by SS Siri Narayan Kaur Khalsa Fuda, Buffalo NY Fall 2009 For her 2008 Ministers’ exam, Siri Narayan Kaur of Buffalo, NY wrote a moving essay about the energy of Guru Gobind Singh serving her during a deeply challenging time in her life. We thought it relevant to the August theme and received her permission to reprint it. Siri Narayan Kaur writes, “25 years after the event, it still brings me to tears, both for the sacrifice requested and God’s mercy in ultimately not requiring it.” Here is her story: The year after she graduated from high school, my middle
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Archives for 2009 - Fall
In Gratitude to Guru Gobind Singh
Daily Rendezvous
by SS Awtar Kaur Khalsa, San Francisco CA Fall 2009 I sat in a tiered lecture hall as the Siri Singh Sahib started on his topic “Personal Sorrow Has No Place in Business or in Life.” I could relate to a lecture entitled “How to Overcome Your Personal Sorrow”—I felt an urgent need to understand that subject. But this topic seemed to have bypassed my concerns completely. It was as if I was alone on a winding highway—right thumb out, left clutching my “Personal Sorrow” sign while his “Business and Life” car roared by. So I squirmed just a bit
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Carried by God and Guru
by SS GuruJivan Kaur Khalsa, Victoria, Australia Fall 2009 Fortunately or unfortunately my life has been full of challenges, which have all helped to make me who I am, GuruJivan Kaur (“One who lives as the Guru,” according to Yogi Bhajan when he gave me the name 37 years ago). I believe that a woman who, when challenged, digs deep into her very soul to keep up and face whatever the situation may be with (hopefully) grace, integrity and courage. Someone recently told me that I am the most courageous person that they know. This surprised me considerably because I
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JapJi Mala
by SS Siri Ved Kaur Khalsa, Bakersfield CA Fall 2009 Bani, Bana, Seva, Simran. All the technology we need is found within these four gifts. Through the practice of Bani, we experience Shabd Guru and transform our every molecule. Through Bana, we augment our auras, project Guru’s radiance and, in fact, represent the Guru through our actions and words. Our turbans hold our heads “together,” protect our solar centers at our crown from the direct rays of the sun, and our coiled hairs, literally our built-in battery center. Through the practice of Seva we learn to give up our heads,
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From Darkness to Light
by SS Subagh Kaur Khalsa, Sao Paulo Brazil Fall 2009 In Memory of Guru Sewak Singh Khalsa My greatest moment of darkness came in 2001 when I received an evening phone call from my husband Guru Sewak’s surgeon, informing us that the result of his biopsy had returned and it was malignant. The feeling was like falling down an elevator shaft, spinning through time. Everything in our lives changed with that phone call. Medical exams, blood tests, medication, hospital stays, surgery–all of which had been previously personally unknown–became an ongoing undercurrent in managing our daily lives. We had broken ground
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Guided to the Feet of the Guru
by SS Siri Bandhu Kaur Khalsa, Ottawa, Canada Fall 2009 My childhood was spent roaming the smooth, rich, rounded ancient hills of Appalachia. I was the little girl with the big laugh. The mountains’ wealth of flora and fauna ranged from red and black raspberries (not blackberries, but black raspberries) to crawdaddies, wild lynx, snakes, birds and bears, all hidden behind a profuse population of trees. I knew every forest flower by name and location. I loved the profusion of early summer Indian Pipes and the rare species of Lady Slippers dotting the forest floor. I would proudly show my discoveries,
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The Lavan of Guru Ram Das
It never fails. There is that magical moment during the wedding ceremony when the transformation begins. The couple is ready, seated before the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the presiding Minister has spoken the words appropriate to bring the couple into the state ready to be fully present in this transformative moment. The sangat is present as witnesses to this most sacred yoga, most sacred merger: the union of masculine and feminine, of male and female, of man and woman, with the Guru guiding them in their higher consciousness. It is so sweet, so powerful, so ecstatic; then it happens: Guru
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Minister News and Notes (Fall 2009)
Welcome to new Sikh Dharma Minister Guruprasad Kaur Khalsa from Los Angeles, CA. She took her vows at 3HO Summer Solstice in June 2009. Blessings! It’s not too late to send in your 2009 Minister Renewal letters. This is not an exam year. Save the Date! Sikh Dharma International announces a NEW Japji Sahib Teacher Training Course to be held in Espanola, NM from July 4-17, 2010. We will publish more information or check online at www.sikhdharma.org for updates on this exciting new course. The procedures for becoming a Sikh Dharma Minister have been updated and include new information for
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Secretary of Religion Column (Fall 2009)
Our Sikh Dharma Minister Gatherings at Summer and Winter Solstices and the European Yoga Festival bring us together to connect, elevate and expand as Ministers. We consciously do not call them Minister meetings, even though we do convene. To most of us, the word “meeting” implies going through an agenda and attending to business. The Sikh Dharma Minister Gatherings are intended as a collective experience, out of which comes a renewed relationship each Minister has with his or her own identity as a Minister. This Summer Solstice 2009 gathering was no exception. After tuning in, Shanti Shanti Kaur, our Assistant
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#33 Fall 2009 Newsletter
The theme for the Fall 2009 Ministry newsletter is Tools for Ministers: Keeping Up on the Journey to the Aquarian Age. Please enjoy these inspiring articles by Sikh Dharma Ministers. “In your consciousness, you have to find a time to think. It is very important. At this time there are three questions you must ask yourself: 1) How much am I a part of the I AM which made me what I am? 2) During my working day, during my existence, during my awareness, how much of the time have I been aware that I am part of that greatness that
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