Why Is Guru Granth Sahib Ji So Important?

Guru and Guruship

Guru means a spiritual teacher out of darkness into light - this is what Guru Granth Sahib Ji does.
Genuine historical evidence written by British government officials, Muslim historians and trustworthy Sikhs of the time all show without any doubt that Guru is Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

As Guru Gobind Singh Ji ordered us…

“One wishing for my darshan (sight), should come to Granth Ji presence”(14)

“Those wishing to talk to me, read, listen and contemplate Granth Ji”(18)

“Those who wish for my advice, read, listen and focus on Granth ji.”(19)

“Recognise the Granth as my form, Accept there is no difference between it and me. (20)

(Guru Gobind Singh to Bhai Nand Lall- Rehit Nama)

'Jot rup har aap gur nanak kahayo.' (Swayas Bhattan p.1408)
Guru Nanak was thus the embodiment of Divine Light.

'In the true Guru (Nanak), He installed His Own Spirit, Through him, God revealed Himself.'
(Asa di Var, pauri 6, page 466)

When Guruship was conferred on Guru Angad, he too became the embodiment of Divine Light.
‘Jot uha jugat sai, seh kaya pher paltiae.'
(Sata Balwand, p 966)
'The Divine Light was the same,
The Way and Mode were the same,
The Master had merely changed the body.'
(Translation of the above)

Guruship passed on - Guru Granth Sahib too became the embodiment of Divine Light - not a bowing before a book - but instead bowing before the Divine Light or JOT (Guru) – passed on by Nanak Guru Gobind Singh:

The Guru is Beneficent, the Sanctuary of peace, The Guru is the Light of three worlds ,
He is the Eternal Being, O Nanak, he who believes in Him, attains peace.' (Slok Mohalla 1, p 137)

'Guru Nanak is the true Guru, The true Guru has taken me to God.' (Kanra Mohalla 4, p 1310)

'The Guru and God are one, Divine Master pervadeth everywhere.' (Sri Rag Mohalla 5, p 53)

Since Gurbani came direct from God, and as there is no difference between God and His order (Divine Word), Gurbani is Guru too:

'The Word is the Guru, And the Guru is the Word, The Guru's Word contains the Nectar of Immortality, Whosoever shall obey, what the Word commandeth, Verily he shall get salvation.' (Nat Mohalla 4, p 982)

'The Word is the True Guru and True Guru is the Word, And the Word reveals the path of salvation.' (Kanra Mohalla 4, p 1310)



https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/2f7dXfzlpBtKIE

Kindly opine. I found this material on internet and is being posted as a separate thread.

Taranjeetji,

wonderful thread, the question is Why is SGGS so important. My own opinion is that the SGGS, like the ten Gurus before, illuminate the path to Creator.

I note that you have given two statements that are in conflict, and I sense that this is the true question of debate, is Guruji God?.

'Guru Nanak is the true Guru, The true Guru has taken me to God.' (Kanra Mohalla 4, p 1310)

'The Guru and God are one, Divine Master pervadeth everywhere.' (Sri Rag Mohalla 5, p 53)

Click to expand...

So on the one hand, the Guru and God are one, yet the true Guru has taken me to find God, I think this can be explained quite simply, God is in all of us and in everything, we are all God, so in that respect, the Guru and God are indeed one, there are many paths to God, one such path is to read, understand, breathe and live the SGGS, I do not feel such enables us to find God, but opens the doors that lead us to God within our very hearts, so we were always God, and God was always us, we just did not have the connection, we are in lock down, we await the raising of the lock down that will enable us to move freely about our brains again

my opinion only

I do acknowledge the curiosity to find out if Guru is God or not,. It is mention that Guru Grath sahib contains many lines that speak of Guru as God. However, it is essential to understand the context in which it is mentioned. Without context one may get lost in the labyrinth of misunderstanding. One cannot have any rigid formulation in this regard. No formula , no clever tricks and nothing works in so far as the search of this question is concerned. One is to be adept in Gurbani tuks. One is required to sort out all the Tuks related to such proclamations along with the context.

