This is the text of the Presidential address delivered at a symposium in September 1988 held at Patiala under the auspices of the Punjabi University, and is being published with the University’s permission with a view to wider dissemination.

The Nature of Theology

The root dilemma of humanity through the ages has been the search and identification of the true Teacher or Prophet, who could rescue mankind out of the quagmire of sin and superstition and guide him into the realm of self-realisation and bliss. In the present age, the masses, in colossal ignorance of the Creator’s purpose, languish in poverty, pain and misery:

jagat jalandc7 rakh lai apni kirpa dhc7r

fitu dweire ubhre titai lehu ubtir (P. 853)

“The world is aflame in sin, unable to accomplish its own redemption. Guru’s intervention and the summoning of Divine Grace is the last desperate instrumentality for salvation.”

In this predicament, the Gospel of Guru Granth Sahib represents the most comprehensive, coherent and compelling enunciation of the creation’s moral and spiritual purpose.  Its message in verse packs astonishing spiritual power and majesty. In so far as its original text is set to ineffable symphonic measures, its direct appeal is to the deep faith residing in the heart, rather than to the intellect.  The holy word affirms that man is capable of experiencing and realising God, howsoever subtle and incomprehensible He may be. For the true devotee, He is not Impersonal:

sabh te parai parai te uchei

gaher gambhir athcihio

ote pote milio bhagtan kao

jan sio parchti leiheo   (P. 1299)

Guru Granth Sahib is quintessentially the poetry of pure devotion. It must be approached with love, devotion and humility. The scriptural power, to illumine our darkened hearts like a thousand suns, to sweep away the cobwebs of doubt with the force of a tornado, to feel the ecstasy like being borne on the waves of a heaving sea needs to be imbibed and experienced only in small doses. That is perhaps one reason why one must be wary of the ritualised Akhand Path -the non-stop recitation that knows no pause nor deliberation, preoccupied more with compulsions of time than sublimity of thought.

In all conscience, this formal and often commercialized use of the text of Guru Granth Sahib needs to be discouraged. The text of the holy scriptures is so succinct and economical, allegorical and inspiring, profound and pregnant with meaning that it is necessary to read, recite and sing the verses with reverence and patience,  absorbing the meaning and saturating the soul with its beauty. It is in this spirit that the meditation on God’s Name acquires the power of healing:

sarab rog kc7 aukhad nam      (P. 274)

The sacred text, in its myriad variations, constitutes the intelligent man’s guide to inner peace. Its overwhelming lyricism creates a groundswell of enthusiasm which spurs one to a pure and ethical life:

sacho ure sabli ko

upar sack achdr           (P. 62)

Guru Granth Sahib teaches us that success in material terms is a trap; that attachment to worldly relationships is a hurdle to spiritual progress. The individual loses perspective and purpose of self-realisation;

man tun jote sarup hai

apna mul pachan         (P. 441)

The Sikh Theology is unapologetically prescriptive.  lt does not claim to be value-free, or neutral, or noncommittal on the key issues of existence. It comforts, castigates, cajoles, warns, encourages, exhorts, begs, threatens, guides.

Institutional Practice of Theology Ideals of Guru Granth Sahib: truth, compassion, service of humanity, equality, liberty, honest living, tolerance, acceptance of God’s will, optimism and rejection of superstition, idolatry and pantheism—all these virtues and precepts had to be embodied in a coherent code of day to day living for the benefit of seekers of truth and, indeed, for the human race as a whole.

This was an evolutionary process. not an abrupt formulation. Theology must teach people how to cope with worldly responsibilities and conduct themselves from day to day and from place to place without compromising the basic ideals. Theology must satisfy certain deeper needs of the people and provide them with community values.

Arising from these imperatives are the symbols of faith sanctified by Guru Gobind Singh in the dramatic culmination of the Sikh ethos on the Baisakhi Day 1699. Those who argue, in levity or seriousness, that these symbols are a relic of the past, are only too willing to trade them for crass new fads and myths that are fickle and soon forgotten. The younger generation who question the relevance of the discipline of the symbols needs only to develop the patience to reflect on their psychological and spiritual benefits as an explicit uniting force.

