Simran

This article is about Simran - Sanskrit word about Spirituality. For South Indian actress, see Simran (actress)

Simran is a Sanskrit word derived from smarana, meaning 'realization of that which is of the highest aspect and purpose in one's life,' thus introducing spirituality. Through the years, it has been adapted into many languages.

Buddhism

The Heart Sutra famously states Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's enlightenment realization that, "Form is empty (Śūnyatā). Emptiness is form (rupa)." The teaching then goes through some of the most fundamental Buddhist tenets such as the Four Noble Truths and explains that in emptiness (maha prajna paramita) none of these labels apply. That is; Buddhist teachings, while accurate descriptions of conventional truth, are mere statements about reality not reality itself, and therefore not the ultimate truth that is beyond description. Thus the bodhisattva, as the archetypal Mahāyāna Buddhist, relies on the perfection of wisdom (prajna paramita), defined in the larger Diamond Sutra to be the wisdom that perceives reality directly without conceptual attachment. This perfection of wisdom is condensed in the Buddha's paradoxical phrases like "What is called the highest teaching is not the highest teaching." and in the mantra with which the Heart Sutra concludes:

Sanskrit
Devanāgarī	Romanization	Pronunciation	Translation
गते गते	Gate gate	[ɡəteː ɡəteː]	Gone, gone
पारगते	Pāragate	[pɑːɾə ɡəteː]	Gone beyond,
पारसंगते	Pārasaṃgate	[pɑːɾəsəŋ ɡəteː]	Gone completely beyond -
बोधि स्वाहा	Bodhi svāhā	[boːdʱɪ sʋɑːɦɑː]	Praise! awakening!

This is Buddhist smarana in essence; that one realizes that all is empty and in time will return to nothing. For instance, all the fame or monetary value one earns in his lifetime will remain in this world when one passes on. This understanding comes about through constant self-realization - the sutras are merely to guide one, as explained by the Dalai Lama (2005: p. 46):

Template:Quoter Emptiness does not negate the play of appearances, it simply asserts that they are insubstantial and merely labeled by the mind. It is therefore incorrect to think of emptiness as equal to nothingness or nihilism.

Gurmukhi

Simar is a commonly used term as a verb in Gurmukhi, which refers to 'meditating' of the Nām. Sikhism is a contemporary faith of the Bhakti tradition of India, whereby the Realization of God can be most easily had through the process of individual devotion, without recourse to avaracious priests, costly rites or rituals or strict sartorial or dietary preactices (though all of these have eventually come to threaten the modern practice of sikhism ).

It says in the Guru Granth Sahib that by practising Simran one is purified and attains salvation or 'mukti'. This is because 'si-mar' means 'to die over' something for which one must kill their ego in order to have union with the ultimate truth or sat.

This japna teaches a person who wishes to gain from this human life, one must attain a higher spiritual state by become free of attachment by realizing that all that is, is empty as outlined in the Heart Sutra Thereby, merit is acquired by devoutly repeating, comprehending and living by the sacred word everyday so as to progressively reveal the divine and ultimate truth to the person who earnestly seeks it:

Famous people with the name Simran

• Simran Bagga (4 April 1976) - Indian actress
• Simran Gill (26 March) - Eldest heiress to the New Patiala Transport Co. business and estates.

Simran Kaur Gill (Famous singer, Doctor and Part-time Martial Artist)

See also

• Mahāyāna sutras
  • Diamond Sutra
  • Heart Sutra
  • Lotus Sutra
  • Shurangama Sutra
• Prajñā