The journey of an idea: I was in the Executive Committee meeting for the Siblings of Destiny group when I first learned that the Office of the Secretary of Religion was being asked to give a 15-minute presentation at the meetings in less than a month.
I was happy that the Ministry was being included with the non-profit presentation. I didn’t want to just talk about the Ministry. I wanted to do something informative, interesting and fun that would have some impact. A video came to mind.
After the meeting I talked to Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur, our Assistant Secretary of Religion, about my idea. She was game. We started to brainstorm about the content. I had never done a video presentation before and I knew we couldn’t do it alone. We had no camera, experience or expertise in this area.
Our first step was to see if SS Gurumustuk Singh from SikhNet would help us. If so, we would proceed forward. Shanti Shanti Kaur was able to connect with him at the Siri Singh Sahib’s birthday party that night and he said he would help! So, the Guru was saying yes, keep going.
The first female Sikh Dharma Ministers in the west were ordained at Summer Solstice 1972.
We needed a clearer idea of the content to be covered, and of course we needed a script. As you probably know, I commute back and forth every other week to Los Angeles for work. Consequently, we had less than two weeks to pull this off.
As Shanti Shanti Kaur and I compared our schedules, with her teaching, my commuting and both of us working full-time, we ended up with two time slots to write, shoot, edit and produce this video!
One Sunday morning we spent three and a half hours writing the script and crystalizing the three-part video. The following Saturday we had half a day to shoot it, squeezed in along with a photo shoot the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology was doing for their workshops and courses.
With the generous, fun-loving help of Gian Dharam Kaur and her husband Gurujot Singh, we shot the majority of the skit. On Sunday, before and after Gurdwara, we got the rest. Talk about a crash course in video production!
With the kind assistance of Gurumustuk Singh and Gurujot Singh, we got the help we needed to edit the whole thing and put all the parts together. We were doing final editing an hour before the opening ceremony of the Siblings of Destiny meetings! I looked at Shanti Shanti Kaur and said, “The next time I have some bright idea about doing a video, stop me!”
She said that it has been her recent experience that once you have a clear idea, the resources you need to manifest it start showing up. She was right.
I am extremely grateful to Guru Ram Das, the Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji and all those on the earth plane that helped to make this humble little video on the Sikh Dharma Ministry possible. Hope you enjoy the video!
Blessings to all and thank you for your service.
Sikh Dharma Ministry: Our Beginnings in the West (video)
Humbly,
SS Dr. Sat-Kaur Khalsa, Secretary of Religion
ABOUT THE SECRETARY OF RELIGION
SS Dr. Sat Kaur Khalsa has served as Secretary of Religion since 1991 and was ordained as a Sikh Dharma Minister in 1975. As Secretary of Religion, Dr. Sat Kaur oversees and is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the functions of this Office. Dr. Sat Kaur is a long-time member of the International Khalsa Council and the Khalsa Council Executive Committee. Dr. Sat Kaur maintains a full-time psychotherapy private practice in Santa Monica, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She counsels individuals, couples, and families to support their personal and spiritual growth. She is a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher, facilitates White Tantric Yoga®, and is a published author.
