Walking with Nanak

by Haroon Khalid

‘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.’