Khalsa Council Spring Meetings
- April 2002, Espanola, NM
The International Khalsa Council brought together 145 leaders and Ministers of Sikh Dharma from all over the world to meet from April 17-20, 2002. The current two-year agenda topic, “Positioning, Media, and Funding the Future,” was accelerated by the aftermath of September 11. The meetings use techniques such as story boarding, open space technology, discussion, small group work, diagonal management, to facilitate creating a unified group consciousness toward agenda items. Khalsa Council is known as the Braintrust for the Dharma as their collective consciousness seeds and supports many new ideas, offices, and projects propelling the mission of Sikh Dharma forward.
Four Days of Action and Understanding
Looking to the future, we were guided by the Siri Singh Sahib’s hukam to us that “We must be known for our service by 2007.” We realized that events of September 11 thrust us into the public eye. During this day we looked at how we could best present ourselves to the world and tell our story from the heart to inspire, heal, and uplift people. Small brainstorming groups were formed to bring a visioning meditation into tangible form by defining avenues in which we serve and avenues in which we envision ourselves serving humanity. To address the agenda theme of “Positioning, Media, and Funding the Future,” we realized the need to create a unified projection in the following areas:
- Expand our culture of service
- Develop our centers
- Reach out through mass media with our
teachings
- Engage the hearts and minds of youth
- Refine our internal culture
- Serve to inspire others with our music.
This process is still going on, and the output from our April meetings will be used to further extend our outreach as we continue to work on the current Khalsa Council agenda.
Carrying the Mission Forward
As the Siri Singh Sahib is in a time of transition, we are called to carry the mission forward. We began this process by honoring and acknowledging what the Siri Singh Sahib means to each of us, what we would like to thank him for, and how we can be for each other what he has been for us. The Siri Singh Sahib was presented with the “Lineage to Legacy Gem Tree,” symbolizing the love and spirit to keep up and serve humanity with the teachings he has passed on to us.
The Siri Singh Sahib returned home to Espanola from India just days before the meetings convened. It was a great surprise and honor to be blessed with his presence at the Khalsa Council meetings. He was presented with a saropa, the sangat’s Baisakhi sword, containing a visual biography of pivotal turning points in his life. The doctors, staff members, his sons, his wife Bhai Sahiba Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, and many others were honored for their faithful selfless service to the Siri Singh Sahib during his recent medical operation and the ensuing time of recuperation and healing.
Council of Generations:
The Khalsa Council is a body spanning four generations that work together, with each generation presenting a unique personality and quality to the whole body of the Khalsa Council. The Council of Generations process began a dialogue to understand and to honor the strengths, hopes, wishes and differences each generation brings to the legacy. We all gained from the experience of reverence and gratitude.
Time of Transition:
Secretary General S. Guru Amrit Kaur spoke, “The Siri Singh Sahib has taken the lid off the jar so to speak, and now we are offered the opportunity to jump higher, to excel with greater force into the heart of who we are. As an organization we were the best kept secret and now the secret is out, we are called to help uplift humanity in a bigger way.” The Siri Singh Sahib gives the final words, “Go and carry with you the determination that you will be ten times better than me. Penetrate better. Talk to people better. You have come here, you have purified yourself, you have uplifted yourself, and now you must go and uplift others.”