The Origins of Ekankar (IK ONKAR), the HU Chant, the Path of the Masters, and Vegetarian Ethics

[SantMatMysticism]

The Origins of Ekankar (IK ONKAR), the HU Chant, the Path of the Masters, and Vegetarian Ethics - Podcast:
https://youtu.be/hHloIlvoB_k?si=SQ0t5atnA7W9cst_

A question someone online asked about an icon image of Guru Nanak: “Can you please tell me more about the symbol on Guru Nanak’s palm? What are the letters and what do they mean?"

Some might assume the language is Hindi and the Word is AUM or OM. Close but not quite. ੴ means “God is One.” It is made up of two characters, the Punjabi character for the number ‘one’ and the Punjabi letter ‘Urha’ for ‘Onkar’ or ‘OMkaar’, meaning ‘God’ (or God of Sound).

In many icon images of Guru Nanak, one often sees the same symbol on Guru Nanak’s palm.

When a spiritual Master is waving to us in this way, showing the palm of the hand, this means he is giving us his blessing.

The symbol: Ekankar (Ik Onkar ੴ, ਇਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ) means “God is One.” It is made up of two characters, the Punjabi character for the number ‘one’ and the Punjabi letter ‘Urha’ for ‘Onkar’ meaning ‘God’.

Ik Onkar/Ek Ong Kaar/Ekankar -- these are also alternate spellings of “AUM” or “OM” — the OMkaar and refers to the Sound Current, the Divine Sound of the cosmos.

“Ek Ong Kaar” is in the opening verses of Guru Nanak’s Jap Ji (Morning Prayer), along with countless other references to Ekankar (Ik Onkar ੴ, ਇਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ) found in the Adi Granth/Sikh Scriptures of India.

Ik Onkar is also the first phrase in the Mool Mantra, the opening phrase of Guru Nanak’s Jap Ji (Morning Prayer) in the Guru Granth (Sikh Scriptures or Adi Granth).

The Creator of all is One (Ik Onkar – “Ek Ong Kaar”)

Truth is His Name (Sat Naam)

He is the Doer of everything (Kartaa Purakh)

He is Fearless, without anger (Nirbhao, Nirvair)

He is Undying, Unborn and Self-illumined (Akaal Moorat, Ajoonee, Saibhang)

This is revealed by the Sat Guru’s Grace (Gurprasaad)

Meditate! (Jap!)

He was True in the beginning (Aad Sach)

He was True through all the ages (Jugaad Sach)

He is True even now (Haubhee Sach)

O Nanak, He shall ever be True (Naanak Hosee Bhee Sach)

– Guru Nanak, Opening Verses of the Jap Ji or Morning Prayer found in, “Peace Lagoon,” an anthology of the Sikh scriptures

Ik Onkar/Ek Ong Kaar/Ekankar are also alternate spellings of “AUM” or “OM” — the OMkar and refers to the Sound Current, the Divine Sound of the cosmos.

Julian P. Johnson wrote in his spiritual classic, Path of the Masters:

“In the literature of the Saints, God is expressed by many words, such as Swami, Ekankar, Nirankar, Radha-swami, Akal, Nir-ala, Anami, Agam, Alakh, Sat Purush, Prabhu, Prabhswami, Hart Roy, Akshar, Parameshwar, Akshar Purush, etc. All of these words have been coined in an effort to convey to human intelligence some idea of what the Saints think of God, or Lord God, the highest power. Ekankar means the ‘One oneness,’ ‘the body of oneness.’... The whole universe is considered as one, the true Ekankar. There is perfect oneness in the universe, which is also coexistent with God — infinite, unlimited. Hence, the Soami, the Lord, is nirankar, that is, Formless [the Formless, Nameless, Timeless, Soundless True God]." (Path of the Masters, by Julian P. Johnson)

“Ekanakar” does not mean “conscious co-worker of the Divine Plan or God.” However, back in the 1950's Sant Kirpal Singh did coin this phrase, and often used variations of it in his teachings, as can be confirmed with a serious search of his writings, most of which are available for free online. “Unless one becomes a Conscious Co-worker of the Divine Plan by complete self-surrender and annihilation of ego, the goal of spiritual perfection cannot be attained.” (Kirpal Singh)

Vegetarian Diet Not A Matter of “Culture” But Karma and Cholesterol

Vegetarianism in the East:

The Path of the Masters and Way of Inner Light and Sound has never been a “meat-shabda” (non-vegetarian) path.

