Richard Scheinin, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
The CD Rom Front Cover:
The CD Rom Back Cover containing comments of prominent intelligentsia and Media:
Word Of God:
"You wake up in the morning, you have doubts, and you're wondering, `What is life? What is God?' So what do you do?" asks Preet Mohan Singh Kapoor. "You say, `Let's look it up in the Guru Granth Sahib on the CD-ROM.' And you find your answer."
In fact, you find 320 answers.
God is "All Truth, all Penances, all Goodness, all Miracles," say the Sikh holy Scriptures, known as the Guru Granth Sahib. "God is like a beauteous temple, studded with rubies and jewels and pearls and pure diamonds. He is the enticing fortress of gold."
With ‘Bill’ Bhupinder Singh
"God" is one of 35,000 search topics that can be accessed by owners of the new CD-ROM "Scriptures and the Heritage of the Sikhs." San Jose computer engineers Kapoor and partner Bhupinder Singh are making history by issuing the Scriptures on CD-ROM for the first time.
The disc not only presents the Scriptures in English translation, it also plays the 31 ragas to which the Scriptures have for centuries been chanted, and takes viewers on a pictorial tour of Sikh sacred sites. And, yes, there is an audience for this: 21 million people around the world practice the monotheistic Sikh faith, which was born in India about 500 years ago and describes itself as "the universal religion."
For many Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib is the literal embodiment of God, making its digital transformation a curious event.
Kapoor and Singh are pushing Sikhism into the digital revolution that's sweeping religion. The Koran, the Talmud, the Pali and Tibetan Buddhist canons, the Bible, the catechism--all are available on multimedia CD-ROM. There's a new "Mary Page" on the World Wide Web, and Internet chat rooms are deluged with conversation about everything from Kaballah to Khalsa, which is the name of the Sikh holy order.
As with so many immigrant groups, Sikhs are concerned about the loss of culture and language among young people. Putting the Guru Granth Sahib on CD-ROM is part of a push to translate classical texts into English. "It's a step into the next century," says Melanie Daniells, English editor for World Sikh News, published in Stockton, Calif. "That's its greatest significance--to make the heritage more accessible to the young people who are affectionately known as the `born-heres.' "
The Sikh religion was founded in the 15th century by a spiritual master named Guru Nanak. He was the first in a line of 10 gurus who are revered as exemplars of spiritual perfection. The fifth master was Guru Arjan Nanak (1563-1606), who in four years amassed the wisdom of centuries from dozens of spiritual teachers--Hindus, Muslims and Sufis among them--and included his gleanings in the holy text that became known as the Guru Granth Sahib.
When the 10th guru announced that he would have no successors, the holy book's status was transformed. Henceforth, the 10th guru said, the Scriptures themselves would serve as eternal guru to all Sikhs. He didn't mean this metaphorically. To this day, the Guru Granth Sahib is viewed as the living embodiment of the 10 gurus' spiritual essence--and, according to some interpretations, of God itself.
Every Sikh temple, known as a Gurdwara or "House of the Lord," contains a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, printed in Punjabi in the ornate cursive style known as Gurmukhi. Worshipers prostrate themselves before the Scriptures, which are adorned by silk coverlets. Silk canopies hang overhead. Before anyone chants from the Guru Granth Sahib, he or she waves a holy whisk in the air above the book, as if fanning a living being--the King of Kings.
And what lies ahead for the text in its digital version? Will Sikhs bow before the shiny silver disc?
"No! Not in the same way!" exclaims Kapoor, who insists that the CD-ROM version is "only a translation" and obviously not even in the same class as the original sacred text, written in Punjabi. "But this CD-ROM," he predicts, "will be highly respected."
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For information on the CD-ROM "Scriptures and the Heritage of the Sikhs," call Advanced Micro Supplies at (800) 208-6427. The disc costs $69.
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