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The Sant Nirankari Mission (Template:Lang-pa, Template:Lang-hi, SNM) and also known as Universal Brotherhood Mission, is a religious or spiritual organisation based in India.

The Sant Nirankari Mission identifies itself as "an all embracing spiritual movement, cutting across all divisions of caste, color, and creed. The Mission seeks to reveal God, also known as Nirankar, to all human beings irrespective of their religious faith, sect, or community and thus liberate them from the shackles of ignorance, superstition, ritualism, and dogmatism in the name of devotion to God."

It firmly believes that the realization of God is the real objective of human life and this can be achieved only through the benevolence of the living true master: the Satguru i.e. the True Master.

The realization of God not only maintains balance between spirituality and materialism in day to day life, but also takes a person to the cherished achievement of brotherhood of mankind which leads to peaceful coexistence.

The meditation here is to feel the existence of God all of the time and everywhere. The Mission also emphasizes the need and importance of the company of fellow enlightened beings (Satsang) and selfless service to humanity (Sewa).

Academics identify the group as an offshoot of Sikhism, which separated from orthodox Sikhism in 1929 CE. Despite the similarity of name, the group is not (or is no longer) affiliated with the Nirankari movement started by Baba Dayal.

The SNM has over 2500 branches, out of which more than 100 branches outside India, spread across the whole world including Britain and North America. The world headquarter is located in Sant Nirankari Colony, Delhi. Currently, Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, provides the spiritual guidance for the devotees; the Mission is characterised by its focus on God Realisation, Universal Brotherhood, and Peaceful Co-existence.

The Mission believes in Universal Oneness through Oneness of God, Oneness of all Religion, and Oneness of the Whole Mankind as One Family.

History

The founder of the Sant Nirankari Mission, Baba Buta Singh Ji was born in the year 1873 at Village Hudwal, Distt. Kaimalpur, in Pakistan. He had spiritual leaning from the very childhood and had developed an aptitude for reciting Gurbani (holy verses from the Adi Granth).

The Sant Nirankari Mission had its formal beginning on May 25, 1929, the day when Baba Avtar Singh Ji received God-knowledge from Baba Buta Singh Ji and joined him in taking the spiritual light to as many people as possible.

On December 3, 1962, while addressing a gathering of devotees at Paharganj in Delhi, Baba Avtar Singh Ji declared that hereafter they should address Gurbachan Singh Ji as Satguru, the True Master. Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji was one of those great masters who lived and died for the noble cause of human unity through spiritual awakening. Throughout, he endeavored to transform the demoniac face of human society and inculcate the spirit of peaceful co-existence, love and harmony. He was pained to find people quarrelling and suffering because of hatred generated by ignorance, blind faith and superstition.

The current Mentor and Spiritual Head of the Mission, Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj was born on February 23, 1954 in Delhi in the family of Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji. As a child, he was very fortunate to have spiritual blessings of His parents and the then Satguru Baba Avtar Singh Ji and Jagat Mata Budhwanti Ji as his grand parents. With the growth of child Hardev, grew his thoughtfulness and sobriety. Interest in congregations, respect, regards for elders and trait of humility could be noticed in him from the very childhood. His humility earned him the name 'Bhola Ji'.

Ideology: God Realisation

God realization means direct perception of the Formless and all-pervading God, and it is synonymous with ‘Brahm Gyan’ or ‘Tatva Gyan’ or ‘Wisdom’ etc. But this God realization is an extremely rare blessing. And, from the time immemorial, and in accordance with all the Holy Scriptures, this realization has become possible only through the True Master of the day.

Knowing about God is a knowledge, and knowing God is Realisation of God, as “Knowing about something” is different from “knowing something”.

Ideology: Role of True Master

True master is the personification of the Formless and all-pervading God, and when the Formless God delivers His message to the mankind through a human being, that human being is known as a True Master, Satguru, Guru or Sakaar.

