My story with the Khalsa Community Gardens started long before I came to Espanola

Malin Japa Kaur Arntzén, Sweden

I had been looking to live and work in a spiritually conscious community, that combined the lifestyle of Kundalini Yoga with an interest in small scale agriculture and promoting real, local, organic food.

By a “coincidence” I stumbled upon a passionate review that someone wrote about a place called Khalsa Greenhouses. I instantly felt the pull to know more and looked up the Facebook page.

It took just a few weeks, and then it was decided that a few months later, I would go to live as an intern under the same roof as some other people that had the same dream as me, sharing that same belief of honoring the earth and what it gives us.

Welcomed in the very sweet spirit of togetherness, I started the journey.

Most days I got up before the sun rose to go to the morning Sadhana, returning home for breakfast and then heading to the fields, planting and harvesting the chard, jujubees, beets or potatoes.

Every Saturday we loaded the little van with everything we harvested during the week and headed to the Farmers Market, in nearby Santa Fe.  In that van was also the most tasty mung bean, fenugreek and pea sprouts that we had fed with our love throughout the whole week, and were now waiting to be bought by our hungry, faithful customers!

The Farmers Market in Santa Fe is an alive and thriving marketplace where all the local farmers come and share more than food. It is a nucleus of knowledge and networking, and I had so many wonderful encounters there that I will never forget.

One of the bonuses of working in the Khalsa Community gardens is its proximity to one of the friendliest communities I have ever visited, the Kundalini Yoga / Sikh community of Espanola.  No matter what faith (or non-faith) you are of, there will be a place for you. There is always a chance to do Seva, (selfless service) participate in the different ceremonies in the Sikh temple, take classes in Kundalini Yoga, learn Gurumukhi, help to cook the Sunday community Langar, or just hang out with one of the many amazing people, that has been doing yoga for thirty years or more, and listen to their stories.

One of those people is Gurujiwan Singh Khalsa, the “Artistic Director” and passionate soul behind Khalsa Community Gardens. He has been in the field for a long time, and his wisdom is wide and has deep roots. Many mornings at the breakfast table we listened to his stories, not only about the connections between man and earth, but also about spirituality, Yoga and modern day history.

Working and living at the Khalsa Community Gardens and in Espanola has given me friends for life, a deeper understanding for our earth and our interdependency, a more multifaceted relation with myself, and a realization that there are no coincidences.

The hard but sweet work of cooperating with the earth to be able to enjoy its fruits is so rewarding, and there is not much that is tastier than to cook and eat greens that you just pulled up yourself.  Food is our future, and how we grow and take care of our food is essential for our survival.

At Khalsa Community Gardens you will learn this and so much more.

If you want to learn about yourself and take part in a living community, this is the right place.

I will be back soon!

Mata Mandir Kaur from Journey into the Heart of Sikh Dharma

I posted an ad on the Sikh Dharma Job Board and immediately got 3 responses from highly qualified applicants. The Board was easy to use and it was so much easier than wondering how I was ever going to find an assistant. It also gave me the opportunity to clearly define the position I was trying to fill and what I was looking for in the person for the job. The applicants all exceeded my expectations and Sada Bahar Kaur checked in with me during the process to make sure all it was all working well and that all of my needs were met. What can you lose? Try the SD Job Board.

Dr Dharma Khalsa MD

We are happy to have had this resource when looking for a virtual intern. Being able to network within a group of like-minded people is invaluable.

Khalsa Kirpans shares their Success Story

We are grateful to Sikh Dharma International for their job posting service. We received a response quickly some months ago, interviewed this person, and they are now working part time with us and we consider them as part of our team. They are aligned very much with our values, and is a pleasure to have around. Waheguru!

Joti Software Summer Internship

Shared by Abhai Raj Singh, Owner of Joti Software

We just completed hosting our first internship at Joti Software with Harjinder Kaur, from Phoenix as the intern.  For four weeks, Harjinder worked diligently on solid technical tasks – primarily creating and editing xml Kriya write-ups to support The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings (LOT) database.

The internship was very successful.  We gave Harjinder a good look at what it’s like to do technical software development – which was one of the primary goals of the experience.  We benefited greatly from Harjinder Kaur’s work and her contribution to Joti Software and LOT; she exceeded our expectations.  She was a very quick study – generally picking up fairly technical tasks after being shown just once or twice.  She converted over 180 pdf Kriya write-ups to xml – a huge amount of work – and, in doing so, put us ahead of schedule for delivering that data to KRI partners.  One of our biggest challenges was keeping Harjinder challenged.

