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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Posts by Executive Assistant
God’s Tree
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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#34 Winter 2009 Newsletter
The theme for our Winter 2009 newsletter is In the Light of the Guru. In response to this quote from the Siri Singh Sahib, we asked Sikh Dharma Ministers to write an article discussing how they translate, transmit, deliver, and share the essence of the Guru with others in their daily life. “The ‘Guru’ is the word of wisdom coming through a person who has attained the state of consciousness where he or she can speak the Infinite Truth under all circumstances.”—The Siri Singh Sahib Please enjoy the following articles written by Sikh Dharma Ministers. Copyright©2009
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In Gratitude to Guru Gobind Singh
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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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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