4 Nam (the Name or Word): What it is and what it is not
People of all religions of the world – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jews and others – agree that salvation is not possible without Nam. But the question is, what is Nam? Is it Ram, Rahim, Karim, Kesho, God or any of the hundreds of names that are prevalent in the world? A Hindu devotee says:
Hari hath a thousand names,
Kesho hath millions,
Bishen hath a billion names,
And Madho* even trillions.1
You must have heard Vishen Sahansra Nam (the thousand names of God), which some of the Hindu devotees repeat every morning. Guru Gobind Singh has mentioned about twelve hundred names of God in his Jap Sahib. But what is that Name without which there can be no salvation? A Muslim mystic begins his book with
To the Name of Him who name hath none,
He surely answereth the call of any one.2
That is quite true. The importance of that power cannot be denied, but it makes no difference by what name you call it. If you call out the name of a sleeping person, he will instantly wake up and attend to your request. Would not He who is ever awake listen to us if we call Him? He most certainly will respond, but we do not know the method of communicating with Him. Only a perfect Master can teach us how to gain His attention and hear His Voice. In fact, we do not know exactly what saints mean by Nam.
Paltu Sahib says:
“Nam”, “Nam” shouteth one and all, But, none knoweth what Nam is. For Nam is distinct from all else, Beyond description and beyond words. He alone attaineth it who killeth all desires, Obliterateth ego and withdraweth from the body; He sitteth in the heart’s chamber and drinketh deep
of the cup of love. Oblivious of all hunger, and transformed in mind, The five* and twenty-five* from him depart; From all burden is he freed. In solitude he harkeneth to the sweet melody. None can know it, Paltu, except one
who hath heard. It is through Guru’s grace and his love benign That he ascendeth into realms sublime.3
This is the Nam, the Nad of the Upanishads, and Word of the Bible, which says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him
was not anything made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.4
Guru Arjun Dev says:
Regions and universes, subtle planes
And nether worlds are created by Nam.
It giveth life and form to all.5
Dariya Sahib says:
Dariya, seek thou the Guru (Master)
And beg of him to join thee with Nam.
This will give thee gyan (knowledge),
Cure all malady and lengthen thine life.
When the sun of Nam riseth in thee,
All darkness and delusion will doubtless flee.
Alas! Very few reach the threshold of Nam;
Coming and going cease for those who contact it.6
Gosain Tulsidas, the famous poet-saint, in his great work called the Ramcharitmanas says that Nam is greater than both Ram (the finite) and Brahm (the Infinite). Ram was his ideal, his standard of perfection, in whose praise he had written the great Ramayana. He looked upon him as an incarnation of the supreme Lord. Yet he does not hesitate to say:
How can I sing adequately the glory of Nam
When in this failed even Ram?7
He continues:
Infinite, finite, God in forms two
(Sargun and Nirgun)* is here;
Beyond words, beyond thought,
Without birth, without peer.
But greater than these is Nam, I dare say,
As both forms are gathered under its sway.8
Then Tulsidas shows how Nam is greater than Brahm and Ram:
Even though the immutable Brahm
Doth dwell in every heart,
Yet every soul in this world is afflicted and distraught
Till trying and pursuing, we attain Nam.9Ram liberated a single woman,
The sage’s erring wife.
But Nam numerous sinners hath brought
to new life.
To faithful ones like Sabri and to vulture Jatayu
Ram gave in grace life immortal,
While Nam hath to countless vile sinners
thrown open life’s portals.
Well thou knowest how Sukant and Vibhishan
doth Ram protect,
Yet Nam hath many more poor suppliants blest.10
Naturally, the question arises in every seeker’s mind as to what that Nam is. Is it any word, syllable or sound? What is it that is given such supreme importance by the sages and saints as to be called superior to God and Ram both? Clearly, it cannot be a word or a collection of words. Words and syllables cannot create universes or give life to dead matter. Guru Angad Dev says that Nam is neither spoken by the tongue nor seen with the eyes nor heard with the ears:
Seeing without eyes, hearing without ears,
Walking without feet, working without hands;
By realizing His Order, O Nanak,
Such are united with the Lord.11
This ‘Order’ (hukum), is the Word, the Logos, the Nam.
