[1] He sought to restore the practices and beliefs of Sikhs back to what he believed were prevalent when Guru Nanak was alive.
Like Khalsa, they too revere the Guru Granth Sahib, but consider it an open book to which the wisdom of the later and present-day living Gurus can be added.
[8] The founder of the derogatorily termed "Nakali Nirankaris" was Bhota Singh[note 1], who had been evicted from the original movement after being found drunk inside a gurdwara.
[12] He further states that Bhota Singh was not excommunicated from the Nirankari sect but rather was instructed to solve his issue of alcoholism before engaging in religious affairs publicly again.
He strongly rejected idolatry, the Khalsa stance against living Gurus, and the treatment of the Sikh scripture as a closed book.
They invoke "Nirankar" instead of "Bhagauti", and include their tradition's list of living Gurus beyond Guru Gobind Singh.
[17] Though not an initiated Khalsa, he urged Sikhs to return to their focus to a formless divine (nirankar) and described himself as a nirankari.
The Nirankaris believe in very simple, inexpensive wedding ceremonies called "Anand", a term related to one found among Khalsa Sikhs.
It also affirms the Anand ceremony as well as includes rituals associated with the throwing of a dead human body wrapped in white cloth into the river.
However, Baba Dyal felt that the military successes were a distraction of the Sikh duty to remember Akal Purakh through the practice of Naam Japo.
Baba Dyal reportedly experienced enlightenment when he was 18 years old, entered meditation, and heard a voice saying:Give up this ritualistic practice.
You have been commissioned to expel the darkness of ignorance... You are a true Nirankari, as you are a believer of God as spirit, without bodily form.
[21]Baba Dyal's movement was originally confined to the Rawalpindi area, with followers being mostly Sahajdhari Sikhs of the Khatri and Arora castes.
The Nirankari were typically traders and shopkeepers and were expected to continue working while they focused their attention on the remembrance of the divine Name.
The essence of the Nirankari hu kam Nama is contained in the words which every adherent is commanded to utter again and again, Dhan than ni ran kar, meaning "Glory be to Nirankar."