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Satguru is Always Awake Bijla Singh Sleep in Sikhi In this section we briefly explain what ‘sleep’ really is in the light of Gurbani. The purpose of the Sikh way of life is to wake up from the true sleep which is the illusion of the physical world and its effects such as lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment and egotism. One goes to sleep at night, has dreams and then wakes up in the morning. This is the daily routine of an ordinary human being. Guru Sahib teaches that although one has woken up from the physical sleep in the morning, they still are sleeping because they have not realized the truth. A person never realizes the fact that this life is a mere illusion and like a dream it shall pass. Like a dream and a show, so is this world, you must know. None of this is true, O Nanak, without God. ||23|| (Ang 1427) It is the delusional sleep that misleads humans into thinking that this world is permanent and gives the illusion that the physical body, family, wealth, wife, children, car, house etc we have are ours. Wake up, O mind! Wake up! Why are you sleeping unaware? That body, which you were born with, shall not go along with you in the end. ||1||Pause|| Mother, father, children and relatives whom you love, will throw your body into the fire, when your soul departs from it. ||1|| Your worldly affairs exist only as long as you are alive; know this well. O Nanak, sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord; everything is like a dream. ||2||2|| (Ang 726) That day which comes, that day shall go. You must march on; nothing remains stable. Our companions are leaving, and we must leave as well. We must go far away. Death is hovering over our heads. ||1|| Why are you asleep? Wake up, you ignorant fool!...Meditate on the Lord, and renounce your egotism and self-conceit. Within your heart, contemplate the Naam, the Name of the Lord, sometime. ||2||….don't you realize, that this world is the house of death?! ||3||2|| (Ang 793) The entire world is asleep in the illusions, only One Almighty Waheguru remains awake. I gaze upon the world, the confluence of the three qualities; God is awake and aware in each and every heart. (Ang 857) Only the Guru is awake; the rest of the world is asleep in emotional attachment and desire. (Ang 592) Since God remains awake, so does His divine word. Guru Granth Sahib is the revealed word of God which means that God and Guru always remain awake since both are one. The Divine Word is the only true Guru and the image of God. So we ask the Muslims to prove how could the divine word of God fall sleep? How is it possible for God to remain awake but His revealed word to fall sleep? How could a word by which the whole world including day and night was created, fall sleep at night? They are lost without the true Shabad and do not realize that the Waheguru and His word are beyond day and night and above from worldly effects. Only a physical body can get tired and requires rest but the divine word is beyond the physical world. Shabad is beyond birth and death and hence cannot fall asleep. Shabad is the only medium through which humans can wake up from the sleep of illusion and ignorance. Gurbani teaches that by obtaining Naam from Satguru, one comes to know the real Self, sees the reality of the world and attains salvation. By meditating upon Naam, one wakes up and realizes that everything is temporary and this physical body is given to us by Waheguru as a chance to do good deeds and achieve salvation. Gurbani teaches to physically live in the world but mentally stay above it. Gurbani teaches to stay attuned to Naam and attach the mind to One Almighty Waheguru. Hence, this illusion of the world can only be removed by seeking the sanctuary of Satguru, the true Guru. Since the only Satguru in the world is Guru Granth Sahib one cannot wake up from the illusionistic sleep without becoming its disciple. Desire is stilled, and egotism is gone; fear and doubt have run away. I have found stability, and I am in ecstasy; the Guru has blessed me with Dharmic faith. ||1|| Worshipping the Perfect Guru in adoration, my anguish is eradicated. My body and mind are totally cooled and soothed; I have found peace, O my brother. ||1||Pause|| I have awakened from sleep, chanting the Name of the Lord; gazing upon Him, I am filled with wonder. (Ang 814) One whose heart lotus blossoms forth upon meeting the Guru, remains awake and aware, night and day. (Ang 964) Therefore it is crystal clear that only Waheguru and Satguru (Gurbani, the revealed word) is always awake and those who obtain Naam from Satguru are able to wake up from the real sleep of ignorance. Without becoming Sikhs of Guru Nanak Sahib, Muslims will always be lost and never be able to realize the truth and wake up from the falsehood of Quranic sleep. A Vilified Statement In the chain of continuous attacks on Sikhi, Muslims are calling holy Guru Granth Sahib an “object”. To back up their claim they quoted the following verse from Quran: "And whoever worships along with Allaah any other object of worship [like SGGS], have NO PROOFS for that. His judgment will be with his Lord. Indeed the disbelievers will never succeed." (Qur'an 23:117) This is simply a futile attempt to disapprove something without giving any rational proofs. Muslims have not only become foolish but traitors to Islam by misinterpreting their own holy book. The verse is misused and taken out of context. It does not apply to Guru Granth Sahib at all. The verse condemns idol worship. But where does the verse even mention Guru Granth Sahib let alone implying that it is an object? We have already proven that Gurbani is the Guru which is the source of the true divine knowledge. Gurbani itself speaks against idol worship. Guru is not paper, ink or the binding but the revealed word of God. It gives knowledge and provides guidance to the true path whereas an idol serves no purpose. Gurbani (the divine word) has the power to enable human being to subjugate the five vices (lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment and egotism), turn thieves into saints and transform the oppressed into true warriors and defenders of the faith. Through the power of the Shabad one rises above the duality of the world, eliminates fear of death and becomes protector of oppressed and weak. Only by the power of the Shabad can one be truly awakened, remember Waheguru by singing His praises and achieve salvation. How then is the divine word an object? Do Muslims not praise Allah through words? Do they not speak words when they pray? Do they not recite Quran? If yes then why are they going through an object to praise God? Why not disregard Quran altogether since anything that has revealed words of God is an object and therefore not worth any reverence? It is simply ridiculous and unimaginable that Muslims would stoop to such a low level of misinterpreting their own holy book just for the sake of demeaning another religion. Gurbani (revealed word) is not inferior to Waheguru but His true representation and therefore also worthy of being revered. His revealed words deserve great reverence and thereby Sikhs do not treat them like ordinary words of a book which is why Gurbani is not considered a book. Muslims may consider Quran a regular book and its words may not hold any significance to them, but Sikhs do not follow this example of disrespect. Revealed Shabad deserves reverence, respect and exceptional care. This is why Sikhs hold Gurbani dearer to their lives and are ever ready to sacrifice themselves to uphold its status. |
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