHT IN ALL?
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa
Waheguru ji ki Fateh
There is nothing like “Guru Granth – Guru Panth” in Gurmat, as taught in the two Granths (1) Aad Granth Ji, (2) Dhasam Granth Ji.
It is most regretfully stated that thus far the meaning of words – Guru, Gurpoora, Satguru, Satgur Poora, Sabad, Jot, sant, Gurmukh, Sadh, frequently occurring in both the Granths, have not been understood, and
all the translations made so far are defective.
Neither we have produced a single scholar who could adequately unfold the various myths appearing in Sri
Dhasam Granth Ji, in symbolic language, of metaphors and similes; nor understood the word “Guru” as defined in Add Granth Ji. But like mad dogs, certain miscreants have been barking in ridiculing the Divine Baani of Dhasam Granth.
Right from the time of Banda Bairagi to this day, all emphasis has been laid on the acquisition of the material power and the vicious game of Politics, and no attention has ever been paid to the superiority of the Divine, Who is everything in human life.
During the last three centuries, we have not produced a single literary man, who could write a single book on the correct interpretation of Gurbani of both the Granths.
The word Guru is clearly defined hundreds of time, which means the All Pervading Divine Light (JOT) abiding in all living beings, from the smallest to the highest – God in Immanent Form, present in all living beings.
Gurbani is the Divine Word, emanates from God Himself and manifests through the Blessed Ones, in whom He manifests Himself in Jot Roop. Gurbani is Jot Roop – but when it is reduced to writing on paper in book form – it is no longer remains living Jot.
It is a sin to call Granth Ji as Guru, as it is not a living all pervading entity. Nowhere have the revered Gurus ever stated as "Guru Granth Ji", but stated, "Pothi" or "Granth Ji" – as we find written on the Table of Contents of Aad Granth Ji, written by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and copy thereof made by Baba Deep Singh, kept at Takhat, Sri Dam Dama Sahib, Sabo ki Talwandi. To make the Granth a living all-pervading God, is similar to worship of sacred Masjid of Kaaba, which Guru Nanak rejected as idol worship.
Sri Guru Ram Das Ji in Rag Basant, p. 1177 Aad Granth Ji, has beautifully described God’s presence in all and everywhere –
Just as the light of the sun’s rays spread out,
the Lord permeates each and every heart, through and through. 1
The One Lord is permeating and pervading all places.
It is through the Divine Jot abiding in us all (Sabad),
we merge with Him, O my mother. 1 . Pause .
The One Lord is deep within each and every heart.
Meeting with the Guru (Divine Jot in us),
the One Lord becomes manifest, radiating forth. 2
The One and Only Lord is present and prevailing everywhere.
The greedy, faithless cynic thinks that God is far away. 3 .
The One and Only Lord permeates and pervades the world.
O Nanak, whatever the One Lord does comes to pass. 4 . 1 .
Please also read Majh M.5, p. 102 Aad Granth Ji –
Everything is within the home of the self of every one;
there is nothing beyond.
One who searches outside is deluded by doubt.
By His Grace, one who has found the Lord within is happy,
inwardly and outwardly. 1 .
Slowly, gently, drop by drop, the stream of Amrit nectar trickles down within.
The mind drinks it in,
hearing and reflecting on the Divine Light within us (Sabad).
One enjoys bliss and ecstasy day and night,
and plays with the Lord forever and ever. 2. I
I have now been united with the Lord
after having been separated and cut off from Him
for so many lifetimes.
By His Grace, the dried-up branches
have blossomed forth again in their greenery.
I have obtained this sublime understanding,
And I meditate on the Naam.
As Gurmukh, I have met the Lord. 3
As the waves of water merge again with the water,
so does my light merge again into His Light.
Says Nanak, the veil of illusion has been cut away,
and I shall not go out wandering any more. " 4 . 19 . 26 .
God abides in all equally, from a Satan person to the highest Saint. Since the Jot is wrapped in the material body, which creates its own passions and instincts, and creates DUALITY in us – tussle between the Commands of the Divine in us and the selfish instincts and passions, which lead us astray
– NO ONE CAN BE CALLED DIVINE OR GURU OR SAINT ET AL- UNLESS ONE TOTALLY
EFFACES HIS SELF AND TOTALLY MERGES IN THE DIVINE IN HIM, TO FORM ONE STRUCTURE WITH HIM.
