by SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Espanola, New Mexico
2025 (First Quarter)
“Oh mind, the most exalted and glorious thing that you can do, is to recognize the Divine Reality in you.” Ashtapadi 3, Verse 3, Sukhmani Sahib, from Guru Arjan
On Guru Ram Das’s birthday, October, 1986, the first Kundalini Yoga therapeutic class for those living with HIV disease was to start. In a few hours I would be literally face to face with people who had the most vilified illness of the 20th century.
No question that I was in over my head.
To prepare, I stood before the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, at Guru Ram Das Ashram Gurdwara, Los Angeles. My prayer to Guru Ram Das was to teach through me and deliver the Raj Yog that is Kundalini Yoga; to allow His healing blessings to flow to all, and awaken their inner healing. Then I placed my forehead on the marble and surrendered.
That first class put me in the presence of enormous suffering. The six men and one woman—David, Ramone, Steven, Marcos, Charlie, Andrew, Gayle—came with hope that yoga practice would help them. Yet their bodies were in staggering ill health. Wasting syndrome so severe the several sheepskins and cushions I offered provided just a bit of support. An orange fungus grew in the creases of their skin. Their lymph nodes were so swollen that they could not lift their arms. A smell of decay hung in the air.
No question that I was in over my head.
After the class, I began an intentional practice to cultivate Shuniya, the state of inner stillness, to anchor my mind and address the “over my head” situation. This led me to Sukhmani Sahib of Guru Arjan.
Even in my limited, sometimes not especially dedicated, recitation and study, I discovered each Slok and Ashtapadi of Sukhmani Sahib to be a discourse on an aspect of the experience of Shuniya. Here is what I’ve learned from Guru Arjan about Shuniya:
- To identify myself as Soul is a superpower in itself. It is effective to drop or dissolve whatever role I thought I needed—as a teacher or as a minister—and bring my presence simply as Soul.
- It is possible to experience connection without attachment.
- To acknowledge the suffering of incarnations is to witness the Divine play. The experience of Shuniya is to see what is, as it is; and yet not be saddened by it, not be afraid of it, nor be angered by it.
- Chanting the Naam in the company of the holy dissolves the illusion of separation and allows the experience of Oneness in the present moment.
- In Shuniya, we close the emotional and physical distance between “us” and “them” and accept and embrace the unique Saibhang of one another.
- The neutral mind is the manifestation of one’s Soul, the essence of love itself, where compassion guides.
- If even one person holds the intention of Shuniya when people are together, each one is respected, valued, heard, and understood with compassion.
- Each one is welcomed, as they are. Each circumstance is welcomed, as it is There is no need for effort to change anyone or anything. It is in the stillness of Shuniya that change happens, with sahej, and in Divine guidance.
- Holding steady the intention of Shuniya, different opinions and difficult emotions can be identified, addressed, elevated, and resolved.
- The gift of Shuniya is Unity. In Shuniya rests the peace of the world.
With inexpressible gratitude, nearly forty years after the first HIV class, Guru Arjan’s Bani continues to be a masterclass and a personal sadhana.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa (Ph.D., C-IAYT,YACEP) is Assistant Secretary of Religion for Sikh Dharma and an ordained Minister since 1973. She is a Medical Family Therapist and founding director of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology, a non-profit with the mission to bring Kundalini Yoga into healthcare. She directs the 800-hour IAYT accredited International Kundalini Yoga Therapy Professional Training in 54 countries and coordinates outcome studies on the medical effects of yoga practice.
She brings Trauma Responsive Kundalini Yoga training to teachers and ministers in conflict areas throughout the world, supporting those recovering from traumatic brain injuries, adjusting to amputations, military rehabilitation, and returning to civilian life.
Dr. Khalsa’s Kundalini Yoga program for people living with HIV is featured in the book, Yoga as Medicine by Timothy McCall, MD. and her groundbreaking work in Kundalini Yoga Therapy is featured in the book, Yoga Therapy and Integrative Medicine: Where Ancient Science Meets Modern Medicine.