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THE SIKH DOCTRINE OF LIBERATION
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suggested by the word sunn which implies no conception about God. God is devoid of descriptions and determinations. Bhai Gurdās speaks of God or Reality as supportless (nirādhār), formless (nirankär) and quiescence (nirban).47 It is the vision of such Reality which is referred to as sunn samādhi.
In Sikhism as in Vaisnavism also liberation is conceived in terms of the union of the individual soul (jivātmā) and the Supreme Soul (paramātmā). Kabir refers to this supreme moment as the meeting of void (sunn) with the void (sunn) while Guru Tegh Bahadur compares the union of a living being with Gobind or Lord with the mingling of water with water. 48 Macauliffe's comment is illustrative:
"The paramātmā is likened to an illimitable ocean, the jivātmā to a glass of water immersed in it. The glass is subtile body or covering of the soul. If the glass itself be broken or taken away, the water in it, which corresponds to the jivātmā, blends with the water of ocean. This is an examplification of Nirvaṇa."
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TYPES OF LIBERATION
In all the religious traditions of India, a distinction is made between liberation attained in this very life (jīvanmukti) and liberation attained after the dissolution of body (videhamukti). The terms such as buddha, arhat, siddha and suddha are synonyms of mukta or a liberated person. A person attains mukti while still retaining his bodily existence on this earth; this kind of attainment is called jīvanmukti. Such a person is freed from all defilements and passions. Although he lives in samsara, he is not attached to any thing samsaric. He is compared to a lotus which grows in water but remains undefiled by it. He performs his functions of mind, speech and body without incurring any ill.
The idea of jīvanmukti was first expounded by the śramana teachers belonging to the Jaina and the Buddhist traditions. Thus Šakyamuni and Mahāvīra lived and taught for many years after attaining ultimate release. These two sages were the earliest historical examples of a jivanmukta. Numerous arhats of Buddhist and Jaina traditions are known to have attained jivanmukti before discarding their physical frames. Two verses in Pali Dhammapada describe those perfected beings
47.
Varan Bhai Gurdas, p. 231.
48. Kabira-granthavali, p. 206;
49.
Guru Tegh Bahadur, in sorathi, stanza 11.
M. A. Macauliffe, op. cit. vol. I, Introduction, p. LXVIII.
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