Did Guru Nanak have a guru?
Harpreet Singh
mturner <mtu...@AZStarNet.com> wrote:
>Hi:
>
>I was just reading a book about Guru Nanak Sahib which stated that he may
have had a guru by the name of Syed Hasan ("a Muslim scho=
lar and dervish"). Is there any substantiation to this?
Guru Nanak did have formal education; he learned Sanskrit and Persian from
someone! So he had more than one teacher. What he has written in the Guru
Granth Sahib in not what his teachers taught him, but what God told him.
>
>Also, was there any Sufi influence in Nanak Sahib's life? And did he and
Kabir ever meet?
Guru Nanak and Kabir did meet. They discussed many issues and Guru Nanak
clarified many of Kabir's misconceptions. You might want to refer to the B40
version of the "Janam Sakhi" published by Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar
for more infomation on their meeting.
>Just curious. Any feedback may be sent directly to my e-mail address:
MTu...@azstarnet.com.
>
>Thank you very much for any information you can provide.
>
>In His Name,
>
>Michael
>
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If it is unsayable, it is outside the steady grasp of mind.
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What the real truly is, is altogether beyond comprehension.
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Rajwinder Singh
No, guru Nanak did not have a Guru in the sense of a Guru like himself.
His own Word is explained to be directly from God, "jaisee mai aavai
khasam kee baanee taisRaa karee biaan ve laalo." -- i.e., O Laalo, I am
describing the Word as it comes from God.
Bhai Gurdas ji and the Janam Sakhis note that Guru Nanak was blessed
with the divine message by God and told to spread the message to the
humankind. According to janam saakhee, "Nanak, mera naam paarbrahm
parmeshar, tera naam gur parmeshar" -- i.e., Nanak, my name is the
Formless God, and you are the Guru-God. [This was told to guru Nanak
by God.]
In article <4j96es$c...@shemesh.tis.com> you wrote:
: I was just reading a book about Guru Nanak Sahib which stated that
:he may have had a guru by the name of Syed Hasan ("a Muslim scholar
:and dervish"). Is there any substantiation to this?
No, there is no reference to any such idea in Guru Nanak's own Word.
Such stories are aplenty. However, there is no reasonable or logical
basis for such claims. Nowhere in Guru Nanak Bani such a person been
mentioned.
: Also, was there any Sufi influence in Nanak Sahib's life?
Guru Nanak met and discussed and debated with spiritual people of almost
all sorts while on his extensive travels, to places as far East as
Assam [Kaamroop], Ceylon [present day Sri Lanka] and to places as far
West as Mecca and Baghdad. I am not sure these encounters influenced him;
it was quite the other way round. Guru Nanak enlightened all the spiritual
people in all cases known -- like the Siddhs, Qazis at Mecca, pilgrims
at Benaras, etc.
: And did he and Kabir ever meet?
Yes, Guru Nanak did meet Kabir ji, at Magahar Pargana. Guru Nanak obtained
some of Kabir ji's bani from him at that place and it was included in Guru
Granth Sahib ji by Guru Arjan sahib.
Vaaheguroo ji ka Khalsa Vaaheguroo ji ki Fateh!
-- Rajwinder Singh <ra...@bu.edu>
_______________________________________________________________________
A Sikh is like [a] fish in the ocean except his sea is [the] Gurbani
and his heritage. Gurbani -- the Guru Granth -- is what gives him life,
sustains him, nurtures him and makes him a Sikh. Without it, he is
spiritually dead -- like the fish out of water.
-- I.J.Singh, "Sikhs and Sikhism: A View With a Bias"
mohammed
>
>
>mturner <mtu...@AZStarNet.com> wrote:
>>Hi:
>>
>>I was just reading a book about Guru Nanak Sahib which stated that he may
>lar and dervish"). Is there any substantiation to this?
>
Guru Nank did not have human Guru and was commissioned by God to spread his message.
I have heard that the leader of the ahmedi muslim tried to claim that Guru Nanak had a muslim Guru and that he was attempting to con=
vert the hindus to islam. one can see the absurdity of this theory in the fact that in none of Guru Nanak's shabad is the koran or m=
ohammed or the supposed muslim guru glorified. The ahmedis also tried to show that they had found new shabads of the Guru and tried =
to give their own slant to the Guru's shabads in teh Guru Granth sahib. Today the ahmedis are declared a non mulim sect and face opp=
ression and are not allowed to worship freely and are imprisoned on false charges. it is indeed ironic that those who tried to subve=
rt the message of the Guru for the glory of islam are now facing tortures for being non-muslims.
The words ' poetic' and justice' come to mind
Bikramjit Singh Dhillon
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Sandeep Singh Brar
>From: ra...@bu.edu (Rajwinder Singh)
>> And did he and Kabir ever meet?
>Yes, Guru Nanak did meet Kabir ji, at Magahar Pargana. Guru Nanak
>obtained some of Kabir ji's bani from him at that place and it was
>included in Guru Granth Sahib ji by Guru Arjan sahib.
Sat Sri Akal
There has never been any conclusive evidence that Guru Nanak ever met
Bhagat Kabir. There has never been any historical record of such a
meeting. Janamsakhis, are full of fanciful and ficticious stories, so
they cannot be relied on either. Most probably Guru Arjan Dev
collected the writings of Kabir as well as other Indian saints which
he found appropriate for inclusion in Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
For example 'Dictionary of Sikhism' by W. Owen Cole & Piara Singh
Sambi writes:
"Similarities between his teachings and those of Guru Nanak, and some
accounts of meetings between the two men led to a suggestion that the
Guru was influenced by Kabir. The janam sakhi accounts are considered
unreliable and scholars agree that there is no real evidence that
they did meet. It is not impossible that Guru Nanak knew the hymns of
Kabir, he may well have collected the material which is now found in
the Adi Granth, but kinship of thought should not be regarded as
evidence of dependence."
Most of us take the traditional dates for Bhagat Kabirs life as being
around 1140 to 1518 but a footnote in 'A History of the Sikh People'
by Dr. Gopal Singh provides an interesting sidenote, he writes:
"This shows that Guru Nanak never met Kabir, as is alleged by several
European historians, nor accepted his influence upon him, otherwise
even if dead, the places or people connected with him must have been
visited by Guru Nanak. Dr. P.N. Tiwari, quoting a report in the
Archaeological Survey of India says that Bijli Khan got a tomb of
Kabir erected on the right bank of the river Ami (in the Basti Distt.
of U.P.) in 1450 A.D., i.e. 19 years before Guru Nanak was born
(Kabir by P.N. Tiwari, National Book Trust, P.47)"
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Sandeep Singh Brar
The Sikhism Home Page
http://www.io.org/~sandeep/sikhism.htm
Sikh Memories: Photographs from Another Era
http://www.io.org/~sandeep/photos.htm
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