ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
naa ham hindhoo n musalamaan ||
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
So what is the meaning of the pauri which is saying Guruji is "independent of religion" if he is not establishing a new one?
And here is the key:
ਪ੍ਰਥਮੇ ਤਿਆਗੀ ਹਉਮੈ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ॥
prathhamae thiaagee houmai preeth ||
First, I renounced my egotistical love of myself.
ਦੁਤੀਆ ਤਿਆਗੀ ਲੋਗਾ ਰੀਤਿ ॥
dhutheeaa thiaagee logaa reeth ||
Second, I renounced the ways of the world.
ਤ੍ਰੈ ਗੁਣ ਤਿਆਗਿ ਦੁਰਜਨ ਮੀਤ ਸਮਾਨੇ ॥
thrai gun thiaag dhurajan meeth samaanae ||
Renouncing the three qualities, I look alike upon friend and enemy.
ਤੁਰੀਆ ਗੁਣੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਸਾਧ ਪਛਾਨੇ ॥੨॥
thureeaagun mil saadhh pashhaanae ||2||
And then, the fourth state of bliss was revealed to me by the Holy One. ||2||
ਸਹਜ ਗੁਫਾ ਮਹਿ ਆਸਣੁ ਬਾਧਿਆ ॥
sehaj gufaa mehi aasan baadhhiaa ||
In the cave of celestial bliss, I have obtained a seat.
ਜੋਤਿ ਸਰੂਪ ਅਨਾਹਦੁ ਵਾਜਿਆ ॥
joth saroop anaahadh vaajiaa ||
The Lord of Light plays the unstruck melody of bliss.
ਮਹਾ ਅਨੰਦੁ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੁ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ॥
mehaa anandh gur sabadh veechaar ||
I am in ecstasy, contemplating the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
ਪ੍ਰਿਅ ਸਿਉ ਰਾਤੀ ਧਨ ਸੋਹਾਗਣਿ ਨਾਰਿ ॥੩॥
pria sio raathee dhhan sohaagan naar ||3||
Imbued with my Beloved Husband Lord, I am the blessed, happy soul-bride. ||3|
~SGGS Ji ang 370
What is Turiya?
In Hindu philosophy, turiya (or chaturtha) is a state of pure consciousness. It is a fourth state of consciousness that underlies and transcends the three common states of consciousness: the state of waking consciousness (jagrata), the state of dreaming (svapna), and dreamless sleep (susupti)...
The Mandukya Upanishad defines turiya as:
"The fourth state is not that which is conscious of the subjective, nor that which is conscious of the objective, nor that which is conscious of both, nor that which is simple consciousness, nor that which is all-sentient mass, nor that which is all darkness. It is unseen, transcendent, the sole essence of the consciousness of self, the completion of the world..."
The Bhagavata Purana, verse 11.15.16 describes Bhagavan as (the fourth), defined in the turiyakhye Bhagavad Gita, verse 7.3 as:
"Within the material world the Lord appears as the three Visnus (gunas). The original form of the Lord is another form still. He is beyond material nature and thus known as the fourth..."
"The fourth dimension, turiya, is the ground of our existence and the goal of all transcendentalists. For the Vedanta philosophers it is perceived variously, either as undifferentiated consciousness or a relationship with the divine. Regarding the latter, Gaudiya Vedanta concludes that love is greater than ourselves, and it is the greatest aspect of God, one that he himself is motivated by. For them, the nondual consciousness of Vedanta philosophy is realized when we know that we do not belong to ourselves, what to speak of anything belonging to us. If there is any time at which we can accurately say that something belongs to us, it is when, having given ourselves in love to God, we can say that 'he is ours'."
"This is the Krsna (Krishna) conception of Godhead, one in which God appears not as God, nor finite souls as finite souls. Both interrelate intimately as lover and beloved, Krsna and his gopis, beyond any sense of each others' ontological reality, yet beyond the material illusion as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turiya
The Guru Jyoth was speaking from the enlightenment of a higher understanding which did not perceive distinctions of duality such as "friend or foe" or "Muslim or Hindu." And from that state of brahmgyan where Guruji's consciousness was merged with the God, Guru spoke as a God-conscious being. This is not the same thing as "rejecting Hindu religion and inventing a new one." Guruji is above religion. And that does not divorce Him from the eternal truths of Sanatana Dharma or the same Vedic concepts like "Turiya" He uses in Gurbani to describe His own enlightenment/"jivan-mukti." In non-dual consciousness, how can Guru Ji have established a third religion?
And so the truth remains that Sikhi is an obvious part of Sanatana Dharma. Philosophically according to Gurmat theological teachings, all of these concepts originate in what is termed "Hinduism." There is no Islamic cosmology at all. The goal and end result of any enlightenment is Turiya consciousness which no longer perceives duality distinctions. And this is the correct meaning of the Shabad, not a rejection of the underlying core Vedantic belief structure.
~bhul chak maaf
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