Khalsa-ji MSS Sada Sat Singh Khalsa October 10, 1950 – November 12, 2017 by SS Dharm Singh Khalsa, Espanola NM Winter 2017 My dear friend and spirit brother Sada Sat Singh has passed into the light. We both served Yogi Bhajan for many years in Los Angeles and formed a bond in that 24-hour-a-day seva. In the beauty and the spiritual challenge of it, we were spirit soldiers on a mission. During that time, Yogi Bhajan relied on Sada Sat Singh for a multitude of tasks. A humble seva that Sada Sat used to perform was to clean up the
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Monthly Archives November 2017
In Memoriam
A Quiet River
by SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Winter 2017 Have you heard this story? When Guru Gobind Singh was 16 years old, he received an invitation from Medni Parkash, the ruler of the Nahan State, to select any place in the kingdom to settle permanently. The Guru traveled from Anandpur Sahib, got off his horse at a point along the Yamuna River, found it to his liking and stayed for more than four years. From 1685 to 1689 he built what is now Paonta Sahib. Paonta Sahib is in a green valley located below the foothills of the
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The Highest Meditation
by SS Siri Bhrosa Kaur Khalsa, Anandpur Sahib India Winter 2017 My personal approach to reading the banis has always been a very practical one. I feel that reading the banis in the vernacular (in English or whatever your native tongue) and pondering on the meaning of the words, either one line or one Pauri at a time, is critical to having a meaningful experience. The entire story of how to live is illustrated in the banis, in some form or fashion. Throughout the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, we are reminded that this world is not real at all. We
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Revitalizing the Khalsa Spirit
by SS Dr. Kirpal Singh Khalsa, Espanola NM Winter 2017 Jaap Sahib is Guru Gobind Singh’s Bani (sacred hymn) that uplifts the soul, gives the experience of infinity and expands the radiance of the human psyche. It is Gurbani, the Guru’s hymn, and recited in Naad, the sacred sound current. The Siri Singh Sahib explains that Guru Gobind Singh composed Jaap Sahib to revitalize his people at a time when they were “crippled mentally and physically and downgraded to the extent that if a Moghul soldier spat at you and if you didn’t catch the spit, you could be beheaded.
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The Rhythm of Life
by SS Prabhu Prakash Kaur Khalsa, on the road USA Winter 2017 Like my mother before me, I’ve been a singer all my life. While still in the womb, I absorbed my mother’s joy of devotional singing and the love she projected through her voice. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t equate the vibration of the human voice with the experience of being alive and loved. When asked to share my experiences with Gurbani, I was reminded of conversations I had with Mom before her passing. We would talk about how each being on this planet
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Resistance
by SS Kartar Singh Khalsa, Sterling VA Winter 2017 Let me be clear—I don’t currently read my banis every day, although I did so as a daily practice for many years. So let me speak honestly and openly about the topic of resistance. Three times the Siri Singh Sahib told me—all unsolicited—to read my banis daily. During my interview to become a Sikh Dharma Minister at Summer Solstice years ago, MSS Shakti Parwha Kaur also told me to read my banis every day. So, I used to read daily from a Nitnem and eventually I memorized Japji Sahib so that
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Minister News and Notes (Winter 2017)
SDI Academy Tent (3HO Winter Solstice) Monday, December 18, 2017 11:00 am – 12:45 pm Under the umbrella of the Shabad Guru, we are focusing on a deeper understanding of the Mul Mantra. The Siri Singh Sahib says that the key to understanding the entire Siri Guru Granth Sahib is through the Mul Mantra. As we leave 2017 and enter 2018 (with the numerology of the “11”—the Guru number), we will explore how the Mul Mantra aligns our energies with the essence of the Guru’s bani. The Office of the Secretary of Religion offers this experiential opportunity for all ordained Sikh
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Secretary of Religion Column (Winter 2017)
A Minister came to me and said she was having great difficulty answering the first question on the 2016 Minister’s Exam (“Write an essay on Japji”). She asked if she could respond to the question with an artistic rendering. I gave her permission to do so. An artistic rendering—I was curious to see what this Minister would manifest from her unique God-given talents. When SS Guru Kiren Kaur Khalsa (wife of Dharm Singh) from Espanola, New Mexico very humbly gave me this painting and scroll at the end of Gurdwara a few weeks ago, I sat down on the floor
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#66 Winter 2017 Newsletter
Throughout 2017, we explore the example of the Tenth Master and the Radiant Body through the Four Pillars of Bana, Bani, Simran, and Seva. For the Winter issue, we invited Sikh Dharma Ministers to reflect on the concept of Bani—and the relationship of a Sikh to the banis. We asked our Ministers to share stories, technology, and understanding of how the banis can help us to relate to our Tenth Body (Radiant Body) and to Guru Gobind Singh. “Gurbani is the undying spirit, which brings you the strength, reaches you to the light, takes you to the love… and when you recite
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