In fact, the recognition of a True Master is that 'he knows God, and he can bless with the God Knowledge in no time, to anyone, who surrenders unto him.' Another spiritual fact is that the True Master is not a body; the body is only a medium through which the Formless God speaks in order to manifest Himself. True Master is contemporary whereas the Formless God is of timeless existence.

Ideology: Oneness of God

The Mission firmly believes that God is one, only His names are many, for instance, some people call Him Ram or Allah or God or Yehova or Tao.

To understand it more clearly let us take the example of water; like water is one, and it has many names in different languages, i.e. Water, Pani, Jal, Neer, Aab etc. Here, we know that water is the same, only names are different. Similarly, God is also one.

With the realization of the ‘Divine Truth’ the proverbial Light dawns, and the proverbial Darkness vanishes; this oneness becomes absolutely clear, and all the differences arising out of the names also vanish leading to tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Ideology: Oneness of all Religions

The Mission believes that there are not many religions as generally understood, but there is only one religion and that is HUMANISM.

The Mission's belief is because of the fact that the essence of all the religions is same, and that is two fold;

First - Realization of the all-pervading formless God;

Second - Living this life imbibed with humility, tolerance of diversity and universal brotherhood.

And when the essence all the religions is same, then we can easily accept the fact of oneness of all religions, and can have tolerance, compassion and love for all.

Ideology: Oneness of whole Mankind : Universal Brotherhood

The Mission firmly believes in the ideal of Universal Brotherhood, and that the whole mankind is a one family with all kinds of diversity. This is based on the eternal Truth of ‘one father- one family’ means that the there is only one supreme Father (called God) and we are all his children.

After someone receives the ‘God knowledge’ from the True Master the whole world appears to be a huge family, of course with plenty of diversities. And if we go by that realization then, there can be no concept of caste. Because when the father is one formless God, how can there be many castes, different creeds, and differentiation based on colour, language, region or religion.

Finally the result is a life full of love, compassion, humility and service to mankind.

Universal Pledges of Sant Nirankari Mission

1. Surrender - All assets - physical, mental and material – belong to God.

For these assets, we are merely the trustees, not the owners, so there is no place for any kind of pride/vanity. Rather, with a feeling of humility and gratefulness, we should use them according to the will of Almighty.”

2. Equality - “Not to go by considerations of Caste & Creed.”

In fact, we all are the creation of the One and Only One Formless God. And this God has no caste or creed, so being His creation we also need not go by considerations of Caste & Creed.

3. Tolerance (of diversity) - “Not to hate anyone on account of his or her attire or food habits.”

What we eat, drink and wear is for the body only, and all this is dictated by our geographical conditions.

Thus we should not judge others on these counts or impose our likes and dislikes on them.

4. House-holder - “To lead the life of a House holder and not to become an ascetic”

Instead of becoming an ascetic, we should lead a normal life, earn our livelihood ourselves, not to be a burden on others. This has been the teaching of all the True Masters and even a cursory look at the history will reveal that all the Masters and their enlightened disciples have led the life of a householder only.

5. Humility - “Not to reveal the God Knowledge without True Master’s permission”

This pledge saves a seeker from the vice of vanity. Rather, it leads to ‘humility’ for the self and a deep sense of gratefulness for the Master. Just as nobody can become a teacher on the first day of school, God Knowledge has first to be imbibed and lived, only then can one become worthy of passing it on. “An unlit lamp can be lit only by the True Master himself.”

Avtar Bani

The Avtar Bani outlines the key philosophy of the Sant Nirankari Mission, and serves as a holy book for the devotees. It is named after its author Shahenshan Baba Avtar Singh. Its initial version was first published in 1957. Its successor, the Sampuran Avtar Bani ("complete Avtar Bani") was published in 1965. The Avtar Bani was originally written in Punjabi verse, but some stanzas were in the Urdu and Sindhi language. It contains 376 hymns which describe the qualities of Formless God (Nirankar), the importance and role of True Master in attaining God-realisation, the kindness and grace of the "True Master", the purpose of human life, the five fundamental principles, true devotion and how a man can lead a saintly life. It has been published in Gurumukhi, Devnagari, Urdu and Roman scripts. It has also been translated and published in English (verse and prose), Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Nepali and Marathi verse.

