News from Sikh Dharma International

I just got back from being at the European Yoga Festival. Wow, what an amazing experience - to be with Yogis literally from around the world. I had a small Sikh Dharma International booth in the bazaar giving out inspirational cards, stickers, magnets, and DVD lectures of the Siri Singh Sahib. I had the opportunity to be with and talk to people from Ireland, Russia, Sweden, Germany, France, Mexico, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Iran, UK, Norway, and even Iceland. Fifteen hundred people came together for 9 days of workshops on Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan and 3 days of White Tantric Yoga. The environments were so incredible with the green lush trees, the mossy pond, the huge lake and grassy fields where sadhana was done under the stars. I had the opportunity to sing Jaap Sahib for the bowing Jaap Sahib kriya for Sadhana one morning. When I arrived to set up, it was still very dark and many people had on their head lamps and it looked like a field of fire flies flitting around as people got settled on the damp grass.

It's always hard to sing at 4:00 a.m., and I was definitely feeling a bit unsure about the whole situation. Normally there is a group of singers and musicians and it's easier to hold the kind of energy that is needed. I worried that with just my solitary voice I wouldn't have enough energy to match the power of Jaap Sahib. I worried that we didn't have enough percussion to hold the rhythm since it was just me and Sat Dharm Singh from Germany on tabla. But as I relaxed and realized that worrying about it wasn't going to help in any way, a power started to posses me as I sang for the 1000 people that were there and I was able to project strongly for 40 minutes. I started to pray that the bani would give them a powerful experience and they would have the strength to keep bowing. It was still dark when it was over and I couldn't see anyone as I left. I felt I did the best I could and the rest was out of my hands. People would have whatever experiences they were meant to have regardless of me. I was but a speck in the situation.

I was busy that day so I didn't see t-shirt ladies

anyone until later that night at the bazaar. That night people started coming up to me and sharing their incredible experiences of the Jaap Sahib. One woman from Berlin told me how when she realized what we were doing, she thought, "I'm not going to do this on the first day of Tantric? No way. I'm going to do my own kriya." However by the time the bani started, she felt a tugging in her heart and she couldn't help herself but to start bowing and didn't stop for the whole time. Another person shared how it was the most powerful experience they had ever had and felt like a warrior who would be able to go home and conquer their daily life.

I was so grateful t-shirt ladies

to hear their experiences and was so honored to be a part of such a journey. By the end of the festival I had heard from hundreds of people. My lesson in this is to let go of what I think the experience should be and just let it be what it needs to be. And meanwhile I can appreciate and be in the moment of my own experience as well!

I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to have that experience including the whole journey there and back which was inspiring and uplifting. Knowing that we have this family, this community all over the world, gives me such a sense of comfort and security. I'm grateful to each and every one of you and hope that our paths continue to cross as we all move forward towards our destiny as siblings of the Guru.

In Service,

SS Ravi Kaur Khalsa

Executive Director