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Message to the Humanity is :
Man, you are self sufficient – establish your relationship with your Creator, Who is NOT far off, but lives within you. Submit to Him in all love and devotion in the company of devotees. He will ever Guide you and will never fail you. Do not knock any one’s door unnecessarily and degrade yourself.
This is God’s Message conveyed through the Guru. Guru Nanak Dev was sent by God to clarify this Truth and give His Message to the suffering Humanity enveloped in total Darkness. This Reality has not been clarified in all other Systems. God, therefore, told Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, when He sent him to this world that He was not satisfied with the performance of previous Prophets, Avtars, etc., as they only made people to worship them instead of the only Reality, the Infinite Spirit of God.
O Gianis and Jathedars, the so called Custodians of GURMAT Faith, please introspect your own worth, as to how much you have understood GURMAT. And also while sitting at Harmander Sahib and Takhat Sahibs, what GURMAT you have preached to the world? Have you so far even understood the basic GURMAT teachings as stated in the preceding paragraphs, and if so, why you have not understood that Aad Granth Ji Baani forcefully teach us to find the All Pervading Lord ( GURU) within ourselves, and not misguide people to wander about aimlessly in idol worship of Aad Granth Ji (Not Baani), which is a gross
sin.
How is the volume of Aad Granth Ji is brought to Harmander Sahib, at night sent back ceremoniously, and is covered and uncovered with scores of sheets of cloth of varied designs; is it GURMAT? What does any one gain by adoption of such practices?
Although we are dead against GS Kala Afghana, because he crossed all limits to express his doubts about the interpretation of Baani in the proper way for clarification, and mischievously started defamation of the Faith; yet you all are equally guilty of not clarifying his doubts, before he got published his filthy matter in the books, as you did not at all respond to him in clarifying his objections at all. You all are as much sinners as Kala Afghana is. The fact of the matter is that you even do not know as much as this perverted accursed man knows the negative side of the Faith. THE PRESENT POSITION CAN BE SURMISED AS – “BLIND LEADING BLIND.”
Only stupid persons would say that Guru Gobind Singh Ji made Aad Granth as the successor Guru. Could Aad Granth, after becoming Guru, do what Guru Gobind Singh Ji did? If Aad Granth could do everything, then what was the necessity of God sending Gobind Singh Ji to succeed as the 10th Guru, after Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji? And also why the Granth as Guru could not do anything, when the community has been brought to this shame? Can any one quote a single authentic scriptural or historial evidence in support of such vulgar belief that 10th Guru made Granth the successor Guru?
FURTHER, WHY DIFFERENTIATE ONE GRANTH FROM THE OTHER, WHEN THE BAANI
IN BOTH GRANTHS CAME FROM THE SAME SOURCE. EACH GRANTH HAS ITS OWN RESPECTIVE PLACE TO BE LEARNT FROM. DHASAM GRANTH BEGINS WITH DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF IMMANENT GOD, WHERE THE AAD GRANTH ENDS.
We have only adopted Brahmanic custom of IDOL WORSHIP of Book, which has ruined us. It is this idolatry, which created various sects and their Gurus, varied Sadhs, Sants, Babas, etc. which has caused ruin to us. Now this weakness is exploited by Kala Afghanis to destroy Dhasam Granth, thereby Pahul
Taking Ceremony, and GURMAT totally. We should not make idol worship of either of Granths – yes, keep both the Granths together side by side to make the devotional reading from them . Ever live with the Guru JOT as taught in both the Granths, revere the Lord, and obey His Commands.
We learn from Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee, when he stated at the onset of Asa Di Var,
A hundred times a day, I am a sacrifice to my Guru (GOD);
He made angels out of men, without delay. 1 .
Baba Lehna Jee, before meeting with Sri Guru Nanak Dev Jee, had read enough of his Baani, and then alone an ardent desire arose in him to meet with the Guru. He had formerly intended to lead his men farther from Kartarpur to the temple of Vaishnu Devi near Jammu. But on meeting with the Guru, Baba Lehna Jee did never go to visit the Devi temple.
Only this episode will show that mere reading of Gurbani is not enough, but the real and actual achievement is attained by living with the LIVING ALL PERVADING GURU JOT ABIDING IN US IN SADH SANGAT. When Baba Jee met with Guru Nanak, he started living with LIVING GURU JOT (GOD) in him, and lo, in no time Baba Lehna Jee tuned from a human to an Angel in no time.
