I´ve just read an interesting article that I found linked on the SPN. Sadly, I don´t remember the thread nor the person.
It is a fine essay of Ek Ongkar Kaur who translated the Japji Sahib into English, on the difficulties there are in translating the Gurmukhi textes into English as there often are no right words or simple expressions in English for one Gurmukhi word.
I particularly liked the Mool Mantar translation/explanation of hers. It made me understand a bit better and gave me answers to a previous posted question.
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"Ek Ong Kaar" One Spirit Beyond,Moves within the Creation -Coordinating, Consolidating, Continually, Creating
To keep the Creator separate from the Creation is not the way of Guru Nanak.
To see them in a joyful play, intermingling, evolving, finding new expressions of Itself – that is his gift to us. “God” is not out there somewhere – pulling strings or watching in judgment. The Divine dwells inside every molecule as a Living Force, constantly expressing myriads of forms, though all forms are ultimately unified in the One.... It is One – Ek. Is has vibration, sound – Ong – and from sound, from vibration it express itself in form – Kaar. But the Oneness and the sound and the form are merged in every moment, in every thing – continually playing together. A current runs through the entire Creation. And like children playing with paints, Ek Ong Kaar never creates the same picture twice.
"Sat Naam" And this Spirit Within me is my True Identity.
If I can accept what Ek Ong Kaar means – then I must also accept the Presence of the Divine within myself....Guru Nanak tells us – it is that Divine Presence within us that is our real identity. Our real name. Our real existence.... But beyond these definitions, these stored memories, opinions and tastes of a lifetime – there is a Presence, a Life, a Spirit that will keep going. This Presence is part and parcel of the play of Ek Ong Kaar. And that is my True Identity. Sat Naam.
"Kartaa Purakh" It Does All And Causes All To be Done. It Protects me Through all incidents Of Time and Space.
Our mind tells us that, “I am the doer. I am the one who is acting. I am the creator. I am the manipulator. I am the one who can move things and create my life as I want to. I am.” The moment the mind hears that it is NOT the doer, it protests, creates doubts, arguments, becomes defensive and storms around. The mind can become competitive with Divinity, and try toprove that it IS the doer, it IS the protector – and nothing is greater than itself. We call this ego – and there’s a purpose for it. Because the intricate truth is that the Divine dwells in you, as well as in everything, so you are part of that Creative Power, and part of that Protective energy. You are not the entirety of it. But in your Spirit, you are part of it. The misunderstanding comes because of the mind. The purpose of the mind is to serve the soul. It is created to apply its intelligence to carry out the commands of Spirit. When a human being flows with the experience of her own Spirit and the mind serving that – then it is easy to understand Kartaa Purakh. ....
"Nirbhau - Nirvair"
When I have seen these truths of Ek Ong Kaar, Sat Naam, Kartaa Purakh – then how can I ever feel afraid again? How can I ever be angry? Fear and anger come from ego – from my limited perception needing to protect my own security and identity. But if the Divine has blessed me to understand this Force that runs through all, that runs through me and that Does everything – then whatever I experience is the Divine... Anger and fear cannot coexist with love. To fight and see the Divine in the enemy – to know the duty and yet to keep compassion in one’s heart – this is the way of the Sikh. Where fear and anger are – the Guru’s words are not. Where the Guru’s words are, fear and anger have no ground in which to grow....
"Akaal Moorat" Deathless It comes into form.
Moving beyond fear and anger, a perception, an awareness opens up within ourselves. And suddenly we can touch that Deathless Spirit inside. Our projection as a human begins to channel that Light. And we become the Image of the Undying while on the earth.... It is something that begins to blossom when we move beyond fear and anger. Because when we begin to live beyond fear and anger, and feel our power from the deepest, most true, most genuine love inside of ourselves – then the fact that we are Deathless begins to make itself known to our conscious mind. In that awareness, we can represent Deathless Divinity in our every day life. Through our words, through our actions, through our dress, through our every interaction. ...
"Ajoonee" In Itself, It has never been born.
Deathless in Form. Never been born. Though the mind has no capacity to logically map it, our Spirit has always existed and will continue to exist always. No death. No birth. No beginning. No end. Just one big play, one continuous learning – shifting from form to form through time and space. Feeling the reality of the Deathless Spirit inside, and understanding that there was never a beginning to us anyway– the mind can penetrate through the fog of time and surrender its finite ego to something far bigger.
"Saibhang" Flowing through the cycles of Birth and Death, It Moves By Its Own Purity and Projection.
Life needs definition to fulfill itself. And for most of us – the mind gives us our definition. We are “lawyers,” “engineers,” “lovers,” “ministers,” “writers,” “rebels,” – words, pictures, images that direct how we use our breath, our voice, our creativity to form our own lives. Guru Nanak gives us a different definition. Saibhang. It’s a definition that applies to the soul, to the spirit. And in that definition, our own inner purity flows through time and space, calling one experience after another forward until we can consciously merge back in Union with Ek Ong Kaar. With the Source. With the One. Completion. This definition applies once we understand that we are Deathless in Form, Never Been Born. ...Rather than looking to create a finite identity and security for ourselves, Saibhang asks us to see our life in the context of a much larger journey. And to keep flowing forward, to complete who we are, so that the mind can consciously merge into the Limitless of Self and allow that inner Divinity to complete the journey.
"Gur Prasaad" This understanding Shall come to you As a sweet blessing, As a gift, Through the Guru.
We need a teacher. We need a guide. Only an idiot believes that his or her mind can figure everything out on its own. .... It is the proof of God in a world that questions the existence of the Divine that so many teachers have come to give us a path home. For the Sikh, that Teacher is the Shabad, the Divinely-given Word of the Guru. And by meditating on that Sound Current of the Shabad, It trains the mind into the reality of all that the Mool Mantra has described. So we seek that blessing, that gift that comes through the Guru. ....
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I´m sorry that it´s so long, I even shortened it a bit, hope you don´t mind. Maybe someone recognizes it again and sends the links.
I know, that this explanation is hers and may be far away from the traditional one, but I believe as long I (or we) don´t have our own inner concept of it, we have to take what there is. I was greatful and a bit astonished (coming also from a christian background) as the sikhs at my local Gurdwara explainded to me, that there is no universal translation or explanation to the SGGS, everyone can find and experience his/her own. Thank you for this, Waheguru!
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