Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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‘Sat ’ is it self a func t ional name signific ant for t heology, personal belief and et hic s,
for life must be based on trust in God and truthfulness. Sikhs regard Sat as safer
than other names given to God, although these are also found in the Adi Granth.
Ram, Mohan (beautiful), Gobind (World Lord), Hari, even Allah or Khuda (Creator),
taken from Hinduis m and Islam, oc c ur in the sc riptures. For example,
‘He is Allah, Alakh, Agam, Kadur, Karanhar, Karim’ (AG 64). Manmohan Singh’s
translation reads, ‘He is the unseen, insc rutable, inac c essible, omnipotent and
bounteous c reator’, whic h hides the point that Guru Nanak was using Muslim names
of God in suc h a way as t o imply t hat all were ac c ept able but t o be int erpret ed only
as attributes of the One who is beyond names. However, each evokes some
prec onc eption, eac h c an provide a stopping plac e whic h is short of the ultimate,
therefore the abstrac t term ‘Sat’ is preferred by Guru Nanak though oc c asionally
God is addressed as ‘Anami’ (without a name). Bec ause func tional names c an be
applied, e.g. Sat Nam (name) and Sat Guru (True Guru), it may be said that God is
saguna with attributes as well as nirguna, but Sikhism rejec ts the view that God
ever assumes any physic al form, either animal or human.
The rest of the Mul Mantra is c onc erned with the func tions of deity. First, God
is c reator, imma nent in the universe. There are no c reation stories, only the
expression of a belief t hat t he universe is an emanat ion of God who willed it s
existence. The situation before time was as follows:
For millions of years there was nothing but darkness over the void. There
was neither earth nor sky, only the Infinite Will. T here was neit her night
nor day, sun nor moon and God was in a state of tranc e [samadhi]. The
sourc es of c reation did not exist, there was no speec h, no air, no water,
no birth, no death, no c oming or going, no regions, no seven seas, no
worlds above or below. The trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva did not
exist. There was no other only the One. There was neither male or female,
jat i or birt h, pain or pleasure. T here was no c ast e or religious garb, no
brahmin or khat ri. No Vedas or Muslim kit ab existed, smirits or shastras.
No reading of Puranas. No sunrise or sunset. (AG 1035/6)This is a paraphrase of a lengthy statement whic h denies the existenc e of duality of
anything until God c alled it into being. For reasons known only to God the dec ision
was made to bring the universe into being. It was experience not metaphysics
whic h c onc erned the Guru:
The Infinite One’s might bec ame enshrined within all but God is detac hed
and without limit or equal. In c reation nature and inanimate nature c ame
from the existing void. From God’s Being [sunte] c ame air, water and the
world, bodies and t he divine spirit wit h t hem. Y our light is wit hin fire,
wat er and living beings and in your Absolut e Self lies t he power of
c reat ion.From the Absolute emanated Brahma, Vishnu an d S h iv a : f ro m Go d c a me
all t he ages...All that springs from God merges with God again. By God’s play the
nature has been c reated and by the shabad the wonder has bec ome
ma n if e s t.