Table Of Contents For 'Only One God Philosophy' By Nirmal Singh Kalsi

Preface To Book 'Only One God Philosophy' By Nirmal Singh Kalsi

Throughout the ages, theologians and scholars have been proclaiming that Gurbani, a repository of Divine Knowledge, fully reveals Ghat, union with God. The Gurus themselves reverence Gurbani by calling it: Word of Truth, Word of the Lord, Primordial Gurbani, Ambrosial Gurbani, etc.

From the Primordial One, has emanated the Gurbani And it has effaced all the anxiety.

When we view the Guru Granth Sahib, Gurbani commences with the invocation to God as:

According to the Sikh concept it is called the Mool Mantar; but its opening word IKooo is called Beej Mantar

Recite thou the Basic Creed IKooo..of Divine Laudation.

Whenever it was tried to understand the connotation of Beej Mantra as Ik Oankar from scholars or tried to comprehend it from the commentaries of writers, it raised questions such as: Is it really Ik Oankar and fully meaningful? Is it also true that Guru Ji just put (one) in front of Oankar, the Mantra of the Vedas, to denote the existence of One Almighty God? In our research the pronunciation of Ik Oankar, does not seem true and completely meaningful according to Gurbani. 

This Beej Mantra, is not the composition of two letters, instead, it is One Unique Syllable. Ik Oankar is that Mystic Syllable, the explanation of which is there in all the 1430 pages of the Sikh Scripture. Moreover, Ik Oankar graces the heading and the beginning of the entire Gurbani. It is that Supreme Word which reveals three aspects of God's Reality and Manifestations - One Absolute Reality (Supreme Self), His status of being Nirgun and His phase of being Sargun.

He creates all, fills all, and is yet Separate.

Let's see what Bhagavad Gita says about the Vedas. In the Bhagavad Gita, Siri Krishan is preaching to Arjuna as:

The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three Gunas. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna, and be established in the self.

"Oankar is the most holy word of the Vedas," says Swami Vivekananda. Question arises: The Mantra, which is confined to the three Strands, how could that give the comprehension of the Absolute One? Gunbani clearly tells us:

Man reflects over the sermon of the Vedas of three Qualities and he deals in sins, the filthy sins.

Guru Nanak has revealed a unique depiction of God through Beej Mantra, which has no relation with Mantras of the Vedas. It is surprising that the Shastari scholars in the Sikh world have correlated by twisting and distorting its form to Ik Oankar, and the meaning and pronunciation of it to just Ik Oankar. If Ik Oankar. If Ik Oankar is just simply Ik Om or Ik Oankar, then think, what have the Gurus given us that is different from the Vedas and the Shastras? No doubt, Oankar does occur in Gurbani, but it expounds the field of creative aspect of God.

As we know that Omi, Oankar, Os, etc. and many more words originate from the letter O. But is seen evidently distinctive and it has no parallel with the first letter of Gurmukhi alphabet. The allegory and form of Ik Oankar is obviously uncommon and distinctive. Therefore, its meaning and pronunciation must also be uncommon and distinctive. One obvious characteristic of this unique vocable Ik Oankar is the fact that it is not found anywhere used singly. It is used everywhere with (one) in front of it. In other words, have inseparable relationship which gives rise to one Mystic Syllable Ik Oankar, a unique composition- 'the Word that is noword. Moreover, Oankar is written with not with unique vowel which exists nowhere singly. Hence, Ik Oankar exists only as One Letter and graces only in the beginning of invocations to God and used nowhere else.

Moreover, Guru Ji has obviously shown the abbreviated form of word Mahla as M:1,M:2,M:3.etc. Similarly, had there been the abbreviated form of Oankar, or Guru Ji had introduced such form, then, he definitely would have shown it some where in the Guru Granth Sahib. But this is not the case at all.

Furthermore, wherever word Oankar has been used in Gurbani, the use of figure (1) or alphabetically spelt word Ik is not found written with or in front of Oankar. Then, how is "Ik Oankar", when the word"Oankar" is not written with it? Keeping the aforesaid discourse in view, Ik Oankar should be enunciated as "Ikooo.." that is, Ik Oankar=Ik Oankar, Oankar, Oankar,. The Only One God without a second. It is the sole absolute name of the Dynamic Phase of God. Actually, the One or God is above substance, life and intelligence, and cannot even be called "One" except metaphorically speaking.

When Ik Oankar is interpreted as (the creator) and, or three powers or energies, then we easily get attached to the philosophy of the Vedas and the Shastras, whereas Gurbani clearly explains:

What is that One Word or One Letter (The One Imperishable), the Gurus bestowed on the Sikhs? What connection that Word has with our body, mind and soul? How is the human body a microcosm of the Cosmos macrocosm? How is that word free from the three Strands? How does that Word inculcate unity in diversity and diversity in unity? How does that Word reflect the Unity of Mankind bonded with His love? How does that Word link the visible and invisible universes? How does that Word reveal the secret of Naam and serve as a golden ladder in the realm of Simran. How is that Word the root of all Mantras? The answers to these and to many more question come to light from the research of Ik Oankar. The 5th Nanak reveals as:

O dear readers Guru Ji has shown the impossible turned into possible, as if , ocean put  into a pot. How my poor intellect can measure the fathomless Guru and Gurbani! Owing to Guru's n bestowed grace of spiritual experience, perception and inspiration, this little task in the form of a book named (Seed Mantra Philosophy) first appeared in Gurmukhi, now the English version captioned as ONLY ONE GOD PHILOSOPHY - Discovery of the Mystical Primal Reality in the Universal Message of the Sikh Faith, is there. This book presents the aforesaid discourse with suitable reasoning, appropriate illustrations and sufficient authentic material.

It is the first attempt of its kind at the philosophisation of Ik Oankar. There is little doubt that this task needs to be done by a person more capable and learned than I. My only hope for making this attempt is that it might motivate scholars and philosophers of the Sikh Panth, who, having gone into the needful deliberation of this basic creed Ik Oankar, can provide guidance and make correction.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Nirmal Singh Kalsi