November 19 marks the 552nd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj, the founder of the Sikh tradition and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. He was born in the year 1469 in Talwandi, Pakistan.
Perfect Gurus like Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj come to this earth to reunite souls with God. Such Enlightened Beings come to this earth as a ray of light and through their spiritual radiance, they help merge the souls, trapped in the cycle of birth and death, back with God. Among his main teachings were “Kirat Karo, Naam Japo, Vand Chhako (Earn your living, Remember God, Share with Others)”. It means that while earning our own living, we shall remember God at all times and share and serve others.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji helped countless souls walk the path back to God. He travelled far and wide to spread the message of human fellowship under one universal parent, God. He taught that regardless of our nationality or faith, we are all connected through God manifested as Shabd reverberating throughout creation. He exhorted all to connect with this power of God within to realise God.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj came to alleviate the pains of the world. We are forever grappling with difficulties because our attention is always attached to the outer world. Guru Nanak Dev Ji helped turn our attention back to God because all peace, bliss and happiness can be found when we realise our closeness with God. As we invert our attention, flowers of God’s bliss blossom amidst the sorrows of the desert of the outer world. Unaffected by our outer challenges, we enjoy the inner peace and bliss of God.
Saints such as Guru Nanak Dev Ji come to fill the goblet of our soul with Shabd or the Light and Sound of God. The Shabd nourishes our soul and puts it in such ecstasy that our attention is always focused on God. Our soul, which is conscious, connects with the Ocean of All-consciousness to live in a state of eternal peace and ineffable bliss. Our path back to God is illumined by the Light of God experienced within. Our soul, nourished and guided by the Light of God, is then able to soar back to God.
As humans, we may call God by many names, but what is important is that we remember God. We are, instead, engaged in remembering the world. We have thoughts and desires which drag our attention into the world. We have to turn our thoughts to God. This we can do through ‘Simran,’ the mental repetition of God’s name.
The sole purpose of this human birth is to realise God. We are fortunate that we have the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj to guide us on the path back to God. We celebrate the lives of such great saints when we embed their teachings in our lives and walk on the path shown by them so that our soul can merge back into its source.