It was really rewarding having Harjinder part of our household and seeing her engage with the Sangat here in Espanola.  It was wonderful to see her make connections, dance, and socialize with folks her age and spend time with some of the older generation as well.  And, on top of all her work and social life, she walked our dog Vinnie twice daily!

Harjinder Kaur set a high bar for interns.  We look forward to hosting more.

MPA Grad completes Internship with Guru Singh, Osteopath

Ikiren Kaur is a 2012 Miri Piri Academy graduate who is interested in becoming a chiropractor and did an internship with Guru Singh, an Osteopath in the UK, this past July.

Here’s what Ikiren Kaur had to say about her experience:

I would like to thank both Sikh Dharma International and Guru Singh for organising a fantastic opportunity which enabled me to gain some experience working in an osteopathy clinic. As I was soon to be applying to university, I was in desperate need of finding some work experience and this internship was perfect! By working 4 days a week in Guru Singh’s clinic I was able to see for myself what a dramatic change his services were making to his patients’ everyday lives.

After a couple of weeks of simply observing, I was lucky enough to be taught some basic techniques and even help treat some patients. I could not have hoped for anything more as I soon began to realise just how much I enjoyed helping people to recover from their pains and how rewarding it is to see the impact it was having on them week after week when they would come for their next appointment.

Of course, by starting the day off with sadhana was much more that I could have hoped for if I had worked at another clinic. Guru Singh’s hospitality was greatly appreciated and made the experience much more enjoyable as I felt comfortable in the workplace. It gave me a real insight into this field and helped confirm that I was definitely applying to the right courses at university.

I was made aware of the importance of being flexible with patients as often they would come after a hard days work in the evening or in some cases, the patients were unable to make it up the stairs into the clinic in which case we would use a different room. These are just some of the things I may not have considered had it not been for this internship.

To anyone considering taking up an offer of an internship, I would definitely recommend you do, as the experience gained is invaluable, even if it helps you to decide it is something you would absolutely not like to do in your future.

Once again, a huge thank you for Sikh Dharma International and Guru Singh for allowing me to partake in this amazing experience and I hope in future years people participate in the many areas of work experience offered.

With gratitude,

Ikiren

Here is Guru Singh’s reflection on having Ikiren Kaur with him as an intern:

Waheguru ji Ka Khalsa,Waheguru ji Ki Fateh!
Ikiren Kaur means “Princess of a Ray of Light”. She is living with her Punjabi family in Leicester, not 1 hour from my country practice.
For a few weeks over summer we had  the delightful experience of this  young lady as an Intern in my practice…Like the Golden Chain of teachers in Kundalini Yoga, Osteopaths have a tradition of mentoring students.

Ikiren kaur wants to be a Chiropractor. And however much I  tried to convince her to be an Osteopath, she is set on Chiropractic.

As Osteopaths we treat with more soft tissue techniques than a Chiropractor. Both hands on and manual approach to spinal and joint  problems

Ikiren Kaur learned many new terms such as “Radicular” ,”Neurological” and “Somatic Dysfunction”. She observed my practice process from Consultation and examination of new patients to planning a course of treatment ,and discharge.

With another student we watched interesting Anatomy videos, a professional  must for training in Osteopathy.  You need to know exactly the anatomical structure  you are feeling under your fingertips. Ang Sang Waheguru.

It would be a great idea for Khalsa Chiropractic to meet more than once a year for interns and prospective practitioners to learn what Siri Singh Sahib ji taught.

Summer tends to be a little quiet with a lot of people  on holiday, so we had time for online movies, we watched a very funny comedy called ” My Cousin Vinie”  and laughed so much it hurt our sides.(We treated our ribcage afterwards)
And a beautiful one called “The Help” which everyone has seen.
With delicious snacks of Prakoras, Subzi and  Kitcheree  (made by her mother), we enjoyed the quiet breaks between patients .

We agreed to do Sadhana  together a few times and  kept up in the hottest summer in the U.K for decades .

Once I heard Siri Singh Sahib say  the name “Guru Kiren Kaur” meant “the first ray of the moon to touch the Earth”.
Seeing  Guru Raam Daas in every patient, we hail him and heal the world of its physical, mental and emotional sickness.

“Ikiren” is the Princess of “One Celestial Golden Ray”, to heal all her patients forever. By Gurus grace and blessing may she have a very successful future in Chiropractic.