Sikh Gurus, Sacred Scripture, Sacred Institutions - Research Paper Example

November 30, Sikh Gurus, Sacred Scripture, Sacred s Nothing is more sacred to the Sikh than the Guru Granth, their holy scriptures, which contain the poems and songs of Guru Nanak and Gurus in his line of succession. In Sikh places of worship, the Guru Granth is kept on a throne, wrapped in robes, beneath a canopy, with someone to fan the air around it at all times, with a yak tail. The Sikh congregant makes an offering and bows low before it, then sits down facing it, to worship. It is carried above the head, when moved, and it is always treated with total respect. Sikhs have a special room for the scripture, or at least a place of honor for it. All Sikhs are deeply connected to the Guru Granth, and it is considered to be the Guru, and thus to be the immediate revelation and manifestation of God (Mann 41). How scripture became the Guru and how each Guru participated in scripture, and the institutions that resulted from this process, is a very interesting story. The way God spoke to the Sikhs was through their Gurus. The Gurus wrote songs and recitations of devotion and supplication, in poetic form, and these were passed on to subsequent Gurus of the lineage. The Guru Granth is comprised of the collection of poetry and songs, dating all the way back to the respected Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs (Mann). The scripture is an active part of daily living, for the Sikhs, and is the center for rites of passage in Sikh family celebrations (Mann 42) Guru Nanak taught an emancipator path of liberation from the cycle of rebirth, based upon the humble and joyous adoration of God. God was macrocosm and microcosm, and could not be fully known nor manipulated, but might freely bestow his grace. Guru Nanak, glimpsing the transcendent, sang poetry to God: I would still not be able to measure your greatness, nor signify the glory of your name. Another example is: To you belong my breath, to you my flesh. You the True One are my Beloved (Singh 34). Guru Nanak’s 500 devotional songs (Mann 44) address the problem of Indian society’s brokenness and fragmentation into the many pieces of caste, class, religion, language, social structure and cultural paradigms (Muthumohan 8). In the 1500’s, the Punjab was ruled by Muslims, using the Q’uran, and society also under the influence of Brahman priests who excluded women and all lower castes from much of the religious worship experience, and who kept an oral tradition of scripture, so that accessibility was controlled (Mann 43). The Jains responded to India’s fragmentation by honoring multiplicity. Vedanta reduced everything into OM, outside of which everything else is illusion. Buddhism constructed relationality. Sikh musical devotion mediates between the dilemma of one and many through “musical cementing and construction of consent” (Muthumohan 8). Music is a fluid signifier, to Guru Nanak’s way of thinking, and very unlike the rigid deity signifiers of other religious approaches, which created division, not unity (Muthumohan 8). Guru Nanak’s God is nameless, formless and eternal, cannot be precisely known, so this God does not divide into inflexible social and philosophical segments, but unites what is broken. The universality of God was reflected in the teachings and practice of caste and gender equality (Grewel 15). This view of equality is reflected now in the way every Sikh, irrespective of caste, class, gender, age, or status is equally welcome to handle the Guru Granth, to read it and listen to it and sing it and respond to it (Mann 44). There is no priest in charge but each person can access the scripture, and therefore God, directly. This view of equality is reflected in Guru Nanak’s institution of congregational worship. He sat with his followers, who were not distinguished from each other in practice, and sang praises to God together, at the same time, in the same place, with the same status, all having in common their loyalty to the Guru. This became known as “sangat”, the term given to congregational worship, and this approach was carried out by Sikhs, whether the Guru was with them or not. In fact, this coming together in common to worship is considered to be far more powerful than just worshipping alone (Grewel 15). The manner of congregational worship was distinct from others in that Guru Nanak composed the songs of worship and praise that were offered by his people to God. Guru Nanak, himself, understood how precious these were and, although he believed other scripture was also inspired by God, yet he firmly believed that his compositions were entirely adequate for the guidance of his followers, to lead good and useful, spiritual centered lives. He was careful to write these compositions down. 1530 he pulled them together into the beginnings of the Guru Granth (Mann 44). Actually, he had a scribe who assisted him significantly in this work and who became the appointed successor of Guru Nanak (Mann 50). Guru Nanak believed that the scribe who writes the scripture, as well as the ink, pen, and paper, are all blessed by God. Scribes had an elevated role to play in the Sikh community and in the revelations of the Guru Granth (Mann 51). When the Sikhs later became quite prosperous, they used Muslim and Hindu scribes also, and each left a personal religious mark (a Q’uran border with a mosque and margins with Hindu deities) which were graciously accepted in the spirit of unity and tolerance (Mann 52). Guru Nanak handed over his compositions to his successor, when he took the position of Guru. The ceremonial manner in which it was given put a stamp of approval on the scripture, marking it officially for all Sikhs (Mann 45). The next six successors of Guru Nanak treasured these compositions, as he had, and followed the same practice, adding their own precious compositions of worship and praise. These were passed on down the line of Guru succession, each generation treasuring, as very precious, the