Understanding Sikhism: Sikhism is a subject of faith and not knowledge. Empirical observation and rational enquiry cannot prove the existence of Nanak’s [founder of Sikhism] God. By definition Sikhism is a religion and not a Philosophy for that very reason.
Philosophy seeks truth by reason and argument, whereas, religion and mysticism do so by intuition and revelation. The rules applied to dichotomise religion from philosophy are dependent upon the nature of the truth being sought. In this case it is divine reality. In assessing such statements and claims, Sikhism has been classified as a religion because of its mystical status. Truth be told, reason and argument cannot permeate and evaluate divine reality. It is a matter of belief and as such falls within the ambit of religious experience, not philosophical investigation.
Since the dawn of civilisation, humankind has attempted to discover the means by which our knowledge is acquired and the standards or criteria employed to judge the extent, nature and the reliability of all that we claim to know. Epistemology, an important branch of philosophy, deals with such knowledge claims.
Knowledge as we know it comes through our sense data [including intuition] of the world in which we live. How we perceive this knowledge is down to our reason. This is more commonly referred to as empirical observation and rationalism, respectively. In determining what we can know, there are certain conditions that limit our understanding of the world. It is our mind [ma’nn] that set these conditions. These conditions; space, time, cause and effect, reside permanently within our mind and as a result, contribute to our conception of the physical reality we experience.
In illustrating these conditions, Dorothy, from the film “The Wizard of Oz”, affords a good example. The Wizard of Oz gives Dorothy green glasses to wear, which makes everything appear as green. This in a way limits Dorothy the way she perceives reality. Everything around her is part of the natural world, but how she “sees” it, is determined by the green glasses she is wearing. Taken implicitly, Dorothy cannot say the world is green even though she conceives it as being green. Similarly, our reason acts as the glasses through which we perceive the physical world as it appears and not how it really is. We cannot know with certainty what the world is like in “itself”, but we can know what the world is like for “me”. For this very reason the word Maya, [illusion] speculated to have entered the religious lexicon during Vedic times, is used throughout the writings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib [SGGSJ] to make the distinction between physical reality and divine reality.
Time and space, the two forms of intuition acting as conditions also limits are perception. Whatever we see will first and foremost be perceived as phenomena in time and space. Together they occupy a permanent place within the mind and precede every experience we have. For example, when we take the dog out for a walk in the morning, we do not know beforehand what we will experience. What we do know beforehand is that whatever we will perceive will be in time and space because we’re wearing glasses of reason, which we cannot take off. Perceiving things in time and space is innate. The two of them act as modes of perception and not attributes of the physical world. They are part of the human condition.
In understanding reality, these conditions forms part of our consciousness to give us the concept of the world as it is. If our concept of the world was any different, the world would be different, so to speak. The law of causality is eternal and absolute simply because human reason perceives everything that happens as a matter of cause and effect. And, since it’s eternal, conditions at either end are inconceivable.
Nanak’s divine [mystical] experience at Sultanpur Lodhi sets the scene for the creation of what was to become a major religion, namely, Sikhism. All the authors of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji [The Holy Scriptures of Sikhism] speak of the same experience that transcends time, space and the natural faculties of humankind. It is not knowledge, but reality that is imperishable – divine reality.
The question Sikhism attempts to address at a fundamental level is one of reality. What is reality? Does reality consists of those things, such as tables, chairs, trees, mountains, plants, animals and so on, which are made of matter, or does it include some more abstract reasoning such as time and space, and the totality of all such “real” things that would otherwise fall within the meaning of the universe ? Some might consider that this is not the whole of reality. What about the reality of our mind, shouldn’t we include a conscious experience as something real and concepts, such as truth, virtue, beauty, justice and so on as real as well? Of course, some may class the mind and all its attributes to be secondary to what is materially real. This of course, on the basis that our mental states are simply emergent features of the workings of our brain and that, as developed human beings we are the products of our genetic, cognitive and environmental make, categorises conscious mental experience as no more a reality than that of the underlying material which gave rise to it in the first place. In other words matter.
Sikhism however, takes the view that it is the conscious spiritual [mystical] experience transcending time, space, sensory perception and rational reasoning, which itself is primary and real. And, that the external reality that appears to constitute the ambient environment of the ordinary world is to be understood as secondary and transitory. That is to say, this here physical reality is a mere reflection of the divine reality, which like a single point in space [geometry], has no dimension, but is, always has been and always will be [ad sach, jugad sach, havee such, Nanak hosi ve sach]. Take for example a shadow and an object casting it. On closer examination the object casting the shadow would appear to be beautiful, original, majestic and sharper an outline than that of its casted shadow. Taken together, this world view is simply a natural phenomenon of shadows of the divine world of Ik On Kar [God is one].
