The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikh religion begins:
God is one. He is the supreme truth. He, the Creator, is beyond fear and beyond hate. He is immortal. He is neither born nor does He die. By Guru’s grace shall He be met. In the beginning He was the truth. Throughout the ages He has been the truth. He is the truth here and now and He shall be the truth forever (Guru Granth Sahib, 1).
A fundamental understanding here that differs from other monotheistic religions is that Sikhs recognize that this One God is utterly beyond all human conception. How then can mortals claim to understand God in full? How can they judge or condemn the understanding of others regarding such a transcendent Being? For Sikhs, God is the Creator of all, the Father of all, the Source of all life. Nothing or no one is equal to nor independent of the One God. Sikhs do not presume to hold all knowledge of such a Being. Such a notion seems preposterous by definition.
Still in order to contemplate such a transcendent Being some concept, however limited, is needed. As I describe in my introduction to Sikhism, the ten founding Gurus prepared a structure upon which Sikhs place their faith and understanding of God and their relationship with Him. Since the time of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind (Rai) Singh (1666-1708) that foundation has be the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, one of the most spiritually uplifting and informative scriptures on earth.
Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the Ten Gurus, explained that the most important thing for a Sikh to understand is that God is One and is beyond all comprehension. This realization produces both humility and spiritual independence.
And yet people want to understand, to define and categorize everything! And so when Guru Nanak explained this truth to the people they sometimes challenged him. "How do you know these things!" You see, the Hindus of India among whom Guru Nanak lived and taught went to great lengths to present the One God in limitless forms and attributes. The Hindu Scriptures offer vast volumes of detailed descriptions of each of the seemingly limitless devas (gods and goddesses) they worshiped. How could Guru Nanak say God was beyond all form when their conceptions of divinity were so thoroughly defined by these minute details?
To such people Guru Nanak replied that, "God Himself told me that He is self-created." The Great Guru explained that God is formless and beyond all human conception. Waheguru is neither male nor female and has no body, no definable attributes. In this Sikhs differ with traditional Hinduism. The Sikh Gurus accepted no limited definitions of the One God because God is limitless.
Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, traveled extensively preaching his message of love and devotion to Waheguru. The following reflects the Sikh view of God nicely:
Guru Nanak Ji once visited the celebrated Jagannatha Temple at Puri, one of Hinduism's four holiest mandirs. As usual Guru Nanak Dev did not visit as a votary but, "to teach the people that the worship of God was superior to the worship of the deity". The high priest recognized Guru Nanak at once and invited him to lead the artik (religious rite). Nanak declined however which offended the temple priests but he replied by raising his eyes to heaven and uttering a most beautiful Sabad (divine utterance). This Sabad reflects the Sikh view of God nicely:
The sun and moon, O Lord, are Thy lamps; the firmament
Thy salver; the orbs of the stars, the pearls encased in it.
The perfume of the sandal [tree] is Thine incense; the wind is Thy fan;
all the forests are Thy flowers, O Lord of light.
What worship is this, O Thou Destroyer of birth?
Unbeaten strains of ecstasy are the trumpets of Thy worship.
Thou hast a thousand eyes and yet not one eye;
Thou hast a thousand forms and yet not one form;
Thou hast a thousand pure feet and yet not one foot;
Thou hast a thousand organs of smell and yet not one organ
I am fascinated by this play of Thine.
The Light which is in everything is Thine, O Lord of Light.
From its brilliancy everything is brilliant;
By the Guru's teaching the light becometh manifest.
What pleaseth Thee is the real Arti.
O God, my mind is fascinated with Thy lotus feet as the
Bumble bee with the flower: night and day I thirst for them.
Give the water of Thy grace to the sarang, Nanak, so that he may dwell in Thy name.
Our English word "God" comes from the German "goot" and speaks of this One Being as "the Good One," God. For Sikhs the Good One is known as Waheguru which is to say, "He who is the Wondrous Destroyer of darkness." This is the darkness of ignorance, illusion...
Waheguru
To worship and commune with Waheguru Sikhs are advised to awaken three hours before sunrise, to bathe and meditate by first repeating the Name Waheguru ("Vaheguru") followed by various prayers. Other prayers are uttered at night and before bed to help the Sikh be mindful of Waheguru. God's name is on the lips, heart and mind of the faithful Sikh throughout the day. By being mindful of the Holy Names the Sikh is in constant communion with God. Waheguru is both the prayer uttered and presence of God that replies. It can be said therefore that God, in His more intimate form, is the Sound of His Name: Waheguru.
Akal Purakh
As Akal Purakh Sikhs are reminded that God is the timeless Being who never dies. God has neither beginning nor end.
Oankar
God's holy name Oankar or Ek Oankar (Ekankar) reminds us that God is One, however this is a bit more subtle than it might appear at first glance. When Christians and other monotheists say the same thing they mean there is only One God (and often implicit in this is the belief that only they rightly worship Him, that all other gods are false).
However the Sikh view of God is much more inclusive in this area. For them God, as has been explained, is utterly beyond human comprehension. Still we all want some comprehension! So we use words that can hopefully clarify our thoughts and yet at times they obscure them. So let's look a bit closer at this name.
The word "Ek" means numerically "One." The word "Oankar" however does not literally mean "God" as generally conceived. It is derived from the Sanskrit term Om (Omkara), which of course is the fundamental Sound Vibration from which all else arises. In the same way, Gurbani sees Oankar, which is grammatically related, as the Primal Sound (ie the Omkara). It is therefore referred to as "Oankar Sabad Dhun." But wait, according to Hinduism the Omkara is the first breath of God and is hence likened to God and used as another name for the One God!
Therefore this is a particularly powerful name of God for Sikhs because, like Akal Purakh, Ek Oankar references back to before the beginning and extends to beyond all endings since, without Om (primal Sound/Vibration), nothing can exist. To help understand how this is so, those familiar with the Bible might consider that God (Elohim) said in the beginning, "Let there be Light" and so one. This Primal Sound arises with and from God.
Nonetheless it the Name is Waheguru that rests at the heart of the Sikh Faith because it is a call to remember the One who creates and sustains all without whom nothing would be.
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