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My salutations to the Adi Guru, to the Guru of all ages, to the True Guru, to the Guru Lord and Master.

Last week, on November 4th, Sikhs all over the world, celebrated Guru Nanak Dev ji’s arrival on the Earth.

I celebrated his birthday by contemplating his teachings and by meditating on his virtues.

This week I wanted to share my meditations and also some of my paintings and sketches of Guru Nanak Dev ji that I have created over the years.

When Guru Nanak Dev ji was Born, the Haze of Ignorance was Gone

The birth of Guru Nanak Dev ji was a blessing to the world. Guru Sahib came to the Earth to dispel the darkness of Falsehood and guide mankind towards the light of Truth.

He taught that world is full of suffering, which can only be dispelled by following the light of Truth.

Adi Guru, the First Guru

The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev ji was born in Punjab, in what is now known as Nankana Sahib, situated in modern day Pakistan.

From a young age, he meditated a lot and in adulthood he set out to fulfill his purpose on Earth.

Already trained as a trader, he travelled and traded, all the while spreading the Essential Teachings.

The Whole World is Suffering

Those who pay attention to the process of Life, realize that everyone Suffers in this process.

Life is full of Meaningless Suffering.

Guru Nanak Dev ji taught that Liberation from Suffering can only happen when one becomes Truthful. When one realizes the Truth and speaks it and acts on it.

In Jap ji Sahib, Guru ji says that in order to speak and embody the Truth, one must learn to walk in the way of The Order of God.

By walking in the way of God’s Order, one learns about the Truth and gains the strength to act out the Truth.

The Order of God
Guru Sahib explains that the Order of God cannot be stated, you can only be with it.

He says that it is in the Order of God in which things take form, in which living beings come to life, in which greatness is obtained, in which one becomes high or low, in which pleasure and pain is received.

Everything happens inside the Order of God, there is nothing outside of it.

He adds that those who recognize that everything happens according to the Order of God, transcend their Worldly Identity.

In modern terms, we can say that the Order of God, or the Presence of God, is the Present Moment.

By aligning ourselves with the Present Moment, we come to realize the Truth.h.

The World is Impermanent

The Truth is that the World is Impermanent, it is constantly changing.

Our environment constantly changes from moment to moment. Now we might be faced with the birth of a new baby, in the next moment we might be faced with the death of a loved one.

Our emotions, constantly change. One moment we are working seriously. Then we are laughing uncontrollably. Within seconds, our state can change and we can become very sad.

Our self, who we think we are, constantly changes from moment to moment. With some people we behave one way, with other we behave in a different way.

Our actions, our thoughts, our understanding changes all the time.

Guru Nanak Dev ji taught that those who cling to things that change all the time, they suffer meaninglessly.

Clinging to our Worldly Identity, the story of our lives, is the cause of our Meaningless Suffering.

Rise Above Worldly Identities

When Guru Nanak Dev ji emerged from the river and claimed “na koi hindu, na koi musalman”, that no one is a Hindu or a Muslim, he wanted us to rise to the eternal Truth.

He wanted us to recognize that the True Self transcends the Worldy Identities.

The world is a play of God.

He has created it so that the mind creates Identities for itself and other minds, for many reasons.

We identify ourselves through relationships, such as mother, father, sister, brother.

We identify ourselves through our profession, such as Doctor, Lawyer, Plumber, Driver.

We also identify ourselves as the Sikhs of Guru Nanak Dev ji.

These Identities are very helpful in a practical way. However we must also follow Guru Sahib’s teaching and transcend these Worldly Identities and realize the eternal Truth, which is beyond identification.

Ignorance is the Hurdle

Guru Nanak Dev ji always said everyone follows Religions blindly without Understanding. So he tried to instill Understanding in everyone.

To Guru Sahib, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, everybody was the same, they were all Ignorant of God.

To Guru Sahib, Religion was not a hurdle. It was Ignorance of God that was the hurdle.

That’s why Guru Sahib focused on deepening the Understanding of Religions that people followed. He focused on deepening their Understanding of God.

Deepening People’s Faith

Guru Nanak Dev ji deepened the understanding of Religion and shed light into the Rituals that people performed.

He was not against any particular Rituals. He wanted people to bring the Order of God into their awareness when performing their religious Rituals and ceremonies.

When speaking about the path of an ascetic, Guru Sahib said –
ਪਤੁ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ਗਿਆਨ ਮਤਿ ਡੰਡਾ ਵਰਤਮਾਨ ਬਿਭੂਤੰ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕੀਰਤਿ ਰਹਰਾਸਿ ਹਮਾਰੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪੰਥੁ ਅਤੀਤੰ ॥੩॥

Contemplation is my Cup. Spiritual Knowledge is my walking Stick. Dwelling in the Present Moment is the Ashes that I apply to my body. Praising Hari is my Tradition. To live as a Gurmukh, facing my Guru, is my Religious Path. (Guru Granth Sahib, 360)
Guru ji explained the Essential Teachings of Religion to people.

