by SS Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa, Yardley PA
Spring 2020
The four pillars of support and service in the Age of Enlightened Leadership are Love, Devotion, Surrender, and Non-Attachment. A leader is blessed with a vision, the power to live it, the skill to inspire others, and the endurance to carry it forth.
As well as being a unique and gifted being, every leader requires support and assistance in their Dharmic responsibility of guiding others. The support beneath may be the deciding factor as to how well a leader can express their gifts and sustain them over time.
It is difficult for anyone with a vision to animate their dream and manifest a mission without the support of those around them to uplift that vision. Those supporting can be the foundation from which a visionary leader maintains their inspiration, inner prowess, and the ability to grow and propel their dream into reality.
A Vision of Service
One of the gifts of Guru Ram Das was to bring forth a vision of collective service and community effort through his presence of humility, compassion, and grace as a leader and authority. Through his consistent devotion and love of the Guru, his vision was manifested within his life and continued through the life of Guru Arjan Dev Ji.
Guru Ram Das surrendered and gave himself to a deeper sense of being that transcended time and space. Effective leadership extends beyond one’s life. Guru Ram Das’ visionary presence—combined with compassion and sacred realization—helped bring forth the wisdom of ages through his work for all of us on this path.
Mutual respect has a circular and spiral effect on ourselves and those with whom we interface. By respecting my students, they are uplifted, and that respect is reciprocated. My own effective experiences of leadership have always come from a sense of mutual respect. There is no “higher or lower” or sense of status with authentic leadership. It always calls for humbly loving those we wish to serve and uplift.
Ambassadors of Light
Leadership doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There are environments, circumstances, karmic influences and collective energies that support or diminish the impact of leadership.
As Dharmic ambassadors of light and truth, we all hold equal responsibility and “unique grace” as to how these teachings are upheld and transmitted to future generations. “Standing under” creates the roots by which these teachings will become strong, stable, and sustainable over time.
Authentic love of one’s path and teaching is essential. Nirgun Bhakti—unqualified devotion—is necessary for the Dharmic seeds to grow. Selfless surrender allows for the dissolution of self to experience the oneness and merge. Non-attachment allows the journey to remain free and unencumbered by any expectation of how it is to manifest and alleviates the imposition of unconscious suffering and struggle.
As we support others in the journey of awakening, our own unfolding becomes vitalized, blessed, and inspired. May I be so blessed to support and serve those who live by authentic Divine presence and who live to heal the world.
About the Author
SS Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa is an ordained Sikh Dharma Minister. He began studying yoga and meditation in 1973 and entered the Guru Ram Das Ashram in 1975 as a student of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. He co-founded the Khalsa Healing Arts and Yoga Center in Yardley, PA, in 1989. For over 40 years, Mahan Rishi Singh has been teaching Kundalini Yoga and Meditation as a vehicle for personal and planetary transformation. Through his travels to India and in teaching nationally and internationally, he seeks to bring the ancient wisdom and authentic devotional practices of yoga and meditation into everyday life.
