2016 Fall – Sikh Dharma International

The International Khalsa Council

The International Khalsa Council met in Espanola, New Mexico on September 21 – 24, 2016 for its Fall meetings. Comprised of approximately 100 Ministers and leaders from the global Sikh Dharma community, the Khalsa Council serves as a leadership body for our Dharma, meeting twice a year to discuss issues of relevance to the present and future of our Dharma.

The recent September meetings were very dynamic, informative and uplifting.

The following are some highlights:

Opening Addresses

SS Gurujot Kaur, Secretary General of Sikh Dharma International welcomed the Khalsa Council members and expressed gratitude for their dedication and service to the future of our Dharma. She shared that the Siri Singh Sahib described the Khalsa Council as the “Council of Tomorrow”, and he asked that we “meet our destiny face to face and deliver it.” Our responsibility as Khalsa Council members should address how we can best serve tomorrow, and in the words of the Siri SIngh’s Sahib, “bring God’s guiding spirit in such a practical way that the future will be bountiful, beautiful, and blissful forever.” She welcomed the new Khalsa Council Chairperson, Dr. Harjot Kaur, and the new members of the Council. During the next two-year session the Khalsa Council will be focusing on the International Expansion of our Dharmic and Yogic Teachings, and Developing Global Leadership for the Future.

Siri Sikdar Sahiba Sardarni Guru Amrit Kaur reflected that we can make the impossible possible with our vision, values, and principles. She spoke about her experience at Hazoor Sahib, and that she could feel the devotion of the sangat, who have preserved the vibration of love for the Guru for over 300 years. As we expand and build for the future, we need to find the way the uphold and inspire future generations with the values and Dharmic technology given to us by the Siri Singh Sahib. His final message to us was to stay unified. He gave us a unique blend of the Yogi and the Gurumukh, and we need to find a way to bring that forward, that shifts consciousness and builds good will. When we work collectively as Siblings of Destiny, we fulfill that promise to God to serve this mission of Dharma. In looking at legacies and succession, we need to identify resources and plan for passing on our core values to future generations.

SS Dr Harjot Kaur, the Chairperson of the Khalsa Council spoke about the important leadership role of the Khalsa Council to set the path and course for all our organizations. There is a conscious and deliberate effort to further the Oneness of the mission. “There is a way through every block.” Now it is upon us to move forward in unity and uphold our values. We must understand through compassion so as not to misunderstand the times. We must work to teach about sacredness and strengthen our identity as an organization. It is time to understand and explore the continuum of our leadership, both internally and internationally. Khalsa Council is a leadership body. The youth must engage. There is no “us” or “them”, no old or young. Invoke the Aquarian Sutra, “Recognize the other person is you.” We are highlighting youth engagement in Khalsa Council, as well as engaging our international members, who have the pulse of the worldwide organizations in its many forms. The time is on us. When we start the pressure will be off. We are the Khalsa Council. Khalsa is defined by the rehit of the Tenth Guru. Let us deliver it. Let us embody it. Let us lead it. Let us live it. Righteous, sacred and disciplined, through Bani, Bana, Seva, Simran. Vibrate the cosmos and the cosmos shall clear the path. Vibrate the Khalsa and the Khalsa shall clear the path.

Office of Public Affairs

In May of 2016, the Dharmic Office of Public Affairs (DPA) was established to serve our entire Sikh Dharma/3HO family of organizations and constituents. SS Shanti Kaur Khalsa is serving as the Executive Director and SS Sada Sat Simran Singh is serving as the Director of Indian Sangat Affairs. MSS Kirtan Singh is assisting as the SDI Ambassador.

MSS Kirtan Singh shared a powerpoint presentation, and gave an overview of the role and scope of work of this Office. The DPA seeks to affirmatively influence opinion and expand awareness about the legacy organizations of the Siri Singh
Sahib, build and maintain a positive reputation for our organizations and build solid relationships with the Indian Sangat, the yoga community, the media and the general public.

SS Sada Sat Simran Singh discussed his role as Director of Indian Sangat Affairs. His first activity will be a diplomatic trip to India in October to establish relations with the leadership in Amritsar and Patna Sahib, and to make preparations for the upcoming SDI Yatra to India. Additionally, the DPA office created a security pamphlet to assist Gurdwaras in doing security assessments, which is being distributed to Gurdwaras around the world. He shared about several actions taken by this office, including sending Yogi Tea to the victims of the Louisiana floods.

Raj Khalsa Yatra

Sikh Dharma International is sponsoring the Raj Khalsa Yatra to India from December 28, 2016 – January 9th, 2017. The Yatra will be in Amritsar to celebrate the New Year at the Golden Temple, and will then go to Patna Sahib for the 350th Anniversary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh. This is an opportunity to join with the Khalsa Panth in carrying the light of Guru Gobind Singh, and to represent the leadership and legacy of the Siri Singh Sahib.

