Birth of a Great Saint is celebrated

Today is celebrated as birthday of our saint Guru Nanak Guru Devji. He was the first of the ten Holy Saints in  India, he showed people how to live. Sikhs pray only their Holy Book, "the Granth Sahib Ji".The Sikhs are a courageous people who had mainly lived  in the state of Punjab.Now they have migrated to other parts of India and to other countries.Today,there are 26 million Sikhs all over the world. They firmly believe in equality and unity; they pray together in their "Gurudwara" which is their temple. They celebrate the birth anniversaries of their Holy Saints.And after prayer they share meals at a community dining place called the "langar".Their view of God is different from Hindus. They call their God,"Vahiguru" and their God is represented by their holy book.They believe that God is shapeless, timeless and unseen(no idol worship).The only way to see God is by seeing with the inner eye by deep meditation.That does not mean one has to renounce the world and take up asceticism.The religion  teaches its people the need to live simple life of a householder.One of the Sikh Gurus, Guru Teg Bahadur decided to make his followers  who were 'Sikh',meaning learners, into a community of 'fighters'. In their baptizing ceremony, boys are named as 'Singh' or lions.And girls are given last name as 'Kaur' or princess.They are a brave and valiant people, they had defended India against foreign invaders and saved the timid people of India from cruelty. Even today they show preference to military service. They excel in all fields and show perseverance, skill and hard work in any profession they choose.Their 'Gurubani' or the holy songs are highly inspirational, and elates listener to a higher spiritual sphere. They remember all their ten Gurus and learn from their life stories in their Holy Book.They make their livelihood honestly  and always work very hard to succeed. Long live the Sikhs, may they continue protecting us all as they had through the centuries..