Saturday, July 2, 2011

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What people outside Sikhism think and said about Sikhism..and GURU GRANTH SAHIB



Worldwide praise for 

Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Sri Guru Granth Sahib (ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ), is final Guru of the Sikhs.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib provides unique and unequalled guidance and advice to the whole of the human race. It is the torch that will lead humanity out of Kaljug, (the dark era) to a life in peace, tranquillity and spiritual enlightenment for all the nations of the World.

for the Guru has been part of Sikh history since the time of the first Guru. But this time in this thread, we are discussing worldwide praise of our final Guru by modern Scholars and those who are non-sikhs.

Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill was very well conversant with the bravery of the Sikhs, who had fought for Britain in the World Wars. Churchill while speaking in the British Parliament said: 

".....It is a matter of regret that due to the obsession of the present times people are distorting the superior religious and social values, but those who wish to preserve them with respect, we should appreciate them as well as help them. Sikhs do need our help for such a cause and we should give it happily. Those who know the Sikh history, know England's relationship with the Sikhs and are aware of the achievements of the Sikhs, they should persistently support the idea of relaxation to Sikhs to ride a motorbike with their turbans on, because it is their religious privilege." 


Churchill, further added: 
"...British people are highly indebted and obliged to Sikhs for a long time. I know that within this century we needed their help twice and they did help us very well. As a result of their timely help, we are today able to live with honour, dignity, and independence. In the war, they fought and died for us, wearing the turbans. At that time we were not adamant that they should wear safety helmets because we knew that they are not going to wear them anyways and we would be deprived of their help. At that time due to our miserable and poor situation, we did not force it on them to wear safety helmets, why should we force it now? Rather, we should now respect their traditions and by granting this legitimate concession, win their applaud."



Pearl S. Buck, a Nobel laureate

."I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite of their length and are a revelation of the concept of God to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzled me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the 16th century when explorers were beginning to discover the globe upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lines of our making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind".



Arnold Toynbee, a historian


."Mankind’s religious future may be obscure; yet one thing can be foreseen. The living higher religions are going to influence each other more than ever before, in the days of increasing communications between all parts of the world and branches of human race. In this coming religious debate, the Sikh religion and its scriptures, the Guru Granth, will have something special of value to say to the rest of the world."



Lord Mountbatten 

(India’s Last British Viceroy)



."Guru Nanak was a great poet, philosopher and saint. His teachings are of universal application and his message of love, service and sacrifices will continue to inspire coming generations".




Former US President George W. Bush

"Our Nation has always benefited from a strong tradition of faith, and religious diversity has been an important part of this heritage. The Guru Granth Sahib has provided strength, wisdom, and guidance to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs in America and millions more around the world.

I applaud the Sikh community for your compassion and dedication to your faith. By sharing its message of peace, equality, and the importance of family, you help change lives, one heart and one soul at a time. Bush added, Laura (Bush’s wife) joins me in sending our best wishes"

Max Arthur Macauliffe, an Irish author


"The Sikh religion differs as regards the authenticity of its dogmas from most other theological systems. Many of the great teachers the world has known, have not left a line of their own composition and we only know what they taught through tradition or second-hand information. If Pythagoras wrote of his tenets, his writings have not descended to us. 
We know the teachings of Socrates only through the writings of Plato and Xenophon. Buddha has left no written memorial of his teaching. Kungfu-tze, known to Europeans as Confucius, left no documents in which he detailed the principles of his moral and social system. The founder of Christianity did not reduce his doctrines to writing and for them we are obliged to trust to the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Arabian Prophet did not himself reduce to writing the chapters of the Quran. They were written or compiled by his adherents and followers. But the compositions of Sikh Gurus are preserved and we know at first hand what they taught."


Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee




while releasing the  Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Sindhi-Devnagari script

 "Guru Granth Sahib includes holy messages of many saints, preachers
 and devotees. It carries an ideal example of the inter-faith."
"The entire Granth Sahib is being compiled in 31 rag-raginis, and
 through the music and prayer to God, one can bring succour to
 humankind."


Late S. Radhakrishnan, Past President of India


"Guru Arjan says (pothi parmesar kä thän) that the book (scriptures) is the abode of God. We find in Adi Granth a wide range of mystical emotions, intimate expressions of the personal realization of God and rapturous hymns of divine love.
A remarkable feature of the Adi Granth is that it contains the writings of the religious teachers of Hinduism, Islam, etc. The Sikh Gurus who compiled the Adi Granth had this noble quality of appreciation of whatever was valuable in other religious traditions. The barrier of seas and mountains will give way before the call of eternal truth which is set forth with a freshness of feeling and fervor of devotion in the Guru Granth."


