In this highly accessible and comprehensive biography, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh deftly mines the available sources to construct a vivid and complex account of Guru Nanak's life and legacy, his personality and background, the pluralistic world he lived in, his teachings and philosophy, and even the manner in which he has been understood by believers and scholars over time. What emerges is a majestic and magisterial portrait of a great enlightener who not only founded one of the world's major religions but whose singular message of unity and hope has endured centuries after he first walked the earth. The First Sikh unites rigorous scholarship with a deep love for the subject, offering fascinating insights into Guru Nanak's life and times even as it explores key facets of Sikhism. Moreover, it shows us how Guru Nanak continues to remain relevant in a twenty-first-century reality.

This book studies the life and the teachings of Guru Nanak, as reflected in his compositions. Special stress has been laid on discussing the morning prayer, Japji, the establishment of the institutions of sangat and langar and messages for improving the status of women. The book is profusely illustrated with reproductions of rare eighteenth century miniature paintings and line drawings, including a series from a Janamsakhi that has never been published before.It also has maps depicting the travels of Guru Nanak.

Sukhmani (The Pearl of Happiness) is a popular Sikh text by Guru Arjan, which inculcates the Sikh religious ethos and philosophical perspective on wellbeing and happiness. The book features a new translation of this celebrated Sikh text and provides the first in-depth analysis of it. The Sikh View on Happiness begins with an overview of the nature of suffering and the attainment of happiness in Indian religions. This provides the foundation for the examination of the historical, social, and religious context of the Sukhmani and its contribution to the development of the Sikh tradition. In addition to exploring the spiritual teachings of the Sukhmani, Nayar and Sandhu draw upon the Sikh understanding of the mind, illness, and wellbeing to both introduce key Sikh psychological concepts and illustrate the practical application of traditional healing practices in the contemporary context. In doing so, they highlight the overlap of the teachings in the Sukhmani with concepts and themes found in Western psychotherapy, such as mindfulness, meaningful living, and resilience.