The term ‘wah’ is a typical Urdu and often-used form of exclamation of appreciation which is not dissimilar to ‘wow’ in English. ‘Wah-e-Guru’ is an expression that shows appreciation or praise for the guru and is comparable to ‘Jai Gurudev.’
The term Wah-e-Guru does not appear in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS). I repeat, IT DOES NOT OCCUR IN THE GRANTH SAHIB EVEN ONCE!! Its current use as a generic name for the Supreme Lord is a recent phenomenon and has no precedence in the SGGS.
‘So what!’ you may say. We have been using it for many years now and we are happy; it seems to work for us. That’s all that matters.
Okay, but that’s a very sentimental answer and before you make up your mind, please read this article to the end.
The SGGS lays great stress on the Name. Indeed, it goes on and on about the Name. Why? The reason is as such. According to the SGGS it is by associating with the Supreme Lord that one can gain liberation. By the way, that is why you pray. You are not I hope under the false illusion that you are praying for food on the table and a Mercedes in the car park. No, you are praying to attain liberation from the birth death cycle. Having established that, your next question will be, ‘how does one go about attaining liberation.’
The answer to that is the Name. The ‘Name’ is the ticket to heaven. Why so? Because, the Names of the Supreme Lord are considered non-different from the Supreme Lord himself. That means you can associate with the Lord by taking his Name, by chanting it, singing it, hearing it, and so on. This process will gradually purify you and make you eligible for liberation. This is why one chants the Names of the Lord. In short, let it be understood that only the Supreme Lord is the 'scouring or cleansing' agent. Since He is not around to personally associate with, the next best thing is, associate with Him by chanting and hearing His Name. This is the ‘spiritual science’ that is repeated endlessly in the GS.
Incidentally, 'repentance' as the Christians understand it, does not cleanse either. Saying or often repeating, ‘I am sorry for my sins’ does not lessen the burden of sins. Indeed, you can spend the whole day in church saying 'I am sorry' till you are blue in the face, but at the end of the day, you will still find all your sins waiting patiently for you by the blueberry bush near the cemetery.
Having established the science behind the often repeated instruction of taking the ‘Naam’ in the SGGS, let us examine the term Wah-e-Guru. Is it a bona fide name? Answer. No. Does not occur in the SGGS? No, not even once. Does it gain you liberation? No. Does it gain you anything? No.
In short, Wah-e-Guru, while it may increase ones attachment to the guru, it cannot be said to have the spiritual cleansing potency of that a real Name of the Supreme such a 'Hari' is said to have. Chanting ‘Wah-e-Guru’ is not a bona fide means of cleansing and gains very little, and no committee's dictates or extensive use of this 'chant' by the populace will make it bona fide. It cannot be used instead of the bona fide Names of the Supreme Lord which Guru Nanak so lovingly uses.
On the other hand, chanting the names of the Lord such as ‘Hari,’ ‘Ram,’ ‘Gopal’, ‘Govind’, ‘Murari’, ‘Jagdeesh’, ‘Mohan’ etc, all of which are repeatedly mentioned in the SGGS almost on every page and are indeed recommended by Guru Nanak, will gain you an eternity of happiness in the spiritual realm referred to as 'Baikunth' or spiritual world. It is to be understood to be a very real place that is said to exist outside the material cosmic manifestation.
To conclude, while the SGGS repeatedly emphasizes chanting the Name of the Lord, and is indeed the only sacred literature that makes such a song and dance about it, its modern-day followers, that is us, have rendered this sublime instruction entirely useless by stupidly substituting the name with an arbitrary term, one that has absolutely no spiritual potency what so ever.
Wah-e-Guru is not the name of the Supreme Lord.
If you want to make spiritual progress and go back to Baikunth, please chant the real names of the Supreme Lord such as ‘Hari,’ ‘Ram,’ ‘Gopal’, ‘Govind’, ‘Murari’, ‘Jagdeesh’, ‘Mohan’ or any other bona fide name mentioned in the SGGS instead of ‘Wah-e-Guru.’