SS Harjot Kaur spoke of the significance of this Yatra and the events in India, and the importance for members of
the International Khalsa Council and our Dharmic leadership to attend and represent the collective consciousness of the Siri Singh Sahib’s legacy.

As a Dharma we are giving a gift to the Guru of a sword crafted especially for this event by SS Jot Singh Khalsa.

Siri Sikdar Sahiba Sardarni Guru Amrit Kaur spoke of the forging of the Raj Khalsa sword to represent our relationship to the Panth Khalsa. The sword represents that we cut away ignorance and stand strong as steel in our character.

(To donate to the Raj Khalsa Sword, please

contact [email protected])

Ethics and Values as Teachers and Ministers

SS Guruka Kaur reported that the Office of Ethics and Professional Standards has been working with SS Dr. Sat Kaur and SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur of the Office of the Secretary of Religion, as well as the Secretary General, in developing the Minister Code of Ethics. It will be completed within the next few months.

She also reported on meeting with our international students and teachers at various events, including the European Yoga Festival, the German Yoga Festival, a teacher’s conference in UK and a meeting in Estonia to offer guidance and support about matters of ethics and values in our Teacher Training community.

Siri Singh Sahib Corp Report

At each meeting of the Khalsa Council, the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation gives an update to the Sangat on the activities and work of the SSSC. The entire Sangat is invited for the presentation, which is followed by a Q&A session.

SS Gurujodha Singh, SSSC President, spoke on Aquarian Leadership and group consciousness. He described the board meetings as a testing ground for Aquarian leadership, with a wide range of perspectives and “collaborative conflict”, but with the foundation of trust in the Guru. The vision of the SSSC is to “serve, align and grow” our family of organizations for the upliftment of all. In his travels abroad visiting with our global sangat he has heard a longing from individuals to be part of the leadership and decision-making process of our organizations. He urged everyone to be more active globally. There is no geographic distinction to who we are and we need to let people around the world experience our radiance.

SS Satwant Singh, SSSC Executive Director reported on the activities of the SSSC over the past 6 months, including:

Hiring a consultant to review the environmental issues at MPA.
Voting to send one SSSC Board member per year to the European Yoga Festival to build relationships with the international sangat.
Appointing new members to the Boards of 3HO Europe and Stichting 3HO for a period of one year.
Developing a detailed conflict of interest and recusal policy to standardize how board member conflicts are addressed.
Reviewing and approving KIIT Renewal Energy Business Plan.
Approving and funding the Dharmic Office of Public Affairs
Standardizing bylaws for the non-profit organizations.
Property restructuring – creating a new structure for our Dharmic properties, providing consolidated management, enhancing tax benefits and limiting liability
Update on the Sombrillo Property Commission – the gymnasium of the old Sombrillo school will be renovated next year to create an ashram community center.
The Mission Commission, chaired by the Siri Sikdar Sahiba, is continuing to work with the legacy non-profits to streamline and improve the grant process, and to develop and execute a strategic plan for the collaboration of the non-profit organizations.

Satwant Singh announced that there will be an SSSC Board election in April/May 2017 for half of the board members. The announcement to the Sangat will be in January, soliciting candidates. He reviewed the qualifications and criteria for board membership and voting.

MSS Krishna Kaur spoke about the blessing to share the energy of our Khalsa Council to the longing of individuals around the world. We carry the message and the stories of the Siri Singh Sahib, which his students want to connect with. It helps them better understand the technology and teachings as we convey a sense of the teacher. It is important to embrace each unique culture throughout the world. Every culture has their rhythm, their frequency and their vibration. The key is to encourage the collective voice of each area, as well as to connect with our shared voice.

KIIT Board Report

Seva Kaur, KIIT Board Member, gave a report and slide presentation on the status of KIIT, including highlights on the history, structure and mission of KIIT. She gave a brief report on each of the five KIIT companies:

Akal Security
East West Tea Co.
Yoga West
KIIT India
KIIT Renewable Energy

Leadership Across the Generations

992383a5-6e5d-4197-9821-67824265c5a1 Following Summer Solstice, a large group of Millennial Sangat Members met in Espanola, NM, to share their thoughts about the future of our Dharma and to identify their key areas of interest and concern. The Khalsa Council invited representatives of this group to lead a presentation and discussion session with the members of the Council.

A number of Millennial members who have positions of leadership in our non-profit organizations shared their insights and experiences of working for our Dharmic mission.

Atma Kaur, Assistant to the Executive Director of the SSSC spoke about how much she has learned working with the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation and how her perceptions about our organizations and businesses have changed. She perceives them as vital and relevant; about dedicated people working together to make positive change. She asked, how do we captivate the young minds and break down barriers to attracting developing professionals? We need programs that set people up for success. The Aquarian consciousness is universal, pervasive and whole. It is time to trust those who might think a little differently. The teachings are the foundation of everything we do. Let us acknowledge that no one generation will know everything.

