REASONS AND REVELATIONS IN SIKHISM
The
subject of “Reasons and Revelations” is as ancient as Indian Vedas and Upanishads,
Greek ideologies of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Christian beliefs of Thomas Aquinas,
and Islamic Sufism of Ibn-Arabi, Ibn-Sina, and Imam Ghazali.
Sikhism
has also amplified the same narrative of the difference between experiential Reality
and intellectual discourse. Reason
or logic must be supported and verified by inner experience. Otherwise, the
validity of reason remains suspect.
There
is a perennial desire to grasp Reality both by reasoning and other experiences
of inner and outer dimension. The attempt by the seekers to realize the Truth
may lead to diverse conclusions ---right or wrong. Most aspirants have relied
upon the guidance of ancient and contemporary holy scriptures, their
translations, and interpretations to appease the mind’s curiosity. Others have
attempted to follow some borrowed or self-styled techniques to gratify their
unknown-ness.
The the human body, where the soul resides, is the prime instrument of satisfying the
aspirational Truth. This frame of flesh, bones, nerves, and tissues is the only
tool for inferring and conceptualizing what is read or felt inside and outside—as
God made man in its own image.
A
straightforward but crude paradigm of “revelation” could be with an individual’s
dream state when one loses all sense of time, space, discretion, and reasoning
in asleep. The words and images seen in dreams cannot be deciphered in the waking
state. The transcendental revelation is also an awareness in the conscious
state where words cannot express the experiential Reality of time and space.
It
is easier to apply logic and rationality with the limited sphere of influence
of mind and senses. Understanding mysticism is, however, a blessed realization
of the highest consciousness. The awareness at different states of
consciousness can vary, leading to an assortment of ideas and reasoning. For
example--
a)
The concept of reincarnation is a
subject of revelation and reasoning. Hinduism and Sikhism speak about 8.4
million species for reincarnation, while Christianity and Islam have different
views.
b)
This world appears to be real as per
reasoning but an illusion or Maya as per the Reality’s realization.
c)
In Love --- there is total
annihilation of self—where there is neither any perception of revelation or
reasoning.
Scientific
reasoning presupposes the existence of five elements of the creation-- namely
fire, earth, water, air, and ether. However, that does not mean that Science
understands the totality of attributes of these elements gifted by Nature. And besides,
the human mind is programmed to classify ideas and events in the silos of good,
bad, and ugly based on an inadequate understanding of Reality.
Einstein
has also acknowledged that what we understand is based upon the present level
of consciousness. With an altered or higher realm of awareness, the line of
reasoning and facts may change. Reason is amenable to re-reason and unreason,
while the highest state of revelation is eternal and immutable.
Another
scientist Planck has observed that Science can only measure but cannot question
or challenge or alter that measured reading parameters. Light of speed can be
computed as 300million m/sec, but Science cannot increase or decrease it. God
and Man are both a grand mystery. One mystery can’t comprehend another mystery.
Revelation
can come in any form, but it isn’t easy to verify whether that is revelation
and not merely an imagination. Divine communication comes in ways unusual and
not necessarily amenable to ordinary investigations. Then the concern arises --
what is the stage of ultimate Reality –Braham or Par-Braham or beyond. The mystical
world is full of multiple ambiguities that cannot be deciphered unless there is
a proven guidance and Grace.
HINDUISM
1.
The author mentions that VEDAS,
UPANISHADS, GITA are shrutis or smritis. Shruti means what is
heard, and Samriti means what is remembered. It is the knowledge that is
conveyed verbally to others and then written. Or the understanding memorized by
someone else and then penned down. That does not relate to the direct
experience of the seeker.
2.
Vedas speak about Karam Kand or
ritualism, sacrifices, and invocations for spells and charms –mostly for
material gains.
3.
On the contrary, Upanishads condemn
rituals and sacrifices and yajnas.
4.
The Brahm to which Vedas and Upanishads
subscribe is an intermediate mystic realm and NOT the ultimate Reality of
Sikhism.
5.
Up-ni-shad-ik--- Up means to sit near;
ni means totality, sadh means the Guru,
from whom the mystic experience of IK or One is to be acquired. The necessity
of the Guru is enshrined in the Upanishads[1].