When Guru Tegh Bahadur gave his life for the fundamental right of worship, symbolized by the Tilak and sacred thread, it was intrinsically a universal act for all faiths, and not for a particular people. The symbols of Sikhism spell faith and embrace the whole human race. Their message has meaning for all people everywhere. It is the magic of symbols that, despite their small numbers and minority status, the Sikhs have evolved a sense of peoplehood and solidarity.

Like the Buddhist exhortation, “Sangham Sharanam Gacchami” –Sikh Theology preaches congregational participation and social activism as an endeavour in collective humanism and spiritual uplift

sat sangat mile to dicta aweh har har nam nistare (P. 981)

The ethical principle in Guru Granth Sahib emphasizes the holiness of life: The body is the temple of God, every human being has the right and duty to strive for self-realisation towards achieving this goal, the Guru suggests a specific Code of Conduct, that demands protection not penance of the body, including its crowning glory, the Keshas, abstinence from deleterious drugs and intoxicants, austerity and early rising.

Amrit is meant as the climactic benediction to the observance of the Code. It is the common bond of brotherhood in the service of humanity, a relationship that transcends distinctions of caste, colour and social status. Too often we tend to fall into the trap of the present-day media that religion is a strictly personal matter.

This is a country dotted with places of collective worship. I In Guru Granth Sahib, there are as many references and metaphors underlining man’s relation with God that are plural, social and dynamic as there are for the deliverance of the individual. In this commonality of purpose, mutual hostility and distances dissolve and disappear. Total awareness builds a sense of oneness—of a world community for whom we daily pray: Sarbat da Bhala.

The tolerance or goodwill for all is not weakness but strength. For fanatics of one kind or another, it is foolish to think they are God’s instruments for eliminating those who disagree with them. History is replete with the tragic consequences of fanatical intolerance, from medieval crusades to the modern Ghalugharas. Fire and brimstone are instruments of destruction. Love and goodwill are the means of preservation.

But why are we so insecure and embattled? It is mainly because we do not practice the code and discipline, but partly also because we have used theological power and privilege as a political weapon. Instead of engaging in resolving philosophical issues, laying down moral guidelines, or Interpreting spiritual values, the priestly fraternity has been dragged into political controversies Inherent in the working of historical shrines and gurdwaras.

At the lower levels of town and village gurdwara, the priest is among the lowest-paid workers pitifully dependent on the charity and offerings of the devout members of the congregation. Ironically, the custodian of the Guru’s treasure of spiritual truths is invariably a semi-literate and impecunious individual eking out a lack-lustre existence.

In a vicious circle, the economic status and condition of the priest do not encourage the younger men and women to study Sikh Theology and Divinity as the subject and even to a degree discourage the adoption of the priesthood as a profession. The contribution of Taksals in the past few decades has been the only silver lining. So also the endeavours of missionary colleges continue to make a dent in the problem of Prachar. With all the affirmations of equality between men and women, we have a poor record in women’s representation in the institutional setup of Sikh Theology.

Attitudes have to change and the anachronism of male domination in theological institutions must be discarded. The emergence of Fundamentalism Religious fundamentalism is a global phenomenon, relatively recent in origin. In the case of Sikh doctrine, it emerged as a conscious counterblast to what may be called the creeping permissiveness of modern society. Indiscipline, alcoholism, addiction to drugs and intoxicants and apostasy triggered a reassertion of moral and spiritual values that have electrified the Theological scene. This reassertion of traditional religion is not a new implant coming from the intellectual centres of learning but arises from the very soil of Sikh seminaries, or Taksals. This renaissance in religious faith and feeling was bound to have far-reaching social and political consequences. We are witness to these repercussions.

What is required is a reintegration of the human, moral and spiritual values inherent in the Sikh scripture and tradition. Equally important is the synthesis of the Sikh Theology with the scientific temper. A swing towards militancy, or confrontation with political power which precipitates unending violence, would be fatal to the theological imperatives of Sikhism. We can neither dismantle the modern world nor desert it nor run away from it. What we can do is to rediscover the dynamic and everlasting truths of Guru Granth Sahib towards a resurgent Sikhism at home in the 21st century.

