Naam or Word

Book Six

Guru-Mantra

The Master's Word





    IN the Sikh Scriptures we often come across terms like Gurbani, Bani, Shabd or Naam, all of which are synonyms. The Masters of the Highest Order are always concerned with Naam or Shabd, and they initiate seekers after Truth into Its significance, for It puts them on the Path Godward. Christ calls It Word or Logos, Holy Spirit or the Comforter through which we rediscover God in man and attain salvation.

Listen ye, O friend! the devotee of the Lord
Has given me the Word "Truth" as Guru-Mantra. 1

The Master has given me the Mantra of Hari Naam,
With this boon all my desires are fulfilled. 2
                                                        GURU ARJAN

This Mantra of the Guru one may get by great good fortune.
The Word of the Master becomes manifest,
O Nanak! if it is so ordained by God. 3
                                            GURU ARJAN
This Word or Naam is characterized by Light and Sound. In fact, through the grace of the Master, It manifests Itself in each individual in the form of Heaven's Light, the Shadowless Light, Light that never is on sea or land, self-luminous and radiant Light that shines in darkness, Light that is more lustrous than that of thousands of suns put together. It is Heaven's Sovereign Light.
In utter darkness, the Master's Word (Guru-Mantra) shines forth into Light,
In the company of the Master, all are rescued and saved. 4
                                                                                       GURU ARJAN

I am the Light of the world; He that followeth Me, shall not walk
  in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life. 5
                                                                         CHRIST

That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you
  out of darkness into his marvelous light. 6
                                                              ST. PETER


The seat of Naam or Word is in the deepest recesses of the human soul.

The precious crest jewel of Naam (the Word of God)
  is implanted by the devotee of the Lord in the heart of man. 7
                                                                                         GURU RAM DAS

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
  which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. 8
                                                                                                            ST. PAUL

The manifestation of Naam or Word is possible only through the grace of the living Master, for It is simply his gift and comes from him; It cannot be earned.
The Master has given me the perfect Word or Mantra. 9
                                                                                 GURU ARJAN

By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves:
  It is the gift of God.10
                         ST. PAUL

We arc all as unclean things, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. 11
                                                                                                                                     ISAIAH

For the grace of God bringeth salvation. 12

Neither is their salvation in any other; for there is none other name
  under heaven given among men, whereby we shall be saved. 13
                                                                                                  ST. PETER

It is not possible to describe in words the greatness of the Master's Word (Guru-Mantra) or the Holy Spirit. It affords a key to the Kingdom of God. From man-making, It gradually leads to becoming God. Man regains the Lost Paradise. As he comes to his own, he understands the true values of life, the essential unity of his own soul with the Oversoul (pervading everywhere and permeating in all) and culminating in the union of the two. He is now no longer a separate entity but a conscious co-worker in the Divine Plan, sharing in His glory and greatness.
He is a man of all virtues and honored among all,
To whomsoever the Master gives the Mantra of the Word. 14
                                                                                         GURU ARJAN
Jesus Christ describes the work of the Holy Spirit in this way:
 . . I will send him (the Comforter) unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: . . . when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth . . .15
                                                                         CHRIST
The Word of the Master is purely a gift of the Master. It can neither be earned nor learned. It comes when it comes and works by grace alone. Spiritual insight can neither be taught nor bought, but it may be caught like an infection from one infected with it. As light comes from light, so does life from Life; and truly blessed is one who gets it.
 God can be worshiped in the company of a Sadh (disciplined soul or saint),
The Guru just gives the Mantra of the Word which he makes manifest. 16
                                                                                                                 GURU ARJAN
Guru-Mantra has a great and powerful saving grace in It. At death It comes forth in the Radiant Form of the Master to lead the spirit back to the mansion of the Lord, and the spirit thus escorted passes unhindered from plane to plane and is honorably received everywhere. In life's sojourn on this earth also, one passes his days far above the turmoil of life.
Take ye the lesson in the Word (Mantra) from a Master and practice the same,
Those who love the Lord are ultimately saved at the time of death,
O Nanak! Those who practice the Word (Mantra) of the Master, day and night,
They shall certainly be saved. 17
                         GURU RAM DAS

With the Word of the Master (Guru-Mantra) in the heart,
  one becomes fearless and can have no sorrow or affliction,
None without the aid of a Master has ever been able to cross over
  the stormy sea of life with all his wits about him. 18
                                                                        GURU ARJAN

Whosoever receives the Word of the Lord (Hari Mantra) from a Master,
He escapes unscathed from the hell-fires of the world. 19
                                                                                   GURU ARJAN

Four things remain eternally true: Naam, Sadhu, Guru and Gobind;
Nanak says: a rare soul in this world practices
  the Word of the Master (Guru-Mantra). 20
                                     GURU TEG BAHADUR

What is the life of one without contact with the Word,
Nothing better than that of a dog or a swine, an ass or a snake. 21
                                                                                                   GURU ARJAN



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