It is the Guru Granth Sahib that made me a Sikh, it is the Guru Granth Sahib as God’s word that I gave my head to when I took Amrit, and it is the Guru Granth Sahib that connected me with God.
Guru Gobind Singh made the Guru Granth the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. That does not mean that reading of other books is forbidden, but it does mean that the Guru Granth is The Granth, The Book, the one against which all other books are measured.
Read the Dasam Granth, the Sarbaloh Granth, Bhai Gurdas’ Varan or Bhai Nand Lal’s poetry, but the Guru Granth is your Guru, your benchmark. Read the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, Al Qur’an, or any other book of other religions or dharms, but the Guru Granth is your Guru, your benchmark.
The Guru Granth is your signpost to God. Reading the Guru Granth you will feel uplifted, you will be given strength, the strength you need to stay on that narrow path that leads to God. The strength you need to climb back on that narrow path after falling off.
The Guru Granth will change the fear of God into respect for God. The Guru Granth will change the respect for God into love for God. The Guru Granth will open your third eye, will make you see God, will make you feel the emotion of God and the always present and limitless Love of God.
Use all your faculties, your eyes, your ears, your nose, your emotions, your whole body and soul to hear God’s Shabad, God’s word.
Last night I was not feeling great. I have a job to do that I do not like very much, that I am not very good at. And when I had a go it went even worse than I expected.
I went to the Gurdwara, listened to the kirtan, read the original text and the translation of the sabads, sang along and felt a lot better, and decided to have another go and ask my colleagues for help.
Being with Guru does not mean that you have no more minor or major problems, but it does mean that you will find the strength to deal with them. I am not constantly in perfect balance or ‘sahaj’, but I have fewer highs and lows since I became a Sikh and get back to ‘sahaj’ much quicker.
Take your time when reading the Guru Granth Sahib. If you struggle with the original text then use a translation, use a Panjabi – English or a specific dictionary for the Guru Granth Sahib. Use a Stig or the Mahan Kosh. Try to feel the metre and rhythm, understand the poetic images, be moved, and be emotional about its beauty.
An appeal to stop the use of violence
All Sikhs, Sikh organisations and Gurdwaré in the UK should undertake never again to use violence as a means to settle differences of opinion. There is no precedent from Guru’s days for this bad practice, the Guru taught us to stand up against injustice, not against opinions that we do not agree with.