Science And Theology

An eminent Sikh journalist and author, who is never tired of proclaiming his agnosticism, recently wrote about his dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He asked the spiritual head of Mahayana Buddhism what he thought of the origin of life on our planet. Did he subscribe to the intermediate theory put forward by Hinduism ‘and its offshoots—Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism’—of order emerging from chaos by the intervention of divinity in the form of a creator, preserver and destroyer? The learned questioner not only erred in bumping together the Sikh religion with the amorphous Hindu pantheism but also apparently did not care to recall what Guru Granth Sahib has to say about the origin of life on earth, quite independent of the mythological explanations offered by classical Hinduism:

sache te pawna bhia

pawnai te jai hoi

jai te tribhawan sajiti

ghat ghat jote samoe

Sikhism is no offshoot, it is a sovereign religion. Far from accepting the prevailing heavenly Triumvirate, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Guru Nanak deeply reflected on the nature of the Universe. There is a clear refutation of the Creator-Preserver Destroyer trinity in the following verses:

arbad narbad dhandhukara

dharan na gagnti hukam aparc7

brahm’d bisan makes na koi

awar na disai eko soi   (P. 1035)

Indeed, Gurbani is not in conflict with the scientific principle. It reflects upon the nature of the cosmos, the planetary system, the origin of earth, biology physics and chemistry. But it goes far beyond the physical aspects of the Universe—to the mysterious fourth dimension The mind and consciousness. Sikhism does not have to defend itself against the expanding realm of science.

Gurbani says there are immense spaces of the mind and spirit which remain a mystery. It will be many millennia before material science can unravel it. It is significant that Guru Nanak was the forerunner of Galileo. As one of the most extensively travelled leaders of his time, Guru Nanak was fully aware of the physical aspects of the universe. What came to be known as the spirit of scientific enquiry is writ large in the Guru’s writings.

tara charia lama
(P. 1110)

is not a fanciful flight of imagination but an explicit reference to the appearance, in the year 1531, of what later came to be known as Halley’s Comet. It is the scientific spirit that gave the edge to the Guru’s explanations of the solar and lunar eclipse and other natural phenomena as well as his gentle admonition of those who were struck with the paralysis of superstition relating to lunar days and solar seasons.

The Sikh religion thus acquired enormous advantage over the preceding faiths and beliefs in adopting the scientific temper as the sheet anchor of man’s physical existence even as it refused to stay earth-bound. Myth and superstition were forever banished from Sikh thought and theology. The frequent use of the idiom pertaining to the configuration of planets and heavenly bodies in Guru Granth Sahib warns the common man not to succumb to superstition and tries to denote the depth of ignorance among the illiterate then as now.

One is struck by the reference to sciences other than physical. Take, for instance, the following utterance of Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, on economic disparity being the root cause of social unrest :

jis greh bahut tisai greh chinta”

jis greh thori so phirai bharmanta

duhoo biwastha to Jo mukta

soi suhelci bhaliye

(P. 1019)

You could not find a more appropriate motto for the World Bank!

Enter the rationalist, who decries religion as the villain generating internecine hatred. This reaction arises from ignorance of the science of the mind. Religious perversity, not religion or Theology, is responsible for hate and violence. This was not a case of conflict between religion and science, but between religion and blind faith. The blind faith, by whatever denomination is known, breeds hatred and violence. The entire Guru Granth Sahib is a repudiation of this false religion.

jia badho so dharam kar thapoh

adharam kahoh kat bhiii

tipas kao munwar kar thapoh

ka kao kahoh kasc7i    (P. 1103)

Fanaticism is merely another face of this falsity. It is contagious. It tends to evoke a similar response from the adversary. Pascal said it more than three centuries ago: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” This is true of any religion gone berserk—including Sikhism. It is also true of the narrow nationalism of the kind that induces wars, such as between Iran and Iraq, irrational hatred, as between India and Pakistan.

Narrow nationalism, often masquerading as patriotism, is as dangerous as blind faith bereft of the true scientific spirit of enquiry which Guru Granth Sahib sanctifies in numerous allusions Cynics never fail to argue: How can one speak of a benevolent God in a world of war and misery and malignancy, little realising that the very question opens the door to theological enlightenment, the truth about pain and pleasure, life and death on the physical plane, the suffering of the righteous, the crucifixion of a Christ or the agonising martyrdom of Guru Arian.

The Plural Society in a Secular State:

The twin dangers that Sikhism faces today are the ultra-liberalism on the one hand, which seeks to discard the basic discipline and the fundamentalism which takes us into a blind alley, on the other.

