by SS Atma Chanan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D., Little River, California
2024 (Third Quarter)

“Thousand are Thy forms, and yet Thou has no form.”

When I think of religion and interfaith, two ongoing events come to mind: the war between Israel and Palestine and the U.S. 1993 Government Act that guarantees that local laws abide by the first amendment of the Constitution—our basic right to free speech and religious freedom. When passing this bill, former U.S. president Bill Clinton cancelled the firing of two Native American counselors from a rehabilitation clinic after they had used Peyote in a religious ceremony. Such a precedence would be controversial even for our global sangat. Yet, as our Dharma travels far into all corners of the world—even war zones like Ukraine—interfaith work becomes more prevalent and relevant in a world that urgently needs it. 

I write these words in my native farmland, Argentina, having put to rest the ashes of both my parents—who died nine years apart—under a medicinal Lapacho tree. Standing next to Facundo, a Guarani Native whose family has worked at the farm for over three generations, I can’t help thinking about the colonial relations that defined both our family dynamics and the material gap that separates us. With me are my nephew Federico and his girlfriend Mili, both who grew up Catholic,  along with my two dear friends Juan and Elena, whom I met at the Gnosis movement over twenty years ago. When it was my turn to speak, I adapted the Kirtan Sohila to fit a more universal prayer, and while I covered my head as is common in the Sikh tradition as a sign of respect, they took their hats off.  In their traditions it’s the opposite. Yet the feeling of honoring our family members and ancestors in a sacred way was mutual. 

Back in the city of Buenos Aires, I had the opportunity to share a few words with my Sikh friend Inderveer Kaur, about the upcoming 30-year commemoration of AMIA—a terrorist attack against the Jewish embassy a few blocks away from my mom’s apartment. A few years back, I brought Inderveer Kaur a Spanish version of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, printed in Mexico, and she became a Granthi in order to reopen a Gurdwara that had recently closed.  Our connection has grown ever since. And while I traveled eight hours on a bus carrying my parents’ ashes, Inderveer Kaur was offering her solidarity to the Jewish community. 

Not only has she brought visibility to the Sikh community in Argentina (composed of 50 to 60 people in a country of 40 million), but she has also spoken in many different events and ceremonies over several years about the commonalities of our Sikh values with other religions in Latin America. She says, “We fight for the same, offering help to those in need —especially women and children—bringing supplies to schools, and including more cities on the Peace Path.” This project is organized by the National Interfaith Roundtable (MEIRA) and its subcommittees, to create civil action dialogue and to lobby with the state governments. “We work together peacefully because we respect our differences,” said Inderveer Kaur.   “As we unite ourselves in our religious beliefs and interfaith work, we model a peaceful way of being for Catholicism, Judaism, Sikhism, Scientology, Africanism, Evangelicalism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.

We live in a world where diversity is real and closer to us each day, where the local and the global interact to become one glocal space—where interfaith work gives planet Earth and humanity a chance to become whole, connected, and equally integrated again. It reminded me of years back when I also took a Spanish copy of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Four years later, eleven teachers graduated from the first 200-hour Level 1 Teacher’s Training in the country. At a recent opening of a yoga studio, students celebrated the achievement with a hukam from the Shabd Guru. In search of the Truth is their goal…letting Higher Consciousness lead the way. It was this added touch that brought sacredness to the ancient practice of yoga as perhaps it was meant to be in its origins—a way of life that serves others and connects all of us with the Infinite. 

As Guru Nanak wrote in the Kirtan Sohila prayer, “I am enchanted with Thy play. It is the Light which lives in every heart that illumines every soul.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SS Atma Chanan Kaur Khalsa has been a Minister of Sikh Dharma since May of 2021. She is a certified teacher of Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, and Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at KRI. She has a Ph.D. in Sociology and a Certification in Collective Embodiment and Trauma. Atma Chanan Kaur was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has been active in social justice and human rights issues for Latina immigrant women, Indigenous and African Diasporic people since the 1990s, when she became a university professor and community organizer.