Sukhmani Sahib holds a place in Sikh practice that no other long composition matches. Its complete recitation takes roughly an hour, and great numbers of Sikhs undertake it daily, often in the early morning, as a discipline beyond the obligatory nitnem prayers. It is read at sickbeds and in mourning, recited for thanksgiving and before undertakings, and its promise of peace through remembrance has made it the text Sikh families reach for when life presses hardest. The practice is markedly congregational as well as private. Sukhmani Sahib societies, many of them organized and led by women, gather in gurdwaras and homes for collective recitation, a form of association found across the Sikh world from Punjab to the diaspora, and gurdwaras schedule regular Sukhmani paath in their weekly calendars.
At the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar the composition is part of the daily round of scripture and kirtan, sung in the raga in which the Guru set it. Musicians have recorded it entire, in traditional raga performance and in popular devotional styles, and printed gutkas, small volumes containing the Sukhmani alone, are among the most common Sikh devotional objects, carried in pockets and kept at bedsides. The composition thus functions as scripture, liturgy and personal companion at once, the Guru's meditation on peace worn smooth by four centuries of daily use.