Walking with Nanak

by Haroon Khalid

But pain is an effective teacher. It can mature someone in a short period of time.

Faith and the lack of it are different sides of the same coin. When you toss a coin up there are equal chances of it landing heads or tails. It is the same in the case of faith. For someone, a certain event might reinforce their faith, while for others it might push them out of the boundaries of belief.

How come mosques and temples, Hindus and Muslims, have such differences when they both engage in worship in a similar manner, at the same time, whose testimony is also furnished by nature, Nanak wondered to himself. Why do Muslims complain about Hindus singing bhajans at the time of their azaan when they too insist upon making their call for prayers when nature is in the act of worship? Is it not all the same? The entire world, all its experiences, converging towards a focal point. Divinity.

Is the chirping of the birds also not a call of prayer? Is the humming of a song not an act of worship? Is working in the burning hot fields in summer to supply children with food not a supreme act of devotion? Why then does divinity need to be divided and distributed as tabarak (blessings) and prasad only from temples and mosques? Why can’t divinity be found in the smile of an infant or the fear of a calf separated from its mother? Is divinity not present in the multifarious colours of the world—the starving sadhu, the overfed Brahmin, the lecherous mulla, the innocent giggle? Is this also not an act of divinity, the way two different sounds of different origins merge to become one with the Supreme One?

God is One, The Path is One. Accept the Path of Truth Reject all other ways.43

After initial greetings, Sheikh Ibrahim questioned Nanak about his religious identity. Having grown up in an environment of institutionalised religion, he was not accustomed to the fluidity of religious distinctions that Nanak represented. ‘If I say I am a Hindu, I would be telling a lie. I am also not a Muslim. I don’t accept the differences between Hindus and Muslims. In fact, I do not accept any difference based on any creed, sect or religion. Isn’t the body of both Hindus and Muslims made out of the same elements? Doesn’t the spirit that pervades them belong to that One God who is also responsible for judging everyone’s deeds? He who serves One God sincerely and truly, receives light and grace from Him. The virtues and noble deeds of both of them are blessed by God while the wicked deeds of both of them are condemned and punished by Him. I am a servant of God and a brother of true devotees, no matter to which creed they belong.’

‘You are my follower if you are willing to learn all your life. You have to remain a student forever like me. Learn from not only scholars and holy men but also from those whom you chose to ignore—servants, women, children, animals, plants, the sea, the land and the sky. Keep an open mind and never become too rigid in your beliefs. Dogma is the end of inquiry and hence the death of enlightenment. Have faith. Have faith, not only in your own goodness but also in that of others. Have faith in people even when you know they are deceiving you. Have faith that things will always work out for the good. Have faith that the sea will not betray your trust and will not swallow you even if you have not offered your prayers to the sea god. Have faith that the sea god is not a monster who will, like a jealous woman, take his revenge upon you if you don’t present him gifts. Above all, have faith in divinity. You don’t have to belong to a particular creed or religion to become such a believer. If you are a Muslim, then become a good Muslim of such repute that no one can say you have brought disrepute to the religion of Islam. If you are a Christian, then become a true disciple of Christ and if you are a Jew, then follow the message of Moses to the core.’

‘Animals are more scared of humans than humans are of animals. Humans are the worst kind of animals. Nothing is worse than humans. Remember that.’