Satnam

== Satnam | ਸਤਿਨਾਮੁ ==
Sometimes written as SatNaam, being the combination of Sat and Naam
His Name is TRUTH
===Sat | ਸਤਿ ===
* In Sanskrit there are two words which have this root: Sat which means "beingness", existence and Satya which means truth, validity. There is a great difference between the two. Satya is the quest of the philosopher who seeks truth. What is this truth? It lies in the rules whereby two plus two always equals four, and never five or three. So Satya is a mathematical formula, a man-made calculation, but it is not Sat. It is logical truth but not existential reality. Sat is that which just is, always was, eternal. God is both Sat and Satya, existence as well as truth. Being both He can neither be fully attained through science, which probes truth, nor through arts, which explores existence. Both are incomplete in their search, because they are directed only towards one half of Him. Where both meet, where the mind and heart meet, religion begins. If the mind overpowers the heart, science is born. If the heart overpowers the mind, the realm of art is entered: poetry, music, song, sculpture. Science and Art are dualities, religion is the synthesis.
 
* God is the only, stable origin of creation. He creates, and He constantly touches up His masterpiece creation, like an artist who caringly touches up his work. The universe will eternally follow the plan of His "hukam" all the natural laws of the universe. Creation is the results of God's hukam which never ceases. All things in the universe are constantly being recycled or changing in molecular structure.
===Naam | ਨਾਮੁ ===
* Naam literally means, the Name(singular). A fuller definition of the word can only be found within the Guru Granth Sahib itself. Naam is God's Word, or the Divine Essence. Etymologically, the word has a striking resemblance with the Greek neumena or the Bright Essence as opposed to phenomena. Naam is not merely the ‘Name of God’ as is commonly believed; it symbolizes the Being of God filling all Creation. Naam is also referred to as Shabad in the SGGS. 
* Where there was no creation, there was nothing in existence – no air, light, water, earth or space. God existed alone in deep meditation and self-absorption. When God willed for the manifestations of his values, He created universes, worlds and all material and other living beings by uttering a single Word. His Word is all pervasive and the sole source of all Creation; the Word created the universes and supports and sustains all things within them. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib further enlightens us that God's Word turned into waves of light, rays of which are present in all creatures and all other parts of His creation. This is consistent with a fundamental principle of physics that sound vibrations, when increased several fold, change into waves of light.
* This Essence / Naam / Shabad / Logus is formless, colorless, and featureless but, as said, is present in all creation. There is no plant, no creature, in what it is not. The Earth and other heavenly bodies exist because there is Naam in this universe and when God withdraws this Naam from this Universe, there are natural calamities (Parloh / Mahaparloh) all over the universe and this is the time that the universe perishes and all the living creatures perish. Being so, the Essence can’t be seen or visualised by the mind. We can see only the physical dimension of Reality in God's Creation – mountains, plants, trees, creatures etc. Thus the Outer Shell of Reality holds us (the appearances delude us) and we cannot penetrate deeper to experience the all pervading Reality. The physical dimensions of Reality (the outer shell) is always in flux; it keeps changing. While birth, death, creation, destruction etc. occur in the physical dimensions of creation, the Essence, being Sat (Sat-Naam) never changes, it transcends space and time.
* We cannot focus our mind or attention on God, who is Absolute, the invisible Essence. The Naam (SHABD), the Name of God is the only medium available to us for approaching Him.
* The term Naam refers to 5 realms / domains / functional groups / aspects / phases of GOD's CREATION. A human being has to pass through first four realms and finally be accountable to GOD in the realm of SachKhand (literally 'TRUE Phase').
* SachKhand is perceived to be a realm where GOD seeks account of TRUTHs & Falsities earned by the soul during one's life. Based on this account, GOD rules out disposal of each individual soul for times to come. Truthful souls become part of GOD for ever & never ever get into the cycle of rebirth.
* Others not having fared well & having lived life as per their own(& not as per GOD's prewritten commandments which accompanied the soul when it was born as a human being.) will are recycled back to be born again as a 'non human' being.
* The soul thereafter stays in the cycle of death & rebirth as per GOD's Scheme of things. GOD willing, he gets born as human being again and the soul gets another chance to fare well this time by staying in harmony with GOD's commandments through the human life span & so on.. 
* TRUE essence of the meaning of Naam can only be realized by believing in & understanding the teachings of SGGS. All who get Naam from the 'Shabad Guru' intuitively discard Falsehood & earn the wealth of Naam through one's life time. When we earn Naam, our soul starts responding to it. It is through Naam that we are able to think of Him, remember Him & live life as per His (& not our own )WILL (i.e.: Manmukh v Gurmukh).
* In other words, the Naam is God Himself, subjected to our limited powers of perception and thought and to the capacities of our body and mind. Because we are endowed with the capacity to utter and attentively listen, the continuous recitation of and attentive listening to the Naam (Gurbani) focuses our mind on the object of invocation, resulting in a ceaseless remembrance of God (DHYAAN). This Dhyaan, in turn, results in complete absorption of our consciousness on the thought of God, who responds to our earnest invocation and He reveals Himself in our inner being. 
* The revelation of the Essence of Reality within us is the revelation of Naam. When the revelation of Naam occurs within, the devotee sees the Essence of God pervading throughout His Creation.
* Gurus have taught that their teachings are for all the religion ( varnas )and all have the right to get the teachings of the Gurus. 
To Initiate our soul so that it starts towards the ultimate goal (SACHKHAND) a person has to repeatedly and continuously earn the wealth of Naam, and to cherish it in the heart all the time – this is the essence of prayer and devotion to God.
* In Gurbani, the word Gurshabad or Shabad is synonymous with Naam. Without ceaselessly earning the wealth of Naam, God cannot be realised.
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Category:Glossary of Sikh Terms
Category:Bani