One may doubt how Sound can create and maintain the universe. This is not the subject of intellect or reasoning. Reasoning takes us only to a certain point. Beyond that we have to take the help of anubhav (inner experience) and till we have developed that mental insight, the power of comprehension without reasoning, we have to depend upon the experiences of those who have gone within and have seen with their own eyes. In the meantime, faith must replace reason.
Now we come to the question as to how to get this intuition and the subsequent inner experience, or how to get initiated into the mysteries of Nam, the Word. For this purpose, we have to seek ‘one who knows’. We have to go to a perfect Master.
Guru Amar Das says:
Nam can be had only from a true Guru.
Without Nam the world could not exist.12
Real Nam is Shabd. Soami Ji says:
Shabd is the support and sustenance of all.13
Guru Arjun Dev says:
The wonderful treasure of Nam
is in the heart of the saints.14
But no, the mind, our deadly foe, does not allow us to take this course. It beguiles us into strange practices for God-realization. Some go to temples and mosques; some to places of pilgrimage; some take recourse to baths in holy tanks and rivers; some worship idols and deities; some give themselves to study of scriptures; the educated lose their way in the labyrinth of learning. None, however, can realize Him by these means. The Lord is inside, but the world seeks Him without. It is the same as the old story of a fond mother who proclaimed the loss of her child throughout the village when it was in her own arms all the time.
The more zealous take to yagna (sacrifices), tap (austerities) and dan (charities), or to ashtang yoga. But they miss the essential point. The law of every yuga or age is different. The methods and ways of attaining God-realization are therefore not the same in every age. Their toils and labours are thus in vain, like that of the ignorant farmer who sows the seed out of season. In the present age, all actions and practices, apart from Nam, are like sowing seed out of season.
Guru Arjun Dev says:
Kaliyug hath come; sow the seed of Nam.
This is not the season for other practices.15
The laws of past yugas are not applicable to the present age. What is the law of the present age? Guru Nanak says:
In Kaliyug, Kirtan (the Song, the practice of Shabd)
is supreme.
Soami Ji says:
Except for Shabd, there is no other way
to get out of this cage of the body.16
This Shabd practice can be learned only from a perfect Master. Paltu Sahib says:
Dear to saints is Nam,
And so doth Nam love saints.
Only they can attach us to it,
As they possess full knowledge thereof.
With no amount of recital, austerities,
pilgrimages and fasting,
Nor ceremonies, rites nor rituals
can anyone achieve success,
For it is the saints alone
Who can bestow the gift of Nam.17
Saints say that Nam is of two kinds, varnatmak and dhunatmak. Varnatmak Nam is that which can be spoken and written, as are the languages of the world. It is of four kinds:
- Baikhri (oral) – that which is spoken with tongue and lips.
- Madhyama (silent) – that which is repeated silently in the throat.
- Pashyanti – that which is repeated in the heart.
- Para – the current or wave which the yogis raise from the navel.
People throughout the whole world make use of varnatmak Nam. There are many such names and they differ with different people, races and countries. Religious books and scriptures are full of them. These names, however, cannot liberate the soul from bondage. The Name that does so is common to all. The latter recognizes no caste, creed, colour, race or nation. It resounds in every human being. It is not the design of any man. It is natural, without beginning or end, and was created by God Himself. Before the creation of the world it was. It is called dhunatmak Nam. Vedas and Upanishads call it Nad, Akash Vani, Anahat Shabd. It is also called Hukum, Sound, Sound Current, Audible Life Stream, Shabd, Anhad Shabd, Anahat Nad, Dhun, Akash Bani, Dhur-ki-Bani, Sachi-Bani, Gur-ki-Bani, Sach, Sahaj, Ram Dhun, Ram Nam, Arti, Kirtan, etc., etc. Different saints of different countries and ages have given it different names. Muslim saints have called it Kalma, Baang, Nada-i Asmani, Saut, Ism-i Azam (the Highest Name), Avaz-i Khuda (the Voice of God), Sultan-ul-Azkar (the King of Names), Kalam, etc. Christ called it Word or Logos.