collected compositions they continued to use. The collection also included sacred writings from other sources, including Sikh court poets, Hindu and Sufi saints, added by Guru Amardas. Guru Govind Singh did not add anything of his own to the scriptures because he decided it was enough and could stand on its own, without further contributions. He did, however, include the existing writings of three Gurus. He declared it officially completed in the 1680’s (Mann 45). No doubt recognizing the vulnerability of a singular representative of God (especially with two Gurus executed by the Mughals), he vested authority in the community to interpret the scripture, which remained the central authority for Sikhs (Mann 47). This is how the Sikh sacred text, the Guru Granth Sahib, came to be. It was sacred because it was in praise of God, but it was also sacred because it held the ancestral Guru line of adoration, providing a template for emancipatory adoration and a container within which every Sikh could feel God. In singing the Guru’s compositions together, Sikhs in the congregation participated in the Guru’s relationship with God, and with the ancestral Gurus. Not only did they worship with and through Guru Nanak and, after Guru Nanak, through current and past Gurus, but they connected directly with God as Guru, as Word. The compositions of the Guru revealed God, and this revelation, through the bani, could stand in the place of the Guru, synonymous with the Guru (Grewel 15). Most Sikhs accept the Granth as the Guru. It links past and present (Grewel 16). It traces history. Guru Nanak, for example, composed verses about the Mughal invasion of India, and there was mention of a particularly successful Sikh congregation, in a later composition (Mann 46). Another institution, begun by Guru Nanak, reflecting his perception of the universality of God and therefore the absolute equality of people, was the community meal, “langar”. This is where members of the Sikh congregation all eat together, in an equal status manner. The langar is sustained by voluntary cash or service contributions (Grewel 16). Congregational worship and community meals are institutions that help to define sacred space for Sikhs, and are part of every gurdwara. Sacred space and sacred rituals are critical features of religious identity, because ideology is communicated and internalized through ritual. Congregational worship and community meal are rituals that help to distinguish religious identity for the Sikhs (Grewel 16). Being together as equals, for congregational worship and community meals, is a sacred act. Being together as equals is a ritual of worship of a God who is equally inside and outside everything, equally bestows grace on the rich and on the outcaste, a God who defines us all as one in him. These institutions -- congregational worship and community meals -- celebrate God, and celebrate the Guru as the source of revelation from God. They celebrate the equal access that all Sikks have to the Guru (either through proximity or through the Guru Granth, and therefore celebrate equal relationship and access to God, to the hope of liberation, and thus to life purpose. Guru Nanak spoke of the earth as a Dharmsal, a place where beings who are ready are separated from beings who are not yet ready, and honored by God. The Sikh institution, dharmsal was established as a place where merit could be earned toward emancipation from the death/rebirth cycle (Grewel 17). Sikhs came together there, in the early morning, sang and ate. The best dharamsal was of course where the Guru himself was, and where the songs he composed could be sung together, as an equal, with him. Guru Amar Das added an institutional improvement and ritual at the dharamsal in Goindwal, by constructing a ritual bathing place. This caused it to become a favored pilgrimage site. His successor, Guru Ram Das, moved the main Guru site to Ramdaspur and constructed a huge tank and a town grew around it. Later, his successor, who happened to be also his son, built a Dharamsala in the middle of the tank (Grewel 19). Now the dharamsala took on new depth of meaning and became known as “the house of God” and the bathing area became known as the “pool of nectar” in which the Sikh faithful could wash away all their sins, not only from this lifetime but also from past lifetimes (Grewel 20). Furthermore, Guru Amar collected all the songs composed by the Gurus, from the time of Guru Nanak and on through his successors, and brought them together in the form of the Granth. He placed this Granth in the “House of God”, which attracted lots of Sikhs, both as a ritual pilgrimage site and as a town to settle in (Grewel 20). So, at this point we can see the evolution from sacred space as being near to the Guru, in the time of Guru Nanak, to a point where it became a focus for ritual and salvation from karmic debt, and basically the dwelling of God and the dwelling for his sacred revelation through the Gurus. Naturally, the head dharamsalas were managed by the reigning Guru, but apparently the sons (of Guru Amgard and Guru Amar Das and Guru Har Rai), Grandsons (of Guru Hargobind) and nephews (of Guru Arjan) decided that administering dharamsals was a good business to go into, and they seized control of main dharamsalas, local dharamsalas, or just opened up their own dharamsala and declared themselves Gurus, as though it were a franchise business. Eventually, lots of Sikh sacred space had fallen into the hands of people who were not in the line of succession to Guru Nanak (Grewel 20). But in 1699, Guru Govind Singh reorganized things completely. He removed all the representatives and told people not to recognize the false “gurus” who were not in the proper line of succession to Guru Nanak. In fact, he instructed that they were not even to recognize them as Sikhs (Grewel 21). He set up the Khalsa so that he could re-position everyone under himself, rather than having them scattered among self-declared “gurus”. He placed dharamsalas under