Philosophical Reflections on Sabad (Word)

Event - Resonance - Revelation

Arvind-Pal Mandair

9781626005167

156 pages

Marquette University Press

Hardback $15.00

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Overview

The sabad doctrine, also often referred to as sabad -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 sabad 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 sabad split into two opposed camps which reduced sabad either to the status of ordinary language, or leveraged the broadly Christian discourse on 'revelation' to underpin the exceptional status of sabad. Rather than dismissing the rival perspectives (materiality vs revelation), we argue that it may be possible to rethink sabad 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.

Author Bio

Arvind-Pal S. Mandair is Professor in Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan and holds the Endowed Chair in Sikh Studies, the Tara Singh and Balwant Kaur Chattha, Gurbax Singh and Kirpal Kaur Brar Professorship in Sikh Studies. Professor Mandair's current research interests are focused on the intersections between Global Philosophies, Religion and Spirituality, Political Theory, Diaspora and Postcolonial Theory, and Science and Technology Studies. He is founding editor of the Routledge journal Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture and Theory and edits two book series: Routledge Critical Sikh Studies and Routledge Studies in Translation and Religion. He is author of numerous books, including: Violence and the Sikhs (Cambridge University Press, 2022); Sikh Philosophy (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2022); Sikhism: A Guide For the Perplexed (Bloomsbury, 2013); Secularism and Religion-Making (with Markus Dressler, Oxford University Press, 2011); Religion and the Specter of the West (Columbia University Press, 2009).