Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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When the Creator became manifest all creatures of the earth assumed various
shapes. But when you draw c reation within yourself, all embodied beings are
absorbed in you. (Guru Gobind Singh)
It is c ertainly true to say that Guru Nanak believed in a personal God who c ould be
worshipped and loved. This understanding of God was derived from experience.
When he was taken to God’s c ourt, as he put it, he bec ame aware of God as one,
as personal and as pervading the universe. He was given a c up of the nec tar of
God’s name to drink and was commanded to go into the world to preach the divine
name, but from then on he not only found him within himself, he perc eived God as
‘pervading all forms, all c ast es and all heart s’ (AG 223).
God as male/female
In recent years the feminist movement has become active in the religions. One
c onc ern it has turned its attention to is the use of sexist language to describe God.
It asserts that for as long as God is addressed as ‘Father’, ‘Lord’ or ‘he’ attitudes to
women will c ont inue t o be of t he kind whic h lac k respec t for t heir spirit ualit y and
c onsider t hem to be inferior members of God’s creation and the church as well as
soc iet y at large. T heir views are eminent ly just ified. God, ac c ording t o Sikh
teaching, is beyond the categories of male and female. They are attributes of the
creation, not the creator:
The wise and beautious Being (purukh) is neither a man or a woman
or a bird. (Guru Nanak, AG 1010)Like wealth they are maya in the sense that they have their plac e. God c hose
to dec ide that human beings and other c reatures should reproduc e through the
union of male and female and gave them to one another for support and
companionship, but lust or excessive attachment can separate the devotee from
God to whom, ultimately, the only true attac hment should be:
God, t he one, dwells wit hin all but is revealed only to those who
receive grace. (AG 931)The emphasis on the one and on the divine presenc e within every human being
would be seen as preventing the c onc lusion being drawn that God is seen to
possess c harac t erist ic s of gender. Sikhs will frequent ly ut t er t he words:
You are my mother and father, we are your c hildren (AG 268),as they oc c ur in a verse by Guru Arjan used at the c lose of c ongregational worship,
and:
Y ou are my fat her, you are my mot her,
You are my kinsman, you are my brother. (AG 103)In these passages it is the love, care and protection of God which is being referred
to, not gender. In the same way when devotees are described as God’s brides
(AG 763), or brides whom God enjoys (AG 21), we are invit ed t o t hink of spirit ual
union, not sexual.