Welcome to BACK TO GURBANI!
A seeker, not a scholar, shares his understanding of Gurbani.
Is that understanding correct? The seeker doesn’t know.
Can I be called a seeker? I don’t know.
Why share my understanding of Gurbani?
Because I don’t know a better way to spend my life.
I believe my deepest knowing is that I don’t know anything. I don’t know whether Gurbani is true. I don’t know whether my understanding of Gurbani is correct. I don’t know who I am or what I am doing in this universe. I am filled with non-knowing.
However, I know that my experience has been enhanced significantly by the message of Gurbani. I know that I have never experienced as much joy as I have listening to kirtan.
Thus, I believe that sharing my understanding of Gurbani may help others live a more joyous life. Thus, Back to Gurbani is my attempt to serve my fellow beings.
Even though I have stated it above, the point is worth repeating: all the content of this website is my understanding of Gurbani and spirituality. I do not claim to know the truth. I don’t know what the actual message of Gurbani is. I can just share what I have understood.
Thus, if you reject any of what I have written, you are not rejecting Gurbani; you’re just rejecting my understanding of Gurbani.
So, read everything on this website with an open mind and an open heart. Just entertain the possibility that this could be the message of Gurbani. And feel free to question anything that is written here.
My understanding, not The understanding
Focus on Gurbani, not on Sikhi
I believe that every religion has two aspects: spiritual (the crux) and cultural (designed to support the spiritual).
The cultural aspect is about who we are on the outside: how we dress, what we eat, the places we worship in, etc.
The spiritual aspect is about who we truly are, who God is, what our relationship with God is, and the purpose of life, etc.
I have been almost only concerned with the spiritual aspect of Sikhism, i.e., the message of Gurbani. Thus, this website is focused solely on the message of Gurbani and doesn’t address the cultural aspect.
I understand that many people submit to religious ideas, i.e., they call those ideas correct simply because the ideas come from religious scriptures.
However, doing so has been very difficult for me. How do I accept that the law of karma works? How do I accept that God is everywhere and exists equally in everyone? And if I accept these ideas, what does it imply for my life? How would I live then?
Since the acceptance of these scriptural ideas has significant implications for my life, I have not been able to accept them. Rather, I still live in a constant sense of doubt and wonder about these ideas. The ideas are fascinating and mind-blowing, but accepting them would completely upturn my life.
Thus, my approach to Gurbani’s message or spiritual ideas has been of questioning rather than submission.