Sant Nirankari Mission

The Sant Nirankari Mission (also known as a mission of Universal Brotherhood) is a spiritual organisation based out of Delhi, India. The Sant Nirankari Mission identifies itself as "neither a new religion nor a sect of any existing religion, but an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to human welfare by helping seekers realize God through the grace of a living true master (Satguru) ", inspiring them to live as dutiful global citizens.[SNM 1]

Sant Nirankari Mission
Sant Nirankari Samagam at Sant Nirankari Colony, New Delhi on 16 Nov 2014
AbbreviationSNM
MottoUniversal Brotherhood
Formation1929 (1929)
Purpose"Universal Brotherhood"
HeadquartersSant Nirankari Colony, Delhi
- 110 009. India.
Main organ
Sant Nirankari Mandal
Websitewww.nirankari.org

The Mission was founded in 1929 by Baba Buta Singh,[1] who started to show the path of knowing and becoming aware of One Formless Almighty God and this is how Sant Nirankari Mission and Satguru tradition began.

The Mission has more than 3000 centers and millions of followers across the world. Satguru Mata Sudiksha Ji[2] is the sixth spiritual head of the Mission since 17 July 2018.

History

The Sant Nirankari Mission had its formal beginning on May 25, 1929, the day when Avtar Singh met Buta Singh. Avtar Singh joined Buta Singh in taking this mission to the masses.[3][4] In 1943, Baba Buta Singh passed on his position to Baba Avtar Singh.[5] Avtar Singh moved to Delhi after partition, getting his group registered as the "Sant Nirankaris" in 1948. He would be succeeded by Gurbachan Singh in 1962.

The Sant Nirankaris had clashed by orthodox Sikhs since the 1950s, with tensions increasing due to some of Gurbachan Singh's religious actions, culminating in the 1978 Sikh-Nirankari clashes and further incidents.[6][7][8][9] Gurbachan Singh would by assassinated in 1980.[10] Naturally, everyone lamented and condemned this act and their patience and tolerance was under severe stress.

In 2016, Satguru Mata Savinder Hardev Ji, succeeded Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj as the Spiritual Head of the Mission.[11] In 2018, she declared Mata Sudiksha Savinder Hardev Ji as the spiritual leader, days before she succumbed to her deteriorating health.[12]

Buta Singh

Buta Singh was born in Village Hudwal, Distt. Kaimalpur (Pakistan). His parents were Mr Bishan Singh and Mrs Mayawanti.[13] He was spiritually inclined and was an orator of scriptures.[14]

In 1943, in an assembly of his disciples, he declared Baba Avtar Singh as his successor, who headed the mission from that day. Moments later, he took his last breath. His body was taken on its last journey in a procession led by Military Band.[15][16][14]

Beliefs

The Sant Nirankari Mission aims at self-realization through God-realization.[17] Human being has been described as superior to all other species created by God. It is the human being alone who has been bestowed with intellect that enables him to distinguish between the eternal Truth and the transient existence, reality and non-reality, desirable and the undesirable. For this, however, one must be familiar with what is true, real and desirable.

Ordinarily we find everything surrounding us, occurring in day-to-day life and everything we do as true, real and a matter of fact. But looking at all this carefully, we shall find that these realities are not ever-lasting or eternally constant. They change with the change of time, place and person. What we need, therefore, is the Ultimate Truth, the Ultimate Reality, infinite and eternal, beyond time, beyond birth and death, beyond places – the same everywhere, and beyond all identities – the same for everyone, irrespective of one's caste, colour, race, religion or nationality etc.[18]

And this Ultimate Truth, Ultimate Reality; this supreme, eternal and infinite entity is God. In His formless existence, it is He who was there when nothing existed, He is there when everything exists and He shall be there when there will be nothing – animate or inanimate. Hence the principal aim of human life is to know this formless, attribute-less omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent God.[19] This is what we are living for. Once it is accomplished and God gets associated with our thoughts, words and actions, we know what is true, real and desirable.

Therefore, one must link the mind with God all the time at all places and in all circumstances. This makes life meaningful, joyous, and content. This leads to a state of complete harmony and makes life happy here and earns the bliss that is eternal, hereafter.[20] The devotees of the Mission practice spirituality through regular congregations held at various centres of the Mission. An annual congregation called Sant Nirankari Samagam is also held at Sant Nirankari Spiritual Complex, Samalkha[21] where lakhs of devotees gather to share their thoughts on spirituality.

Avtar Bani

The Avtar Bani outlines the key philosophy of the Sant Nirankari Mission. Named after its author, Nirankari Baba Avtar Singh Ji,[SNM 2] it was first published under the title of 'Avtar Bani' in 1957. Its complete version was, however, published in 1965 as 'Sampuran Avtar Bani'. Originally written in 376 Punjabi verses, with some stanzas were in Urdu and Sindhi, Sampuran Avtar Bani explains the message of the Mission in all its aspects. Even though not worshipped as a holy religious book, every devotee values it for its practical and easy-to-understand messages. Sampuran Avtar Bani has already been published in Gurumukhi, Devnagari, Urdu and Roman scripts. It has also been translated and published in and published in English (prose) and, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali, Marathi, Garhwali, Haryanavi, Sindhi and Telugu (all verses).

The Sampuran Hardev Bani, authored by Baba Hardev Singh Ji, was published in 2017. Written in Hindi, the Sampuran Hardev Bani contains 301 verses.