The conscious spiritual experience that the Banikars [authors of SGGSJ] speak about is the fourth dimension of reality. In the ordinary sense of the meaning dimension, we tend to have a location for an object somewhere in space. For example, the lines of latitude and longitude give us the position or the bearings of an object anywhere on the surface of planet Earth [two dimensional, 2D]. And, likewise any object in space, say the moon [3D]. Sikhism’s Ik On Kar in terms of divine reality is eternity [4D], which ordinary eyes cannot see simply because of the 3D reality of the universe. Nanak’s Sikhism offers 4D glasses to experience the divine. This is synonymous with the three states of consciousness, conscious, unconscious and subconscious. The fourth state of consciousness known as Turyia or more commonly referred to as, God consciousness is a state of pure consciousness. It’s a state of bliss in unison with the divine. Where the former a light [Anubhav Parkash] the latter a sound [Anhad Shabd], together they give conscious spiritual experience. Why spiritual, is because of its transcendent form from matter to non-matter, an experience beyond physical reality.
Questions of meaning and purpose of life are dealt conspicuously in a contemplative setting rather than the ordinary dynamics of life. Although, the fabric of social networking promotes work and altruistic disposition, the contemplative reflection in solitude for the realization of the spiritual being in a human body is deemed necessary to free oneself and become one with God. This is a religion, which is seen as a dimension to bridge the gap between reason and ordinary experience and offers like other systems of belief do, a way to realize the existence of the beautiful, the good and the just God.
The subject matter at the heart of Nanak’s Sikhism is the realization of the spiritual being in the human body.
Guru Amardas Ji weaves it beautifully –
ਘਰ ਹੀ ਮਹਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਭਰਪੂਰੁ ਹੈ ਮਨਮੁਖਾ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਪਾਇਆ ॥ ਜਿਉ ਕਸਤੂਰੀ ਮਿਰਗੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਭ੍ਰਮਦਾ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਇਆ [..hey you human, the spiritual within, you dont see ? Like the deer who searches endlessly for the source of this beautiful fragrance not knowing it is he the emitter, so too is you, waste a beautiful life chasing externally for that which is internally placed - p644 SGGSJ]
Philosophy seeks truth by reason and argument, whereas, religion and mysticism do so by intuition and revelation. The rules applied to dichotomise religion from philosophy are dependent upon the nature of the truth being sought. In this case it is divine reality. In assessing such statements and claims, Sikhism has been classified as a religion because of its mystical status. Truth be told, reason and argument cannot permeate and evaluate divine reality. It is a matter of belief and as such falls within the ambit of religious experience, not philosophical investigation.
Since the dawn of civilisation, humankind has attempted to discover the means by which our knowledge is acquired and the standards or criteria employed to judge the extent, nature and the reliability of all that we claim to know. Epistemology, an important branch of philosophy, deals with such knowledge claims.
Knowledge as we know it comes through our sense data [including intuition] of the world in which we live. How we perceive this knowledge is down to our reason. This is more commonly referred to as empirical observation and rationalism, respectively. In determining what we can know, there are certain conditions that limit our understanding of the world. It is our mind [ma’nn] that set these conditions. These conditions; space, time, cause and effect, reside permanently within our mind and as a result, contribute to our conception of the physical reality we experience.
In illustrating these conditions, Dorothy, from the film “The Wizard of Oz”, affords a good example. The Wizard of Oz gives Dorothy green glasses to wear, which makes everything appear as green. This in a way limits Dorothy the way she perceives reality. Everything around her is part of the natural world, but how she “sees” it, is determined by the green glasses she is wearing. Taken implicitly, Dorothy cannot say the world is green even though she conceives it as being green. Similarly, our reason acts as the glasses through which we perceive the physical world as it appears and not how it really is. We cannot know with certainty what the world is like in “itself”, but we can know what the world is like for “me”. For this very reason the word Maya, [illusion] speculated to have entered the religious lexicon during Vedic times, is used throughout the writings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib [SGGSJ] to make the distinction between physical reality and divine reality.
Time and space, the two forms of intuition acting as conditions also limits are perception. Whatever we see will first and foremost be perceived as phenomena in time and space. Together they occupy a permanent place within the mind and precede every experience we have. For example, when we take the dog out for a walk in the morning, we do not know beforehand what we will experience. What we do know beforehand is that whatever we will perceive will be in time and space because we’re wearing glasses of reason, which we cannot take off. Perceiving things in time and space is innate. The two of them act as modes of perception and not attributes of the physical world. They are part of the human condition.
