Aug 5, 1946 – May 13, 2019
by SS Jivan Joti Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM
Summer 2019
SS Jai Hari Kaur Khalsa left her earthly body Monday, May 13, 2019 at 4:00 pm in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was born August 5, 1946 in Portland, Oregon. She had a degree in Dental Hygiene from Ohio State University and a post graduate diploma in Public Health from the University of Oregon. She became a Sikh Dharma Minister in 1987.
Jai Hari Kaur and I knew each other for 40 years. It’s very touching to think of the journey many of us have made together in the Dharma, like threads of a tapestry exquisitely woven together. We have so many stories to tell of shared experiences such as weddings, births, illnesses, and deaths. We raised our children together. We started businesses together.
We did Sadhana together, chanted to the One as a Sadh Sangat and ate in langar lines next to one another. We took each other to doctor’s appointments and cooked meals during recovery from births or illness. We rejoiced together during happy times, and we cried together during the heartaches. Our relationships have been multi-dimensional and profound.
Jai Hari Kaur and I started our adventure together at Khalsa Women’s Training Camp in the late 1970s. We sat under the yellow and white tent under the cottonwoods at the feet of the Siri Singh Sahib, as he extolled the virtues of being women.
Then, we were winter guides together when my four children and her daughter, Shabd Simran Kaur, went to school together in India. We spent three glorious months in Rishikesh, swimming in the Ganga River and teaching the kids special classes. Jai Hari Kaur specialized in oral hygiene and table manners. To reward the students’ efforts, we took them out to a fancy restaurant (by India standards), where they could practice their newly-acquired skills in table manners. It was actually pretty hilarious.
Jai Hari Kaur and I also shared our love of healing, going to Sat Nam Rasayan courses together in a little town near Mt. Shasta, California. She was also a gifted healer of Applied Kinesiology, which was just a cover for her deep intuitive connection. Many people benefited from her advice on health and healing.
I frequently sought her advice on my health challenges. One time I resisted her advice. “It just doesn’t seem right,” I told her. Being the spiritual healer she was, I felt that her reply was perfect. “Well, you have to understand that I am not giving advice from my intellect. It is coming from a deep connection to the Divine. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense.” We had a beautiful combination of many relationships, honest and heartfelt.
The Gift of Family
When Jai Hari Kaur was diagnosed with cancer she moved to New Mexico o be closer to her daughter, Shabd Simran Kaur, her son-in-law, Yinka, and her grandchildren, Sohaila and Saajan. Shabd Simran Kaur played a tremendous role during these challenging times.
She organized Jai Hari Kaur’s care with such love and awareness that a safe and sacred environment was created, within which her Mataji could do her healing and have a truly beautiful and peaceful passing. Shabd Simran Kaur gave her mother a tremendous gift. And in the last year, she even gave Jai Hari Kaur her third grandchild, Sandesh, a grandson.
I began giving Jai Hari Kaur regular Sat Nam Rasayan treatments and we began opening to one another in more profound ways. I was in awe of the level of courage that she demonstrated in pursuing her healing on all levels of her being.
She expressed her anger, her sadness, her joy, and above all, her love for Shabd Simran Kaur, Yinka, and her grandchildren. She took art classes with a neighbor, processing her feelings through the art. Her healing was palatable. Every time I visited her, she was more subtle and almost effervescent. Words of wisdom flowed out of her like water. I wish I had written them down.
Beacons of Light
The most incredible experiences I want to share with you are the last two times I saw Jai Hari Kaur. I went for a visit about five days before she passed. She was in bed and having a hard time talking. I was struck by the cobalt blue brightness of her eyes, as though they were beacons of light that could see everything in the universe. I started with a foot massage and some Sat Nam Rasayan. We did Kirtan Sohila. Those eyes kept brightly shining at me.
Yogi Bhajan gave us the teachings on death. I appreciate those teachings, and appreciate as well all those in our Dharma who lived those teachings and have modeled for us how to die with consciousness. Jai Hari Kaur was one of these.
I’ve heard that when someone is transitioning, he/she is likely to go in and out of the spirit world, as a kind of preparation. I shared with Jai Hari Kaur what the Siri Singh Sahib told us about directing the soul up the Shushmana (spinal energy channel) through the Tenth Gate (crown of head) at the time of death. She said, “It is happening already. I feel it.” I knew her time must be coming soon. I asked if she could describe it in any way. “I go into the shabd, the sound current,” she said.
Again, the look of ecstasy on her face was evident. Shortly before her passing, Jai Hari Kaur had completed two Sahej Paaths (readings of the Sikh sacred scripture), in which she read or recited the Siri Guru Granth Sahib from beginning to end, a few pages at a time every day. So I knew she had prepared for her death well.
Goodbye to a Dear Spiritual Sister
My second experience took place the day Jai Hari Kaur passed. I was getting a healing treatment that was very deep and I went into an altered state. Suddenly, Jai Hari Kaur came into my awareness. I felt her take my hand. We were standing in a beautiful soothing light, like the Milky Way. She remained with me for the rest of the treatment as a pure light-being.
I had the feeling that she was at that moment going Home and had come to say goodbye. After the treatment, the healer told me that it had been a very intense treatment. But she assured me that I was healed. I wanted to believe her, but I was skeptical. I came into the treatment quite sick. How could one treatment totally cure me? My recoveries from illnesses are usually slow.
Later I found out that Jai Hari Kaur passed at 4:00 p.m. that day, just two hours after my treatment. I feel that Jai Hari Kaur gave me a gift while she was passing. She not only came to say goodbye, but I feel she also healed me.
“Journey well, dear sister. I know our relationship is not over. I will carry you with me. I love you.”