local congregation representatives, to manage their own sacred space (Grewel 21), under his authorization. This was sacred authority because the light of God was passed from Guru Nanak, through his successors, to Guru Govind Singh, who now passed this light to the Khalsa, first locally and then collectively. The Khalsa became the Guru. Guru Govind Singh perceived the Khalsa as his real body, and instructed that when he died there should be no successor anymore, because the Khalsa is his successor and that is now where Guru authority would be invested (Grewel 21). Guru Govind Singh died and the Khalsa took over managing the dharamsalas, especially the “House of God”. There was a power struggle between Guru Singh’s radical group and a rival group of Sikhs because both groups wanted control over the “House of God”, but Guru Singh’s group won and Ramdaspur became the most important pilgrimage site for Sikhs. It also became a capital for administering Sikh affairs and a headquarters for strategy generation against opponents (Grewel 22). The Khalsas managed things through most of the 18th century, and the Akalis managed from the latter part of the 18th century, and eventually, in the early 19th century management fell to Ranjit Singh, who built a wall around the townships, fortresses and city of Ramdaspur, and added a fort and a palace. After that it was known as Amritsar and was the leading city and pilgrimage site in the Punjab. The Sikh social order was becoming more class conscious and so the Sikhs turned to the original sacred authority of the Guru Granth and notions of equality that had begun with Guru Nanak. There was increasing pressure to transfer authority over Sikh sacred spaces to the Guru Panth, with the end of Sikh rule, and eventually the British, unable to convince the people of the legitimacy of their rule, had to do so. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee was recognized as the true representative of the Khalsa, officially so in 1925 (Grewel 23). For the past several decades, the Committee has had tremendous power and manages most Sikh sacred spaces. They live the doctrine of Guru Panth (Grewel 23), continuing the tradition. Delhi, however, does not always cooperate. From 1935-1940, the Rai Bohaders and other very wealthy Sikhs controlled the Delhi Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. The SGPC conducted election for the DGPC but that was all. The SGPC wanted more control over them, and especially wanted to displace the power of the Rai Bohaders, and the SGPC managed to gain full power over the DGPC in 1942 (Kaur 288). This is consistent with Sikh history, in that the doctrine of Guru Granth teaches equality, and the DGPC management by the wealthy is not congruent with that doctrine, nor with the Khalsa belief that sacred spaces belong to every Sikh and that direct Sikh oversight and direct Sikh access is their right. In fact, the situation may have been reminiscent of the time period in which false Gurus were self-declaring and seizing power over sacred spaces, before Guru Govind Singh chased them out of power and transferred authority to the Khalsa. After 1947, with India divided, the Congress Party wanted to gain control over Punjab politics, and they infiltrated the SGPC with the idea to use their leverage to achieve that end. This caused conflict and split agendas inside the SGPC and affected the DGPC also. Rival factions made trouble between the two organizations. The SGPC wanted to maintain control over the DGPC, and the DGPC wanted autonomy (Kaur 288). There were lots of lawsuits flying about between 1947-67, between rival factions. In 1968-71 there were open confrontations and lots of accusations and claims made in the SGPC, regarding management of the DGPC. So, in 1971 the Union Government stepped in and appointed a Gurdwara Board to oversee things until the DGPC elections, which then resulted, in 1974, in the Delhi Sikh Management Committee (Kaur 288). It can be seen that in Sikh thinking, religion and politics are integrally related (Kauer 289). From one Sikh perspective, that is a tragic outcome because of the loss of central Sikh authority consistent with the Guru Panth. From another, more ancient Sikh perspective, that is a rightful outcome because Sikh sacred spaces remain in local Sikh hands, and not in the hands of rulers who are far away from the people. Perhaps Guru Nanak would not have been as offended at this outcome as he would have been by all the in-fighting, the use of energy and Sikh light to extinguish others, rather than to share songs of poetry and praise together and advance in merit and maturity toward emancipation, through the ecstatic adoration of God, and the humble reception of his boundless Grace. Let intellect be the musical instrument and love the tambourine, And there shall be always joy and pleasure in the mind, This is the devotion and this is the austerity. Sing in this way beating time with thy feet. Let the knowledge of His praise be the clapping of the hands, And joy in the mind be the rhythm Let Truth and contentment be the two resounding cymbals, Let the perpetual vision of the Lord be thy ankle-bells, Let non-duality be thy music and song Proceed in this way with measured step. (Guru Granth Sahib 350) Works Cited Grewel, J. S. "Sacred Space in Sikhism." O'Connell, J. T. Organizational Religious Movements. Shimla: IIAS, 1999. 13-25. Guru Granth Sahib. n.d. Kauer, J. "The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Manament Committee." Singh, M. History and Culture of Panjab. New Delhi: Atlantic, 1989. 288-297. Mann, G. S. "Scriptures and the Nature of Authority." Wimbush, V. L. Theorizing Scriptures. Chapel Hill: Rutgers University Press, 2008. 41-54. Muthumohan, N. "Music as Guru Nanak's Mode of Communication: A Tamil Perspective." Sikh Spectrum (2002): 1-9. Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur. Feminine Principle in the Sikh Version of the Transcendent. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Read More