WHY SO FAR WE HAVE NOT IMPARTED PROPER EDUCATION TO PEOPLE TO LIVE WITH THE DIVINE JOT ABIDING IN US ALL, WHO RATHER FOOLISHLY LIKE A DEER IN JUNGLE PUTS ITS HEAD IN ONE BUSH TO ANOTHER TO FIND THE MUSK, WHICH ACTUALLY EXISTS WITHIN HIMSELF!!!
WILL YOU TAKE PITY ON US, AND PROMULGATE THE FINDING OF THE GURU TO ALL – CRY ALOUD LIKE BHAI MAKHAN SHAH LABHANA, "GURU LADHO RE – GURU LADHO RE."
Sri Guru Gobind Rai in deference to the God’s Commands, passed on the Guruship to the Selected Five Sikhs, each one of whom Satguru Jee called a ‘KHALSA’. Just like Guru Nanak who bowed his head at the feet of his disciple Baba Lehna Jee, made him the Successor Guru, Sri Guu Angad Dev; similarly Guru Gobind Rai bowed at the feet of each of the Five Sikhs, and passed out the Guru Jot to the Five Khalsa;
from whom, who were Guru Roop, himself received the Pahul, and was re-named Gobind Singh, the 6th Member of the Khalsa ORDER.
This very phenomenon was repeated by Guru Gobind Singh Jee on the battlefield of Chmkaur in December 1705 CE, where he gave Guruship to Five other Singhs, to show that he passed on the Guruship to KHALSA for all times to come.
Gur Sobha book, written by one of the poets in the Court of the Guru, named Sainapat Singh, was the only one who has largely written correct history of the Guru, all other writers of old chronicles, appeared much later, when Sikhs had been reverted to Brahmanic fold, were unfortunately worshippers of Hindu gods and goddesses, and have written about the Gurus in that light.
It is in Gursobha and a document recently discovered, called ‘Amarnama’ alone, one finds the eye witness accounts of the last two and a half months spent by the Guru at Nanaded. A day before the Guru’s Final Departure from the Earth, the Singhs inquired specifically from the Guru about his succession. Please read the following account –
"Kitai divas beetai, samai aunt aayo. Kario baig parsad aiso bataio (32)
Kachho bhoojanung khaey kai neer peena.
Bharosa subhai ko bhali bhant deena
Gaei ardh ratung ghari char aorai
Bhaey SABAD ROOPUNG Kari Baat Aourai. (33)
Tair kari taei jagai singh apar.
Waheguru ji ki Fateh Kehi aunt ki bar.(34)
Sun sandais bismai gaey ati bhiaan mun hoey.
Mun ki mun hi mai rehi poochh baat na koey. (35)
Bismai sabh hoey rehai mun mai kachh ki kachho hoey gehi aub hi.
Mil kai sab singhan tahe samai eh bhant bichar kio tub hi.
Saskar karo nis hi kai samai, niksai nahi bhan kehio jab hi.
Eis karan karaj
kai karhi, mil jot so jot gehi tub hi. (36)
……
Choupai –
Aik divas karan tai aagai, mil kai singh poochhanai lagai
KAVAN ROOP AAPAN PRABH KEENO,
TIN KO JOAB BHATI EIH DEENO. (40)
TA SAMAI GUR BAIN SUNAYO.
KHALSA AAPNA ROOP BATAYO.
KHALAS HI SO HAI MUM KAMA,
BAKHAS KIO KHALAS KO JAMA. (41)
DOERA –
KHALSA MAIRO ROOP HAI,
KHALSAI KAI PAS
ADI AUNT HI HOT HAI
KHALAS MAI PARGSAS. (42)"
The brief of above mentioned eye witness description of the poet is given as follows –
The Guru was stabbed on August 18, 1708, the Pathan assassin had two other accomplices. Emperor Bahadur Shah immediately sent his Royal Surgeon, named Cole, who treated the wounds, and the Guru recovered to complete health in ten days time. The Poet tells us that the Guru lived for many days thereafter at Nanded. At last the fateful day came, when the Guru declared that he had received the DIVINE CALL TO DEPART FOR GOOD. The Guru on that fateful day took his meals and drank some water as well. The Guru gave solace to the extremely grieved Singhs. Then after the midnight of 7-8 October, 1708, the Guru called for the Singhs at his place, and bade them Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, as his farewell parting from Earth. The Singhs became totally, aghast, could not ask anything further from the Guru, who merged his Light in the All Pervading Light of God.
THE word "SABAD" USED IN GURU GRANTH HAS NOT BEEN UNDERSTOOD BY US ALL.
ALL TRANSLATIONS SO FAR MADE ARE FAR FROM CORRECT, INCLUDING THAT OF LATE PROF. SAHIB SINGH, FROM WHOM I LEARNT MUCH ABOUT GURMAT, AND HAD LONG ASSOCIATION WITH HIM. HERE ALSO THIS GREAT POET OF THE GURU, USED THE WORDS "Bhaey Sabad Roopi". THE WORD "SABAD" DOES NOT MEAN GURBANI but stands for the All Pervading Divine Jot. We shall understand the meaning of the word "SABAD", from Gurbani of Aad Granth Sahib itself.
sabadhae oupajai a(n)mrith baanee guramukh aakh sunaavaniaa ||3||
The Amrit Bani emanates from the Light (Shabad).
The Gurmukh speaks it and hears it. ||3||
SGGS 125
It is Divine JOT in Gurus, from where emanates Gurbani. Here the poet stated that SatGuru ji MERGED HIS JOT IN THE ALL PERVADING AND PERMEATING IN ALL DIVINE JOT. The Poet also tells us that one day before the Guru’s Final Departure, Singhs inquired from the Guru, who would be his Successor. To them the Guru replied,
Ta samai gur bain sunayo.
Khalsa aapna roop batayo.
Khalas hi so hai mum kama,
Bakhas kio khalas ko jama
The Guru replied I as Guru Jot,
have already merged in Khalsa,
and this Jot shall
ever shine or manifest in Khalsa.
Please also refer to Hymn in Aasa M.5 –
He is beyond the world of the Vedas, the Koran and the Bible (i.e. all scriptures).
The Supreme King of Nanak is here right now and manifest. ||4||3||105||
SGGS 397
God is Infinite, NOT in Scriptures or even in this world, but BEYOND THAT. Why are we foolishly limiting GOD in Books? In this connection please also refer to Sri Kabir Ji’s Hymn at p. 331
Are the Vedas (Scriptures) greater, or the One from which they came? ||2||
As regards word Panth, which Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji used once in Bichitar Natak –
Sri Akal Purakh Bach – Mein Aapna sut tohe nivaja,
Panth Parcharbay ko saja.
Here the word Panth does not mean whole community of Sikhs, but the way of God realization. Guru Jot never manifests in the Body of whole Community of Sikhs – never. The Divine Jot manifests only in the Blessed ones, who live with the Divine, love Him, and ever obey His Commands cheerfully.
Those persons, the Sat Guru Ji directed, will be found in selected KHALSA ONES. And the Guru defined who is Khalsa –
He alone is the Khalsa, the purest of the Pure,
in whom the Divine Light illumines his mind completely –
he ever dwells day and night on the
Ever Living Effulgent Divine Light (Jot within himself),
and who never gives a moment’s thought on anything else, but One Lord,
in complete devotion and Faith
and does not believe even by mistake in fasting, tombs,
crematoriums and hermitages;
he too does not believe in pilgrimages,
customary charities, or a set of code of self discipline. (1)
33 Swaiyyas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji
The five Khalsa Singh should be chosen from the selected Khalsa Singh Sangat, not from the priest employees, who are the yes men of their master employers, and know nothing of Gurmat. The present corrupt system of elections on the analogy of Political Elections, is only a “Manmat” and should be
immediately brought to an end. Members of SGPC should be chosen by the Khalsa Sangats of the respective places, not on the analogy of the political elections.
THERE IS THEREFORE NO GURU GRANTH, AND ALSO NO GURU PANTH. BUT ONLY GURU
KHALSA, WHERE GOD BECOMES MANIFEST. IF WE FOLLOW THE PATH OF THE GURU, THE
GLORY OF GURU KHALSA JI WILL IN NO TIME RISE SKY HIGH. GIANI JI, BELIEVE IT TO
BE SO.
Kindly give a careful reading to this letter, and arrive at a decision, and a reply supported by cogent reasons be promulgated to all Sikh Sangat, as this vital question is intimately relates to all. A REPLY TO US BE
SENT THROUGH E MAIL INTERNETS. Thank you.
Yours Respectfully,
DALIP SINGH (Dr), Surjit Singh Sidhu