It is for this reason that I avoid discussing it in open as it carries the risk of mis-interpretation that may result in misguiding those who are new to gurbani. Let us post pone this issue to a future date when all of us have read Sri Granth sahib twice or thrice. It would result in more meaningful discussion. Till such time that we feel secure in that we write in this regard it would be appropriate to explore as to how the outer world looks at sikhi.

Following is an extract of an article from sikhiwiki.org and the link is provided. Hope it shall be meaningful.

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru


The guru is God and God is the Guru!

In the journey on the path of spiritual realisation, for the person on this journey, the difference between God and Guru fades as far as the human journey is concerned; the Guru brings the vision of God into focus and brings the understanding of "His way" - God's way - Dharam as against adharam or unrightoueousness.

According to Sikh belief there is no difference in spirit between such a guru and God. “The guru is God and God is the Guru; there is no distinction between the two” says Guru Ram Das (GG, 442). “God hath placed Himself within the guru, which He explicitly explaineth” (GG, 466). “Acknowledge the Transcendent God and the guru as one “ (GG, 864).

The Guru speaks only of God

When Guru Nanak speaks of his guru or satguru, it is not such teachers that he has in mind. The true guru is the means of the self-revelation of God. He makes the concealed and ineffable God known.
He symbolizes the supreme act of God’s grace in revealing Himself as Truth, as the Name, as the Word. The true guru comes to unite all people of the world and to unite them to the Supreme Being. A false guru creates schisms, divisions and prejudices.

The true guru as manifested in the history of the Sikh faith comes to suppress the forces of evil and to rally the forces of good. He comes to resuscitate the values of true religion, dharma.

The line of Guruship

The [[Sikh] faith developed under the guidance of ten successive Gurus from 1469 to 1708. Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru, appointed no personal successor, but bequeathed the guruship to the Holy Book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

The holy Word or shabad had always been referred by the Gurus as well as by their disciples as of Divine origin. The Guru was the revealer of the Word. The Word was identified with the Guru when Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed the Holy Book Guru before he passed away.

Bards Balvand and Satta theorize that of their three aspects—joti, i.e. light, jugati, way or procedure, and kaia, i.e. body—it is only kaia, the body, that changes as succession passed from one historical Guru of the Sikh faith to the next. Joti and jugati remained the same. As sang the bards: “Joti oha jugati sai sahi kaia pheri palatiai” (GG, 966). From their verse emerges this concept of three aspects of the guruship.

Guru is an enlightened soul

God is the source of all light or consciousness. God kindles that light, in the chosen human body, the Guru; in the joti-aspect the Guru is the most enlightened human being, he is in direct communion with God.
He communicates the message of God to mankind. He transmits His light to the world. Without the guru, darkness prevails. Says Guru Nanak, “The light of the guru alone dispels darkness” (GG, 463); “The guru is that lamp which illuminates the three worlds” (GG, 137).

Balvand and Satta in their hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib affirm that the historical Gurus of the Sikhs shared the same joti (light). The joti got transferred to the successor’s body. Thus, right from 1469, the year of the birth of Guru Nanak, to 1708, the year of the passing away of Guru Gobind Singh, it was one continuing joti manifesting itself in the Ten Gurus.

The succession of 'the light'

This awareness of one light acting through the successive Gurus was so permeating among the Sikhs that Mobid Zulfiqar Ardastani (d. 1670) wrote in his Persian work Dabistan-i-Mazahib, “The Sikhs say that when Nanak left his body, he absorbed himself in Guru Angad who was his most devoted disciple, and that Guru Angad was Nanak himself.
After that, at the time of his death, Guru Angad entered into the body of Guru Amar Das. He in the same manner occupied a place in the body of Guru Ram Das who in the same way got united with Guru Arjan. They say that whoever does not acknowledge Guru Arjan to be the very self of Baba Nanak becomes a nonbeliever.”

