The practical abhyaas of Naam, step by step
Simran is not mechanical repetition. It is keeping Naam in the heart at all times, and it has a method. Follow it in order — each step rests on the one before it. Tap any Gurbani line to open the shabad it comes from.
Amrit vela if you can, head covered, spine tall and relaxed. Do not force or strain the breath — simply make it even and steady. A forced breath disturbs the mind; a level breath settles it.
With the breath settled at the nabhi in its own home and seat, the Gurmukh, searching, finds the essence.
With each breath, and through each morsel and moment of the day, chant Waheguru as two clear syllables: 'Wah' and 'Guru', joined to the breath. This comes first and is the foundation of everything after it.
With each and every breath, remember the Lord of the Universe.
While chanting, keep the attention on the sound you yourself are making. This listening is the essential part of the practice — not the count, not the speed, not how long you sat.
O my mind, you are the embodiment of Light — recognise your own origin. The listening turns the mind back toward its own source.
After saas-giraas, ideally do antargat simran for the same length of time — thirty minutes chanting, thirty minutes antargat. This is the ideal, not a compulsion; start with what you can keep daily.
During antargat only — not during saas-giraas — the surti is turned toward the nabhi (the naval area), while you listen inwardly through the ears. Holding the attention at the nabhi is the key of the whole practice. Stay there, patiently, until the dhun is heard.
The breath seated at the nabhi in its own home — from there the Gurmukh searches and finds the essence.
Keep the surti at the nabhi until the sehaj dhun is heard — often first a fine, high-pitched frequency. It may also arrive as crickets chirping, bells, or instruments such as rabab, pakhawaj or ghungroo. The moment you hear it, leave the nabhi and listen to the dhun alone — nothing else. The nabhi was the door; the dhun is what you came for.
Peace, sehaj and bliss, the rasa of Naam — the unstruck bani, the sehaj dhun, resounds within.
Rabab, pakhawaj, taal and ghungroo — the unstruck Shabad sounds within of its own accord.
After some time in antargat, sleepiness often comes. Do not fight it. If you fall asleep while listening to the dhun, that sleep is not ordinary sleep — you slip into sunn, a sleep without dreams and without thoughts, and the Naam keeps sounding. Falling asleep in the dhun is not a failure in this abhyaas.
In the absolute samadhi of sunn is the supreme reality — the Naam of the Master of the three worlds.
Never chase, promise or dramatise inner experiences, and never set a date for them. They come by abhyaas and Guru's kirpa. Your work is the method; the fruit belongs to Hukam.
Interior states described in Gurmat — the quietening of the mind, the opening of Dasam Duar, the Anahad Shabad, the manifesting of Brahm Jot — are fruits of discipline and grace. They are never techniques to be promised or guaranteed, and comparing your experience to anyone else's only feeds haumai. Keep the practice, keep the sangat, and leave the rest to Guru Sahib.
The Gurbani lines above are quoted from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The method of abhyaas is offered as practical guidance for a seeker, gathered from Gurmat teaching — always verify with Gurbani and your sangat, and read the full shabads yourself.