Nirankari Museum

The Nirankari Museum was inaugurated by fourth satguru of the Mission, Baba Hardev Singh Ji, on 22 February 2005. The museum is located within the Sant Nirankari Sarovar Complex in New Delhi. It depicts the history and key teachings of the Mission through audio-visuals and pictures.[22][23]

Nirankari Sant Samagam

The Nirankari Sant Samagam,[24] which is a term used to describe a large scale spiritual gathering, is held on over 1400 acres of Sant Nirankari Spiritual Complex land at Samalkha, Haryana, India. It is one of the highlights in the annual diary of every member of the Mission where they congregate once a year in perfect harmony and with great enthusiasm. The Samagam is truly and unique occasion where people from various cultures, faiths, backgrounds and walks of life get together and join in prayer and remembrance of one Formless God who is known as Nirankar.

There are 1,000's of Sevadal units (Selfless Volunteers) from all over the world who engage in selfless service at this occasion and work tirelessly throughout the course of the year in order to manage the noble work of the Mission.

This further promotes the feeling of community contribution and service by engaging youth and the elders alike.

Community Contributions

The mission has been contributing to social welfare and community development through its social welfare department, as also through Sant Nirankari Charitable Foundation (SNCF).[25] The underlying principle here is to heal, enrich and empower the world, by serving with humility.

The Mission operates many schools, colleges and other educational institutions in various cities of India. Along with this, vocational institutes for youth have been set-up for up-skilling. Youth empowerment and women empowerment programs are also organized regularly.

In the realm of health, the mission has organized various health check-up camps, eye check-up camps and has rendered medical assistance to disabled and elderly. Blood Donation camps[26] have been organized for almost about 3 decades now and this journey is on-going. Even during the extremely trying times of COVID-19 pandemic;[27][28] the mission organized many safe and well-controlled blood donation camps in various parts of India.

The devotees of the Mission are also involved in tree plantation drives and cleanliness drives along with providing relief and rehabilitation to natural calamity affected brothers and sisters. All these efforts of selfless service are done by the volunteers of the Mission, who form a disciplined group in the form of Sant Nirankari Sewadal (SNSD), established in 1956.

The Mission is also coming up with Sant Nirankari Health City (SNHC),[29] a huge super specialty hospital in North Delhi, India to cater to the comprehensive wellness and health of the community.[30]

References
  1. "Baba Buta Singh Ji".
  2. "Satguru Sudiksha Mata Ji". News18.
  3. "Who are Nirankaris?". The Indian Express. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. "Ref1".
  5. "Gurus of India". www.gurusofindia.org. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  6. Nicholas F. Gier (2014). The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective. Lexington Books. pp. 203–204. ISBN 978-0-7391-9223-8.
  7. Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  8. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 215–216. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  9. Rivalry between Sikhs & Sant Nirankaris is almost a century old, Chitleen Sethi (2018)
  10. "Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji".
  11. https://hindi.oneindia.com/news/india/sant-nirankari-mission-former-head-mata-savinder-kaur-passed-away-467441.html
  12. "Baba Hardev Singh's wife Savinder to head Nirankari sect". Hindustan Times. 18 May 2016.
  13. "Biography : Baba Butasingh : Sant Nirankari Mission: Gurbani | The Sindhu World". thesindhuworld.com. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  14. "Sant Nirankari Mission". nirankari.org. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  15. "In pictures: 15 insights into the life of Nirankari mission head Baba Hardev Singh". India TV News. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  16. "Gurus of India". gurusofindia.org. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  17. "All about the Sant Nirankari Mission". Zee News. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  18. http://www.theindiapost.com/religion/sant-nirankari-mission-and-its-ideology/
  19. Sarhadi B(2000). Introjection. Sant Nirankari Mandal Regd.
  20. Singh A(1999). A Unique Mission. Sant Nirankari Mandal Regd.
  21. https://wego.here.com/india/ganaur-sub-district/religious-place/sant-nirankari-spiritual-complex--356jx7ps-df50c4a4565c010dad6aeff2642e9ac1?x=ep&map=29.17746,77.02966,15,normal
  22. Our Staff Reporter (23 February 2005). "Nirankari Museum inaugurated". The Hindu. Chennai, Madras, India: Kasturi and Sons Ltd. OCLC 35304678.
  23. Tribune News Service (24 February 2005). "A museum of spiritual panorama". The Tribune. Chandigarh, India: The Tribune Trust. OCLC 47351219.
  24. "Nirankari Sant Samagam".
  25. "Sant Nirankari Charitable Foundation (SNCF)". Sant Nirankari Charitable Foundation (SNCF). Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  26. "Sant Nirankari Charitable Foundation organized 16th Blood Donation Camp". 5 Dariya News. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  27. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  28. Service, Tribune News. "Sant Nirankari Mission on a mission". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  29. "Nirankari Baba Performs Ground Breaking Ceremony". 5 Dariya News. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  30. http://www.theindiapost.com/religion/sant-nirankari-mission-and-its-ideology/

References from Sant Nirankari Mandal website
  1. "History | Baba Buta Singh Ji (1873–1943)". Sant Nirankari Mission. Delhi, India: Sant Nirankari Mandal (Regd.). Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  2. "SNM History – Baba Avtar Singh Ji". Sant Nirankari Mission. Delhi, India: Sant Nirankari Mandal (Regd.). Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
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