by SS Sukhdev Kaur Khalsa, Raasiku, Estonia 2024 (First Quarter) I’m sitting by the window at our MPA campus. The winter fog has draped the whole of Punjab, bringing a deep calm into the surroundings. Nevertheless, as we celebrate Guru Gobind Singh’s birthday, the air is charged with the vibrant energy of students doing Pantra—the rhythmic recitation of Jaap Sahib—and the captivating tales of the Guru’s extraordinary life. It’s a testament to the enduring spirit of Miri Piri that, despite only a few months since the school’s reopening, the flame of enthusiasm burns brighter than ever. In this moment of
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Archives for Community
Nurturing the Radiant Spirit: A Reflection on the Young Saints at MPA
Ministering in Chile in This Time and Space
by SS Sat Sansar Singh Khalsa, Santiago, Chile 2024 (First Quarter) What does the word ‘Minister’ mean to you? Being a Minister is for me an identity that is shared with a lineage of women and men who through the ages have been an inspiration, through the testimony of their lives. To live the life of a Sikh includes actively supporting one’s community in this way of life. That identity manifests in many ways for me—in deep internal aspects and in actions in the sphere in which I participate. Externally it means for me to stand as a lighthouse, ever
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Daily Online Meditation for Healing in the Middle East
by SS Nam Nidhan Kaur Khalsa, Santiago, Chile 2024 (First Quarter) For a few decades now, the internet has opened the doors to homes and hearts around the world. It has shown us the beauty, as well as the ignorance, dreams and aberrations, that are common to human beings. It has connected us and helped create a global network where we are all closer, more similar and vibrating together in the face of all the events that are taking place in time and space. As terrible as wars are, we now have them happening and showing up on our cell
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
by Guruamrit Kaur Khalsa, Bowling Green, Virginia 2023 (Fourth Quarter) Memories When I think about growing up in 3HO, I am overwhelmed with memories. I remember my Mom waking me up during the Amrit Vela when I was a young girl. Walking across the street together to go to Sadhana, while it was still dark outside, and there were birds singing and dew on the grass. I remember making prashad in the Ambrosial hours in the kitchen with my godmother. Chanting the Mul Mantra while we stirred together at the stove. I remember sleeping on my sheepskin in the small
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Seeing the God in All
Interview with SS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 2023 (Fourth Quarter) In 2014, SS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa had a traumatic bicycle accident and almost died. After a long time away from Dharmic activities, he attended this September’s Khalsa Council meetings. As he shared his story during our small group check-in, I was compelled to invite him to be interviewed for this month’s newsletter. What follows is partially edited for clarity. But some is simply uniquely Harbhajan Singh at his frank, dry, funny, positive, courageous, spontaneous best! ~ SS Sangeet Kaur Khalsa, Articles Editor Sangeet: For our readers, could you
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My View from Here
by SS Guru Sangat Kaur Khalsa, Great Falls, Virginia 2023 (Fourth Quarter) The Olive Branch report and the reports of abuse at the schools in India hit us like a bomb at a birthday party. Feelings have run the gamut from those of betrayal, to those of disbelief in the report, and loyalty to Siri Singh Sahib Ji as spiritual teacher in spite of the allegations, or revelations, according to some folks. Some love the teachings but not Siri Singh Sahib Ji. Some are totally done with 3HO or Sikh Dharma. Some want to change everything in the organization. Still
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Growing, Learning and Healing
by SS Dr. Haridass Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles, California 2023 (Fourth Quarter) In this time and space, what do you value most in your Dharmic life? It has been a long three years with the pandemic and the upheaval in our community. I miss gathering with my Dharmic brothers and sisters, and I miss the joy of service. But what I value in this time and space is the opportunity to grow, learn, and heal, each on our own terms. Letting out all the emotions and taking time to acknowledge the hurts meant that we have had to talk about
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Contemplating Collective Efficacy
by SS Gurumeet Kaur Khalsa, Espanola, New Mexico 2023 (Fourth Quarter) Mere Pyare Sadh Sangat Ji, Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh! Our Sikh Ministry is sharing a powerful concept in this newsletter for our world sangat to contemplate—collective efficacy. We have all experienced fragmentation and discord in our sangat and among our dear friends and family. In this challenging environment, the concept of collective efficacy takes on profound significance. Living a dharmic lifestyle is often defined as a righteous and ethical path. But it is not merely a set of rules. Dharma is a technology
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The 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago: a Deep Dive Into a Global Faith Community
by SS Shiva Singh Khalsa, Chicago, Illinois 2023 (Third Quarter) The 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions was held August 14-18, 2023. This is the 4th Parliament we have attended. It is a week of presentations; plenaries by world-renowned faith and government luminaries; and most of all, amazing conversations with like-hearted people from every corner of the world. This is the 130th anniversary of the first Parliament in 1893, when the West got its first taste of non-Abrahamic faiths, held at the McCormick Lakeside Center in Chicago, USA. This week started with 1,000+ representatives of more than twenty diverse faith
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My Pregnancy Story
by SS Charansev Kaur Khalsa, Viña del Mar, Chile 2023 (Third Quarter) Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa! Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh! The Ministry Newsletter Team invited me to write an article for the August 2023 issue. As a new mother, I have currently not been active in ministering to our community. Nevertheless the team kindly asked me to share my pregnancy story. This is my personal journey, in preparation for raising a child in the Dharma during these turbulent times. On January 1st, 2022, my husband, Agya Akal Singh, and I visited the mother ashram in Española, New Mexico.
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