Gurumustuk Singh, Vice President of Sikhnet, noted that many young people don’t know where they fit in our organizations. The first generation has laid the groundwork, bringing the stability and holding the vision. The next generation has to bring new ideas and passion. Youth want to be engaged. They have a sense of mission and they want to help create change.

Gurusadhana Kaur, Vice President of LYF shared her story of how the Siri Singh Sahib guided her to get a college degree and then work in the dharmic businesses. He always emphasized values. She loves being able to work and share our values with the world. God is the Doer. Have faith in ourselves and our future and trust in our values. She thanked the Khalsa Council for keeping up, and for teaching the next generations to keep up!

Guruprakash Kaur, Director of Dasvandh and Fund Development for SDI, feels blessed to work for the Dharma. Working together, multi-generationally, we will move forward and build our future together in unity.

Key Areas of Interest

SatSang Singh and Harimandir Singh shared about the ideas that emerged from the Solstice meeting of Millennial members. We are all One, however, there are differences in the way the different generations view things. The younger generation values transparency and are seeking to be actively informed about our dharmic organizations. They want to work in conscious businesses and they want to focus on service to humanity. They want to be part of planning for the future and to be actively involved in the growth and expansion of our non-profits organizations around the world, as well as in our for-profit businesses.

They identified 4 key areas: New Businesses, Integration of the Generations, Transparency and Seva Programs (Service). The Khalsa Council broke into discussion groups and the following are discussion points that emerged:

1. New Businesses, Dharam Singh, SS Sada Sat Simran Singh

Develop new conscious businesses. Diversify our Dharmic income sources.
Create job opportunities for youth
Create a Khalsa Council New Business Task Force.
Create a Business Development Commission with multi-generational representatives.
Offer shared resources for our Dharmic companies to maximize efficiency.
Establish a Business Association – survey community business owners for interest.
KIIT to create a process for Sangat to submit ideas and plans for new businesses.

2. Integration of Next Generation into all aspects of Dharma, SS Sahaj Singh, SS Simran Singh

Develop a comprehensive plan to get the youth involved in our Dharmic businesses and non-profits. How can we utilize the resources and skills of our next generations to grow the Dharma.
Research Executive Development programs and transition processes for management of our companies
Survey our current boards to see the level of multi-generational membership. Consider guidelines for multi-generational inclusion.
Create a Task Force to continue the generational inclusion dialogue.
Invite Millennial generation to help with creating future KC agendas and to facilitate parts of the meeting.
Work with Ministry about relevance and inclusiveness.

3. Transparency, Guru Sadhana Kaur, Guruprakash Kaur

Work to build trust and understanding
Engage all stakeholders in the decision-making processes
Increased communication to our constituents from SSSC Board
Consider more inclusive voting criteria and qualifications for board service. Create a task force to look into this.
Share agenda topics in advance. Seek input on topics from Sangat.

4. Service Programs, Saibhang Singh, Harimandir Singh

Develop a website and on-line forum for identifying seva projects
Find a volunteer or fund a coordinator position for global and local Seva projects.
Fund-raising to make projects happen and engage in disaster response.
Formal process during Khalsa Council meetings for members to share Seva Projects with each other. Service as a Khalsa Council requirement.
Fund a Langar truck.

MPA Alumni Association

SS Simran Singh gave a report about the Miri Piri Academy Alumni Association, created to connect the over 400 MPA graduates around the world. It is a way to support alumni and current MPA students and ensure the future of the school and its legacy through alumni endowments and fundraising. He reported on the creation of a database of alumni, creation of a Facebook page sharing stories about alumni and the creation of a Mentorship program. They will be forming an alumni foundation board and already have staff and supporters from the alumni

Simran Singh also reported on the music preservation project called “Save our Songs” whose goal is to archive our 3HO musical heritage, collecting old and rare recordings of 3HO and Sikh Dharma songs, which has been developed by MPA alumni Sadhana Singh from Germany.

Seva Sadhana Program at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das

MSS Kirpal Singh shared about the Seva Sadhana program at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das(sevasadhana.org). The program focuses on creating a residential ashram program for people who want to experience ashram life and the teachings of the Siri Singh Sahib, with daily sadhana, yoga classes, meditation, daily karma yoga, and the opportunity to do seva and serve the ashram and greater community in a meaningful way.

Abhai Raj Singh gave a slide presentation about some of the activities since the Seva Sadhana Program began in August. The opportunities for doing seva include: working in the Guru Amar Das Langar Garden, langar preparation and clean-up, maintenance of the ashram grounds, reading in the weekly Akhand Path and Ishnaan Seva on Sunday mornings.

