Messy Face Charanjeet Kaur after having a snack of jam and cashew button on a rice cracker.
Continue reading ‘Another Weekend’
Espanola, New Mexico is a small town so there is not very much to do compared with big cities. One of the nice things about having the sangat here is that it is very cozy and everyone gets together often. Throughout the year there is always something happening at someone’s house. It’s like a big family and everyone is almost always invited. So when someone has a birthday (which is often) there is normally a meditation/chanting/kirtan; and then of course, food and socializing. There always seems to be something that is a reason to have Kirtan and/or meditation at someone’s house. For example, before Guru Gobind Singh ji’s birthday every night (for a few weeks) someone different in the sangat hosted Rehiras, Kirtan and food at their home. There is something sweet about getting together in people’s homes and being together in this way. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.
Gurujot Singh, Hari Singh and Others chanting as we meditate to Gurbani Kirtan at someone’s house.
Continue reading ‘Espanola Happenings’
This weekend I have been thinking about various things, watching my thoughts, and how my mind reacts to different things. I wanted to share these thoughts since I know they are common issues that many of us face, and hopefully it will make you think differently about similar things that you deal with in your life.
On Saturday Baba Iqbal Singh (Kalgidhar Society, Baru Sahib) visited us here in Espanola, New Mexico along with four young female students (and a few other guests) who tour with him.
To this point I had heard the name "Baru Sahib" and Akal Academy, but knew very little about the organization and what their schools were like. Before Baba Iqbal Singh arrived I was talking with someone else in the room who was telling me about the school and how boys and girls dressed exactly the same (not being able to tell if the person is a girl or boy). I also heard that there were no mirrors in the whole school (I think to prevent vanity/ego/self consciousness). I wondered how they tied their own turbans. Then later on Babaji was telling all of us about the school and how the senior children start their morning at 12:30am in the morning and finished their Amritvela sadhana at 4:30am! He went on to describe how the children were very well behaved and obedient and that many of the graduates of the school have achieved a lot in life. He "painted" a picture that appeared too good to be true as if it was a sales pitch of all the good things. I couldn’t imagine kids this way. In my mind I started wondering if the kids were happy there, or if they felt repressed or forced by their parents to become the "perfect Sikh". (Keep in mind, these thoughts were not based on any real experience except for hearing a few things about the school and talking with two students for a few of minutes). I remember going to boarding school in India and being punished harshly if I was late for Gurdwara or didn’t wake up for morning Sadhana. It wasn’t a positive experience for me and many others (Though, I turned out OK, didn’t I?) Maybe this was why I was thinking about the school in this way because of my own experience in boarding school.
Continue reading ‘Judgement, Criticism, The Mind, & Being a Sikh’
More weekend pictures. This past week we got a lot of snow and for the first time this winter got really cold. On Saturday we went out to visit the horses. Arjan has a horse and loves riding. Horses are for her like computers are for me… :)
One of the things that my wife Arjan is excited about is to setup a "Guru Gobind Singh Training Center" where people can learn martial arts, horse riding, games on horses, archery and physical training. We’ll see what happens :)
Continue reading ‘Love of Horses’
Ravinder Singh (NY) recently took his vacation and decided to come live here in Espanola, New Mexico for a few months. He has been helping some of the sangat get better at conversational Punjabi. Twice a week they have been meeting and just having fun talking (or trying to talk) in Punjabi as best as possible. This is one thing that I really want to do….but unfortunately I kept being unable to participate because of various duties (Server crashes, SikhNet Fundraiser, etc). We finally found a formula that works…which is to have this meeting over lunch. So this afternoon he cooked up some yummy Indian food and we sat around eating and talking in Hinglish-Pinglish. (Punjabi/Hindi mixed with English). It was quite fun! The whole time I was eying the big dubbas of besan ladhoos and pinnis that Ravinder had brought with him from New York (just in case he couldn’t get something to eat here in Espanola! Hahaha). At the end he was merciful enough to give us all some. These little round things just bring back memories from my days of boarding school in India.
So, after some nice learning and conversation, a full belly of Indian food and topped off with a ladhoo I headed back to the office with a smile on my face. See you all next week for more Hinglish-Pinglish and yummy food with Ravinder Singh!
Ps. Out of curiosity I did a search for Hinglish and there it was on Wikipedia. Pinglish though didn’t have enough clout so was polish and english mix instead of Punjabi. Grrr..
This evening lots of the local Sikh kids came over to our house. They dressed up in all kinds of difference costumes. We ate dinner and then made went around our little circle here. After we got back the kids dumped all their candy out to see what they got. It was quite a fun thing for the kids! Nothing like loads of candy. When I think of candy….I think "Sick to my stomach". I remember in India when I was in boarding school, one sikh friend brought a huge trunk of candy. We ate so much that we were all sick. In any case…the kids have fun dressing up and taking baths of candy (even if they don’t get to eat it all)! This holiday is quite the opposite of healthy eating, that is for sure!
The Trick-or-treat Gang
Talk about junkfood… here is some of one of the kids stash of candy
Charanjeet’s first lollypop (Tootsie pop)
This past Saturday morning after Sadhana myself, Hari Bhajan Kaur and Sat Hari Singh (Germany) walked up onto the top of one of the hills which is near the Gurdwara. Our purpose was to take some pictures which Sat Hari Singh could use in a German promotional booklet for his new CD called "Servant of the Heart".
We couldn’t have asked for a better morning since it had just rained a lot the night before and there were still clouds in the sky as the sun peaked over the horizon. It was so beautiful! I love taking pictures! Especially when there are good environments/lighting. After we were done we munched on German chocolate and talked about how we should plan something in the future to have Kirtan/Meditation up on this hill another time. There is nothing like being outside in the fresh air with beautiful environments and meditation!
(Ps. If you want to see the pictures properly, click on the picture and then when you are on flickr click the option that says "All sizes" which is on the top of the picture)
This past weekend we celebrated and remembered the life of SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa (aka: Yogi Bhajan). This birthday event has always been a joyous occasion and serves to bring many people together. It is especially a great event for inviting the local community to learn more about us as Sikhs. There are normally quite a few political figures and local citizens who have a chance to get to know us better.
This year the Langar hall was transformed into a beautiful gallery for the event. There were all kinds of pictures, art work, jewelry, stories, videos, magazines, etc. showing the history of Sikh Dharma in the west and the life of Yogi Bhajan.
The entry way to the gallery with the "introduction"
Continue reading ‘Remembering a Shining Light’
A week or so ago my good friend Siri Amrit Singh got married to Nirinjan Kaur here in Espanola. It was a great wedding and there were so many people here to celebrate with them. I took lots of pictures so have a few to share with you all. Check them out by clicking the following link.
Continue reading ‘Wedding of Siri Amrit Singh and Nirinjan Kaur’
Get MrSikhNet by Email