“I must point out that animal food, even if a single particle is eaten, is detrimental to spiritual progress. What of eating, those who help in killing are also guilty.” (Sawan Singh)

“Regarding laxity in the prescribed diet, I wish to say to all aspirants on the Path that it is necessary so long as one is in the physical body, vegetarianism should be strictly adhered to. Any relaxation in the matter of diet would not only be a definite hindrance in meditation but would unnecessarily contract karmic reaction. The real Goal is to use every means possible to rise into full God-consciousness.” (Kirpal Singh, Spiritual Elixir)

“It must be borne in mind that restriction to pure vegetarian diet is of utmost necessity. Any transgression in this respect is liable to affect your spiritual progress adversely. The prohibited food flares up carnal desires other than contracting karmic debt. Both are highly detrimental and should be avoided scrupulously. I hope you are abiding by all of the rules and that you take my advice in proper perspective in the larger interests of your spiritual progress.” (Kirpal Singh, Spiritual Elixir)

“…I would like to remind you that the eating of liver and fish will definitely stand in the way of your spiritual progress without in any way helping you in your illness or in any way extending your lifespan. ‘Thy days are numbered,’ is a well known aphorism. So why unnecessarily create karmic debts which you may easily avoid? You had better avoid these.” (Kirpal Singh, Spiritual Elixir)

“The members of my family were meat eaters. As a child, I did not partake of it. My father said, ‘Pal, (this was my nickname), why don’t you take meat? It will do you good.’ I replied, ‘Will you have me make a graveyard out of my body?’” (Kirpal Singh)

Vegetarianism in the West:

“Now beware in yourselves that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh and with the intoxication of wine and with the anxiety of the world, and that day come up upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all them that dwell upon the surface of the Earth.” (Jesus, Luke 21:34, Syriac Aramaic New Testament)

“Our Earth has abundance of such pure and harmless foods and there is no need for us to partake of meals for which blood has to be shed and innocent life sacrificed.” (Pythagoras, considered to be a Master of Inner Light and Sound)

“For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” (Pythagoras)

The HU Chant — The Sufi Origins of HU, and Sultan BaHU (Updated and Re-Published Recently — Copyright May, 2001 — All Rights Reserved)

I have some CDs of Turkish Sufis chanting “Hooooooooo” during their Zikar ceremony. The HOO (also spelled “HU” by the Sufis) is the Sufi equivalent to the Hindu OOOM (AUM) chant. It’s traditionally pronounced “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO” by the Sufi mystics of Islam. It’s a holy name that turns up in the poetry of Rumi and other Sufi poet-mystics of the East. According to the Sant tradition of India, HU is a sacred word esoterically associated with Trikuti, the heavenly realm also known as Brahm Lok.

For Sufis and Sants this name HU also stands for the celestial Sound Current or Saut-e Sarmad, the True Kalma (Word). The HU is chanted as a name of God as well as it can also be used to refer to the ethereal Sound Current (Music of the Spheres, Planes or Heavens).

To be sure HU is a wonderful name of God used in the East and in the Middle East. For some Sufis “HOO”symbolizes, and even mimics, the Sound Current, and was used in a special way to refer to the Nameless God, the One Whose Real Name is unpronounceable, truly beyond all earthly languages.

HU was first made popular in the Western world by Julian P. Johnson, an influential author and disciple of Huzur Baba Sawan Singh back in the 1930's. He mentions the name HU in his book: “Path of the Masters,” in a section titled, “The Sufi Idea of the Divine Vadan.”

A few decades later, others reading “Path of the Masters” would pick up on this discussion of the HU, and even plagiarized parts of Johnson’s work, incorporating much of it into their own publications! Such was its appeal.

In, Path of the Masters, Johnson extensively quoted from a Sufi classic by Hazrat Inayat Khan called, “The Mysticism of Sound,” which is volume two of the Sufi Message Series. “An extremely interesting Sufi effort to interpret the Surat Shabd [inner Sound meditation] of the Masters is the following extract by Hazrat Inayat Khan. It shows how this central idea of the great Shabd has taken hold of all mystic thought…” (Julian Johnson)

Khan mostly used the word HU as a term for Divine or Cosmic Sound — the true name of the Nameless God. Hazrat Khan on HU as the Sound or breath of God:

“The Supreme Being has been called by various names in different languages, but the mystics have known Him as HU, the natural name, not-man-made, the only name of the Nameless, which all nature constantly proclaims.”

Khan also thought of the name HU as a kind of universal proto-name that can be found contained within many sacred names of God throughout the world in various languages:

Allah HU Akbar,

AHUd,

YaHUva (YaHUah, Jehovah/YHVH),

YesHUa,

HUda,

AHUra Mazda [a Holy Name in the Gathas of Zoroaster],

and even in the word HUman, as in human being.

“Hur in Arabic means the beauties of the Heavens, its real meaning is the expression of heavenly beauty. ZuHUr in Arabic means manifestation, especially that of God in nature. AHUra Mazda is a name of God known to the Zoroastrians. This first word AHUra suggests HU, upon which the whole name is built. All of these examples signify the origin of God in the word HU; and the life of God in everything and being.” (Hazrat Khan, “The Mysticism of Sound”)

The HU Chant of Hazrat Sultan BaHU

Sultan Bahu (1628 —1691) was a Sufi Master of the Light and Sound of God (Qadriya Sufi Order) who lived in northern India.

