Nanak conceived of the project of harmonizing Hinduism and Islam and chose to preach to this effect through song, accompanied on the rabab (a stringed instrument of Arabic origin) by a Muslim musician. After a mystical experience he had at twenty-nine, Nanak declared, “There are no Hindus, there are no Muslims.” He encouraged women to be equally as involved in religion and everyday life as men, a notion that shocked both Hindus and Muslims. Nanak was followed by nine other Gurus. The last declared that thereafter the sacred scripture of Sikhism, called Adi Granth, would serve as Guru.

The religion is strictly monotheistic, rejecting idols and incarnations of the divine, while adhering to reincarnation. The religion also rejects caste, wine, tobacco, slander, hypocrisy, and pilgrimages. It requires loyalty, gratitude, philanthropy, justice, impartiality, truth, and honesty. Initially pacifistic, the movement for its own defense began to inculcate military virtues under the tenth Guru, Govind Singh.

In 1699, Guru Govind Singh founded a fellowship called the Khalsa. To become a member of the Khalsa, a person is baptized and takes a new last name. All men who are part of the Khalsa take the last name SINGH, which means "lion." Women take the name KAUR, which means "lioness."

The word Sikh stems from the Pali sikka, which means “disciple.” The Golden Temple or Darbar Sahib, situated in Amritsar, Punjab, is the most sacred temple for Sikhs.

19 million Sikhs live in India (2001 census.)

“As fragrance abides in the flower,
As reflection is within the mirror,
So does your Lord abide within you,
Why search for him without?”
Guru Nanak

http://www.beyondbooks.com/wcu91/3e.asp

Eliade, Mircea et al. The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religions. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2000.

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/gurunanak-jayanti/

Reese, William L. Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1996.

Kabir
c. 1440 – 1518
For five hundred years the poems of Kabir have been recited and sung throughout India. Kabir was a great religious reformer in his time, as well as a famous artist and musician, founding a sect that still claims to have a million followers. Kabir achieved a remarkable synthesis of Hindu, Muslim, and even Christian belief. Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Bengali poet and novelist, was a major force in bringing the wonderful poems of Kabir to the attention of the West when he published some translations of Kabir in 1915.

Kabir was born in Varanasi, into a family of weavers who had recently converted to Islam, though it was widely believed that he was a disciple of a famous Hindu guru, Ramananda. While a family man and weaver, Kabir passionately sought to show the way out of delusion, including the delusion of religious identity. During his lifetime both mainstream Hindus and Muslims denounced him, only coming to claim and revere him as their own after his death.

Kabir, even when he had many wealthy followers, chose to live in a very small rundown house in a rough section of town where people were afraid to venture at night. It was the same area where the butchers had their shops, where the dying shrieks of animals confronted all ears, and where the stench of slaughtered animals cold become unbearable in the summer months. The circumstances Kabir lived in were especially challenging to some of his Hindu disciples who were strict vegetarians.

 A Man With Amnesia
With a begging bowl in hand a man with amnesia knocks on his own door.
My guru cured me of that profound illness: God asking God for forgiveness or alms.

Visiting Holy Shrines
If you circumambulated every holy shrine in the world ten times,
It would not get you to heaven as quick as controlling your anger.

 See If They Wet Their Pants
The words Guru, Swami, Super Swami, Master, Teacher, Murshid, Yogi, Priest,
Most of those sporting such a title are just peacocks.
The litmus test is: hold them upside down over a cliff for a few hours.
If they don’t wet their pants, maybe you found a real one.

Biography and translation by Daniel Ladinsky, from Love Poems from God,
New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

Mira
c. 1498 – 1550
Mirabai is the most renowned woman poet-saint of India, her songs sung by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs alike. She was born a princess in the area of Rajasthan. Her great-grandfather founded the city of Jodhpur.

It has been said that when Mira was a small child she brought a plate of food to a sadhu (a wandering ascetic) at the palace gate. He whispered a few words in her ear and bestowed a tiny statue of Krishna into her hand, which she forever treasured. There are no other accounts of her having had a teacher or formal religious instruction, so perhaps those few words held some key to spiritual awakening. Some time later she questioned her mother about who would be her husband, as marriages were often arranged in the early years of a girl’s life. Her mother, perhaps not fathoming the seriousness of her daughter’s inquiry, playfully pointed to the little statue of Krishna and answered that he would be Mira’s groom. From that time onward, Mira felt herself to be married to Krishna, and when the time came for her actual marriage, she refused to submit to being treated as a piece of property within the conventional marriage that had been arranged for her against her will.