LGBTQ Task Force Report

SS Viriam Singh reported on the LGBTQ Task Force which will be continuing to discuss how we can support and serve this community. The group is planning to meet monthly by phone, and identify the issues and a strategy for how we can move forward in working with this community and addressing some of the complex aspects including legal, political and cultural issues. We would like to connect with other Sikh groups and see how they are working with this constituent group. As a Ministry, how can we develop skills and understand the cultural issues to better serve this and other populations. He invited all Khalsa Council members to join the Task Force.

3HO Europe, Guru Ram Das Academy, Germany

SS Sat Hari Singh shared about his Yogi Bhajan Legacy project. He created an exhibition at the European Yoga Festival to share the royal character of the Master. He created 30 posters designed to share about the teachings of the Siri Singh Sahib. He also reported about the Guru Ram Das Aquarian Academy in Hamburg, Germany, which is a beautiful teaching center, Gurdwara, and library located in a renovated 18th century synagogue.

Reports from our Non-Profit Entities

Each of our Non-Profit organizations gave a short presentation to the Khalsa Council. The following are short summaries of their presentations.

Collaboration of Our Non-Profits

MSS Guruka Singh

The CEOs of the legacy non-profit organizations have been meeting together monthly in a spirit of mutual cooperation and strategic alignment to serve our Dharmic goals. Like fingers on a hand, we must work together. Each non-profit has its own specialty and skills, but we serve a common mission. The CEO’s have joined together with members of the SSSC Organizational Interface Committee to form a “Mission Commission”. The Siri Sikdar Sahiba has been facilitating those meetings, working to align the common mission of the organizations, including their business plans, goals, and strategies. The Commission has specifically been revising the grant proposal process to be more collaborative, and there is a spirit of mutual cooperation using a new online grant preparation process.

Sikh Dharma International

SS Pritpal Singh, Director of Dharmic Education reported on the upcoming 3-day Japji Course, being held in Espanola, New Mexico. There are a group of wonderful teachers sharing the technology of JapJi Sahib and the life and teachings of Guru Nanak. The course will also be presented in France at Chateau Anand following the 2017 European Yoga Festival.

Ongkar Kaur, Director of Marketing shared about the Community section on the new SDI website. It is a place for teachers and Ministers to share about their events, courses and Dharmic activities with our global Sangat. We want to support to great work that is going on around the world, and to create a sense of our global community.

Kundalini Research Institute

MSS Nirvair Singh, CEO shared about the activities of the Teacher Training Executive Committee. They are looking at ways to revise and upgrade the various teacher training programs and are looking for new members on the various sub-committees. The role of KRI is to protect the integrity of the teachings and examine how we present the connection between Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma. They are working on that in the Level 1 Training. KRI is encouraging involvement in the process. He gave a short tour of the Library of Teachings. He noted that there is a great focus on writing up the kriyas for searching and viewing on the website, including historical notes on the kriyas. It is also possible to share clips of the online videos. He mentioned the fundraising efforts needed to complete the transcription of the lectures and the establishment of a Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings Endowment Fund. This is a way to maintain the teachings through perpetuity. Nirvair Singh announced the new online photo archive which contains thousands of photos available for free download at: yogibhajanphotoarchive.com

3HO

SS Pritpal Kaur, CEO gave a presentation on the activities of 3HO. Our 3HO events give people a way to experience our teachings. This Summer Solstice was one of our largest ever. Solstices now include an SDI Academy tent to present dharmic courses and activities, including kirtan and banis. The East West Tea Company continues to provide funding for Peace Prayer Day as well as the 3HO Live to Give grants. 3HO is working with LYF to develop permanent spaces for the bazaar. Other summer events included the International Women’s Camp and Childrens’ Camp. Pritpal Kaur reported on a Khalsa Women’s Training camp in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, attended by 162 women, and a Women’s Camp in China attended by 80 women.

Sikh Dharma Education International

SS Simran Kaur, Board Chair reported on the activities at Miri Piri Academy. This year there are 95 students, with an 85% return rate. All the staff members returned as well. She invited members to visit the blog on the MPA website to learn about all the activities of the school. The academic program is constantly improving and the test scores have been very high as a result. She reported on the anti-bully initiative and about the environmental remediation at the school, due to the serious pollution problem in Amritsar. All the rooms now have HEPA air filters and air quality monitors to measure outdoor air quality.

Bountiful, Blissful and Beautiful Wishes from the International Khalsa Council!

KC Group shot

“Touch every heart, bow your head, bless everybody and you shall be blessed” Siri Singh Sahib Ji

Blessings,

SS Gurujot Kaur Khalsa

Secretary General/CEO

Sikh Dharma International/ Khalsa Council