A Wisdom Archive on Guru Nanak

The importance of finding a guru who can impart transcendental knowledge (vidya) is one of the tenets of Hinduism. One of the main Hindu texts, the Bhagavad Gita, is a dialogue between God in the form of Krishna and Arjuna a nobleman. Not only does their dialogue outlines many of the ideals of Hinduism, but the discussion and relationship between the two considered to be an expression of the ideal Guru/disciple relationship. In the Gita itself, Krishna speaks of the importance of finding a guru to Arjuna: Acquire the t ...

Read more here: » Guru: Encyclopedia II - Guru - Guru in Hinduism

Several religions advance taboos related to names of their gods. In some cases, the name may never be spoken, or only spoken by inner-circle initiates, or only spoken at prescribed moments during certain rituals. In other cases, the name may be freely spoken, but when written, taboos apply. It is common to regard the written name of one's god as deserving of respect; it ought not, for instance, be stepped upon or dirtied. It may be permissible to burn the written name when there is no longer a use for it. < ...

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She was born in Merta in Rajasthan, and the extant version of her poems are in Hindi. Her father's elder brother Viram Deo who succeeded to the throne arranged her marriage with Prince Bhoj Raj, the eldest son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. This marriage raised Mirabai to a very high social status, as the ruler of Chittor was considered to be the leader of the Hindu princes of Rajputana. However, her great devotion to Lord Krishna did not always endear her to her husband and family. Her love of Krishna was so absorbing she neglected her social an ...

Read more here: » Mirabai: Encyclopedia II - Mirabai - Life story

His greatest work is the Bijak, or Seedling, an idea of the fundamental one. This collection of poems demonstrates Kabir's own universal view of spirituality. His vocabulary is constantly full of ideas regarding Brahman and Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation, and yet he also espouses ideas that are clearly Sufi as well as Hindu Bhakti understandings of God. His Hindi was a very vernacular, straightforward kind, much like his philosophies. He often advocated leaving aside the Qur'an and Vedas and to simply follow Sahaj path, ...

Read more here: » Kabir: Encyclopedia II - Kabir - Philosophies

The guru's blessing is the last of the four foundations in Vajrayana Buddhism. In this foundation, the disciple can continue in their experiential path on the way to the true nature of reality. The disciple regards the guru as the embodiment of Buddha, or a Bodhisattva, and he or she shows devotion and great appreciation toward the guru as such. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, the teacher is a valued and honoured mentor worthy of great respect and is a source of inspiration on the path to Enlightenment. In the Tibetan tradition, ...

Read more here: » Guru: Encyclopedia II - Guru - Guru in Buddhism

The word guru means teacher in Sanskrit, as well as in other languages derived from Sanskrit, such as Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati. The word originated in a Hindu context and holds a special place in Hinduism, signifying both the sacred place of knowledge (jnana) and the imparter of knowledge. The word comes from the Sanskrit root "gru", an adjective literally meaning "heavy, weighty" as in "heavy with knowledge" [1], "heavy with ...

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The title Guru is extremely fundamental to the religion of the Sikhs. Indeed, the Sikhs have carried the meaning of the word to an even greater level of abstraction, while retaining the original usage, and apply it to an understanding of imparted knowledge through any medium. Sikhism comes from the word Sikh, which means a strong and able Guru disciple. The core beliefs of Sikhism are of belief in one God and in the teachings of the Ten Gurus, enshrined i ...

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According to the Deval Smriti there can be eleven kinds of gurus and according to Nama Chintamani there are ten types. According to his function gurus are categorized as rishi acharyam upadhya kulapati mantravetta Vaishnava traditions usually categorize gurus as: vartma-pradarshaka guru (any person who first shows one the path) shiksha guru diksha guru sannyasa guru (who initiates one into sannyasa order) caittya guru ...

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The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 to a Khatri family in central Punjab. After four epic journeys (north to Tibet, south to Sri Lanka, east to Bengal and west to Mecca and Baghdad) Guru Nanak preached to Hindus and others, and in the process attracted a following of "Sikhs," or disciples. Religion, he taught, was a way to unite people, but in practice he found that it set men against one another. He particularly regretted the antagonism between Hindus and Muslims as well as certain ritualistic practices that distracted peop ...

Read more here: » Sikhism: Encyclopedia II - Sikhism - Observations