Sat Sri Akal
The term Wah-e-Guru does not appear in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS). I repeat, IT DOES NOT OCCUR IN THE GRANTH SAHIB EVEN ONCE!! Its current use as a generic name for the Supreme Lord is a recent phenomenon and has no precedence in the SGGS.
‘So what!’ you may say. We have been using it for many years now and we are happy; it seems to work for us. That’s all that matters.
Okay, but that’s a very sentimental answer and before you make up your mind, please read this article to the end.
The SGGS lays great stress on the Name. Indeed, it goes on and on about the Name. Why? The reason is as such. According to the SGGS it is by associating with the Supreme Lord that one can gain liberation. By the way, that is why you pray. You are not I hope under the false illusion that you are praying for food on the table and a Mercedes in the car park. No, you are praying to attain liberation from the birth death cycle. Having established that, your next question will be, ‘how does one go about attaining liberation.’
The answer to that is the Name. The ‘Name’ is the ticket to heaven. Why so? Because, the Names of the Supreme Lord are considered non-different from the Supreme Lord himself. That means you can associate with the Lord by taking his Name, by chanting it, singing it, hearing it, and so on. This process will gradually purify you and make you eligible for liberation. This is why one chants the Names of the Lord. In short, let it be understood that only the Supreme Lord is the 'scouring or cleansing' agent. Since He is not around to personally associate with, the next best thing is, associate with Him by chanting and hearing His Name. This is the ‘spiritual science’ that is repeated endlessly in the GS.
Incidentally, 'repentance' as the Christians understand it, does not cleanse either. Saying or often repeating, ‘I am sorry for my sins’ does not lessen the burden of sins. Indeed, you can spend the whole day in church saying 'I am sorry' till you are blue in the face, but at the end of the day, you will still find all your sins waiting patiently for you by the blueberry bush near the cemetery.
Having established the science behind the often repeated instruction of taking the ‘Naam’ in the SGGS, let us examine the term Wah-e-Guru. Is it a bona fide name? Answer. No. Does not occur in the SGGS? No, not even once. Does it gain you liberation? No. Does it gain you anything? No.
In short, Wah-e-Guru, while it may increase ones attachment to the guru, it cannot be said to have the spiritual cleansing potency of that a real Name of the Supreme such a 'Hari' is said to have. Chanting ‘Wah-e-Guru’ is not a bona fide means of cleansing and gains very little, and no committee's dictates or extensive use of this 'chant' by the populace will make it bona fide. It cannot be used instead of the bona fide Names of the Supreme Lord which Guru Nanak so lovingly uses.
On the other hand, chanting the names of the Lord such as ‘Hari,’ ‘Ram,’ ‘Gopal’, ‘Govind’, ‘Murari’, ‘Jagdeesh’, ‘Mohan’ etc, all of which are repeatedly mentioned in the SGGS almost on every page and are indeed recommended by Guru Nanak, will gain you an eternity of happiness in the spiritual realm referred to as 'Baikunth' or spiritual world. It is to be understood to be a very real place that is said to exist outside the material cosmic manifestation.
To conclude, while the SGGS repeatedly emphasizes chanting the Name of the Lord, and is indeed the only sacred literature that makes such a song and dance about it, its modern-day followers, that is us, have rendered this sublime instruction entirely useless by stupidly substituting the name with an arbitrary term, one that has absolutely no spiritual potency what so ever.
Wah-e-Guru is not the name of the Supreme Lord.
If you want to make spiritual progress and go back to Baikunth, please chant the real names of the Supreme Lord such as ‘Hari,’ ‘Ram,’ ‘Gopal’, ‘Govind’, ‘Murari’, ‘Jagdeesh’, ‘Mohan’ or any other bona fide name mentioned in the SGGS instead of ‘Wah-e-Guru.’
Sat Sri Akal
