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Nanak Guru 1469 - 1539 (70)

The highest religion is to rise to universal brother hood; aye to consider all creatures your equals.


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Guru Granth Sahib



Guru Nanak Dev (April 15, 1469 - September 22, 1539), also referred to as Baba Nanak, was the founder of Sikhism, the first of the Ten Sikh Gurus. Nanak was born in the village of Rai Voi Ki Talwandi in the Lahore Province of present-day Pakistan, to Hindu parents. As a child, he seemed unusually thoughtful and wise, and enjoyed spending time talking to travelers passing by, some of whom were Hindus and some Muslims, so he obtained information about both religions. br>
He had a sister 5 years older, whose husband helped him find work in a warehouse at the age of 16. At a young age he married and had two children, however he left his family and began to travel to expand his spiritual horizons.

He seems to have visited Tibet, most of South Asia and Arabia. In his thirties, and while meditating by a river, he felt as if he were rising into the sky. He is said to have disappeared for three days and some feared he had drowned in the river.

Nanak returned and said that God had called him to become a Guru. So he began to travel and preach to both Hindus and Muslims a new religion that had elements from both Hinduism and Islam. Twenty years later, he settled in the Panjam area and became a farmer. Soon, students began to arrive to meet him, thus creating the first Sikh community.

Before he died, Nanak chose someone to be the next leader of the community. This was Guru Angad, who added many hymns to the holy book. The third guru built a kitchen for the whole community so that everyone could eat together. He was succeeded by Guru Ram Das, who founded the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India. During the time of the tenth and last guru, the Kalsa fraternity was founded, where men were trained to fight with swords to protect and defend their faith. Today, the community includes men and women alike. Everyone agrees to follow strict rules, to sing hymns five times a day, to abstain from alcohol and drugs, to be faithful in marriage, to be honest, to serve others and to help the poor, to meditate in the name of a creator.

The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism are expressed in the sacred texts of Guru Granth Sahib, who is worshiped as the Supreme Authority and is considered the eleventh and last guru of Sikhism.

Guru Nanak, who contributed to the writing of Guru Granth Sahib with 974 hymns, died September 22, 1539.