Dhunatmak Nam has nothing to do with the physical body. It can neither be spoken, written or seen, nor can it be perceived by other senses. Only the soul can comprehend it and that too when a perfect Master shows us how to attach our soul to it.
The difference between the two, varnatmak and dhunatmak Nam, can be appreciated only when, by the grace of a perfect Master, one goes within and concentrates his attention at the centre where the dhunatmak Nam, the celestial Sound, the Voice of God, the Word, resounds. Then it will be clear that one is the spoken word and the other is the Nam itself. Varnatmak Nam is necessary for purifying the mind. When the gross impurities are removed, the mind and the soul begin to relish the sweet taste of Dhun and are lifted upward and inward. Then the subtle impurities are removed stage by stage. Varnatmak Nam is the means, while dhunatmak Nam is the end and object.
True Nam cannot be realized below the eyes. One’s attention has to be withdrawn from the Pinda; in other words, it has to quit the nine portals of the body (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth and the two lower apertures) before one is able to attain Nam. This is called ‘dying before death’18 by the Muslim saints, and is what St Paul meant when he said “I die daily”.19 When the soul, leaving the nine portals, enters the tenth gate during life, it hears the heavenly Sound (the Nam) which is resounding behind the eyes in the tisra til. The Voice of God beckons us there all the time but we do not hear Him until our attention is concentrated at the proper centre. As soon as one concentrates attention in the sushmana, one begins to hear the Sound. This is the Nam or the Word. It is neither in Sanskrit, nor in Arabic, nor in Persian, nor in any other language. It is the language of God, which each and every one can understand.
All mahatmas of higher order, to whatever country or religion they belonged, have followed this path. This was the way of Guru Nanak, Kabir, Maulana Rum, Shams-i Tabriz and all the other saints.
Guru Amar Das says:
Close the nine doors
And stop thy mind from wandering;
Enter thou the tenth that leads thee
To the eternal home.
There the sweet melody resounds day and night;
Attain thou this with the guidance of a Guru.20
Maulana Rum says:
Shut thine eyes, ears and lips.
If then thou find not the secret
Of God, scoff at me.21
When questioned by Rukan-ud-Din of Mecca, Guru Nanak said:
High above in the Lord’s mansion (our body)
Ringeth the transcendent music.
But, alas, the unlucky hear Him not;
They are in deep slumber.22
About varnatmak (the oral recitation of) Nam, Guru Nanak says:
Read thou every year
And every month thereof;
Read thou throughout life
And with thy every breath;
O, Nanak! Save Nam all else is false and vain.23
Maulana Rum says:
Thou art reciting the name;
Seek the Named One.
The name without the Named One
Is of no avail.24
Another saint says:
What doth it avail thee if thou utterest
His name but hath seen Him not,
Nor hast thou touched Him.
If mere talk of wealth could make men rich,
Then none would remain poor.25
The treasure of Nam is within us, but the key to it is in the hands of the Guru. Brahmand and Sach Khand are within, but none can reach there without the Master’s help. Two things are essential:
- The perfect Master and full faith in him, and
- Hard and earnest effort on the part of the disciple to practise Nam.
Like all other wealth, one gets this wealth also as a result of hard labour. It demands a great sacrifice. You cannot get it by mere talking. However, one is not to renounce the world or live in seclusion in a forest or a mountain for this purpose. Saints enjoin:
Live thou in the world, but be not of the world.
Do thy duty towards thy family and others;
Carry on thy profession yet do not fail
to attend regularly to God’s devotion.
Give at least three hours daily to meditation.
The main object and purpose of human life is to attain God-realization. Guru Arjun says:
Many lives hast thou passed as insects and moths,
Many as elephants, fish and deer;
For many lives wert thou bird and serpent,
And for many horse and tree.
O seek God now;
This is the time of union with the Lord,
For after a long time hast thou got the human form.26
Family, parents, children we had in every life. Food, sleep, lust and greed are also common to all forms. The unique quality in human life which is not present in other forms is the capacity for God-realization and permanent release from the prison house of chaurasi. This rare privilege is not bestowed upon any other species. This is the time to seek a Master, learn the technique from him and reach our eternal home, whence we do not return to this world again.
