Review: Guru Nanak

Remembering the spiritual guru

The series of Spiritual Masters is an attempt to remind us of those very lessons that've been forgotten, thanks to the "modern individual getting lost in materialistic existence, overwhelmed by hollowness, both within and outside of his being".

Manisha Gangahar, Hindustan Times, March 2006

A few lessons need to be reiterated time and again even after the formal education is over and much has been learnt. These are the real lessons that are beyond books that the spirituals have insisted upon.

The series of Spiritual Masters by Indus Source Books is an attempt to remind us of those very lessons that have been forgotten, thanks to the "modern individual getting lost in his materialistic existence, overwhelmed by hollowness, both within and outside his being".

As a part of the series, Harish Dhillon, also principal, YPS, SAS Nagar, pens down the life and teachings of Guru Nanak, "one of the greatest divine teachers of all times". When much has already been written about the Guru and extensive literature is available his teachings, why have yet another 200 pages, which only retells the story that has been narrated numerous times? The author justifies: "The firm belief that a story as beautiful and inspiring as Nanak's needs to be retold as often as possible."

Fair enough! The story of Nanak's life is not the biography of a saint, it is the spiritual journey that offers revelations of things that are within and beyond the terrestrial life and reading once is not enough. One big plus of the book is the fact that the language is simple and free of philosophical underpinnings, yet it conveys the essence that the divine message that the guru, perhaps, wanted to spread. Also, the precise narrative does not strain the reader's mind and, rather, facilitates a clear understanding of the ordinary experiences that had a much deeper significance in the realization of the self and the divine.

Harish Dhillon has authored several books on Sikhism and Punjab, besides a collection of short stories. He lives and teaches English in SAS Nagar.