The Voice of the Guru and Gurmat (Sikhi)
The Sikh world divides life choices between gurmat and manmat. Gurmat is the way of the Guru, while manmat is the way of the mind, tied up in the knot of self. The mind is where the Guru lives. It is Being that speaks us, our unique mental selves, into being. We are beings, not thing. Our minds have Life and are not physical, material objects. Being alive, being gurmukh means to face the Life in me, let it flow through and remake the space of self, the Kingdom of Heaven, and recognize the Life in you.
For Life is not static, but dynamic, not neutral but Will and Flow of Love. This manifests as Grace in our lives, the Universe’s Will that sends us into being, supports and guides us and as love in our relationships with others. The daily prayers include a verse, ‘Jin prem kio tin he prabh paio’ — only those who love have got the One.
The Voice of the Guru sings through us in an ‘anhad naad’ — an unstruck melody. This shows the effortless effort of true living. It also shows the power of sound. Vibrations push out space while part of a unity. The verses of the Guru Granth Sahib are sacred songs. They are not propositions to be interpreted literally, nor poetry to be interpreted as metaphor. They are lyrics that act on us physically, emotionally and intellectually in performance art.