How should one do Simran?

By maintaining a convenient posture and by concentrating our attention at the eye centre, slightly towards the right, we should repeat the Names with the attention of the mind. In other words, we should fix our attention at the centre of the eyebrows but slightly towards the right. One should fix the attention of the mind on the eye centre and start Simran as well as Contemplation.

While doing this, care should be taken not to put any pressure on the forehead or the eyes. Start with a short period, but gradually increase the duration to two or three hours.

Gita has prescribed the following procedure in Chapter 5, Verse 27:

An ascetic is ever free – who withdraws his attention from outward senses – contacts and fixes it between the two eyebrows. This practice is also done by fixing the attention at the tip of the nose1.

By practising this, all the difficulties of the world are removed, the wavering mind is stilled and one achieves concentration of very high order. Some people close their eyes while doing Repetition, and others do so with open eyes. In the first case, there is a possibility of falling asleep; and in the second, there is the danger of the mind running after the objects of the world. The former is a much better method, but one should start the practice after getting over drowsiness. It is also essential that the practice be done regularly as well as punctually, at the appointed time.

Hafiz says:

Your daily duty is to pray before the Lord. This is your real work. Never ponder whether or not your prayer has been heard in the Court of the Lord. That is His prerogative.

By carrying out Simran daily and punctually, the practitioner gains undoubted success.

A person takes two meals a day. Besides, he also takes morning breakfast and afternoon tea. This is all to feed the body, but the food for the soul is Simran and Contemplation of His Form. This food we must tender to the soul. Just as you take food daily to maintain your body, similarly, whether you are at home or travelling, you must provide food for the soul. Never be remiss in this respect.

Repetition of God’s Name is an unfailing remedy for all ills. This is a spiritual food for the soul.

Christ says:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

St. Matthew 4:4,
Moses in Deuteronomy 8:3

Simran and Contemplation bestow showers of the Elixir of Life.

One can practise selfless Simran at any time and in any place. Do not forget even while answering the call of nature. If one feels drowsy during Simran, he should stand up and do the Repetition for about half an hour. Cold water may also be sprinkled on the face. Eat less at night and use light food consisting of milk and fruit.

If celibacy can be maintained along with this diet, the practice leads to quicker and better results.

But for a married person, the marital obligations should be performed with restraint and in accordance with certain set principles. The devotee should live up to the Sant Mat principles in all his dealings, his food, sleep, speech, etc., the posture should not be changed.

Simran should not be done in haste. It should be done slowly and with love and devotion, the Names being repeated clearly and correctly. To do it in haste or to regard it as an unwanted task, or to go through it merely as a routine leads nowhere. If the mind becomes lazy while doing Simran, or the attention turns towards sense pleasures, one should repeat the Names audibly for ten or fifteen minutes, so that the mind’s attention reverts to the proper place.

The results of Repetition will be in direct proportion to the love and faith brought to bear upon it. Carry out the Simran of the Lord with love and faith. His Names have a great power. When done with faith one feels intoxicated with joy, with the result that he forgets his body and himself and is aware of the presence of the Lord.

How potent and blissful is the Name of God, for it creates in the devotee a fast-flowing current of bliss, peace and soul force, and he gets truly blessed.

To do Simran, it is not necessary to give up the world and its tasks. Carry on your duties and still keep your attention fixed in Simran.

If you wish to be filled with the Grace of God, then you should banish all else from your mind. Leave everything else aside and cherish the Name of the Lord alone in your heart. As soon as you empty your mind of all thoughts by means of Simran, you will find the way to the Lord’s mansion.

Simran should be practised with full attention.

Kabir says:

During Simran the longing for God in one’s mind should be as intense as that of a lover for the beloved, so that sitting, standing, awake or asleep, the form of the beloved is always in the mind of the lover. He does not forget it even for a second.

Again, Kabir says:

Simran should be like the thoughts of a passionate lover, who does not forget his beloved even for a moment. Simran should have the same attention as that of a woman carrying a pitcher of water on her head. She talks, she walks on the uneven ground, but her attention is focussed on the pitcher. Simran should be like a cow which is grazing, but has her attention fixed on her calf. Simran should be like a miser who has a coin in his pocket, and keeps his attention on it all the time.

Only by practising in this manner is one able to achieve results.

A hunter plays a drum in the jungle to attract the deer, and they are so much intoxicated by that music that they place their heads against the instrument and are caught by the hunter. The deer knows that it will be caught, but it is so intensely attracted and influenced by the sound of a drum that it becomes powerless to resist and rushes towards it to die. It does not turn back. A snake listens to the sound of a veena and, without caring for the dire consequences, comes and dances to its tune.

Similarly, a devotee, no matter in what circumstances he may be – poor or rich, ill or well, awake or asleep, standing or sitting – should remember Him and become so absorbed in Simran that he becomes utterly oblivious of his body. By doing so the soul ascends to higher spiritual regions.

Kabir Sahib describes the prerequisites for Simran:

Mind should be still, body should be motionless, tongue should be quiet, and surat (the hearing power), and nirat (the seeing power) should act in unison and attain equanimity. Such a state even for a moment is infinitely superior to a million years of outer worship.

Guru Gobind Singh says in Akal Stuti (Praise of the Lord):

Real Simran for a second cuts asunder the bondage of birth and rebirth.

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Footnote: 1) root of the nose