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September 1, 2004 marks the
400th anniversary of the compilation of Guru
Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scriptures. It contains a universal message
for all. It
contains tips for spiritual development, inner harmony, and peace in life.
These scriptures were
compiled and installed in the Golden Temple, Amritsar,
India, in 1604.
Below
are some quotes from Guru Granth Sahib.
Gems for Life from Guru Granth Sahib (GGS)
Inner
Search
Spiritual Wisdom comes from inner search and it diminishes with arguments
and competition –
Guru Nanak, GGS
The only way to God is to be conscious of God’s presence within and
developing
innocence in your own life. Burning yourself with jealously and worrying
brings extreme sadness. It affects
one’s thoughts, words, and deeds.
–
Guru Nanak, GGS p 1091
Those who guard their mind (against negative thoughts and stay focused in
God), become
angels. They become manifestation of love and affection and God
keeps account of their goodness.
- Guru Nanak, GGS, p1090
When you taste the ultimate nectar of God’s love and God’s
presence in your
heart, all vice and negativity becomes dust in your life.
– Guru Nanak,
GGS
When I become Yours O Lord, I see the whole world I see as mine.
When ego departs in me, You manifest
and I see everything connected with
You. - Guru Nanak, GGS
One who realises the visible as merged
in the formless.
And finds poise in the truth of God's invisible power-
Such a one shall not be subject to the
cycle of births.
-Guru Granth Sahib, page 414
God is within
O my mind, know your essence
You embody the very light of the Lord.
-Guru Amardas, GGS p,
441
And if the Lord resides within,
It is a folly to look for Him without.
-Guru Nanak,
GGS, p 722
Find Him inside your heart, O Friend,
What will you gain by roaming about in
wilderness,
Except for trampling the thorns under your feet? - Saint Farid,
GGS,
p 1378
The Supreme Essence pervading the universe,
is the same as is present within our body.
-Saint Pipa, GGS, p 695
Feeling the pain of separation from God is the highest state(to live in),
A body
that never tastes pang of separation is like a dead ground -Saint
Farid, GGS, p1379
O my self, love
God as fish loves water. - Guru
Nanak Sri Raag
Astpadia, GGS.
Best practice of religion
Of all religions
The best religion is
To utter the Name of God with adoration
and to do good deeds and virtuous acts.
Of all rites
The
best rite
Is to cleanse one's mind
In the company of the holy people.
Of all the deeds
The best
deed
Is to meditate on the Name of God
And praise it forever.
Of all speeches
The best speech
Is to utter the name of God and
Then reflect on God with others.
Of all the places
The most sacred
place,
Nanak says,
'Is the heart in which God dwells.'
-Guru Arjan, GGS, p266
Justice
Good and bad deeds shall be narrated before the God of justice
Some
will be brought in closer to God
Others pushed away accounting for their actions.
Those who have prayed,
toiled appropriately
Will leave with radiant faces
Many more will be emancipated with them, says Nanak.
-GGS, p 8
By serving the One who is peace
Let's pray to that Sovereign.
Why do you do evil deeds
When
you know you will reap what you sow?
Do no wrong, be farsighted
Play such a game that you do not lose
the game of life
And serve in such a way that brings merit.
-GGS, p 474
What's in the mind comes forth
Spoken words are of little use -
Sowing poison and demanding
nectar
What type of justice if this?
-GGS, p 474
God and I are one
Kabir, a vast ocean is this body
difficult to fathom its depth;
one who dies* while living
and plunges within
earns the rarest of jewels.
-Saint Kabir, GGS
*dies – killing one’s ego
Catch your shabd*
your
origin and essence;
the ocean will then
merge with the drop
The part will contain the whole,
like the
seed that holds within it
a mighty tree
Such is the nature of shabd,
like a magnet it pulls the
soul.
-Saint Kabir, GGS
*Shabd - Primal "Word" or "Name of God"
I have found something,
Something rare
have I found;
Its value no one can accesss.
I dwell in it, it dwells in me,
we are one, like water
mixed with water.
He who knows it,
will never die;
He who knows it not,
dies again and again.
-Saint Kabir, GGS
Householder's life
In laughing, playing, eating and dressing well
While
doing all these, one can still attain salvation and enlightenment. -
Guru Arjan, GGS, p 552
Those who remain
awake in life, attain God,
they kill their ego in light of shabd,
While living a householder's life they
remain detached,
They contemplate upon the true wisdom.
- Guru Arjan,
GGS
Service for others
If you serve others in your life, you get the honor of
respect at God's
Abode - Guru Nanak, GGS,p 25
Acts of kindness and inner enthusiasm to serve others
results in minds'
immersion in God, - Guru Nanak,p 224
True Education makes one a benevolent person.
- GGS, p 356
Forgiveness
Beloved God embraces the one who wears the ornament of forgiveness. -Guru
Nanak, GGS, p 359
Nurture truth, caring mind, contentment, and forgiveness while seeking the
shelter
of God
-Guru Nanak, GGS p1030
Those who develop Forgiveness, compassion, and contentment in their
life,
No disease touches them and neither do they feel the pain of death. –
Guru Nanak, p 223
Life Style
It is useless to ask for happiness all the time,
Because
happiness and sadness is outer wears of each person's life. - Guru
Nanak, Vaar Manjh, GGS
Digging deep foundations,
the walls are constructed, but in the end, the
buildings return to heaps of dust.
People gather and hoard
their possessions, and give nothing to anyone else -
the poor fools think that everything is theirs.
Riches
do not remain with anyone - not even the golden palaces of Sri
Lanka.
