Guru Nanak and Meera Bai
Guru Nanak is the founder and first guru of the Sikh religion.
He was born in a small town outside of Lahore, India (now Pakistan) to a family in the merchant caste. As a young man, Guru Nanak married and had children. Yet he didn't fit easily into family expectations. He seems to have only reluctantly entered the clerical profession suggested by his family, often feeling the call to turn inward in meditation at key points in his life.
Guru Nanak's moment of enlightenment came when, after singing devotional songs, he bathed in the Vein River near Sultanpur. In that moment he was elevated to the heavenly state, where he received amrit, the drink of immortality -- in the form of the divine name. He remained in deep silence after this transcendent experience for some time, and then he started to formulate his revelation through the statement, "There is neither Hindu nor Muslim" suggesting the universal brotherhood we all share through the divine vision.
After this awakening, Guru Nanak left his job and became a wandering holy man. He eventually settled at Kartarpur along the Ravi River, where he lived out the rest of his life.
For others with the same name, see Meera (disambiguation)
Meerabai (Rajasthani: मीराबाई) (c.1498-c.1547AD) (alternate orthographies: Meera; Mira; Meera Bai) was an aristocratic Hindu mystical singer and sahajiya (apasampradaya) devotee of lord Krishna from Rajasthan and one of the most significant figures of the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 12-1300 prayerful songs or bhajans attributed to her are popular throughout India and have been published in several translations worldwide. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of lord Krishna.
Details of her life, which has been the subject of several films, are pieced together from her poetry and stories recounted by her community and are of debatable historical authenticity, particularly those that connect her with the later Tansen. On the other
He was born in a small town outside of Lahore, India (now Pakistan) to a family in the merchant caste. As a young man, Guru Nanak married and had children. Yet he didn't fit easily into family expectations. He seems to have only reluctantly entered the clerical profession suggested by his family, often feeling the call to turn inward in meditation at key points in his life.
Guru Nanak's moment of enlightenment came when, after singing devotional songs, he bathed in the Vein River near Sultanpur. In that moment he was elevated to the heavenly state, where he received amrit, the drink of immortality -- in the form of the divine name. He remained in deep silence after this transcendent experience for some time, and then he started to formulate his revelation through the statement, "There is neither Hindu nor Muslim" suggesting the universal brotherhood we all share through the divine vision.
After this awakening, Guru Nanak left his job and became a wandering holy man. He eventually settled at Kartarpur along the Ravi River, where he lived out the rest of his life.
For others with the same name, see Meera (disambiguation)
Meerabai (Rajasthani: मीराबाई) (c.1498-c.1547AD) (alternate orthographies: Meera; Mira; Meera Bai) was an aristocratic Hindu mystical singer and sahajiya (apasampradaya) devotee of lord Krishna from Rajasthan and one of the most significant figures of the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava bhakti movement. Some 12-1300 prayerful songs or bhajans attributed to her are popular throughout India and have been published in several translations worldwide. In the bhakti tradition, they are in passionate praise of lord Krishna.
Details of her life, which has been the subject of several films, are pieced together from her poetry and stories recounted by her community and are of debatable historical authenticity, particularly those that connect her with the later Tansen. On the other