To turn one’s back on the code of conduct or rehat Maryada is tantamount to mass hardcore Fundamentalism, on the other hand, is founded on the concept that the Rehat Maryada must be interpreted literally and placed on an absolute pedestal, In one sense fundamentalism is the by-product of the traumatic events of the last few years.  The media widely publicized the new Theological phenomenon as fundamentalism. More deplorable was the media’s onslaught against established traditions, such as Amrit Prachar and the reaffirmation of the explicit symbols of Sikhism. The official media gave it a sinister aspect, undermining its spiritual significance and its importance as a bulwark of Indian defence and integrity. This produced devastating results.

Today’s average, urban, educated Sikh is unable to correlate himself. He wants to hunt with the hounds but finds himself running with the hares, He is half-worldly, half other-worldly, a wishy-washy egoist, occasionally a terminal schizophrenic. His thought process is atrophied, his religiosity skin deep. 1984, which was the watershed year Captains of industry, commerce and

agriculture have rearranged their lives around money and materialism, not around the Guru’s purpose. Even their observance of religious occasions, whether happy or sad, revolve around money and ostentation. The day may start with kirtan, but it often ends up with an evening cocktail. God is conveniently marginalized.

Partly,  this image is the result of a materialist plural society in which different people professing different religions come into daily contact. Diversity is an inevitable fact of life in a shrinking world. Equal respect for all religions is the best way of peaceful co-existence. That is the raison d’etre of the policy of secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution. In simple terms, it .means the State or Government—must not get involved in any single religion or religion’s practice, not even when that religion happens to be the majority’s religion.

One could call it roughly a policy of wholesome neutrality, But are the ground rules of such a policy of neutrality being followed in India today? We find that the government, as well as the political system, are deeply involved, not in the moral principles of religion, but in the trappings of it. At election time, candidates are often selected on the basis of caste or community. The formal opening of development projects is marked with religious rituals like Bhoomi Pujii and the breaking of coconut. Leaders of government are ever so anxious to be seen with tilak mark on the forehead and an angavastram around the neck. potence of God. This danger of the State power approximating to Divine power is as real as the danger spelt by fanatical fundamentalism in religion.

Achievement of religious tolerance among people is all the more essential in a plural society. Likewise. the state has to be wholesomely neutral in order to be truly secular. The Sikh theology and lore have it in its genius to offer dynamic participation in the nation’s life. Participation, however, presupposes dignity, identity and discipline.

You simply cannot build compartments into life in a society where religion is a force to reckon with. If the leaders cannot practise secularism in the true sense of the term, why not concede the imperatives of equal respect for all religions? So irresistible is the mystique of religion that modern nationalism is tempted to adopt its symbology. The country is symbolized by the figure of a goddess. Idols, samadhis, eternal flames, Vedic hymns as logos and other paraphernalia are elaborately and freely displayed and obeisance demanded.

The department of Science & Technology, Government of India, actually sponsored a Brishti Vigyan Mandal’s rain-producing project at Mathura in May 1988. Any deviation from the° norms prescribed by the state is met with the swift indictment. Indeed, the state has arrogated to itself the Omni- A Glorious Heritage Projected into the Future History helps us to Identify ourselves in time and space. To ignore the past or forget the tradition is to be ungrateful to those who shaped our ethos and sacrificed their tomorrows for our today.

We cannot sleepwalk through our present, unaware of our past and unprepared for the future that our children are heading for. We cannot sidestep the crucial message of Guru Granth Sahib, that God may be working through these traumatic events to accomplish the Divine will in order to draw us closer to His purpose. In this uncertain world, Guru Granth Sahib offers the only certainty, the only firm moorings in the raging tempest. This may sound simplistic but it is the heart of the Sikh doctrine.

That doctrine tells us that, notwithstanding the chaos and tyranny God is in charge of the universe: not God of the Sikhs or Hindus or Muslims, but God of all humanity. That is the most reassuring fact of life. Not only does it provide confidence, it also engenders a buoyant optimism—The Charhdi ola—which is the mystical formula for success. To be God-accepted and God-realized is our best reason for living a righteous, charitable and compassionate life as demonstrated and demanded by the succession of Great Teachers. Only such life can be meaningful for the individual, the society, the country and, indeed, for all the human race. We may be passing through the age of technology, of space exploration of energy crisis and environmental pollution. But nothing can save humanity with as much certitude as the principles enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.

This article was first published in The Sikh Review, December 1988. It is reproduced here courtesy the archives of the Panjab Digital Library.