 Who Is Our Guru?  |
Who Is Our Guru?
M.S.S. Shakti Parwha Kaur
Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.
Many times we are asked to explain about our "Guru." what can we say to people who ask? The Siri Singh Sahib has emphasized over and over that it is not a "book" ---not a bible. What is it then?
The Siri Guru Granth Sahib is a written compilation of the words of the Sikh Gurus (as well as Hindu, Muslim, and Sufi saints), expressing the Truth they experienced while merged in a conscious state of divine union (yoga) with God.
The very consciousness of these enlightened beings, the ecstasy of their experience of this union, is transmitted through the vibration of their words. Siri Guru Granth Sahib is Shabd Guru, which means sound current teacher. The vibration of the words in these 1430 pages of sacred wisdom attune the reader or the listener to that higher state of consciousness. The Shabd Guru's words, written in Naad, and in poetic form, have the inherent power to elevate.
The main message and pervading philosophy of Siri Guru Granth Sahib is that union with God can be achieved through the recitation of God's Name, the "Holy Nam." All other pursuits lead to temporary results. The Guru's wisdom gives us a vast perspective with which to view all the situations and events in our lives.
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last in the line of Sikh Gurus in human form, turned the sovereignty of the Guruship over to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib before his death, and told his Sikhs never again to worship any person, but only to worship the Word of God. Today, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib is universally revered and worshiped as the living Guru by Sikhs throughout the world.
(The word, "gu-ru" means that which takes us from darkness to light. "Guru" gives us the technology, the teaching, to unite our individual selves with the One Universal Self.)