Nām

Nām, “name”, is in Sikh teaching the whole presence and revelation of God, not merely a word. The Name sustains all things; to know the Name is to know God as present everywhere. The Gurus teach that the Name is received through the Guru’s word (shabad), and that it frees the soul from the self-centredness of haumai, “I-am-ness”.

The central Sikh practice is nām simran, the remembrance of the Name: meditation on God, often through repeating a name such as Vāhigurū, “wonderful Lord”, and through singing the hymns of the scripture (kīrtan). A common summary of Sikh life joins it with honest work and sharing: remember the Name, earn by honest labour, and share with others.

Remembrance of the Name has close parallels in the Sufi dhikr, the Hindu repetition of divine names in bhakti, and the hesychast Jesus Prayer. The Sikh Gurus, however, stress that it is to be practised in the midst of family and working life, not in withdrawal.