Universal Mystic, Guru Nanak / Raj Ayyar

There is no Hindu and no Muslim!
–Guru Nanak after his enlightenment.
Time to revisit that gentle, beautiful universalist mystic Guru Nanak, one who synthesizes the best of Hinduism and Islam, without being constrained by the narrow identity badges of any faith.

Beyond that is the ultimate reality that Nanak calls Ik Onkar–both the ineffable One, (similar to the Nirguna Brahman in Hindu Vedanta and the Allah beyond attributes, beyond the 99 names, in Sufi Islam), and All-That-Is.

Nanak also believed that if you wanted to continue to describe yourself as a member of this or that faith, that you needed to establish that by living the essence of that faith, not its superficials.

His message is especially relevant in India today, torn by right-wing religio-political polarization and separation, the clamor of politically stoked sectarian and communal fervor and religious nationalism.
Nanak would dress as a Hindu on some days, and as a Muslim on others, to show the need for taking one’s religious labels and identities lightly.

–Raj Ayyar