Was Guru Nanak God?

[perrysingh]

In our oral tradition, historically speaking on a religious and cultural level, it is normally accepted that Guru Nanak was no mere "Guru". From JanamSakhi to the writings of Baba SiriChand, his son, there was an acceptance that Guru Nanak was God on Earth or rather God visting us in human form. The Sindhi Hindus accept Guru Nanak as a deity, rather than a Saint or mere Guru and have his idols in their temples and they worship him. The subsequent Gurus who inherited his throne up to the point of Guru Gobindh Singh prostrated at the name of Nanak.
So, I ask the sangat this question - who was Guru Nanak? Was just a saint or prophet (with something to prophesize) or was he something more? I was reading JanamSakhi and it strikes me as he was much more than what most of us think. I have also read what Baba Siri Chand wrote about his father. Being his son, he intimately knew him.
Baba Siri Chand writes:

Let us sing the praises of Nanak, King of kings,

Emperor of both worlds.


The whole cosmos is His temple
Congregations sing sweet songs in His praise.
Millions of goddesses burn holy lamps in His honour
Millions of gods sing psalms in His praise.
Millions wash His lotus feet
The moon and sun illuminate Him with their radiance.
Masses of flowers are offering Him fragrance.
The True Master, the True Light, He is merciful to the poor.


The King of the Winds fans Him
While saints and sages meditate on His holiness.
He is universally accepted as the perfect Guru
The entire cosmos vibrates with his celestial song.
Bells ring out the tone -ONKAR-
Continuously illluminating the heavens.
He is one with God, Whose Name is Truth,
In Nanak's Name saints find their support.


Siri Chand, Nanak's son, declares,
"Nanak is unattainable, unfathomable, unshakeable, and pure.
Whoever sings Emperor Nanak's praises
Resides in heaven and achieves complete salvation.
Oh kind Master, protect those who seek your shelter
Oh Nanak! You are the saviour; we are just your children.

Source: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Chand

So, what do we know about the true nature of Guru Nanak. It strikes me as in today's world, we do not quite understand him and his significance. I often times run into Sikhs who say things like "he was a great saint or he was a prophet or he was like Jesus". The thought occured to me that, based on our knowledge of him, perhaps he was greater than anything any faith has seen. How else can you explain him moving the Kab'a at Mecca with his feet?

[KaurPrincess]

i don't think sikhs believe in miracles like moving the kab'a...but thats something else...
anyway, guru ji said that god is everywhere and everything is part of god, so he can't be god as he wasn't omnipresent...
he was a great, great person, who was AT ONE with god, but not god himself!

[himmat_singh]

Sat Sri Akal

Guru Nanak Dev ji himself writes that the Almighty Lord is unknowable and inaccessible, yet is realisable, with His grace, as God is within all. Even then His limits cannot be known.

The only God you can ever know is that created when you reach a particular state of mind. Whether you wish to believe someone is God, is up to you. It makes no difference to the reality. “God” is unknowable. You have no power over Him whatsoever. He does as He pleases. You cannot establish Him, cannot maintain Him and cannot destroy Him. You can believe Guru Nanak Dev ji was God, you can believe you are God, or the next door neighbour is God. It still makes no difference to the Truth. God is still as He was, as He is, and will always be the same in the future. The only thing you can manipulate is your state of mind. When you have complete unshakable faith in your perception of God, then you will realise your God within, but will not make the slightest change to the Truth. For those who seek God, there will be a continuous search for God as they mould Him to suit their minds. When all doubt is dispelled and there is complete faith in Him, only then is God realised.
God is One and is ALL-pervading, so is not in Guru Nanak Dev ji alone, or in another Guru alone, or another prophet alone, or is found in certain buildings alone, nor is His word in certain scriptures alone. God is All-pervading.

I hope that helps.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh

[PCJ2K]

I wish people would leave Lord alone.

Nobody other than Lord Himself is Lord...

People often claim that their prophets were Lord Himself and came to this world to make this world a better place.

Just imagine, since Lord has the power to create this Universe, He must have power to change this Universe for better if He really wanted to do so. He wouldn't have to fight or kill anybody to make this Universe a better place....

[HSJagdev]

I agree with you.

Guru Nanak Ji was God in human form.

aap narain kaladhar is jug meh parvarioh.

I hope I got that right.

He is only one to come to this world and stay here.

He started as bani became mortal for 9 further forms and ended up as bani again and is with us forever.

Bani is Guru and guru is bani and bani is akalpurak Nirankar.

