~ Lao Tsu~

The visible world is transient. It keeps changing all the time. Here, whatever is said, gets lost. Whatever is written, gets erased. Here, all signatures are on water. They disappear even before they can be written. Therefore, the name that can be articulated with the lips, with speech, with word, in time, in space, it cannot be enduring. It cannot be Naam.

Then, what is Naam?

That which is beyond time and space is Naam. That which can be experienced but cannot be articulated is Naam. You can live it, but you cannot voice it. You can be in it, but you cannot articulate it.

Naam is an enigma. Naam is a mystery. Mystery is that which has many names but is nameless; Naam is that which has many forms, but is still one. That which is many and yet remains one, is mystery. That which appears to be divided into many but remains undivided, is mystery. Mystery means that which we know and still remains unknown, that which we recognise but still remains unfamiliar. Mystery is that which is unpredictable. Naam is mysterious like life is. We all live but do we know what life is? Naam is mysterious like existence. Existence is present all around, inside and outside, in every fibre, in every breath, yet it is unknown and unknowable.

All that exists is Naam. Guru Nanak says Ek Omkar! That is it! That sound of Omkar alone is the name of truth. It has no other name. All other names are given by man. They are substitutes of Naam. The word Omkar has no meaning. In fact it is not even a word; it can be written only as a symbol. Omkar is not a word; it is a sound. In writing it can be depicted symbolically. In speech it can be articulated as a sound.  It is a sound which has been heard as Amen by some, Ameen by some, and Om by others. It is not a word; It is a sound.

Where will you go to seek Naam? Whatever is, is Naam. His signatures are in the trees, in the plants, in the stones. Whatever you see is Naam; wherever you go, everywhere is Naam. It is resounding in every sound. All sounds are forms of Omkar. That is the Only One hidden in the many forms. Everything is Naam. There is not the slightest space where Naam is not.

Guru Nanak says:

 

The waters, lands and skies are full of the Creator

Nanak says: Ek Omkar has spread in so many ways.

The sound of existence is everywhere. That is the sound of Omkar alone. God is the Creator and He creates continuously. The Creator and the creation are one. Thus He is creativity. This creativity is what Guru Nanak calls Naam. There is no beginning or end to creativity. Continuity is the nature of creativity. Creativity is not a noun; it is not a thing that can be named. It is a verb. It goes on happening continuously.

Guru Nanak is referring to a very important fact. He is saying that God has not become separate from the universe He has created. He has not turned His back to it. He has not gone on a holiday after creating the world. He has not forgotten His creation.

God is still creating, every minute. Creation is going on continuously. As a matter of fact, creation is the way of being of the Creator. He is creating all the time. He goes on creating. And, He has not gone away. He is interested in what He creates. But, He is not attached to it. Here is the fine balance. He is interested in His creation, yet, He gives full freedom to it. He is the perfect presence and the absolute absence, at the same time.

He is the perfect presence, because nothing else exists except Him. All that is visible are the various forms in which He is manifest. It is a different matter that we cannot see beyond the forms. But, not a grain of sand or a drop of water is devoid of Him. Yet, He remains hidden. He does not intrude. He gives you full freedom. That is why we can go astray, and we can commit sins.  His presence is like His absence. His existence is like emptiness. His existence is like the sky. Emptiness is the nature of God. Sky is the nature of God. This is what Guru Nanak calls Naam.

God cannot be seen, because it is He who sees through you. He is not outside; He is not the scene. He is the seer in you. God is not a thing; He is consciousness. You cannot see consciousness, but you can dissolve in consciousness. Consciousness cannot be proved with logic. But, consciousness can be experienced like a mystery.

God is existence. The is-ness of existence is God. And Guru Nanak’s word for it is Naam. Naam is the most mysterious phenomenon in Gurbani. It is beyond description. It cannot be understood by the head; it can only be experienced by the heart. It cannot be grasped by words; but it can be felt in silence.

To begin with, the very choice of the word Naam takes the mind away from it. You begin to think of something or someone with a name. Your attention goes towards looking for that something or someone who has a name.

Then you want to know what name it could be. Gurbani is full of names of God. Ram, Rahim, Hari, Govind, Gopal, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Allah, Khuda; every conceivable name of God can be found in Gurbani. These are all names given by men. How can they define the Creator? Can a candle grasp the light of the sun?

But we go on looking for a name. If we cannot find it ourselves, we go to the priests, the saints and sadhus who oblige us by giving a name to repeat. It becomes your mantra. It is interpretted as Jap, or repetition of a name. Here is the rub! You have embarked on a journey and taken the first step in the opposite direction, the direction that leads you away from your goal. Then the consequences should not surprise you. No wonder then that after a lifetime of repeating a name, you are still the same. No change has happened. No transformation has taken place. You have been walking on a path all your life and you have reached nowhere. You are where you began from. And, this goes on and on, life after life.

The words we speak are temporary, momentary. They are like clouds in the sky; they appear and disappear. They are like bubbles that burst even before they are formed. But, Naam is that which is eternal, without a beginning and without an end. The words we speak create sound and make noise. But, Naam is related to the situation when speech becomes redundant and total silence prevails. That is when you can hear the sound within. The word we articulate, is momentary. The sound you will here is eternal. When you become absolutely silent, you will hear it. You don’t have to talk to God; you have to listen to Him.

Ek Omkar Satnaam, the only unstruck sound of Omkar is the true Naam. The only sound of Omkar which is not caused by friction is the true Naam. The only sound of Omkar that is continuous and eternal is the true Naam. The only sound of Omkar that permeates the entire universe is the true Naam. We exist in Naam. There is no way we can be separate from Naam. It is Naam that breathes through us. It is Naam that sees through us, listens through us, tastes through us and lives through us. It pervades the universe. It is inside and outside.

We don’t have to seek Naam; it is already in us. But, we have forgotten about it. And, it is not easy to remember what we have forgotten. Forgetfulness implies unconsciousness. Forgetfulness means you are in a stste of sleep. You need someone to give you a nudge, a jolt, to wake you up. That is the role of the Guru. He shakes you awake.

However, a jolt can be quite a shock. Our slumber has been too long and we have become complacent in our state of semi-sleep. Therefore the Guru has to prepare us gradually. He gives small doses of medicine to treat our disorders. He holds our hand and helps us take one step at a time, lest we fall and give up the effort altogether.

Guru Nanak talks of four rungs of the ladder. First, begin with Naam simran. He says repeat His name with your tongue, with your lips. And, all along he says that He has no name. This may appear paradoxical. But, it is his compassion. He knows that Naam is nameless and formless. Yet he says first repeat the name with your voice. Like a true teacher, he starts from where you are, at present. If he were to talk of the last step straight away, you won’t even take the first step. So, he begins with the first step of repeating the name with your tongue and lips. Then, close your lips and repeat the name from your throat. This is the second step. Then, not even with the throat. Stop doing it at all and let it happen on its own. Now it will come from the heart and it will resound in every fibre of your body and everywhere outside too. But, even this is not the ultimate end. You have to let go of this also. The fourth stage is of Ajapa Jaap. Only when the name will get dropped that the nameless Naam will be heard.

And, what is Naam?

Guru Nanak says: Ek Omkar Satnaam; the sound of Omkar alone is the name of Truth.