In understanding reality, these conditions forms part of our consciousness to give us the concept of the world as it is. If our concept of the world was any different, the world would be different, so to speak. The law of causality is eternal and absolute simply because human reason perceives everything that happens as a matter of cause and effect. And, since it’s eternal, conditions at either end are inconceivable.
Nanak’s divine [mystical] experience at Sultanpur Lodhi sets the scene for the creation of what was to become a major religion, namely, Sikhism. All the authors of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji [The Holy Scriptures of Sikhism] speak of the same experience that transcends time, space and the natural faculties of humankind. It is not knowledge, but reality that is imperishable – divine reality.
The question Sikhism attempts to address at a fundamental level is one of reality. What is reality? Does reality consists of those things, such as tables, chairs, trees, mountains, plants, animals and so on, which are made of matter, or does it include some more abstract reasoning such as time and space, and the totality of all such “real” things that would otherwise fall within the meaning of the universe ? Some might consider that this is not the whole of reality. What about the reality of our mind, shouldn’t we include a conscious experience as something real and concepts, such as truth, virtue, beauty, justice and so on as real as well? Of course, some may class the mind and all its attributes to be secondary to what is materially real. This of course, on the basis that our mental states are simply emergent features of the workings of our brain and that, as developed human beings we are the products of our genetic, cognitive and environmental make, categorises conscious mental experience as no more a reality than that of the underlying material which gave rise to it in the first place. In other words matter.
Sikhism however, takes the view that it is the conscious spiritual [mystical] experience transcending time, space, sensory perception and rational reasoning, which itself is primary and real. And, that the external reality that appears to constitute the ambient environment of the ordinary world is to be understood as secondary and transitory. That is to say, this here physical reality is a mere reflection of the divine reality, which like a single point in space [geometry], has no dimension, but is, always has been and always will be [ad sach, jugad sach, havee such, Nanak hosi ve sach]. Take for example a shadow and an object casting it. On closer examination the object casting the shadow would appear to be beautiful, original, majestic and sharper an outline than that of its casted shadow. Taken together, this world view is simply a natural phenomenon of shadows of the divine world of Ik On Kar [God is one].
The conscious spiritual experience that the Banikars [authors of SGGSJ] speak about is the fourth dimension of reality. In the ordinary sense of the meaning dimension, we tend to have a location for an object somewhere in space. For example, the lines of latitude and longitude give us the position or the bearings of an object anywhere on the surface of planet Earth [two dimensional, 2D]. And, likewise any object in space, say the moon [3D]. Sikhism’s Ik On Kar in terms of divine reality is eternity [4D], which ordinary eyes cannot see simply because of the 3D reality of the universe. Nanak’s Sikhism offers 4D glasses to experience the divine. This is synonymous with the three states of consciousness, conscious, unconscious and subconscious. The fourth state of consciousness known as Turyia or more commonly referred to as, God consciousness is a state of pure consciousness. It’s a state of bliss in unison with the divine. Where the former a light [Anubhav Parkash] the latter a sound [Anhad Shabd], together they give conscious spiritual experience. Why spiritual, is because of its transcendent form from matter to non-matter, an experience beyond physical reality.
Questions of meaning and purpose of life are dealt conspicuously in a contemplative setting rather than the ordinary dynamics of life. Although, the fabric of social networking promotes work and altruistic disposition, the contemplative reflection in solitude for the realization of the spiritual being in a human body is deemed necessary to free oneself and become one with God. This is a religion, which is seen as a dimension to bridge the gap between reason and ordinary experience and offers like other systems of belief do, a way to realize the existence of the beautiful, the good and the just God.
The subject matter at the heart of Nanak’s Sikhism is the realization of the spiritual being in the human body.
Guru Amardas Ji weaves it beautifully –
ਘਰ ਹੀ ਮਹਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਭਰਪੂਰੁ ਹੈ ਮਨਮੁਖਾ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਪਾਇਆ ॥ ਜਿਉ ਕਸਤੂਰੀ ਮਿਰਗੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੈ ਭ੍ਰਮਦਾ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਇਆ [..hey you human, the spiritual within, you dont see ? Like the deer who searches endlessly for the source of this beautiful fragrance not knowing it is he the emitter, so too is you, waste a beautiful life chasing externally for that which is internally placed - p644 SGGSJ]
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