Formless divinity

Guru Nanak Dev, founder of the Sikh faith, evolved as a spiritual mentor in his growing years when he began to question religious rituals and the worship of statues representing gods. He did not believe in superstitions. But he kept all his opinions to himself as he knew that his views would offend the others. That is why the followers of Sikhism do not worship deities; they just follow the teachings of their gurus. The 10th Guru Gobind Singh declared the Guru Granth Sahib to be the eternal guru after him, a collection of teachings from not just Sikh gurus but from insights and sayings of sages of all faiths.

Yet, human beings are creatures of habit, and the Guru Granth Sahib began to be venerated with flowers, draped in silk and brocade, and bowed to, just as is done in the worship of deities. ‘They even roused it (the Guru Granth Sahib) in the morning (prakash) and put it to rest in the evenings (santoksh),’ wrote Sardar Khushwant Singh, an agnostic but also a scholar of Sikh teachings and history. Even as a college student, he believed that religion was irrational for it generated prejudice and hatred rather than love and friendship. This is why, he says, he decided to give up on organised religion as it fawned rituals, and followers neglected the core teachings that would add meaning to life. God is formless, nirakaar, said Nanak Dev, so it makes no sense to give divinity form, and circumscribe it with rituals.

November 27 is Guru Nanak Jayanti