Saints come in the world to help us in this task. They do not exclude even the thieves, robbers or criminals from their mission. They love all beings, including the birds and the beasts. Just as a washerman does not refuse to wash any clothes, howsoever greasy and dirty they may be, knowing that if not the first, the second washing will doubtless cleanse them, so also the saints do not turn away even the vilest of sinners, but willingly take them under their protection. They see the purity of the soul under the coverings of filth. The filth of the sins is removed when we follow the instructions of the saints. The saints give the message of Surat Shabd Yoga, the practice of the holy Sound, the Word. The sage who is not a practitioner of Shabd is not a perfect Master. The latter takes the disciple right up to the fifth stage within. He gives us the names of these five regions and describes in detail the lights, sounds, music and other attributes. Thus a true saint takes his disciples through Sahansrar and Brahm, up to Sach Khand, the eternal region of bliss, which is not subject to dissolution and change.
The first essential worth imbibing is that the object of Nam is and should be only God-realization and return to our original home. Nam should not be misused for either earning wealth or gaining worldly fame. People often run after supernatural powers and cannot resist the temptation of using them when they acquire them. Siddhis and shaktis automatically come to a disciple, but he should pay no heed to them because these are the devices of Kal (Negative Power) to keep the souls within his domain. Maharaj Baba Sawan Singh Ji frequently warned his devotees against the use of these powers. He likened such use to the squandering of hard-earned wealth in despicable pursuits.
This body is a veritable mine of everything precious and occult. But a true seeker is enjoined to steadfastly pursue the task of union with the Lord, avoiding the pitfalls and temptations that beset this path. Thus shall he achieve his objective.
The second essential to remember is that so long as the seeker does not attach himself to Nam (the Audible Life Stream) he remains subject to egotism (I-ness) and the consequent misery and bondage. Even good actions like charities, penances, austerities, etc., cannot take him out of the cycle of transmigration. The good actions performed with a desire for reward are like golden chains, while bad ones resemble iron fetters. Both, however, keep us confined to the prison house of life and death.
It is thus the choice of the seeker whether to remain confined within the nine sense apertures or to seek guidance from an adept in raising his consciousness above them and connecting it with the Sound Current (Nam), which alone can take him out of this prison. This, however, requires concerted and sustained effort in the practice of Nam. If only we were to give as much time to our spiritual practice as we do to worldly pursuits, we would doubtless attain liberation.
The tragedy is that we do not run away from sensual pleasures, nor are we afraid of offending Him even though we are told daily of the presence of Nam, the Supreme Being within us. We would not dare commit an evil act in the presence of a small child, yet what wicked sins do we not perpetrate in His omnipresence? Evidently, we do not fear God as much as we do even a child. Unless the mind develops awe for the Lord, success can hardly be expected. Love and fear go hand in hand, and both are essential prerequisites to a lasting attachment.
To recapitulate:
- No one is happy in this world of phenomena.
- True happiness will come only when we give up attachment to this world, concentrate our attention at the eye centre according to the directions of the Guru and return to our original home where prevails perfect peace and bliss. This is possible only in the human form.
- God-realization, that is, return to our original home, is not possible without Nam.
- Nam can be obtained only from a true Master.
- This Nam is unspoken and unwritten, and cannot be perceived by the senses.
- It is within our body, where it rings constantly as a sweet melody, but can be perceived by the soul alone.
- Even in the body, it can be realized only when we concentrate the attention at the eye centre.
- Our aim is to reach that region of bliss which is beyond birth and death and is eternal.
- Austerities, charities, pilgrimages and other similar acts, though they may be good and virtuous, do not take us out of the cycle of transmigration. We have to be reborn again into this world to enjoy the fruits of these actions.
- Only the Nam, the Shabd, the sweet celestial melody that issues forth from the feet of the Lord’s throne can take us to the place whence it comes. And that too only if we follow the instructions of the perfect Master.
- This can be done only in human form. If we miss the opportunity, we go down into an abysmal dungeon of births and deaths.