Week 6 · Gurbani by meaning · Day 37
Japji Sahib — the morning prayer
Japji Sahib is the first prayer in the Nitnem — the daily Sikh prayers — and it was composed by Guru Nanak Dev Ji himself. Sikhs recite it every morning at the amrit vela, the hours before dawn, as a way of beginning the day in the presence of the Creator. One of its most beautiful ideas is the power of suniai — deep, humble listening — which Guru Nanak says is the foundation of all wisdom. When we truly listen — to Gurbani, to the world, to each other — we begin to understand what is real.
Japji Sahib is the prayer Guru Nanak Dev Ji wrote to start each day — and Sikhs have recited it at dawn for five hundred years.
Watch together Guru Nanak and The True Prayer of God ਸੁਣਿਐ; ਸਿਧ ਪੀਰ ਸੁਰਿ ਨਾਥ ॥
Suniai sidh peer sur naath
“By listening — the mystics, the masters, the heroes and the saints find their way.”
Ask: 'Why might Guru Nanak have started each day with a prayer? What do YOU do first thing in the morning?'
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