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Naam Simran
The literal meaning of this phrase is ‘God remembrance’, and it is often translated as prayer or meditation. Perhaps ‘to hold God constantly in mind’ is more accurate, though wordy, for although the Gurus prescribed certain times for practising Naam Simran they taught that nothing less than being filled with Naam should be the goal of life. Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji described it as the antidote to the poison of pain, which permeates the whole body in the same way, but with wholesome consequences. These quotations from the Guru give some idea of the purpose and consequences of Naam Simran and may guard against the view that it is a formal exercise.
‘One who is steeped in Naam is freed from haumai (pride),
Is gathered up in the True One,
Meditates on the way of true yoga,
Finds the door of salvation,
Acquires understanding of the three worlds,
And attains eternal peace.’
(SGGS pg 941)
And elsewhere:
‘If the mind is defiled by impurity,
It is cleansed with the love of Naam.
Virtue and impurity are not mere words;
We carry the influence of what we have done with us.
As you have sown so shall you reap,
And in accordance with the Divine Order (hukum)
You will transmigrate.’
(SGGS pg 4)
Another phrase used synonymously with Naam is Naam Japna, repetition of God’s Name:
‘If I repeat the Name, I live;
If I forget it, I die.
Repeating the Name of the True One is hard,
But if one hungers for it and partakes of it
All sadness goes.’
(SGGS pg 9 & 349)
Naam Simran is primarily an individual act of meditation but is sometimes undertaken by groups. A mala (stringed beads) may be used but this is not essential. Though early morning and evening are the times of day commended by the Gurus, the aim, the attainment of mystical union with God, not the method, is what should concern the Sikh.
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