Nirankari Museum

The Nirankari Museum is a unique creation in the sense that it depicts a spiritual jouney from violence to peaceful co-existence, from individualism to Universal Brotherhood, from ignorance to enlightenment. The Museum was officially launched by Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj on 22 February 2005, and is located within the Sant Nirankari Sarovar premises in North Delhi. It also depicts the ideology and history of the Nirankari Mission through audio-visuals and pictures.

Notes and references

1. ^ Padma Rangaswamy (30 December 2007). Namaste America. Penn State Press. pp. 269–. ISBN 978-0-271-02775-3. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
2. Sardar Harjeet Singh (2009). Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism. Gyan Publishing House. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-81-7835-721-8. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
3. W. H. McLeod (28 July 2005). Historical dictionary of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. pp. 180–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5088-0. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
4. William Gould (31 October 2011). Religion and Conflict in Modern South Asia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 237–. ISBN 978-0-521-70511-0. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
5. Knott, Kim (1998). "The Religions of South Asian Communities in Britain". In Hinnells, John R (ed.). A new handbook of living religions (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Mass: Penguin Books Canada Ltd. pp. 756–774. ISBN 0-14-051407-4. OCLC 317517572.
6. Martin E. Marty (1 July 1996). Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance. University of Chicago Press. pp. 273–. ISBN 978-0-226-50884-9. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
7. "Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood – Psalms of Terror". South Asia Terrorism Portal. New Delhi: Institute for Conflict Management. 31 December 2001. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
8. Singh, Nirankari Baba Avtar (2001) . Sagar, Kirpa (ed.). Sampūraṇa Awatāra bāṇī (in English and Panjabi (Panjabi in roman script)). Translated by Amrik Singh (3rd ed.). Delhi: Sant Nirankari Mandal. OCLC 54861839. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |laydate= (help); Unknown parameter |laysummary= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
9. "Our Staff Reporter" (23 February 2005). "Nirankari Museum inaugurated". The Hindu. Chennai, Madras, India: Kasturi and Sons Ltd. OCLC 35304678. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
10. Tribune News Service (24 February 2005). "A museum of spiritual panorama". The Tribune, Chandigarh, India. Chandigarh, Indi: The Tribune Trust. OCLC 47351219. Retrieved 11 December 2010.

• McKean, Lise (1996). Divine enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 273. ISBN 0-226-56009-0. OCLC 32859823. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
• Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. Sikh History in 10 volumes. Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 2011. Vol. 7
• Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. Sikh Twareekh. Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 2008. Vol 3.Template:Pa icon

References from Sant Nirankari Mandal website

1. "History | Baba Buta Singh Ji (1873–1943)". Sant Nirankari Mission. Delhi, India: Sant Nirankari Mandal (Regd.). Retrieved 10 December 2010.
2. "Souvenir 50th Samagam – Organisational Outfit of Sant Nirankari Mission". Sant Nirankari Mission. Delhi, India: Sant Nirankari Mandal (Regd.). Retrieved 10 December 2010.
3. Singh, Nirankari Baba Avtar (1976). Awatāra bāṇī. English version by Gurbachan Singh Nirankari (G.S. Bhatia). Delhi: Sant Nirankari Mandal. OCLC 13611411. ASIN B0006E107M, Avtar bani. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 1999. Retrieved 11 December 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |laydate= (help); Unknown parameter |laysummary= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
4. "SNM History – Baba Avtar Singh Ji". Sant Nirankari Mission. Delhi, India: Sant Nirankari Mandal (Regd.). Retrieved 11 December 2010.

External links

• Official website

• Use dmy dates from May 2012
• Spiritual organizations
• Organizations established in 1929
• Organisations based in India