Mere Sikhi Topic: Naam

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Sat Sri Akal Ji!

Please Note: The word "mere" as used here is English and means "minimum", or "essential" - the core of Sikhi without the nonessentials
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Some time ago Mai Harinder Kaur Ji started this thread: Mere Sikhi

After a few pages of discussion, it reached an untimely pause:

roopsidhu: "At ang number 305 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji ji, Sri Guru Ramdas ji, while defining the true sikh, has kept the Naam as very first and "a must have" factor of a true sikh. Let me put it in this way that, defination and the duties of a true sikh as finely detailed in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji ji ( without any Add-ons or SRMs) is the mere sikhi, The Naam being the most important and must have factor of it."
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There is absolutely no question that Naam is definately an essential of Sikhi. But what is it?

Here are some suggestions from the previous thread:

• Naam is name of god.The Naam is the practice of remembering the god. Naam is a word or words used to practice worshiping or remembering the God. Some people belive that Naam is a word which remits a specific frequency ...
• According to the blessed soul of Bhai veer singh ji All our effort to move to god including recitation of gurmantar WAHEGURU (as guided by gurugranth sahib ji) is naam. From our first effort to continuous flow of love from god is NAAM. our efforts include "Sift salah" sadh sangat, gurbani vichar,satsangat,etc.

Another perspective in the thread is:

• I could not find any vers sloke in Granth that says waheguru is the naam we should recite. Only the bhatts recited it 5 times in the granth. No guru I know ever used waheguru in any of their bani. Nanak said it many times to recite the naam but he never told what naam.

Chapter III of the SRM says:

• [SIZE=-1] Meditation on Nam (Divine Substance, also translated as the God's attributed self)[/SIZE]

Naam is so central to Sikhi, so central to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, yet does the Sikh community actually know what it is? If it is something that can only be know by experiencing it ("only one who has faith can know the state of mind"), what is the way to experience it, and how does one know when they've got it? Is it something to be gotten? How do you meditate on it if you don't know what it is?

Is Naam synonymous with Hukam/Word/Shabad/Naad?

Can we please refer to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the number 1 authority on this topic, please. It troubles me that such a central idea is a matter of great confusion. (who knows, maybe I'm the only one who is confused!)

Thank you.

gingerteakaur


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