Truth is high but higher still is truthful living
| ਸਚਹ ਓਰੈ ਸਭ ਕੋ ਉਪਰਿ ਸਚ ਆਚਾਰ ॥੫॥ |
| Sacẖahu orai sabẖ ko upar sacẖ ĝcẖĝr. (5) |
| Truth is high but higher still is truthful living.(5) |
The quote above is a saying of the founder of Sikhi, Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, who was born in 1469 at Nankana sahib in present-day Pakistan. He preached to the whole world and is recognised as a en-lightener of the conciousness of all the peoples of Earth. He travelled many thousands of miles from India to Mecca, Turkey, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The lives of many thousands of peoples were changed for the better by the knowledge imparted by Guru Nanak. Before departing for his heavenly abode, he appointed Guru Angad as his successor. His teachings and those of his successors were preserved in writing, along with selected writings of many great men of other religions, in the Sikh holy book called the Guru Granth Sahib.
Today, when the people of the world are, all to often, engaged in the basest instincts; sleaze, deception, greed and even war, it is a good time to re-affirm the teachings of the great Gurus. The suffering of the world is bound to continue while the powerful leaders in positions of strength; heads of nations, corporations, institutions, etc., continue to move away from lives of honesty and truthfulness.
The Guru Granth Sahib is the prime repertoire of the ethics taught by the Sikh Gurus. The Gurus show us the way to achieve a balanced and contended life through their words or Gurbani. Moral conduct or righteous behaviour is stressed at each and every step. The Gurus were men of vision and the Guru Granth is engrained with ethical and spiritual insights. The Gurus were perceptive and intuitive to the socio-natural habits and weaknesses of man.
Life of virtues
| ਮਨ ਹਾਲੀ ਕਿਰਸਾਣੀ ਕਰਣੀ ਸਰਮ ਪਾਣੀ ਤਨ ਖੇਤ ॥
ਨਾਮ ਬੀਜ ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਹਾਗਾ ਰਖ ਗਰੀਬੀ ਵੇਸ ॥ ਭਾਉ ਕਰਮ ਕਰਿ ਜੰਮਸੀ ਸੇ ਘਰ ਭਾਗਠ ਦੇਖ ॥੧॥ |
| Man hĝlī kirsĝṇī karṇī saram pĝṇī ṯan kẖeṯ.
Nĝm bīj sanṯokẖ suhĝgĝ rakẖ garībī ves. Bẖĝ▫o karam kar jammsī se gẖar bẖĝgaṯẖ ḝekẖ. (1) |
| Make your mind the farmer, good deeds the farm, modesty the water, and your body the field. Let the Lord's Name be the seed, contentment the plow, and your humble dress the fence. |
Gurbani, (the message of the Gurus) asks us to wear the coat made of virtues - (Guna, sift, sheel - good qualities, merits, excellences) to think in a positive manner and practises deeds and carry out actions which are fair and beneficial to all. "As you plant, so shall you harvest. Without virtue, this human life passes away in vain." (SGGS p 56) Gun, Augun (bad deeds) and Vingun (without good deeds) have also been referred in Gurbani and the importance of avoiding them. Virtues in Sikhism is a quality that is vigorously promoted by Guru Nanak.