Late Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, indian nationalist

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution
"Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a spiritual guide for me and I strongly feel that whatever is good for me, is also beneficial for my brothers all over the world. Guru Granth Sahib represents a casteless society. A society where there is no racial discrimination or difference of opinions."
This was the reason that under the influence of ‘Gurmat Prachar Conference’ held in 1935, Ambedkar wanted to convert himself into a pure Sikh.


Barack Obama - President of United States(2009 - )



Barack Obama extended his greetings to the Sikh community in America on the tercentenary celebrations of consecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in oct,2008 when he was Democratic presidential nominee


"Throughout the world, Sikh communities are celebrating the tercentenary of the Guruship of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib is considered the universal spiritual leader and guiding light for the Sikh community. In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh officially ordained Guru Granth Sahib as the final and perpetual Guru of Sikhs. This worldwide celebration will commemorate the 300 years of consecration of Guru Granth Sahib and the anniversary of the accession of Guru Gobind Singh.
I would like to extend my congratulations to the American Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and thank them for their ongoing efforts to promote cultural diversity and awareness on behalf of the Sikh community."



Swami Ram Tirath

Hindu & Vedanta Theologian



Swami Ram Tirath, being the most notable teachers of hinduism, is also author of books like Supreme Scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Paramount Religion, Khalsa Panth.


"Just as the Guru Granth Sahib abated the social injustice, perpetuated against low castes through religious creeds, same way it raised voice in favor of basic rights of the womankind. Here the husband is not said to be the God and the woman the slave or purchased sheep or goat, but (she) has been accepted an equal partner in all (socio-familial) matters. Lopsided dicta of Hindu simirties that vilified women and compelled them to live like captives, was implicitly contravened through Gurus’ Words. Guru Nanak Dev Ji saying that when the whole mankind takes birth from the woman and there is need for woman to perpetuate the life cycle asked, then why the woman is vilified?


In the Adi Granth there is no credo regarding barbaric worship neither any importance for ritual feast (to holy quakes) or sacrifices. Similarly no regard is accorded to Vaishnava or goddess worship because in the puranas it is said that they both (Hindu Goddess and Vishnu, one of Hindu god trinity) relish barbarous intakes i.e. meat, alcohol, marijuana, hemp, tobacco, hashish, cannabis etc.
In the end I want to mention Guru Granth Sahib’s supremacy from the standpoint that this preeminent Granth does not profess any demigod or goddess to be the real God just as the (Hindu) puranas have done. Each purana’s author has made a God out of his conceptual demigod."



Sri Guru Granth Sahib at 

NASA library

When Kalpana Chawla's father had an opportunity to visit the NASA centre at San Jose, America (in September 2004), he was shown a volume of an English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee kept at the NASA library. Her father was told that when scientists get tired of searching and searching the universe, when they seek inspiration and need to uplift their souls, they turn to read the translations of Guru Nanak's poetry and divine-songs which magnificently describe the awe and wonder of the Universe. The scientists at NASA admit that apart from being a spiritual enlightener the living guru of sikhs SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB is full of scientific wealth too. They further supported their advocation after they tested all others holy books but nobody could withstand the scientific tests apart from Sri Guru Granth Sahib. As for example Bible aclaimed that earth is flat but NASA found earth to be round; Guru Granth Sahib already said it.

Another discovery which made NASA spell bound was that way back when discovring about whether sun is moving or earth. And they reached a conclusion that sun is stationary and all others planets are revolving around it. But Guru Nanak Dev ji 500 years back in Asa ji di Var said: "Bhey Wich pavan vahe as waho...Bhey wich chand,Bhey wich suraj." (Meaning : in the fear of god all the things are moving from air, water to moon to sun). Now in recent discovry NASA also accepted that sun is also moving leading to eclipses
.

Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama Revered Tibetans Buddhist monk Dalai Lama, a Nobel prize winner, while paying his tribute to Guru Nanak Dev Ji said “Among the astral world of great religious and spiritual pioneers, Guru Nanak Dev Ji one of the most luminous stars on account of his unparalleled doctrine of life”.


Sheikh Mohammed Mohsin Fäni


Sheikh Mohammed Mohsin Fäni (Circa 1615-1670) author of book Dabistan-é-Muzahib (Anthology of Religions) circa 1645The Bäni i.e. poems of Nanak are, as if they were redolent (fragrance) of devotion and wisdom


Daulat Rae
Daulat Rae author of(Sahib-é-kamal Guru Gobind Singh)
The seedling that Guru Nanak planted, the sapling that Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Hargobind nourished with their blood and bones; Guru Teg Bahadur watered with his blood and Guru Gobind Singh nurtured with the overflowing canals of blood of his four juvenile sons [two martyred in battle against Mogul and Hindu hordes and two immured (wall built around them) and beheaded by barbaric Muslim ruler of Sirhind], five cherished Sikhs and thousands of devoted Sikh martyrs; into a robust tree that bore fruit. That fruit symbolizes socio-religious harmony, piety monotheism and patriotism.