Guru Gobind Singh, last of the Gurus, himself wrote in his poetical autobiography called Bachitra Natak, “Nanak assumed the body of Angad. . . .

Afterwards, Nanak was called Amar Das, as one lamp is lit from another. . . The holy Nanak was revered as Angad, Angad was recognized as Amar Das. And Amar Das became Ram Das. . .

When Ram Das was blended with the Divine, he gave the Guruship to Arjan. Arjan appointed Hargobind in his place and Hargobind gave his seat to Har Rai. Har Krishan, his son, then became Guru. After him came Tegh Bahadur.”

The real personality of a human being is the atman, the physical body is only a temporary dwelling place for the atman which is eternal and is a spark from the Eternal Flame, the Supreme Atman or God. “O my self, you are an embodiment of God’s Light; know your true origin” (GG, 441).

Being encased in the physical frame, this 'atman' (soul) becomes so involved in the temptations of the physical world that it forgets its reality and loses contact with the Flame of its origin, whereas the atman of the Guru remains ever in tune with that Supreme Light from which it has sparked off.

It is thus that God is accepted as residing within the guru. It is in this sense that there is no distinction seen between the guru and God. Guru or satiguru is thus a word with a double meaning in the Guru Granth Sahib. It may refer to God or to His chosen prophet.


The true Guru is easily distinguished. “The true guru is one who has realized the Supreme Being and whose association saves the disciple” (GG, 286). “The true guru is one in whose heart dwells the Name Divine” (GG, 287). “He by meeting whom the mind is filled with bliss is the true guru. He ends the duality of the mind and leads (the disciple) to the ultimate state of realization” (GG, 168).

“Praise, praise be to the true guru who demolishes the fort of dubiety; wondrous, wondrous the true guru who unites the seeker with the Lord” (GG 522). The guru is ordained as such for the liberation of mankind. He transmits the message of God to men and performs acts of grace to save them. The guru is sent by God, but he is not God’s incarnation.

“Singed be the tongue which says that the Lord takes birth” (GG, 1136). He is ajuni (unborn); He is saibhan (self-existent). Highest tribute and adoration are reserved for the guru. Devotion to the guru is deemed to be the quintessential quality of a religious man.

The pain of separation from the guru and the joy of meeting with him find expression in poetry of deep intensity, as in Guru Arjan’s hymn in Rag Majh (GG, 96-97).


You may also post some relevant material as to how the world perceive Guru and also continue your study of Guru Granth sahib esp. the swayee part that deals with this part. It is only after a deep study that we can enter into a meaningful dialogue.

Regards.

Satnaam Taranjeet Ji,

This is a very simple questions to answer.

in Sikhi: Guru is the bani (shabad/word) and bani (shabad/word) is the guru
in christianity: in the beginning was the Word (shabad), the word was with god...the word WAS GOD

In our reality exists the outer world, and the inner world (within our own body)
on the inside exists the Anhad Shabad (unstruck sound current/Shabad/the word)
on the outside exists the Sound current/shabad/word in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

While we cannot at first hear the inner sound current. We can start to meditate on the outer word/shabad/gurbani. This will eventually tune your consciousness into being able to hear the inner sound current.

There are two stages if your thirst, hunger and Love exists to experience god...only then do you get the gurpursaad.

1st stage:
najar bhee ghar ghar thae jaaniaa ||2||
As the inner vision is awakened, one comes to know one's own home, deep within the self. ||2||Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Raag Gauree , 153

I am 32 years old, was a disgusting shameless sinner...i still Sin, but the thirst for Guru Ji was welling up so much i was going to explode, and Guru Ji has awakened this inner vision. I now am Shown this inner vision every day when i meditate and do Simran. I say that i am shown, because i don't actually do anything...its all guru ji...i'm just the spectator. The visions are beautiful...sometimes you can feel the true amrit inside cleaning you up

2nd Stage:


When you mediate on the word, the shabad, the gurbani. Sounds/vibrations of Satnaam and Waheguru...your consciosness is being lifted very gradually to prepare you for hearing the inner Word/Shabad.

gur kee baanee naam vajaaeae ||
Through the Word of the Guru's Bani, the Naam resounds; Raag Aasaa
362

At the moment during my meditation/Simran i have not come across the inner Anhad shabad. but it WILL happen when the time is right and when i am ready for it.

