For Guru Nanak the singer and the song are one. They are inseparable. As long as the singer is singing, he is a singer. Once he stops singing, he ceases to be a singer. As long as the song can be heard, the singer is there. When you cannot hear the song, you cannot feel the presence of the singer. This is the fundamental difference between the performing arts and all the other fine arts. An artist or a painter paints a picture and remains outside of it. The picture remains intact even if the painter dies. The painter and his painting are separate. Likewise with poetry; the poet and his poems are separate. Not so with the performing arts like dancing and singing. The dancer and the dance are one. The dance remains as long as the dancer is dancing. When he stops dancing the dance disappears. You cannot keep the dance and send the dancer away. The dancer and the dance are one.

Omkar is the continuous all-pervading song. If you look carefully, you will notice that the most prominent thing in nature is the song. The birds are singing, They burst into song with the first rays of the sun. The winds blowing through the leaves are singing. The springs fall in the mountains and create music. The clouds thunder in the sky and create an orchestra. The rivers flowing towards the ocean sing all the way, changing their tunes according to the moods of the terrain. If you look all around you and listen, you will find the entire existence singing continuously.

There is nothing more evident in life than music. And, if life is so full of music, the singer cannot be far away, because the song cannot be separated from the singer. The song is there only as long as the singer is singing. If only we could hear the song, we would immediately find the singer. He is right there in his song. But we have become deaf. We can only hear the loud noise inside and outside. We are not free from the internal dialogue even for a second. That is why the underlying song escapes us. We cannot hear it.

Song is an expression of ecstasy, and nature is constantly in a state of bliss. Everything is nature is blooming, blossoming. And, song is the expression of that fulfillment. For Guru Nanak the entire world is a festival, a celebration. All these forms and their bright and beautiful colours are celebrating. These ragas and raginis are playing his orchestra. The innumerable shapes and colours of flowers and butterflies are all dancing in joy. He is delighting in so many colours; He is blossoming in so many flowers; He is showering in so many clouds, winds and rains. This world which is called maya is for Guru Nanak his festival of celebration. He is not different from it. He is it. It is his song; it is his dance.

Guru Nanak made the song his path. His path is strewn with songs. He draws your attention to the various musical instruments playing, and the innumerable players playing them. Everywhere, all around there is only His music.

 Which is that door, where is the house where you sit and take care of everything?

He raises this question and gives the reply in the most melodious and eloquent words:

“Many instruments are playing; innumerable are the instrumentalists.

Innumerable are the singers, and uncountable the ragas and raginis.”

Guru Nanak says, naad, the sound is your door. Hidden in the sound you take care of everything. Omkar is the door. You are immersed in it. Listen to this sound, Guru Nanak tells us again and again. And, you can listen to it only when you are silent, when all the noise subsides and you are empty. Then the sound fills you up.

First, try to listen to the sounds of nature. Listen to the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds. Our entire music is born out of the music of nature; all instruments have been designed in imitation of nature. The instruments have been conceived after the songs of the birds, the rhythm of the rivers, the beat of the clouds. All the ragas and raginis are born out of them.

Listen to the early morning sounds all around. If you listen to them you will be able to listen to them throughout the day, because they are there always. Only we cannot hear them because of the noise of the marketplace.

Sit in the silence of the night and listen to the silence. The sound of silence is very close to the sound of Omkar. This sound is the door.