Revisited - Guru Nanak’s creative mysticism
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27
Guru Nanak’s thought has influenced a string of literary and religious works but none as “bold” and off-track as S.S. Bhatti’s book on the subject.

True to his style, Bhatti, former principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, has returned to question the long-held perceptions and laid down something entirely new.



“Guru Nanak was a fragment of the divine on the earth. He never sought to preach or to prove a point. He simply revealed the divine truth using shabds, ” says Bhatti, who has studied Gurbani from the architectural parameters and has called Guru Nanak the most creative mystic.

This and much more forms part of his latest, yet-to-be-released book titled, “Guru Nanak’s Bani: Revelation, Mysticism, Creativity”, published by Harman Publishing House, New Delhi.

The study follows a clear line of thought, with the author, through, Gurbani, seeking to show how Guru Nanak’s “bani” is pure revelation and no mythology, mysticism, muse or metaphysics.

“I have incorporated in my book a comparative study of world religions to show that the Sikh faith, as delineated in Guru Nanak's Bani, is neither of the four. It’s not mysticism because it’s close to everyday life and not elitist. It’s not metaphysics because it’s not based on any assumption. Poetry is, often, imagined. From that yardstick, it’s not even poetry nor is it mythology. Guru Nanak’s “bani” is the speech of God and the Guru has authenticated his revelations when he speaks to Bhai Lalo, and communicates what God (khasam or the divine spouse) makes him see,” says Bhatti, who hopes to release the book at the upcoming diamond jubilee celebrations of the establishment of Panjab University.

Interesting is the new nomenclature Bhatti has coined to describe Guru Nanak’s revelations. “Architecturally speaking, Gurbani is creative mysticism of the Guru. The Guru transforms something as esoteric and unfathomable as the divine truth into something as simple and mundane as Gurbani,” says Bhatti, as he lays bare how Guru Nanak's creative mysticism initiates, invigorates, and sustains a live-wire trilogue among the three human faculties of reason, emotion, and imagination --- all consummated in intuition which, according to Guru Nanak, is indispensable to the leading of a holistic life.

Ask Bhatti what made him dabble in a subject so new and he says, “Mysticism, called the religion of the elite, is so esoteric as to be out of reach of the common man. Few mystics have the ability to convey the meaning and beauty of mystical experience. But he who succeeds in doing so is abundantly creative. Though the creative element is inherent in mystical experience, it has remained unattended so far by the researchers of the subject. I have made an humble attempt. I have studied Gurbani through the architectural principles of space, time, beauty and form.”

Bhatti has earned his second PhD for this work in which he has formulated a refreshing approach to the study of Guru Nanak's Bani, more specifically, his Japuji.