Philosophical Reflections on Śabad (Word):

The Sabad doctrine, also often referred to as Sabad -guru, is a foundational pillar of Sikh philosophy, spiritual praxis, political theology and a key concept in Sikh scripture. This book examines the passage of the concept of Sabad from premodern scriptural sources, to its entanglement in contemporary ‘wars of scholarship’.

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The ?abad doctrine, also often referred to as ?abad -guru (lit. Word-as-Guru), is a foundational pillar of Sikh philosophy, spiritual praxis, political theology and a key concept in Sikh scripture. This book examines the passage of the concept of ?abad from premodern scriptural sources (gurbani or the 'revealed' utterances of the Guru), to its entanglement in contemporary "wars of scholarship" resulting from the emergence of Sikhism within modern knowledge system.

Contemporary discourse around ?abad split into two opposed camps which reduced ?abad either to the status of ordinary language, or leveraged the broadly Christian discourse on 'revelation' to underpin the exceptional status of ?abad. Rather than dismissing the rival perspectives (materiality vs revelation), we argue that it may be possible to rethink ?abad by seeing materiality as the condition for direct experience/revelation. To illustrate this alternative perspective, the book offers a postsecular interpretation of this important concept through transversal engagement with Deleuze's enigmatic reflections on language and self by tapping into the strong resonances between their respective ontologies of oneness. The book concludes with some reflections on how terms such as 'revelation', 'event' and 'resonance' can productively connect with the current lexicon of Sikh philosophy and theology.