by SS Sada Anand Singh, Japan Winter 2009 My way of sharing Guru’s wisdom in my daily life is simple. In Japan, we often have holistic fairs where I offer free five-minute yoga counseling sessions as “Yogi Khalsa.” I invite the individual to sit down, relax, close his eyes, take a deep breath, and we tune in. After a few minutes of sitting in this healing space, I ask him to open his eyes. A simple conversation follows: “How are you?” “So-so.” “What’s the difference between “so-so” and great? How do you get beyond the negative self-limiting mental mantras?” Then
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Archives for 2009 - Winter
Guru’s Wisdom
Uplift and Inspire
by SS Jot Singh Khalsa, Millis MA Winter 2009 For the majority of my adult life, and even beyond his passing, the Siri Singh Sahib (Yogi Bhajan) has been my role model. I watched him serve people for decades everywhere I had the good fortune to be with him. What it instilled in me is the realization that life is about “service,” plain and simple. For over 30 years now, my art and craft have taken me all over the world displaying and selling knives and jewelry. Early in my career, I began to sense that there was more for
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Being the Reflection of the Guru
by SS Suraj Kaur Khalsa, Altadena CA Winter 2009 “Guru can be a word of wisdom coming through a person who has attained a state of mental consciousness to direct or guide or speak the infinite truth under all circumstances.” This quote from the Siri Singh Sahib is in essence what he embodied as a teacher. He came from India, and although in the beginning, he felt that it was not the time to represent the Guru in the form of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, he still brought the essence of the Guru to his yoga students. Under all
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Singing God’s Praises
by SS Hari Mander Jot Singh, Albuquerque NM (interviewed by SS Sarb Nam Kaur Khalsa) Winter 2009 There is a line in the Re Man shabd written by Guru Gobind Singh that inspires me: “Jaap so ajaap japay.” It means to recite without reciting. I believe that we should live our life as an example, rather than just preaching. Living in the consciousness that God is the Doer of everything, we will become self-illumined: Saibhang. This only happens by the grace of the Guru: Gurprasad. Guru is everything…it is that which brings you from the unknown to the known. A relationship
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The Gift of the Naam
by SS Siri Krishna Kaur Khalsa, Medway, MA Winter 2009 I had a particularly hard time trying to decide if my story was worthy enough for the publication…but I suppose that that’s not my job. My job is to tell my story and then let the editors decide if it is worth publishing or not. And if it inspires even one person, it is so worth it. So here goes. My personal story started many years ago when I lived in Virginia. I was a 40-day birth sevadar for a lovely Sikh family in Herndon back in 1989, and during the
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The Prince of the Harpists
by SS Dr. Gurusangat Kaur Khalsa, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Winter 2009 Have you ever heard the story of the Kiri Tree, also known as the Princess Tree in old China? One day a magician turned this powerful tree into a wonderful harp and in so doing cast a spell so that the rebellious spirit of the harp could only be tamed by a master musician. For years, the harp was kept by the Emperor as his personal treasure. Endless and useless efforts were made to find a musician who could play this harp. Whosoever attempted to strike a tune on
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God’s Tree
by SS Shiv Charan Singh, Portugal Winter 2009 The Gurmukh is like God’s tree, always green, blessed with the Sublime Love of the True One, with intuitive peace and poise.—Siri Guru Granth Sahib (p. 66) “Use the tools to take the fools to the Guru.” Such was the simplicity and down to earth elegance of the Siri Singh Sahib as he gave voice to the hukam [to serve the Guru] that has been written in my soul for lifetimes. The same call to bring souls to the feet of the Guru can be found in this passage by Guru Arjun: I
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Minister News and Notes (Winter 2009)
All Sikh Dharma Ministers are invited to participate in our twice yearly Ministers’ Gathering. This year our focus is information sharing and skill building to meet the current challenges. Facilitated by SS Har Darshan Kaur. Please join us at the 3HO Winter Solstice in Florida! 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. We received a beautiful testimony from a Sikh Minister about the August 2009 Sikh Dharma Minister’s e-Newsletter: “This was a
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The Eternal Shabd Guru
Ask the Bhai Sahiba Column Winter 2009 A few years back, a man approached a group of us going to have breakfast. He asked us about our Dharma. He didn’t know much, but what he did know was revealed in his opening comments: “Oh, you are ‘the chanters’.” I chuckled internally. Over the years we have been identified with various virtues. Now, this man was recognizing us as the lovers of the Shabd, the worshippers of the Shabd. Don’t we LOVE the Shabd Guru? That great Eternal Sound as Teacher, carrier of the flow and rhythm of the movement of
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Secretary of Religion Column (Winter 2009)
It was the first morning of the Khalsa Council 2009 Fall meetings. As part of our initial process, we met in our check-in groups. I sat next to Kirtan Singh from Los Angeles. Before we started, his cell phone rang. I heard him say, “Oh, I am so sorry to hear it.” I knew before he said the words that Guru Simran Kaur (14 years old) from Los Angeles had left her body. Tears started to make their way down my cheeks. The group wanted to know if I was okay. Kirtan Singh shared the news with them and then
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