Topics, in depth
ਨਾਮNaam
Remembrance that reorients a life
What is Naam, and how does remembrance change a person?
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.Awaiting review by a learned reader.
Discover
If one practice stands at the centre of Sikh spiritual life, it is Naam: remembering the Divine, keeping the One in mind, until remembrance stops being an activity and becomes the ground of who we are. The first ashtapadi of Sukhmani Sahib opens with it.
ਸਿਮਰਉ ਸਿਮਰਿ ਸਿਮਰਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਵਉ ॥
Transliteration Simrau simar simar sukh pāvau.
Translation, editorial I remember; remembering, remembering, I find peace.
Babaji’s katha of this Ang
Naam (ਨਾਮ) literally means ‘name’, but in Gurbani it means far more than a word. It is the Divine presence as it can be known and lived: the Order and reality of Waheguru, which the Gurus say pervades everything. Simran and jap are the ways we turn towards it.
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
Understand
Naam is not only words. Sikh practice includes repeating Gurmantar, reading and singing Gurbani, and keeping Waheguru in mind through the day. Gurbani honours all of these, yet it also warns against repetition that leaves the heart untouched. The aim is that the remembrance takes root so that it shapes how we see, decide and act. One of Babaji's single divans is titled ‘Hirdhea Naam Vaseyo Ghar’, which, going by its title, takes up Naam coming to dwell in the heart.
It is labour. The closing Salok of Japji Sahib describes those who have meditated on Naam as having done hard work, masakat ghāl:
ਜਿਨੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇਆ ਗਏ ਮਸਕਤਿ ਘਾਲਿ ॥ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਕੇਤੀ ਛੁਟੀ ਨਾਲਿ ॥
Transliteration Jinī nām dhiāiā gae masakat ghāl. Nānak te mukh ujale ketī chhuṭī nāl.
Translation, editorial Those who meditated on Naam, having put in the labour, depart with radiant faces, Nanak, and many are set free along with them.
Babaji’s katha of this pauri
This is an important corrective. Naam is not an escape from effort into a pleasant feeling. It is sustained work: returning attention again and again, especially when the mind runs elsewhere. The same line also says that ‘many are freed along with them’. Naam is never only private; it changes the people around the one who lives it.
Trust in Naam. A recent divan of Babaji's is titled ‘ਨਾਮ ਦਾ ਭਰੋਸਾ’, trust in Naam, alongside ‘ਮੁਕਤ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋਈਏ’ (how do we become free) and ‘ਪੂਜਾ ਕਿਸ ਦੀ ਕਰੀਏ’ (whom should we worship). The pairing is telling: in Gurmat, Naam is both the practice and the thing trusted. The practice does not earn freedom like a wage; it opens a person to grace (nadar).
Naam, Hukam and Shabad. Gurbani often uses these words closely together. Naam is described as revealed through the Guru's Shabad, and living in Naam is living in harmony with the Hukam. They are not three separate subjects so much as three angles on one reality. Commentators differ on how precisely to distinguish them, and the site's theme pages treat them as connected rather than forcing a single definition.
Babaji’s kathaLinked by the titles of the recordings and videos.
Explore Babaji’s katha
Katha of the Gurbani quoted here
Videos
ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਉਡੀਕ। ਭਜਨ ਅਤੇ ਭੋਜਨ ਸਹਿਜ ਨਾਲ। ਫੁਰਨੇ ਖਤਮ ਕਰਨੇ। ਗੁਰੂ ਧਾਰਨ ਕਰਨਾ। ਇਕਾਂਤ ਦੇ ਲਾਭ। ਆਪਣਾ ਕੌਣ ਹੈ ?
ਨਾਮ ਦਾ ਭਰੋਸਾ l ਬਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਵਿਚਾਰ l ਮੁਕਤ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋਈਏ l ਪੂਜਾ ਕਿਸ ਦੀ ਕਰੀਏ। ਸੰਤ ਬਾਬਾ ਜਗਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਹਰਖੋਵਾਲ
ਸੰਗਤ ਤੋਂ ਮੁਆਫੀ। ਨਾਮ ਦੀ ਬਰਕਤ। ਚਰਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ। ਪੰਜਾਂ ਵਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਦਾ ਜਾਲ਼। ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਸਰੋਵਰ ਦੀ ਮਹਿਮਾ।
ਬਾਣੀ ਤੇ ਹੱਥ ਚੁੱਕ ਲਏ ? ਨਾਮ ਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ। ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ ਉੱਤਰ ? ਸਮਾਧੀ | ਮੌਜ ਲਵੋ। Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਨਾਮ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤੀ ਨਾਮ ਦੀ ਮਹਿਮਾ ਨਾਮ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਜਪੀਏ ? ਨਾਮ ਜਪਣ ਵਾਲਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਮਹਿਮਾ Sant Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
ਸ਼ਰਾਬ ਮਾਸ ਜੂਆ ਚੋਰੀ ਨਿੰਦਿਆ ਔਗੁਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਤਿਆਗ l ਨਾਮ ਵੱਲ ਬਿਰਤੀ ਜੋੜੀਏ l Sant Baba Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowal
Recordings with this in their title
Series on this theme
- ਜਪੁਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ Japji Sahib9 recordings
- ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ Sukhmani Sahib6 recordings
From other teachers and makers
- Baba Nand Singh Ji: life story (documentary)Dr Tara Singh Aalam, Aalami Geet (as credited in the title). From another channel; curated by the Dera.
Editorial introductionDrafted with AI assistance for this site. Not Gurbani and not Babaji’s words.
How this connects
- ਹਉਮੈ Haumai
Gurbani calls haumai an illness whose cure lies within it; the Salok goes on to name the cure as living by the Guru's Shabad, by grace. Naam is the daily form of that medicine.
- ਸ਼ਬਦ ਗੁਰੂ Shabad Guru and Sangat
Gurbani speaks of Naam as revealed through the Guru's Shabad. Katha and sangat are where the Shabad is heard and Naam is kept.
- ਹੁਕਮ Hukam
Living in Naam and walking in the Hukam describe one alignment from two sides: remembrance from within, harmony with the Order from without.
- ਮੁਕਤੀ Mukti
In Gurmat, freedom comes through Naam and is completed by grace; the closing Salok of Japji speaks of those who meditated on Naam freeing many along with them. Ang 8
Questions for reflectionEditorial, offered for your own enquiry.
Reflect
- When in your day is your mind most naturally quiet? Is there a place for remembrance there?
- What do you turn to first when you are anxious? What would it mean for Naam to become that first turn?
- Where does your practice feel like a habit, and where does it feel alive?
A practice for this week
Choose one short, fixed moment you already have every day: waiting for a kettle, the walk to the car, the first minute after waking. For one week, use that moment for simran and nothing else. The aim is not a special experience. It is to make remembrance part of the shape of your day.
Primary sourcesGurbani, and the texts Babaji has given katha on.
Go deeper
Gurbani on this page
Texts Babaji has taught on this theme
- ਜਪੁਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ Japji Sahib9 recordings
- ਨਿਤਨੇਮ Nitnem banis8 recordings
- ਪਾਤੰਜਲ ਯੋਗ Patanjali Yog Shastar6 recordings
- ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਜੀ Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji380 recordings
- ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ Sukhmani Sahib6 recordings
Found something mistaken or missing? Write to satnam@harkhowal.com.