section_path: Philosophy and teachings/God
section_name: God
paragraph_text: God
  
  Sikhism is a monotheistic and panentheistic religion. Sikhs believe that there exists only one God and that God is simultaneously within everything and is all-encompassing. The oneness of God is reflected by the phrase Ik Onkar. In Sikhism, the word for God is Waheguru (lit. ' wondrous teacher '). The Waheguru is considered to be Nirankar ("shapeless"), Akal ("timeless"), Karta Purakh (" the creator being "), Akaal Purkh ("beyond time and death") and Agam Agochar (" incomprehensible and invisible").
  
  In a literal sense, God has no gender in Sikhism, but, metaphorically, God is presented as masculine and God's power as feminine. For example, Guru Gobind Singh refers to God as his father, and God's creative power as his mother. Similarly, another example is that the Guru Granth Sahib, the primary Sikh scripture, says that all humans are soul-brides who long to unite with their husband Lord. In addition, the gurus also wrote in the Guru Granth Sahib that there are many worlds on which the transcendental God has created life.
  
  The Sikh scripture begins with God as Ik Onkar (ੴ), the 'One Creator', understood in the Sikh tradition as monotheistic unity of God. Ik onkar (sometimes capitalized) is more loosely rendered 'the one supreme reality', 'the one creator', 'the all-pervading spirit', and other ways of expressing a diffused but unified and singular sense of God and creation.
  
  The traditional Mul Mantar goes from ik onkar until Nanak hosee bhee sach. The opening line of the Guru Granth Sahib and each subsequent raga, mentions ik onkar:
  
  ੴ
  
  ikk ōankār
  
  ਸਤਿ
  
  sat (i)
  
  ਨਾਮੁ
  
  nām (u)
  
  ਕਰਤਾ
  
  karatā
  
  ਪੁਰਖੁ
  
  purakh (u)
  
  ਨਿਰਭਉ
  
  nirabha'u
  
  ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ
  
  niravair (u)
  
  ਅਕਾਲ
  
  akāl (a)
  
  ਮੂਰਤਿ
  
  mūrat (i)
  
  ਅਜੂਨੀ
  
  ajūnī
  
  ਸੈਭੰ
  
  saibhan
  
  ਗੁਰ
  
  gur (a)
  
  ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ॥
  
  prasād (i)
  
  {ੴ} ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ॥
  
  {ikk ōankār} sat (i) nām (u) karatā purakh (u) nirabha'u niravair (u) akāl (a) mūrat (i) ajūnī saibhan gur (a) prasād (i)
  
  "There is one supreme being, the eternal reality, the creator, without fear and devoid of enmity, immortal, never incarnated, self-existent, known by grace through the true guru."