by SS GuruJivan Kaur Khalsa, Melbourne, Australia Summer 2019 So many times over the years I have tried to organize a trip to India to bow at the Golden Temple. It has been on my bucket list for close to 50 years now. Finally, it happened for me this year. By the grace and blessings of God and Guru, I was invited by a student of mine and her husband to join them on a trip to India. Wahe Guru! Of course I said “Yes.” I was allowed to do nothing but show up. This was a gift to my
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Archives for Gurus
To Bow and Be Blessed
Fostering Group Consciousness: An Inside Job
by SS Dr. Sham Rang Singh Khalsa, Millis MA Summer 2019 Ashrams, probably like all spiritual communities, attract a diverse lot. Over the decades of living in an ashram community, we have often seen individuals causing problems and requiring much time and attention. A response often appears as an effort to try to remove the person causing the problem, but the Siri Singh Sahib consistently urged us to remain open and welcoming to all. Group consciousness has parallels with individual consciousness. As individuals, if we try to purge the shadows from our psyche, that very resistance can bring more energy
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Communities of Equality
by SS Sat Sansar Singh Khalsa, Santiago, Chile Summer 2019 Becoming a Sikh Dharma Minister has been a long path of learning, practice, and growth for me. Guru Amar Das has been a central inspiration for my journey on this road, and his teaching of equality and inclusiveness has been ever present. In my early 3HO days, there was a painting of Guru Amar Das carrying a vessel of water that hung on of the wall of the ashram kitchen. That was my first awareness of his legacy. At that time I was living in a different country and culture
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Call of the Positive Mind
by SS Siri Vedya Singh Khalsa, Albany CA Spring 2019 Ever since I was invited to share my reflections on the gift of Positive Mind, I have found myself exploring my internal world to question: Just what are the cables within me that hold my positivity, my hopefulness about myself and the future, and my deep desire to participate in the healing of this world and nurturing into reality the Age of Aquarius? I know that, numerologically-speaking, 2019 is a “3” year that represents Positive Mind. I also have a “3” in my personal numerology, given my May 3rd birthday. I am a positive
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Trust the Guru and Excel
by SS Sangeet Kaur Khalsa, Phoenix AZ Winter 2018 The Guru has made my life richer, deeper and more valuable than anyone could ever have imagined possible. This spring, the Guru carried me through the end of my life-destiny and helped me to restart a new one. What follows is a shortened version of a much longer, beautiful story: This spring I reached a point in the long-term painful deterioration of my spine where it was necessary to have a surgical procedure called a “laminectomy” of my entire lumbar spine. The day before the surgery I taught for ten hours
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Returning to the Guru’s Feet
by SS EkOngKar Singh Khalsa, Albany CA Summer 2018 Although I have and am very grateful to have a relationship with Shabd Guru, I have no words to express how that has developed or how it is sustained—except to say that, after a very long journey, by some grace, I entered the sacred space of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. I can only say that when I am in the presence of the Guru, when I hear the vibration of the Guru’s Shabd, I feel I have come home and that the place in which I sit is filled with
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As Above, So Below
by SS Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa, Phoenix AZ Summer 2018 Many years ago, when the Siri Singh Sahib was attending Gurdwara during a visit to Phoenix, he looked straight at me and said, “The clock has stopped.” I admit that I had noticed that it had stopped when I walked into the Gurdwara, but as I wasn’t “in charge’”of the Gurdwara, I didn’t feel that it was my responsibility. But then he said, “It is your responsibility.” The piercing impression of his words changed my attitude from that moment on. In the years that followed, I had the privilege to serve
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Reflections of Purity
by SS Siri Pritam Kaur Khalsa, Yuba City CA Spring 2018 In each of our lives, we are told, challenges must come. It’s a universal law. Otherwise, no forward movement is generated. It is said that we all have “squares” in life that have to be conquered, have to be processed. On the spiritual path, we are further implored to accept good and bad alike. Ideally with grace. To live an exemplary life. One can make a comparison to the weather: When the rains come, when hail and thunder hammer us, we stay safe by putting on protective gear and
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Transformed by Gurbani
by SS Satkirin Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Spring 2018 The Shabd Guru—I love this topic! It is so dear to my heart and so relevant in my personal and teaching life. It’s amazing to reflect on Guru Nanak, who never actually had a human Guru. In his day, you had to have a human guide and teacher, but his guide came to him through the Jal Samadhi—his awakening in the river—when the Infinite came to him directly delivering the words of Japji Sahib. The first non-human guide of the Shabd Guru came through this channel, and it continued through 10
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My Personal Identity Bows to the Guru
by SS Siri Atma Singh Khalsa, Santa Fe NM Spring 2018 In Sikh Dharma, we surrender ourselves to the Guru. Our Guru is Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the physical embodiment of the Light of Guru Nanak and the collected writings of several Sikh Gurus and various Hindu and Muslim saints. Guru Arjan collected the writings of his predecessors, compiled them into a single volume, the Adi Granth, and enshrined that volume at the Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar. Guru Tegh Bahadur later added his own writings to the Adi Granth. After his personal copy of the Adi Granth was lost or destroyed in
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