IS GOD MALE OR FEMALE?

(Since God) is neither male nor female;
how can anyone describe Him? (sggs 685).
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Does the Gurbani assign a particular gender to God? In other words, according to the Gurbani, is God male or female or something else? What's His skin color, caste etc.? The Sikh philosophy does not attribute particular gender to God. Also He is said to be beyond castes, and so on. Therefore, it's only for the ease of writing and reading that a pronoun "he" for God (or human beings) is used herein, but surely God (and Soul, which is His "Ansh" or part-and-parcel) transcends all gender and limitations!

Being in the framework of time and space, the human body is limited. However, in the Gurbani, God is said to be Unlimited, Timeless, Infinite and Formless. And that which is Infinite and Formless has to be beyond the framework of time and space (Akaal Moorati). Thus, the Absolute Principle such as God cannot be confined to human characteristics or limitations.

If God is not a male or a female (i.e., Viaktee) and does not possess human characteristics or limitations, then what is He? According to the Gurbani, God is Light (Joti-Svaroopa, Chaanan, Pragaas, Noor etc.). The theory of the physics indicates light to be composed of particles called photons, and has energy and momentum. In other words, God is not a person (Viaktee) but Energy (Shakti, Spirit, Absolute Power etc.), which pervades within and without.

The Gurbani indicates there is One God. The Gurbani also refers to This One God as our "Mother, Father, etc.". This implies God is as much female as He is male and as much male as He is female. How can this be reconciled? Perhaps this can be explained as follows. First, if we think we are the children of the same One God, then logically that makes God our both Mother and Father. Also, if God is the Substratum (Adhaar) of all, then naturally He becomes our best Friend, Brother, Beloved, Relative, etc. Second, this assignment of human characteristics to describe God (called “anthropomorphism”) is simply a means for God (a Spiritual Being) to communicate Truth about His Nature to mankind, a physical being. Therefore, the Gurbani (God's Word) perhaps uses this figurative language in which God is mentioned as "Mother, Father, etc." to make it possible for man (a physical being) to understand God (a Spiritual Being). Since man is a physical being, man is limited in his understanding of those things beyond the physical realm, and anthropomorphism helps man to understand who God is. Third, the Gurbani tells us that God has made us in His True Image ("Joti-Svaroopa"). This means He must have endowed us with both the motherly (female) and fatherly (male) qualities as well. Perhaps here the Gurbani reminds both the man and the woman to awaken these complementary powers within themselves. Generally, men are mostly intellectually centered and women are emotionally centered. The gap between these two centers can be closed and both centers can be harmonized by balancing motherly and fatherly qualities. In one's True Nature, one is perfectly in balance. But not in our false nature (Haume- or ego-consciousness).

In nutshell, if we take the gist of the entire SGGS, including the Mool Mantra, the SGGS indicates God to be an Absolute Principle (i.e., Infinite, Timeless, Formless, etc.). In other words, since God is a Spiritual Being, the Gurbani indicates God does not possess physical human characteristics. He is indicated to be Light or Energy. Furthermore, Bhagat Nam Dev Jee in the SGGS hints us against performing worship with the notion of male or female. If we did, then we created ourselves a roadblock in the path of spiritual evolution. Because a worshipper becomes that which he worships — by visualizing God a form (male, female etc.), the devotee limits the Absolute who is Formless and Infinite to a form.

The Gurbani indicates that as one ascends towards Higher Consciousness, one transcends all labels such as "male", "female", and so on. Because — from the standpoint of Higher Consciousness — there is no male or female (or duality)! It's just One mass of homogeneous Consciousness there. Distinctions, differences, divisions, and duality exist only so long the mind's conditioning persists (Haume or false ego-sense, attachments, self-limitation etc.). Baabaa Nanak points to this state of Higher Consciousness that we must realize inside by becoming the Gurmukh or Brahm-Giaanee. For before the rise of the phantom of the mind (Haume or false ego-sense), that's what we all were!

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org


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Updated on Monday, October 6, 2008 11:58 AM (PST)

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