[Kuldip S. Virdi]

Guru Nanak our first Guru was human Guru. He was born of a mother, lived on the earth like a normal householder besides his travels, udasis and teachings and passed on as another human.He passed his Guruship to his best Sikh.

The Guru in Mool Mantar itself defines that the God is who is not born, does not die and is there for ever and is achieved with the followings of Guru's teachings and God's own grace. Though, in some bani in the Shri Guru Granth Saheb, Guru Nanak is elevated to the Godship, but then these were probably laudatory references to the Guru as the Guru is Parmeshwara, Guru is Brhma, Vishnu and knower of the true path of the God.

Guru Nanak describes himself as an out of work rababi(mistrel), whom the God has chosen for his work. He presents himself as lowest of the low and then pray afor the closeness to the God following the path of truth and truthful living.

Wahe Guru Jee Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Jee ki Fateh.

Kuldip Singh

[Theodorus]

perrysingh ji,

I think I agree with himmat_sing ji, PCJ2K ji and KaurPrincess ji,
I think if we could have asked Guru Nanak he wholeheartedly would have said "No, off course not".

[perrysingh]

i don't think sikhs believe in miracles like moving the kab'a...

I disagree. What Sikhs are you referring to? Belief in Guru Nanak's miracles has always been a cornerstone of our faith. What would you say about Panja Sahib? That is a place you can actually visit and see. Are there Sikhs that would deny that too? Many disbelievers have visited Panja Sahibh only to come back baffled and confused, because Panja Sahibh is concrete proof of Guru Nanak's Godly powers and can be verified today. I am not sure what Sikhs you are talking about because all of the one's I know would never question Guru Nanak's power.

[perrysingh]

First of all, Guru Nanak never engaged in any type of physical violence. Being who he was and at the level he was, he was above the need for that. Many attempts were made on his life (if you believe the Sakhis) and he could not be killed - which would fall in the line with the reasoning he was God in human form, because you can't kill God. The Maulvis at Sindh tried to drown him and failed. Babur Shah jailed him and was forced to release him after seeing the wheat grinder move on it's own. Sajjan Thug couldn't kill him. Kauda Raksh was going to make him his next meal in a boiling pot of oil but wasn't able to. The Muslim Imam in Bagdhad ordered him to be stoned to death for blasphemy and yet the crowd was unable to throw the stones. Wali Kandahari rolled a boulder down a hill and the site of Panja Sahib is the proof this happened. His handprint is still in the stone. Pathar Sahibh in Ladhak, where his silhouette is melted into a boulder that was used to try to kill him and was discovered by the Indian Army. And the list goes on.....................
Look, I asked a question which I haven't had an answer for...........who was he? What was he? If you think he was a man or some mere saint, please, explain. None of us have ever met him, but his son was blessed by being born his son and knew him intimately. Don't you think we should put a little stock into what his son said him? Everyone that met him in his life was emphatic that they had met something beyond description and many swore that they had met their creator. Why would they say that? Baba SiriChand was no dummy. He was a very, very, well educated Yogi who had reached the highest point a Yogi can achieve and he prostrated before his father. How would you explain that?
What if, in fact, God does have a personality and can and does come down in human form for our view at his pleasure? How would you know and how can you say he doesn't? It's his creation.

[himmat_singh]

Sat Sri Akal

It’s quite possible to turn very progressive religious ideology comprising quite low levels of superstition that most human minds could find acceptable, if one adds a little bit of faith, into something that most human minds would find impossible to accept, however hard they try. The level at which the mind rejects concepts that have no supporting physical evidence, varies from person to person, but just as some now find certain religions to be full of superstition and rituals, it is quite possible their own successor generations will also return yet again to square one, if some take things too far.

In my own opinion, for whatever little its worth, is that it is probably better to believe what one wants to believe, but not try to make others believe the same. In that way one stays in the frame of mind one wants, and others can also maintain faith as well, without taking things to a point when such a high proportion of the supposedly similar minded followers end up in doubtful states of mind, that they split off to start all over again with yet another new religion that helps them to build mental fortitude.

There has to be the right balance. Not too much superstition, but not too little either. Guru Nanak Dev ji found the balance – One unreachable, unknowable God - not many Gods, or him as God. Once one knows what God is or was, and then were one to find that He fails in a slightest way whatsoever, then faith cannot be placed in Him. No faith in someone or something that will rescue one at some time or another leaves one with less mental strength. God has to be unknowable with a vast array of powers and virtues that make Him perfect, but still has to be possible to the mind. Humans are all imperfect in some way or another, so cannot match most people’s concept of God

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh