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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Posts by Executive Assistant
Guided to the Feet of the Guru
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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A Wish and Dish Prayer
by MSS Guruka Singh Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2009 In 1992 I learned the true power of “A Dish and a Wish.”* I remembered that the Siri Singh Sahib had said to cook a dish “with your own hands” from scratch. I spent several hours doing just that and brought it to the Gurdwara and presented it with my $11 and my prayer to Guru Ram Das. The Siri Singh Sahib had just told my wife and me to move to New Mexico immediately, and my prayer was very simple: “Guru Ram Das Ji, let our house in California sell
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Remembering the 6th
by SS Sarb Nam Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2009 Our teacher said, “So, it is a privileged day today, it’s the sixth, we celebrate every sixth, the day of the Akal Takhat, and it’s a day of the dish and wish and it’s a promise by the Guru. It dawned on me and that is what Guru Ram Das said, on this day, the saddest day, celebrate. I said, ‘How?’ Guru Ram Das said, ‘Let anybody prepare with love a dish, bring it with a wish and I shall grant it,’: and it has become our regular feature, it has
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A Throne of Timelessness
Excerpts from July 6, 1987 lecture by the Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji The word is akal and what we are celebrating today is in memory of the Akal Takhat. Takhat means tirath. Tirath means that which has the base and which ultimately means sovereign. Takhat means throne. Throne was a place which was thrown away from God. So word is Akal Takhat. Timelessness. Throne of timelessness. So what I’m explaining here today is that in Sikh Dharma we have a place we call Akal Takhat. It is the nerve center of the planet’s psyche. It
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The Martyrdom of the Akal Takhat
by SS Dr. Harjot Kaur Singh, Calgary, Canada Summer 2009 In the concept of Miri Piri, there is a subtle co-existence of the two bases of authority—spiritual and temporal. The Sikhs were acknowledged spiritually in India but not politically and this lack of recognition eventually resulted in the attack on the Akal Takhat. The Sikhs fought valiantly for India in the World wars and also during the partition of India and Pakistan. More than 80% of the freedom fight for India came from the Sikhs who only represented less than 2% of the Indian population. So respected were the Sikhs
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The Akal Takhat
Summer 2009 How did the Akal Takhat come into existence in the Golden Temple complex? In 1608, Guru Hargobind Ji built the shrine Akal Bunga opposite the Golden Temple. This is now known as the Akal Takhat (which was the first Takhat built in Sikh history). Akal means deathless and Takhat means throne. This is the highest Sikh temporal seat, the supreme authority. What was the purpose behind the building of the Akal Takhat? The Harimandir Sahib is a spiritual temple, reserved for sacred activities, such as seva, kirtan, meditation and prayer. Guru Hargobind Ji built the Akal Bunga, later named the Akal Takhat,
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