He says that the way an ascetic covers himself with ash, he must also cover himself with the Present Moment, meaning he must align his mind to towards the Order of God.

The Essential Teachings

When we live in the Order of God, we start to become Truthful.

When we become Truthful, then we overcome our Ignorance and transcend our Worldly Identity.

When our Ignorance is transformed into Understanding, then we stop Suffering Meaninglessly.

When we stop Suffering Meaninglessly, then our Faith Deepens.

When our Faith Deepens, our Rituals become more Meaningful.

When our Rituals become more Meaningful, Life becomes more Meaningful, and thus more enjoyable.

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Prints of Guru Nanak Dev ji

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Become a Patron of Sikhi Art

“Patiently meditate on the virtues of Guru Arjun Dev ji.”

– Kavi Kalya ji (Guru Arjun Dev ji, 1407)

When I was painting Guru Arjun Dev ji, I meditated a lot on his qualities.

Initially my meditation was quite shallow to be honest. I didn’t really feel much. The history of his martyrdom felt cold and distant. I had no warm and visceral feelings of the significance of Guru Sahib’s actions, knowing very well what he did.

But as my painting developed, my appreciation for Guru Arjun Dev ji grew.

Guru Arjun Dev ji’s heavenly poetry in Guru Granth Sahib, his efforts to write down and compile the poems of Vaishnav saints from all over India to preserve their legacy, his efforts in commissioning the building of Harimandir Sahib, his influence all over northern India, which led to his martyrdom, and then his martyrdom itself. All his efforts during his life till the very end, filled me up with inspiration and appreciation, as I contemplated them more and more.

This feeling of appreciation eventually grew so intense that one day while meditating on him, I found myself uncontrollably moved to tears by the greatness of his divine being.

I remember it clearly, I was listening to the following hymns rendered by Bhai Harjinder Singh ji.

ਹਉ ਨਾ ਛੋਡਉ ਕੰਤ ਪਾਸਰਾ ॥ ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗੀਲਾ ਲਾਲੁ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਏਹੁ ਮਹਿੰਜਾ ਆਸਰਾ ॥1॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

I will never leave the intimacy of my Husband God. My Beloved Lover is always and forever colourful. He is my vital support. ||1||Pause||

– Guru Arjun Dev Ji, 761

ਨੈਣ ਅਲੋਇਆ ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਸੋਇਆ ਅਤਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਪ੍ਰਿਅ ਗੂੜਾ ॥

With my eyes I have seen Him, sleeping upon the bed within each and every heart; my Beloved is the sweetest ambrosia.

– Guru Arjun Dev Ji, 924

I was going deep into it. I was contemplating Guru Arjun Dev ji’s martyrdom. I saw Guru Sahib burning on the hot plate, the full scene of his torture.

My eyes teared up and I began crying. I saw a glimpse of Guru Sahib and how he saw his Beloved right next to him, and everywhere, and how he remained by his side until his departure.

It was a very moving moment for me.

I was in complete awe.

I take great inspiration from Italian master painters from the Renaissance period, when art was flourishing in Europe. I study their masterpieces a lot, meditating on each one and learning from their technique, composition and style.

However my painting of Guru Arjun Dev ji’s martyrdom was specifically inspired by the work of Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Caravaggio and Rembrandt had the ability to capture meditative moments really well.

Guru Arjun Dev ji voluntarily accepted his suffering as a gift and this gave him immense strength and peace. I knew I wanted Guru Sahib’s painting to be meditative.

I wanted it to be tragic yet peaceful.

When you let suffering happen to you, you fall victim to its pressure, you become more and more fearful. However when you voluntarily accept this suffering, it will inspire courage in you.

To voluntarily accept suffering which you cannot do anything about, which is outside of your control, to voluntarily accept this unavoidable suffering, activates particular circuits in the brain. These circuits do not activate if you let the suffering happen to you. Only when you choose to accept the suffering, do they activate and start running.

With repetitive activation, these circuits can change your entire perception of reality!

This is written by Guru Nanak Dev ji in Jap ji Sahib as – Hukam Raza-e Chalna and that doing so rips apart the dense haze that our mind is trapped in.

Guru Sahib is the living embodiment of Jap ji Sahib, and this is the lesson he left behind for us to follow. His martyrdom is an example for Sikhs today to voluntarily accept the suffering they go through in their day-to-day life.

When I contemplate this, I feel inspired and I try to follow in Guru Sahib’s footsteps to the best of my ability. To voluntarily accept my suffering, as much of it as possible. That is what I take from this painting, that is the reminder I get when I contemplate Guru Arjun Dev ji.

Thanks for reading.

Bhagat Singh
Sikhi Art