Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
278However, unlike some of the other mystic s the Sikh asserts that a distinc tion
between God and humankind does remain even after God-realization. Guru Arjan
wrot e:
God lives in everyt hing, and dwells in every heart , yet is not blended with
anything; God is a separate entity. (AG 700)Despite this stress upon immanence God is also transcendent. The passage
quoted above insists on separateness and frequently God is described as the
Transc endent One. In the Japji, Guru Nanak says
God is great and enthroned highly with a name is higher than the highest.
(AG 2)Ultimately, although a person disc overs the One who is within him they
rec ognize t hat it is more c orrec t t o regard themselves as existing within God. There
is no plac e for pantheism in Sikh thought. The term panentheism is muc h more
appropriat e, for everyt hing owes it s meaning t o God in whom it exist s.
O wise and all knowing God, you are the river. How c an I, the fish wit hin
you measure your limits. Wherever I look I find no one but you and if ever
I were to leave you I would perish. (AG 25)The enlightened, God-filled person experienc es everyt hing as exist ing wit hin
God and is also aware of God as imma nent, but in the nat ural st at e humanit y is like
a fish who is oblivious of t he wat er in whic h it swims.
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