Sikh Beliefs about the Universe and Human Beings » Ik Onkar and the Mool Mantar: The Sikh Understanding of God

What do Sikhs believe about God?

In Ultimate Reality: One God, Many Gods or None you met monotheism (belief in one God) and the ideas of a God who is beyond the world (transcendent) and a God who is present in it (immanent). Sikhism is a strictly monotheistic religion. In Karta Purakh: God the Creator in Sikhism you met the Mool Mantar as the place where God is called the Creator. This lesson looks at the whole statement and what it teaches about who God is.

Key terms:

• Mool Mantar: the opening statement of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. It sums up what Sikhs believe about God in a few lines.
• Ik Onkar: 'there is one God'. It is written as the number one followed by a sign for Onkar, and it begins the Mool Mantar.
• Akal Purakh: the Being beyond time. A name for God as timeless.
• Sat Guru: the True Guru. God as the first teacher who guides people to truth.
• Waheguru: a name for God used by Sikhs. It is often explained as 'wonderful Lord' or 'wonderful teacher'.

The Mool Mantar: God in a few lines

The Mool Mantar comes at the very start of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs learn it by heart. It describes God in a series of short phrases. Here they are, with plain-English meanings:

• Ik Onkar: there is one God.
• Sat Nam: God's name is truth. God is what is real and lasting.
• Karta Purakh: the Creator, who made everything.
• Nirbhau: without fear. God is not afraid of anything or anyone.
• Nirvair: without hatred. God hates no one.
• Akal Murat: timeless, a being not bound by time. (Akal Purakh, the Being beyond time, is another name Sikhs use for the same idea.)
• Ajuni: beyond birth and death. God is not born and does not die.
• Saibhang: self-existent. God was not made by anyone else.
• Gur Prasad: known by the Guru's grace. People come to know God through the Guru's gift.

Notice what this tells us about God's character. God is the creator, but also free from fear and hatred, so Sikhs picture God as calm, fair and loving. God is also beyond anything that is born, ages or ends.

Ik Onkar: God is one

The first words, Ik Onkar, are the heart of Sikh belief. They say there is only one God. Sikhs do not believe in many gods, and they do not believe that each religion has its own separate God. For Sikhs the one God is the God of all people, whatever they are called and wherever they live.

This is why Ik Onkar is so important. You will see it in gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) and on many Sikh homes and objects. Sikhs say it reminds them that all human beings come from the same one God, which is why Sikhs teach that all people are equal.

Sikhs say this is strict monotheism: God is not shared with anyone and has no partners, and no other being can be worshipped as God.

Akal Purakh: God is timeless

The Mool Mantar says God is timeless, beyond birth and death. The name Akal Purakh means the Being beyond time. Sikhs believe that:

• God was never born and will never die, so God has no beginning and no end;
• God does not change or wear out, unlike everything in the universe;
• God was there before the universe and will remain after it.

This is why Sikhs teach that God never takes human form. A being who is born and dies cannot be the timeless God. So Sikhs do not believe that God is born as a human being. The ten human Gurus, the Sikh teachers beginning with Guru Nanak, are honoured as teachers who showed the way to God, but Sikhs do not worship them as God.

Sat Guru: God as the True Guru

'Guru' means a teacher who leads a person from darkness to light. Sikhs call God the Sat Guru, the True Guru. God is the first and real teacher who guides people to truth. The ten human Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib pass on this teaching, but the teaching itself comes from God.

The last phrase of the Mool Mantar, Gur Prasad, belongs here. It says that God is known by the Guru's grace. A person cannot find God by their own cleverness alone. They need guidance, and Sikhs believe that this comes from God as the Sat Guru.

Beyond the world and within it

Sikhs believe God is both beyond the world and within it. God is beyond because God is the creator and is not limited by space, time or anything made. God is within because Sikhs teach that God's light is in every living thing and that God is present everywhere. This links to what you learned in Body, Man and Atman: Human Nature in Sikhism, that every person has a spark of God's light.

This is why Sikhs can say that God is both far greater than we can imagine and also close to each person. Sikhs seek God through remembering God's name, honest living and service, not by going away from the world.

No gender and no images

Sikhs teach that God is neither male nor female. The Guru Granth Sahib uses human pictures such as a father, a mother, a friend or a husband to help people feel close to God, but these are only ways of speaking. God is beyond gender.

For the same reason, Sikhs never show God in pictures or statues. God has no body and no shape that can be drawn, and an image would make God seem smaller than God is. In a gurdwara the focus is the Guru Granth Sahib, not a picture of God. Sikhs may use the word Waheguru, or other names, to speak to God. Sikhs say that all the names point to the same one God.

Exam-style question

(a) Identify three beliefs about the nature of God in Sikhism. [3 marks]

(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about the nature of God in this religion. [4 marks]

(c) Choose one religion. Explain why the idea that God is one is important in this religion. [6 marks]

(d) 'God can only be understood by someone who follows a religion.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]