The Source Book On Sikhism

Chapter Eight

The Idea Of The Supreme Being (God) In Sikhism

Gurbachan Singh Talib

Sikhism A Theistic Creed

Sikhism is a Theistic religion, and totally rejects all reasoning which may attempt to prove that the universe is an automatic machine, or that it is a continuation of atoms which are self-created and self-perpetuating. According to the Sikh belief God is self-created and all that exists, has emanated from Him. As to any speculations about the origin of God or the creation of the universe by Him, no mythological or any other explanation is offered. Man’s intellect cannot penetrate the Divine mystery, and hence all that man can attempt is to feel or realize the existence of God through intuition or spiritual experience, called anubhava in Indian philosophy. Logic or any other kind of reasoning cannot prove the existence of God, for against one kind of reasoning another can be advanced. Hence for man it is to try to realize the existence of God in a spirit of humility, and to engage in prayer and devotion, so that he may become one with the Supreme Reality, that is God. Guru Nanak says in Japuji (Stanza 16):

By One Word the whole vastness of the universe was created.

Resulting in millions of streams of existence.

Again, in stanza 21 it is said:

The Yogi knows not the day and date of creation.

Nor any one the month and season.

The creator of the universe alone knows this secret.

God is believed in Sikhism to be eternal - that is, He is without beginning and without end. All else that is visible, had a beginning and will end. Even the sun and the moon, the stars, the earth - all will end. The gods, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indira - and all others are mortal. In other words, they are subject to the control of Time which marks their beginning, decline and end. God alone is Timeless (Akal). Akal is one of the key-concepts in Sikh spiritual thought. While this term is from the Sanskrit in its origin, consisting of ‘a’ (negative prefix) and Kal (time), the particular spiritual and philosophical signification which belongs to it in Sikh thought is unprecedented in Indian philosophy.

Sikhism is strictly monotheistic in its belief. This means that God is believed to be the one and sole Reality in the cosmos, and no god or goddess or power like Satan or Ahirman or any other has reality such as God’s. God alone is worthy of worship, and the highest end of existence, that is mukti or liberation can come through Devotion to God alone. All other worship is false and a waste of the precious gift of the human life. Besides its monotheism, Sikhism also emphasizes another philosophical idea, which is known as monism. Monism is the belief that all that our senses apprehend is only appearance; that God is the sole Reality. Forms being subject to Time, shall pass away. God’s Reality alone is eternal and abiding. Hence behind the shows of things, the spiritual vision is always aware of the reality of God. According to this philosophy, the differences created by man’s limited thinking which result in selfishness, egoism and hate are meaningless. Since nothing exists except God; the man of God sees in all beings the reality of God. A few texts from the holy Granth Sahib will illustrate this point:

That which is inside man, the same is outside him;

nothing else exists;

By divine prompting look upon all existence as one and undifferentiated;

the same light penetrates all existence.

(Sorath M.I.II - bage 599).

The Divine (like the lotus) is in the water; yet untouched by it:

Its light penetrates this water entire;

None is near, and none far;

I find it ever near, and chant its praises.

Nothing else exists inside or outside (man);

All happens as He wills it;

Listen Pharthari: This is what Nanak says after contemplation.

(Asa M.I Ashtpadiyan I - page 411).

What should the yogi have to fear?

Trees, plants, and all that is inside and outside, is He Himself.

(Gauri Ashtpadiyan M.I. 7 - page 223).

Differences are owing to man’s ignorance of the Supreme Truth, and to the influence on him of Maya (illusion). Through prayer and devotion and Divine aid the illusion created by Maya is lifted, and then man views the Reality of the universe as one, leaving no scope for hatred, avarice or egoism.