Her husband died soon after their marriage and this allowed Mira to begin leading a more religious life. She was a fierce champion of human rights, especially women’s rights, and with a shocking wit and penetrating insight would often expose the ridiculous aspects of politics, orthodox religion, the caste system, and chauvinistic oppression. Her songs often glorified the ascetic’s life, and at times her poetry was very erotic.

Mira spent the last few years of her life attending the destitute near the Rachhorji temple and writing poems.

A Hundred Objects Close By
I know a cure for sadness: Let your hands touch something that makes your eyes smile.
I bet there are a hundred objects close by that can do that.
Look at beauty’s gift to us—her power is so great she enlivens the earth, the sky, our soul.

 The Way They Held Each Other
A woman and her young daughter were destitute and traveling to another country where they hoped to find a new life.
Three men stole them while they were camping.
They were brought to a city and sold as slaves; each to a different owner.
They were given one minute more together, before their fates became unknown.
My soul clings to God like that, the way they held each other.

Biography and translation by Daniel Ladinsky, from Love Poems from God, New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

Tukaram
c. 1608 – 1649
Tukaram is the most influential figure in the development of Marathi literature, and probably the most famous saint who wrote in that language. He was born in the small village of Dehu on the banks of the river Indrayani in Maharashtra, India, not far from the still-thriving city of Poona. He was remarkably prolific; some attribute 8,000 short poems to him. He wrote entirely in Marathi, an Indian dialect still commonly heard in West Central India. His poems were playful and earthy, sometimes very innocent and sometimes thought-provoking, often changing from serious to comical within a few lines. His poems in the vernacular are called abhangs, which are poetic songs of a teaching and devotional nature. Even today many children in India grow up hearing these poems (the milder ones) recited and set to contemporary music. It is commonly believed that Tukaram attained the same spiritual heights as Rumi, Hafiz, and Kabir.

Many miracles are attributed to Tukaram, and he is often compared to St. Francis as animals and birds so loved him and he them. Birds often rode on his shoulders and sat on his instrument, which he kept slung around his neck when not playing it. With cymbals in hand and ecstatic tears on his face he would be seen in the streets dancing and singing his poems to God.

Becoming Whole
The woman whose speech and actions are the same—her feet become worthy of worship.
Keeping our word is the alchemy to become free and whole.
Try and make amends for any broken hearts or broken promises;
If you cannot do so in form then prayer can heal a debt with the light you can send,
And even a man can become this precious gold.

I Might Act Serious
If God would stop telling jokes, I might act serious.

 Landlocked in Fur
I was meditating with my cat the other day and all of a sudden she shouted, “What happened?”
I knew exactly what she meant, but encouraged her to say more—feeling that if she got it all out on the table she would sleep better that night.
So I responded, “Tell me more, dear,” and she soulfully meowed,
“Well, I was mingled with the sky. I was comets whizzing here and there. I was suns in heat, hell—I was galaxies. But now look—I am landlocked in fur.”
To this I said, “I know exactly what you mean.”
What to say about conversation between mystics?

Biography and translation by Daniel Ladinsky, from Love Poems from God, New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

Rabindranath Tagore 1861 - 1941

Rabindranath Tagore was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. He was educated at home; and although at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling, he did not finish his studies there. In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, he managed the family estates, a project which brought him into close touch with common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education. From time to time he participated in the Indian nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father of modern India, was his devoted friend. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honor as a protest against British policies in India.

Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. In fact his fame attained a luminous height, taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution.

Although Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres, he was first of all a poet. He also wrote plays and was the author of several volumes of short stories and a number of novels. Besides these, he wrote musical dramas, dance dramas, essays of all types, travel diaries, and two autobiographies, one in his middle years and the other shortly before his death in 1941. Tagore also left numerous drawings and paintings, and songs for which he wrote the music himself. He composed the Indian national anthem.

Tagore won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913.

 Gitanjali (part Two)
When thou commandest me to sing, it seems that my heart would break with pride;
And I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.
All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony,
And my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.
I know thou takest pleasure in my singing.
I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.
I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song,
Thy feet which I could never aspire to reach.
Drunk with joy of singing I forget myself and
Call thee friend who art my Lord.

(From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969 )

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