Nām Japō or Naam Japna, refers to the meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

, vocal singing of hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Guru Granth Sahib

Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...

 or of the various Names of God, especially the chanting of the word Waheguru

Waheguru

Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God, the Supreme Being or the creator of all. It means "The Good/Best Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Wahi means "good" and "Guru" is a term denoting "teacher"....

, which means "Wonderful Lord". Singing of hymns generally is also referred to as Nām Jap, sometimes also called Nām Simran. Singing of hymns with musical accompaniment is generally referred to as Kirtan

Kirtan

Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...

.

Naam Japo is the remembrance of God by repeating and focusing the mind on His name. The guideline in the Rehat Maryada of Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...

 demands that the Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

 engage in Naam Simran as part of his or her everyday routine.

Nām Japō is one of the Three pillars of Sikhism

Three pillars of Sikhism

The Three Pillars of Sikhism were formalised by Guru Nanak as:#The Guru led the Sikhs directly to practise Simran and Naam Japna—meditation on God and reciting and chanting of God’s Name—Waheguru...

, along with Kirat karō

Kirat karo

Kirat Karō is one of the Three pillars of Sikhism, the others being Naam Japo and Vaṇḍ chakkō. The term means to earn an honest, pure and dedicated living by exercising one's God-given skills, abilities, talents and hard labour for the benefit and improvement of the individual, their family and...

and Vaṇḍ chakkō. Critical importance is given to the meditation in the Guru Granth Sahib

Guru Granth Sahib

Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...

 as the way in which humans can conquer ego, greed, attachment, anger and lust, together commonly called the Five Evils

Five Evils

The Five evils or five thieves are, according to Sikhism, the five major weaknesses of the human personality at variance with its spiritual essence. The common evils far exceed five in number, but a group of five came to be identified because of the obstruction they are believed to cause in man's...

or Five Thieves and to bring peace and tranquility into ones mind. The Sikhs practice both the quiet individual recitation of Naam in ones mind, commonly called Naam Simran, and the loud and communal recitation of Naam, called Naam Jaap. However, this is not a strict definition of these phases.

Guru Ji says in the Guru Granth Sahib: