The Guru Is the Boat

The other day we had our “Secretariat meetings” (described in the previous blog post) which was hosted by some of the Sikh youth here. Before the meeting Nirmal Singh (one of the youth here) was assigned the task of giving an introduction about each of the Gurus. As he started doing his research, he kept coming across the metaphor of “The Gurus being a boat to ferry us across this world ocean”. It occurred to him that each Guru has unique qualities and as a result was probably a different kind of “boat”. This is a story of the different qualities of each Guru and which type of “boat” he relates to them.

It is a fun, yet educational story. When I was listening I was anxious to hear which boat he related to each Guru.

The Guru Is the Boat
by Nirmal Singh Khalsa

Download Audio (5MB) / Read Story

Nirmal Singh is 24 and currently lives in Espanola, New Mexico (USA). His parents are from Mexico and Houston. He grew up in the US (Houston,TX.)

4 Responses to “The Guru Is the Boat”

1. Sarvjeet Singh "Sifar" says:

   February 12, 2006 at 7:21 pm

   It is mentioned in Pauri 13th of “Aasaa di Vaar�, “Satguroo Hai Bohithaa Virlai Kinai Veechaari-aa, Kar Kirpaa Paar Utaari-aa.� ||13|| The True Guru is the boat, but few are those who realize this. Granting His Grace, He carries them across. ||13||

   The above quote from Aasaa di Vaar is equally applicable to all the Guru Sahiban, including Dhan Dhan Shri Guru Granth Sahib jee Maharaaj. All Guru Sahiban are the same boat which take those, who believe in the Guru and follow what Guru says, across this ocean of life and unite with the Supreme.

   PS. My views. Anyone has the right to differ.

2. Guruka Singh says:

   February 13, 2006 at 2:29 pm

   Nirmal Singh was exploring a poetic analogy related to the work that each Guru did, not literally saying that the Gurus were different.

   …..G

3. Sarvjeet Singh "Sifar" says:

   February 13, 2006 at 6:47 pm

   Great Bhai Gurka Singh jee…

   I never said in my comment that he (Bhai Nirmal Singh jee) is saying that the Gurus were different. But at the same time I differ on the manmat of categorizing Gurus on the basis of their accomplishments. He presented his analogy, I’m presenting my views. I think in Bani when it is said that True Guru is a boat, the word boat is used as an adjective, not as a noun. I hope that you get my point.

4. pogo says:

   March 18, 2006 at 9:03 am

   That’s so cool. Very creative.