by SS Sat Bachan Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2017 “Your reliability will give people the courage to trust you. Their trust will give you the power to carry a situation. A leader carries and serves people. Learn to lead as a ‘seva;’ people will love you, and you will continue to expand.”—The Siri Singh Sahib (February 2, 2004) Seva is the path to merger with God without ego. Therefore a life of seva creates a deep joy. The purpose of life is to be happy and this guarantees it. It is the expression of our deepest heart-felt gratitude to
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Monthly Archives May 2017
A Dream of Service
Journey into the Heart of Seva
by SS Mata Mandir Kaur Khalsa, Herndon VA Summer 2017 “Seva is a conscious and deliberate service to benefit another person even at your cost; and remember, whosoever does seva, it is one to a hundred that God comes through.”—The Siri Singh Sahib (September 9, 1990) Focusing on Seva Seva is a basic human need. It is an expression of gratitude, compassion and connection, that brings our Dharma and our souls alive. Since we started the Journey into the Heart of Sikh Dharma (JHSD) telecourse in 2000, seva has been more and more of a focus. One of our course sessions is dedicated
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Seva From the Heart
by SS Har Nal Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2017 Real seva comes from the heart: “Out of love you give selflessly to those who ask and those who don’t ask. When you are a giver, then your faculty and God’s faculty become the same. That is divinity.”—The Siri Singh Sahib (September 4, 2001) “Love is seva. It’s offering yourself to increase the vitality, the surroundings of somebody, giving somebody grace.”—The Siri Singh Sahib (July 10, 1995) Love, joy, devotion and inspiration are aspects of a shining radiant body, our 10th body, represented by Guru Gobind Singh. Any job you do
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Translating the Shabad Guru
by SS Guru Nam Singh and SS Sat Jivan Kaur Khalsa, McAllen TX Summer 2017 In the early 1980s, my wife SS Sat Jivan Kaur was facing a deep depression. Two prestigious doctors made the diagnosis and both agreed that it was imperative that she take strong medications in order to regain her health. This was a challenging situation, since she had a phobia of medicines and refused to take any that were prescribed for her. Instead Sat Jivan Kaur began to search for alternative treatments. In her quest, she found a television program featuring the practice of Kundalini Yoga
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Serving the Infinite
by SS Arjan Singh Dhillon and SS Arjan Kaur Khalsa, Mexico City, Mexico Summer 2017 A common proverb in India is “The seva brings meva.” Meva means fruit or benefit. In Sikh Dharma, the concept of seva implies giving to the Infinite beyond personal identity. This may be the most effective means through which one can synchronize the mind and body, to allow the soul to merge with the Divine. To serve Infinity, a Sikh serves the Guru; and serving the Guru means serving the sangat—the congregation composed of common people. Our Gurus could never restrain their longing and willingness
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Seva in Action
by SS Sangeeta Kaur Khalsa, Yuba City CA Summer 2017 “Seva is a win/win, the total source of victory. The moment you serve with heart and head, and without grinding any axe, you win the person forever. You deliver another person facing difficulty to their own strength. You save the person in the face of calamity. You protect him in the face of non-reality and bring home the reality.”—The Siri Singh Sahib (Aquarian Times, Sept/Oct 2006) By Guru’s Grace, this past February, a longstanding drought in Northern California was ending. Record snowfall and rain were filling reservoirs, rivers and streams
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Guru’s Seva
by SS Ram Dass Singh Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2017 Once my noble daughter asked me who was in the picture on the wall in her room. I told her it was Guru Ram Das. She said, “Yes, but who is the person behind him waving the Chauri Sahib?” And I said that was me. It wasn’t really me, but it is how I feel when I do seva. It is my great blessing to help take care of my Guru. Another time, a young lady said that she was always seeing me around the Gurdwara cleaning, and she wanted
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Ministry News and Notes (Summer 2017)
SDI Academy Tent Sunday, June 18 from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. This gathering is for ordained Sikh Dharma International Ministers only. The global environment is reactive in this time and space and requires our awareness, preparedness, and responsiveness to ensure our safety and well-being. Join us for the 2017 Minister Gathering at 3HO Summer Solstice. This will be an experiential workshop format with helpful tools to take back to your communities. Please join us in this important and timely event. Hosted by the Office of the Secretary of Religion. For more information, contact [email protected]. 2017 Summer Solstice Minister Gathering Flyer (PDF) The Office of the
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Secretary of Religion Column (Summer 2017)
It was past three o’clock in the afternoon. I was still sitting in the Baisakhi 2017 Gurdwara created at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The space had been transformed into a magnificent and sacred gurdwara in honor of our Siri Guru Granth Sahib and Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th birth anniversary. Wherever I looked, I could see SS Seva Kaur’s design artistry at work. The celebration had begun at Guru Ram Das Ashram in West L.A. in the Amrit Vela. By the afternoon, the crowd had swelled to nearly 15,000. Many had already gone down the escalator to wait in the
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#64 Summer 2017 Newsletter
The theme of our Summer issue is seva. We invited Sikh Dharma Ministers to reflect on the concept of seva as taught by the Sikh Gurus and exemplified by the Tenth Master (Radiant Body). Please enjoy these wonderful articles by Sikh Dharma Ministers. “In any form, shape, or projection, if you can elevate a person’s consciousness, his spirit, his self, his environments, his life, then it is seva. You are here to serve, here to lift, here to grace, here to give hope and action, to give the very deep love of your soul to all those who are in
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