[6] Nanakpanthi references an early Sikh community which encourages any person, regardless of religious affiliation, to follow Guru Nanak's teachings of universal brotherhood, truth, love, tolerance, and compassion.

[14] A number of ethnic groups and sects in India follow the teachings of Guru Nanak and visit gurudwaras, in addition to worshiping Hindu deities at mandirs.

[15] A number of ethnic Punjabis who are Hindu, especially in Indian and Pakistani Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Jammu and Uttarakhand, have continued other religious practices in spiritual kinship with Sikhism.

[16] Nanakpanthi, as a label referring to the selective, personal following of Guru Nanak to the exclusion of his successors, was criticized by mainstream Sikh writers such as Bhai Gurdas.

[17] Descendants of Bhai Mardana, a Muslim companion of Guru Nanak, reportedly follow a syncretic tradition of Sikhism and Islam.