There are two books that have been published in English making this wonderful poetry of Sultan BaHU available in our part of the world, and they mention this sacred word spelled “HU”:

1) “Death Before Dying — The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu,” Translated by Jamal J. Elias, University of California Press. This could be ordered through any good bookstore.

2) “Sultan Bahu,” Translated by J.R. Puri, Published by Radha Soami Books, and it has many references to the sacred name HU as well as Inner Sound and Light Meditation. It’s not available through bookstores but through:

Science of the Soul/RS Books — the Radha Soami Book Dept: ScienceOfTheSoul.org

The following ecstatic poems, translated from Punjabi, sometimes contain the word “HU,” a name for God and the Audible Life Stream, the Sound of the upper worlds.

In most all of his poems, in the original language every other line hypnotically ends with a HOO, for example:

akkheen surkh te mooheen zardee,

har wallon dil aaheen HOO

Muhaa muhaar khushboi waalaa,

pahuntaa vanj kadaaeen HOO

Ishq mushk na chhuppe raihnde,

zaahir theen uthaaeen HOO

Naam faqeer tinhaan daa Baahoo,

jin laamakaanee jaaeen HOO

The name ‘Bahu’ means, ‘with God.’

Then, in an ecstasy of love,

you will repeat the Name of HU constantly,

devoting every breath of your life

in contemplation of Him.

Only when your soul merges

in the Essence of the Lord,

will you deserve the name ‘Bahu.’

HU is within, HU is without,

HU pervades everything;

where then is Bahu to find HU [Allah, God]?

He has wounded his own heart,

he has tortured his own soul

with austerities of all manner,

with worship of all kinds.

Having read millions of books,

he has also come to be called ‘wise.’

But the name ‘faqir’ befits only him, O Bahu,

whose very grave breathes life!

Mystics live in this world as HU personified;

they practice the Name that is the essence of God.

They live in HU —

beyond religion,

beyond belief and unbelief,

beyond life and death.

If you explore the Path within yourself,

you will find God nearby, through the Royal Vein.

He now lives in me and I in Him, O Bahu:

not only distance from Him

but even nearness to Him

have become irrelevant!

HU is within, HU is without,

HU always reverberates in my heart.

The wound in my heart aches constantly

with the unabating pain of HU’s love.

The darkness of ignorance departs

from the heart lit by HU [God, Allah].

I sacrifice myself to the one, O Bahu,

who has realized the significance of HU.

“Hoo” is a very beautiful and soothing name of God. For Sufis, it is truly a love-song to God, the Beloved Lord. “Allah Hoo Akbar”. God is Great.

False Prophets Making Profits Falsely Contrasted with the Way of the Lover for the Beloved

Sultan Bahu once said, “There are few genuine disciples. People purporting to be masters perpetuate themselves with false promises. They exploit their followers to satisfy their greed.” Bahu also warned everyone to watch out for false teachers who want to be masters over others even though they have never been faithful and loyal disciples of any Master themselves:

“These false prophets

were never disciples themselves,

but they contrive to make disciples of others

as an act of seeming charity.

But they swindle their disciples

of their money and belongings.”

“If a master does not end your pain of separation,

he is not even worth calling a Master.

Who would even need the kind of master

who does not bestow spiritual blessing?

Why even go to the kind of teacher

who is incapable of giving proper instruction?”

On this genuine path of the lover and the Beloved there is no need for plagiarizing texts, becoming fake guru, falsifying one’s past history and resume’. Spirituality cannot be photocopied or photo-shopped. It must be lived, experienced. One enjoys the connection with others on an established spiritual path — human contact, being part of something — being part of a community as a humble student, having an overflowing gratitude for the association with a living spiritual Master, a connection to be forever celebrated. Sultan Bahu:

“If you wish to learn the art of dying while living, go and sit in the company of mystics.”

“My Master has planted in my heart the jasmine of Allah’s Name.”

“My Master is a bird of paradise; he flies with his own kind. Through great good fortune you will have his vision — if the Lord pulls the strings of destiny in your favour. …My Master is to me my very life, O Bahu; he has permeated every pore of my being.”

“I found a guide so perfect, he opened the window of my heart. I give my life for that guide, Bahu, who told me the Divine Mystery.”

“Those who enshrine the Beloved in their hearts have both worlds at their command. Lovers remain completely intoxicated in the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved. They offer their souls to the Beloved while still living, and thus immortalize themselves in this life and in the hereafter.” (Hazrat Sultan Bahu)

Sultan Bahu’s spiritual teacher (Murshid/Spiritual Master) was Hazrat Abdur Rahman Qadiri, in the lineage of the Qadiriyya Sufi Order founded by Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani.

https://medium.com/sant-mat-meditation-and-spirituality/the-hu-chant-the-sufi-origins-of-hu-and-sultan-bahu-a3580c9e571f