Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
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If Guru had come across the faith that holds its redeemer to be the only son of God and who was<br />
resurrected from death for a second coming sometime in the future he would have rejected that belief by<br />
saying that for the birth of a human to take place it needs a man’s semen and a woman’s egg in side her<br />
womb and the clock of death cannot be turned back.<br />
Long before the modern scientific thought developed Guru Nanak sowed the seeds of it in the opening<br />
verse of Guru Granth Sahib and the bani ‘Jap’ that follows it. This editorial is followed by some<br />
selections from GGS to illustrate these points.<br />
<strong>The</strong> opening verse:<br />
< siqnwmu krqw purKu inrBau inrvYru Akwl mUriq AjUnI sYBM gurpRswid ]<br />
“God is ONE. His name is Truth. He is the creator. He is fearless and not inimical. He is without death<br />
and without birth. He is self-existent. Humans can attune to him through Guru’s grace.”<br />
What does it really mean What does it describe Certainly it is not anything akin to a human. It is<br />
formless and timeless and yet is self-existent. In the opening line of ‘Jap’ Guru unequivocally<br />
reasserts his firm belief that what he is saying is an absolute truth.<br />
ਆਿਦ ਸਚੁ ਜੁਗਾਿਦ ਸਚੁ ॥<br />
ਹੈ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਹੋਸੀ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ ॥੧॥<br />
ArQ:- hy nwnk! Akwl purK mu`F qoN hoNd vwlw hY, jugW dy mu`F qoN mOjUd hY [ies vyly BI mOjUd hY qy AgWh ƒ BI hoNd<br />
vwlw rhygw [1[<br />
True In <strong>The</strong> Primal Beginning. True Throughout <strong>The</strong> Ages. True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever<br />
And Ever True. ||1||<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a single English word that describes what Guru is saying and that word is ENERGY.<br />
Referring to death Guru asks what has died. <strong>The</strong>n he answers his own question; nothing has died.<br />
Body has simply gone back to its elements. <strong>The</strong> breath mixes with air, body becomes dust and the<br />
spark of ENERGY merges with the ENERGY.<br />
I see seeds of E=MC 2 .<br />
*****<br />
Hardev Singh Shergill<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
PRAYER - ARDAAS<br />
[From the January-February 2013 <strong>Sikh</strong> <strong>Bulletin</strong>]<br />
Practice of prayer has a universal presence in all societies, primitive to very advanced and in all the<br />
religions. Whether it helps or not is another matter and depends upon an individual’s beliefs. One thing is<br />
certain, however, prayer might help a person if it is about self and that not because of any divine<br />
intervention but because of the placebo effect, well known in the field of medicine. To pray for someone<br />
else’s good health and rainfall during drought is a fruitless exercise.<br />
Dr. Chahal, in his article on Ardaas (p.2) with extensive quotes from Gurbani has come to the conclusion<br />
that Guru Nanak’s belief about prayer was different from what his followers are now proclaiming and<br />
practicing, and it is best summed up by his quote by Albert Einstein, “Scientific research is based on the<br />
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