Listen, you foolish and ignorant mind
- only His Will prevails. - Guru Nanak, Gauri Chetee, GGS
Those with worldly wealth are
really poor(if they do not remember God);
Those who have God in their heart, are rich with all nobel qualities.
-
Guru Nanak, GGS p,1287
Worthless is the life that is led
Only to eat and swell the belly.
-Guru Nanak, GGS p.790
Treat others well
Do good to bad person
Do not succumb to anger
Your
body will not become ill
Everything comes in your lap
-Saint Farid, GGS
Do not cause fear to anyone
Do not be fearful of anyone
Whoever lives such a life,
Is truly the wise one.
-Guru Tegh Bahadur, GGS,
p,1427
Every heart is a precious gem
Utter not bitter words, and cause pain
to anyone
If you long for God
Do no break anyone's heart.
-Saint Farid (Sufi Saint),
GGS,p 1384
O Friend, if you posses fine intellect,
Do not blacken the record
of anyone (by looking for their mistakes)
Bow your head, and look for the shortcomings within.
-
Saint Farid, GGS, p1378
Let truth be the strict norm of all you think and do,
so that your pain and
anxiety may go and all-felicity come to you,
Always cognise the near presence of God, through the practice of the
Name,
Avoid hurt or injury to any sentient being so that peace may come to your
mind,
Be humble by helping
and serving those afflicted with misery and want so as
to achieve God-consciousness
Nanak testifies that God
is the exalter of the fallen and lowly. -
GGS, page 322
Nature
and Environment
The Creator created himself......
And created all creation in which he is manifest.
You Yourself the bumble-bee, flower, fruit and the tree.
You Yourself the water, desert, ocean and the pond.
You
Yourself are the big fish, tortoise and the Cause of causes.
Your form can not be known.
-GGS, p 1016)
Love and Humility
He is attained not by cleverness, learning and feats of intellect;
Through
love, humility and devotion may He be attained -Guru Nanak, p436
True Hero and Warrior
The
true Hero and warrior is the one who kill the evil of their own ego
-Guru Amardas, GGS, p 86
Those who
conquer their self( controlling the senses), conquer the world
-Guru Nanak, GGS
Those who have colored their
life with God's love,
are known as the true heroes in this world. Guru Arjan, GGS
The true Hero is
the one who fights for the poor and defenseless,
they sacrifice themselves for this cause and never leave the battleground.
-
Saint Kabir, GGS, p
The God-conscious and enlightened person is animated with an intense desire
to
do good in this world."
-GGS,
page 273
Prayers
Blessed is that season when I remember You.
Sublime is that work which
is done for You.
Blessed is that heart in which You dwell, O Giver of all.
You are the Universal Father
of all, O my Lord and Master.
Your innumerable gifts and treasures are inexhaustible
They are contented and
live in bliss, upon whom You shower Your Grace and
Your gifts; they become Your devotees, Lord.
All place
their hopes in You; You dwell deep within each and every heart.
All share in Your Grace; none are beyond You.
You
Yourself liberate the Your own devotees who love you;
You Yourself consign the self-willed to wander in in
the cycle of life and
death.
Nanak offers himself to you, Lord; The entire universe is Your creation and
Your
play.
-Guru Arjan, GGS p
The world is in flames
O Lord! Please save it by showering Your Grace
Embrace
and lift everyone
through which ever door they come to You. Guru Amardas, GGS, p 853
Nanak* -
Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism. His name is used in the hymns
to show that it is a revelation to Nanak. The
name Nanak is also used by his
successors in their hymns to indicate the continuation of the same
revelation.
400th Anniversary of the Sikh Scriptures - Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Nanak founded Sikhism
in the 15th century (Guru translates as
"enlightener"). His philosophy was centered in belief in one God, who is
creator and
sustainer of all, and attainable by everyone. He taught that seekers of true
faith must grow
spiritually through introspection and meditation on the Name
of God. This spiritual foundation manifests in
a life of humility, service,
and love of all creation, which is the basis of Sikh philosophy. Guru Nanak
and
his successors composed their own divinely revealed hymns, which were
compiled by the fifth Guru, Guru Arjun,
in 1604. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind
Singh, later accorded the scriptures with the status of a living Guru, thereby
making it the revered and eternal spiritual guide of the Sikhs.
Ecumenical in nature, Guru Granth
Sahib also contains the actual revelations
of many enlightened saints from various other backgrounds, such as Hindu
and
Muslim, who saw God beyond the narrow restrictions of the institutions of
their times. Some of these
hymns were written by so-called "untouchables", who
were shunned by society. However, their philosophy was in harmony
with the
spirit of Sikhism. It is perhaps the only scripture in the world that
incorporates and sanctifies
texts of people who did not subscribe to the same faith.
The entire Guru Granth Sahib is composed in poetry
and is set to Indian
classical music. Kirtan, or singing of these hymns, is an integral part of the
Sikh prayer
service started by Guru Nanak 500 hundred years ago. These hymns
were composed in many Asian languages, mainly
Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic,
Hindi, and Punjabi. The compositions are set in rhymed couplets. They are printed
in
"Gurmukhi" script, an alphabet adapted by the second Guru of the Sikhs,
Guru Angad, for the Punjabi language.
The governing theme of the Guru Granth Sahib encourages each human being to
seek one's true self-the Divine
spark within- to have unison with God. It
also speaks to almost every facet of human existence - social, political,
economic and spiritual. It fosters compassion and service for people who are poor
or suffering, and promotes
s ocial and gender equality. It also enjoins full
participation in family and community life. In short, Guru
Granth Sahib
envisions the creation of a just social and economic order, and peaceful
co-existence.
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