Bani is the actual words spoken by the Sikh Gurus and Saints, and they are recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. There are a total of 36 contributors to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, six of the Sikh Gurus and 30 saints from different religions, places and times.
Sikhs believe that recitation of Bani gives us the capacity to be our best. When we recite Bani aloud it causes the tip of the tongue to touch the meridian points on the upper palate of the mouth, stimulating the glands that give us intuition, expand our consciousness and ensure our self care. For Sikhs, it is the highest wisdom. It is the Guru’s guidance from God, and it gives the experience of the Grace of God.
Most Sikhs recite bani before sunrise and during the twilight of the day.
In Sikh Dharma, many Sikhs read the Banis in Gurmukhi, even if they can’t understand the literal translation. This is because we believe that reading the Banis in Gurmukhi can grant understanding in a heavenly sense if not a worldly sense. For Sikhs, Bani is a perfect permutation of the sound current to make us divine. Sikhs believe that consistently reciting Banis can give us a sense of excellence.
In Gurmukhi, the Banis create a permutation and combination between the tongue and the upper palate, which creates a balance in the hypothalamus so we can be automatically great. The hypothalamus controls habitual patterns. Sikhs believe that reciting Banis enables us to reset our patterns to experience infinity. We pray that by continuing to recite the Banis daily, by the Grace of God, we will begin to understand what the Guru is saying through the Gurbani, and we will begin to understand how it applies to our lives.
~Resource: this information was originally shared in the book Living Reality (1994) by Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa.
Note: For those who would like to begin a personal practice of Sikh banis and prayers, our marketplace has a Gurmukhi-Roman Nitnem available that contains Sikh banis for daily recitation, as well as the Peace Lagoon with English translation of Sikh prayers and banis.
