SS Guru Dass Singh Khalsa February 4, 1954 – June 17, 2017 by SS Guruganesha Singh Khalsa, Herndon VA Fall 2017 Singh Sahib Guru Dass Singh, my beloved brother and fellow Minister in Divine, was a total gift from Guru Ram Das ji. I met him in January 1973 at Ahimsa Ashram in Washington D.C., where we lived, worked, played guitars, and sang together. I can’t tell you how many times during the last 45 years the tears poured from my eyes while listening to one of his beautifully crafted, heartfelt songs of devotion and Divine love. Songs like “Flowers in
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Archives for Sikh Dharma Ministry
In Memoriam
Minister News and Notes (Fall 2017)
By Guru’s Grace, four new Sikh Dharma Ministers took their ordination vows in June 2017. SS Hari Bhagat Singh from Brazil, took his vows on June 4, 2017 in the gurdwara at Belo Horizonte in Brazil, administered by SS GuruSangat Kaur Khalsa. New Minister SS Hari Bhagat Singh shared his experience of taking his Minister vows: “With deep love and huge devotion and gratitude, I did my Minister Vows today. “They were administered by SS GuruSangat Kaur Khalsa in front of the whole sangat and it was SO special and SO amazing. It had a huge impact on our sangat
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Sweet Sloks of Guru Teg Bahadur
by SS Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2016 In the month of Vaisakh we celebrate the birth of the 9th Sikh Guru—Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib. His life is an epic story of bravery and fearlessness, devotion and meditation, and ultimately the sacrifice of his own life for freedom of religion.[1] Guru Gobind Singh ji writes with loving respect about his holy father in his autobiographical Bichitra Naatak: Guru Teg Bahadur became the protector of the sacred thread and the tilak; He gave the highest sacrifice so that we remember forever; He gave his head as an offering without the
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Moving in the World
by SS Dev Suroop Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Summer 2016 Over the past several weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the Subtle Body in relation to my actions as a Sikh Dharma Minister. I first pondered on how I actively minister, since I rarely perform ministerial duties such as weddings and other ceremonies. I believe that we minister all the time—in our work, play, family life, and in the way we move around in the world. In my experience, the action of ministering in those circumstances is rarely overt. Most of the time, ministering involves being as present as possible in
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Many-Colored Hues
by SS Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa, Phoenix AZ Summer 2016 The poetry of the Gurus is exquisite, embodying the divine in material form. To bring this subtlety into earthly form, the Gurus were able to serve as God’s channels, letting the divine flow through them by setting their egos aside. This channeling of the infinite is the source for creative works that have endured for centuries. The term “beautiful” is often used to describe such works. Through the expression of the Subtle Body, the harmonious relationship of the parts to the whole that manifests beauty comes into play in poetry, music, dance,
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Secretary of Religion Column (Summer 2016)
Wahe Guru Ji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji ki Fateh! It has been a year since I first wrote to you about the inception of the Regional Minister Coordinator (RMC) program. The following is an update: The RMCs have met as a virtual group four times. We are defining, developing, and implementing this new infrastructure of volunteer sevadars to better serve the Ministry as a whole. We are striving to follow in the footsteps of Guru Amar Das from the 1500s, with a modern structure for the Aquarian Age. Our intent is to build this slowly and gradually in a
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#60 Summer 2016 Newsletter
Throughout 2016, our Ministry newsletter is focused on the Subtle Body. We invited Sikh Dharma Ministers to reflect on how we impact the world through our Subtle Bodies. Especially, how do we use the Subtle Body to support us in situations of challenge as we serve as teachers, leaders, and healers of the Aquarian Age? “If in subtlety you become very refined and in activity you become very subtle, you are very near to your soul….The spirit and the Subtle Body are very much related, they never leave each other. So anything which is refined—refined art, refined acts, refined speech…will put you nearer
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Living in the Subtle Body
by SS Siri Narayan Kaur Fuda, Buffalo NY Spring 2016 Yogi Bhajan presented us with the concept of the Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness, each of which represents an aspect of our Self. Through considering various components of each of these Bodies, one can come to a greater understanding of one’s Self and how one can reach fuller development of consciousness. The Subtle Body is listed as the Ninth of Ten. It is concerned with perceptual ability to sense the Infinite and universal reality within the material and physical. It is our connection to the non-physical imprint of all experience
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Chrysalis Raj Yoga – Perfection of the Ninth Body
by SS Krishna Singh Khalsa, Espanola NM Spring 2016 As you may know, chrysalis is the transmutation process by which a voraciously hungry caterpillar that devours every green leaf in sight is transformed into a gracefully flying, spiritually symbolic butterfly. As the caterpillar gorges itself on the most nutritious food to be found on our planet (chlorophyll), it becomes fatter and fatter. Then the caterpillar spins a cocoon around itself and disappears into a deeply dormant trance state, like a meditation. During this phase, the entire physical structure of the caterpillar, including all its high-energy fat, dissolves into a rich,
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The Companion of the Soul
by SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM Spring 2016 It is a common understanding in most spiritual traditions that human beings exist as more than a physical body. The writer C.S. Lewis made this distinction when he said, “We are a soul; we have a body.” Yogis take this a bit further with the understanding that we have more than a single body: we have 10. Of these 10 Bodies, the Subtle and Soul Bodies are together throughout the journey of Soul and its incarnations. From the moment the Soul Body is released from the One Vibration its
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