08-06-2007, 08:38 AM
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 | SPN Sewadaar | | | Enrolled: May 2007 Location: India..
Posts: 97
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Guru Granth Sahib and Placement of Mool Mantra Mool Mantraforms the very first line in the SGGS. Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh's Holy Book. If it is not in use it is wrapped in decorative silks and placed on a platform. During the day the book is opened on cushions (manji). If it is not being read it may be covered with a cloth called a rumalla. Whilst it is being read a fan called a chauri (a sign of authority) may be waved over it. The book is made up from the sacred writing of six of the gurus. it contains 1,430 pages, 3,384 hymns and is always exactly the same. The language it is written in is Gurmukhi (literally "from the mouth of gurus")...a written form of the panjabi. It is treated like a live guru; with great respect. Wherever the book is can be considered a meeting place for Sikhs. Mool Mantra: A Relook. Sikh mantra; the first hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib. The ‘Mool Mantra’ sums up Sikh beliefs about God, and is said to be Guru Nanak's first teaching. Translated from the Gurmukhi script, it says, ‘There is only one god. His name is truth. Present in all beings, creator of everything, he is without fear or hate. He is timeless, beyond birth and death. Self-existent, he is known by the Guru's grace’. The nine statements of the ‘Mool Mantra’ are: Ik Onkar ‘There is only one God’: Sikh statement that God is one (monotheism). It is formed from two letters in Gurmukhi script, and is often used as a symbol. Sat Nam ‘His name is Truth’: Sikh name for God. The name itself is a holy formula, or mantra, that contains everything about God. Sikhs believe that chanting or meditating on God's name will enable the worshipper to get closer to God, and eventually to reach a state of pure understanding, peace, and salvation. Karta Purakh ‘He is the creator of everything’: Sikhs believe that God is the creator and ‘mover’ of everything; nothing happens without God's will. Sikh attitudes to the sanctity of the God-given environment and the human body are shaped by this belief. Nir Bhau ‘He is without fear’: Sikhs believe that God has no fear because he is in control of the world, and nothing exists outside his domain to threaten him. Nir Vair ‘He is without hate’: Sikhs believe that God cares equally for everything he created. Thus everyone is forgiven for mistakes if they are sincerely sorry, as God is goodness and mercy. Akal Murat ‘He is timeless’: Sikhs believe that God is immortal, that he has always existed and always will; he has no limits and can see all events. As God is everywhere (omnipresent), he has no need of movement, he just ‘is’. Ajuni ‘He is beyond life and death’. Saibhang ‘Self-existent’: Sikhs believe that God is not in relation to another; he exists self-sufficiently in relation to himself. Gur Prashad ‘He is known by the Guru's grace’. __________________ <siq nwmu krqw purKu inrBau inrvYru Akwl mUriq AjUnI sYBM gur pRswid ]
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