6.
Upanishads are monotheistic, while
Vedas are polytheistic—worshipping and propitiating deities, gods, and
goddesses.
7.
Upanishads consider lower knowledge as
reason and higher knowledge as revelation.
8.
Gita
has the
four-fold conception of revelation. One, God resides in His creation. He is
veiled in the manifestation; second, when God-head incarnates into the form of
human being; the third is when the seeker ascends to God, experiences His
divinity, and resides in Him. The fourth is when this experience of divinity of
wisdom is conveyed to the world in words or language.
9.
The
emphasis on action (karma) in the Gita has often inspired some
comparison of its message with Sri Guru Granth Sahib’s teachings, the
Sikh scripture.
10.
Hinduism
is essentially a mixed bag of reason and revelation. It is exceptionally challenging
to discriminate between what is reason and what is revelation. Reason has been employed to understand
revelation in the scriptures.
CHRISTIANITY
1.
Jesus is considered an incarnation in
flesh and Divine son of the Father (God)
who is the “Word” or Divine spirit. Jesus is the physical manifestation
of the Revelation of the Reality.
2.
Jesus redeems his believers on the day
of judgment.
3.
In
Christianity, some thinkers are ardent champions of reason, and according to
them, there is no limit to ‘reasoning” capacity. But others doubt even the
limited capacity of reason. The contrarian view mentions that there are many
things and truths that lie beyond the power of reason.
4.
It
is held that the Bible was written by Jesus’s followers and not by Jesus.
They were not systematic theologians but the men of spiritual devotion and
moral obedience. Therefore, the Bible needs to be interpreted by reason.
5.
The
Christian scholars explain revelation from three perspectives: in Nature, in
mystical experience, and historical events. The revelation is made to guide man
on-- how to experience salvation.
6. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian philosopher and
a catholic priest of the 13th century, believed in two types of
individual revelation from God, general revelation and special revelation------
a) In general revelation, God reveals himself
through his creation. At least some truths about God can be learned by the
empirical study of Nature, physics, cosmology, etc., to an individual.
b) Special revelation is the knowledge of God
and spiritual matters, which can be discovered through supernatural means, such
as scripture or miracles, by individuals. Direct revelation refers to
communication from God to someone.
7.
Like
Islam, Christianity does not endorse reincarnation or transmigration of the
soul but believes in hells and heavens.
ISLAM
1.
There
is no god but God, and this Truth or Haq is revealed to Muhammad as God’s
prophet. This Truth is immune to any reasoning.
2.
Holy Quran was
revealed to Prophet Mohammad through the angel Gabriel ( implied as the Word of
Christians, Nad of Vedas, Shabad or Nam in Sikhism or Ism-e-Azam of Sufis).
3. Islam preaches that the entire creation and
the man are nothing but the diverse projection of God and entirely dependent
upon Him. For such a realization, a prophet is needed who has gained the Divine
awareness.
4. Sufism is a mystical dimension of Islam
that relies solely on the inner realization[2].
5. Sikhism appears to have interacted with the
Sufis traditions in Islam to some extent. [3]
6.
Socrates and Aristotle’s Greek
philosophy deals with the intensity of logic. In those times, their writings diverted
Islamic profile from revelation to reasoning.
7.
The spirit of free inquiry that
accompanied the Greek philosophical awakening constituted a grave fundamental
threat to many basic Islamic beliefs.
8.
Finally, Imam Ghazali (1058-1111) demanded
unconditional surrender to the Truth in Koran’s revelation. Islamic mystical
intuition was recognized along with reason and revelation “as a channel by
which Islamic verities are conveyed to the followers”.
9.
Islam is not divorced of reason. Reason
has been considered a means to understand revelation. It has given birth to many movements within
Islam, which also prepared a way for different streams of Muslim philosophies.
10. Islam
does not believe in reincarnation ---but in hells or heavens or transit period
of limbo before returning to God. However, some Sufi sects lend support to the concept
of reincarnation, like Hinduism and Sikhism. This subject defies reasoning and
can only be rationalized by the highest state of revelation.
SIKHISM
1.
Guru Nanak Sahib was the founder of
the Sikh faith. The first word uttered by him –EKO—in Jap Ji confirms his
revelation that all that exists or does not exist is the projection of the ONE.
2.
That One is known by Satnam or His NAM
is the Truth—eternal and immutable, beyond the concept of time and space.
3.
There is no second or duality. The
perceptive multiplicity or dualism is an illusion.
4.
God has neither any beginning or an
end—that is another inner realization contrary to reason.
5.
God created Himself and is self
-sustained without any supporting power. Logic cannot fathom it.
6.
All revelations can be experienced
through the Guru’s Grace and living in the Divine will or His Hukam—an Arabic
word that occurs as derivative Haqq, Haqeeqe, Hakim, Haqeeqat.
7.
Doctrine of Hukam is cognitive, intelligent,
and just in all respects. It can be construed to Rit of the Vedic System. Hukam
is omnipresent and omniscient.
8.
Through the Grace
of God and the Guru, the mind turns away from the sensory knowledge towards inner
seeking of the higher knowledge made possible through mental detachment.
9.
The ascension of
consciousness starts in the human body from Dharm Khand (this physical plane),
Gian Khand (Realm of Knowledge), Sarm Khand( Domain of effort), Karam Khand
(realm of Grace), and Sach Khand( True abode of the Lord—totality of the
Reality) –(Jap Ji Pauri 34-38)
10. All
such revelations are well recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib and endorsed by other
Gurus and Saints, including Kabir Sahib.
11. The
seeker aspiring for inner revelation is called “Khoji,” and those indulging in
intellectual reasoning is named “Vadi”. Moreover "Soch", "vichar",
"aql", "sianap", “bibek” are other expressions applied for
reasoning.
12. Jogis,
Jatis, Brahmacharis, Rishi Munnis, and all forms of asceticism are categorized
as Vadis or Badis who interpret scriptures (Vedas, Upanishad, etc.) without
knowing the essence of the Reality. They remain engrossed in Sato, Rajo, and
Tamo gunas. Page 920.[4]
13. All
forms of ritualism devolve into exacerbating the ego. [5] Page 641, Fifth Guru Arjan Dev Ji.
[1] (The
Guru, as per Sant mat and Sri Granth Sahib of Sikhs, has to be living Guru of the
current time and place and not seers and sages of the past. Many seekers
believe in the Past Gurus, their writings in scriptures as sufficient guidance
for spiritualism.)
[2]
Islam had come to India a long
time before the emergence of Sikhism on this country's religious scene.
[4]
ਸਿਮ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਸਾਸਤ੍ਰ ਪੁੰਨ ਪਾਪ ਬੀਚਾਰਦੇ ਤਤੈ ਸਾਰ ਨ ਜਾਣੀ ॥
The Simritees and the Shaastras discriminate between good and
evil, but they do not know the true essence of reality.
ਤਿਹੀ ਗੁਣੀ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਸੁਤਾ ਸੁਤਿਆ ਰੈਣਿ ਵਿਹਾਣੀ ॥
The world is asleep in the three modes and doubt; it passes the
night of its life sleeping.
[5] ਪਾਠੁ ਪੜਿਓ ਅਰੁ ਬੇਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰਿਓ ਨਿਵਲਿ ਭੁਅੰਗਮ ਸਾਧੇ
॥
They read scriptures, and contemplate the Vedas; they
practice the inner cleansing techniques of Yoga, and control of the breath.
ਪੰਚ ਜਨਾ ਸਿਉ ਸੰਗੁ
ਨ ਛੁਟਕਿਓ ਅਧਿਕ ਅਹੰਬੁਧਿ ਬਾਧੇ ॥੧॥
But they cannot escape from the company of the five
passions; they are increasingly bound to egotism. ||1||
ਪਿਆਰੇ ਇਨ ਬਿਧਿ
ਮਿਲਣੁ ਨ ਜਾਈ ਮੈ ਕੀਏ ਕਰਮ ਅਨੇਕਾ ॥
O Beloved, this is not the way to meet the Lord; I
have performed these rituals so many times.
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