By His Grace, you listen to the sound current of the Naad.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Raag Gauree, 270

At first it will sound like drums and various instruments that we are already accustomed to:

nehathaa sabadh vaaja(n)th bhaeree ||1|| rehaao ||
The Unstruck Sound-current of the Shabad is the vibration of the temple drums. ||1||Pause||

Once you hear the INNER shabad, you then put your attention towards it like when you hear a song that you love in a crowded market. This inner shabad will then gradually take you into higher spirtiual realms where you draw closer to god realisation.

guramukh dhhiaan sehaj dhhun oupajai sach naam chith laaeiaa ||
The Gurmukh meditates on the Lord; the celestial sound-current resounds within him, and he focuses his consciousness on the True Name.
Raag Gujri, 512

Please put all your faith in this. I am same age as you. I was and still am a filthy sinner, but keep doing your ardaas to guru ji. he WILL hear you. This is our god given gift to find Him.

So you see, and i really hope this answers the question that you have asked, that not only the SGGS Ji tell us about the spiritual path to enlightenment, but it gives us the technology...the SHABAD or as Jesus called it - the WORD that gets us moving up spiritually to hear the INNER word/Shabad

God bless all

Respected ChazSingh ji,

Indeed indebted to you for the essence of sikhi that you have very nicely presented and explained as to how the relationship exist between Guru and Bani. Many things got cleared. We are all blessed to meet a real blessed/humble soul. I do not know if it would carry any meaning But since I do want to do let me do it; i.e congratulate you for the experiences you are having. These must be difficult to explain. May be it is a signal from Guru- sahib for which we were waiting. Personally speaking, I do simran for very small time say 15 minutes or so.I have copied the material or rather book marked the page and shall try to digest and act upon it.

I am indeed grateful for your kind help and guidance. Kindly continue to keep us blessed. Though we have very learned persons here but still forum is blessed by your benign presence.

Regards!

Taranjeet singh said:

Respected ChazSingh ji,

Indeed indebted to you for the essence of sikhi that you have very nicely presented and explained as to how the relationship exist between Guru and Bani. Many things got cleared. We are all blessed to meet a real blessed/humble soul. I do not know if it would carry any meaning But since I do want to do let me do it; i.e congratulate you for the experiences you are having. These must be difficult to explain. May be it is a signal from Guru- sahib for which we were waiting. Personally speaking, I do simran for very small time say 15 minutes or so.I have copied the material or rather book marked the page and shall try to digest and act upon it.

I am indeed grateful for your kind help and guidance. Kindly continue to keep us blessed. Though we have very learned persons here but still forum is blessed by your benign presence.

Regards!

Click to expand...

I fall in love with the power of Sangat such a precious jewell.

I am nothing but a filthy sinner, and if Guru ji is able to forgive a person like me then it changes you forever.

The experiences are really beautifull, but as quick as they happen it is best advice to just forget them, and move on. attachment is a very bad thing. so please when you meditate, only concentrate on relaxing your body, becoming stress free..and when your mind wavers and starts to think about other things, have a shake of the head and then carry on with your simran. Silent simran in your mind i found really good.

We all love the words Satnaam Waheguru...i'm so grateful to my mum for telling me to jaap these words when i was young...i have such a connection with them now so it helps me to mediate on those sounds and vibrations with a lot of love.

The information age is passing, we have all the information in the world at our fingertips. the age for experiencing is now here.