About the Presenters — Monday 7 pm section
Click here to see the Thursday 19 CET section presenters.
Click here to see the Thursday 7pm section presenters.
Presenters for the 2013-2014 classes are subject to change. Guest presenters bring their special expertise to the different topics of each class.
Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Sikh Rehit Mayada
Shanti Kaur is a wife, mother, and security professional. She is a Vice President for Akal Security, a Sikh-owned private security company with 7000 employees in more than forty states. This is a non-traditional role for women, and particularly for a woman in a turban and Khalsa bana. As such, she has been successful in bringing the Khalsa values to private security throughout her twenty-year career.
She is an active Sikh parcharic in the United States and abroad. She organizes a yearly Sant Sipahi Camp, an adventure camp for Sikh teenagers that combines the warrior lifestyle with Sikh values and teachings. Involvement with Sikh teenagers has led to her mentoring young people around the world in the Sikh rehit, both in their personal and professional lives.
Shanti Kaur has been actively involved in Hacienda de Guru Ram Das Ashram, Española, NM, since 1974, and has served as Executive Secretary for their Gurdwara since that time. She is an active kirtani, and has traveled through UK, Singapore and India giving inspirational kirtan and lecture programs. She is a published historian, and regularly contributes articles on both current events and Sikh history to Sikh publications.She currently lives in Española with her husband, Tyaga Singh, and their son Bhai Daya Singh.
Viriam Singh Khalsa, Seva
Viriam Singh has been a minister and Kundalini Yoga teacher since 1975. He currently teaches 6 classes a week through the University of Oregon Physical Activities Department. Viriam also directs the Northwest Kundalini Yoga teacher training organization, offering IKYTA approved certification for the Oregon, Washington, and Idaho area.
Viriam serves as the executive secretary for the Eugene Community Administrative Council and is active in interfaith, seva and Dharmic organizational activities. He has been the United Way chair for both the Department of Youth Services and disbursement services for 18 years. Viriam Singh has been happily married to Viriam Kaur for many years. They have two lovely children Kartar Kaur and Amrit Nam Singh, a cat Sylvester and dog Roxy. He enjoys public speaking, hiking, skiing, reading, computers and music.
Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa, Understanding the Banis
Ek Ong Kaar Kaur is an ordained minister of Sikh Dharma and a certified Kundalini Yoga Instructor. For nearly 20 years, she has been an ardent student of Eastern spirituality.
Since 1998 Ek Ong Kaar Kaur has resided in Española, New Mexico. As a writer, Ek Ong Kaar Kaur has presented various papers at Sikh conferences. She has also written many essays and stories that can be found online, at sikhnet.com. Ek Ong Kaar Kaur began to work for SikhNet during which time she helped develop the daily SikhNet News and SikhNet’s emergency response system. At the request of the late Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, Ek Ong Kaar Kaur has begun the process of translating the Siri Guru Granth Sahib into English. Her translation of Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul was released in book form in March, 2005. Since then she has also published her translation of Anand Sahib.
Yogi Amandeep Singh, Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma
Amandeep Singh is a counselor and also a scholar with the Kundalini Research Institute. He holds BSc in Information System and Software Engineering, MSc in Counselling and MA in Comparative Studies of World Religions. Trained in both the Nirmala Sikh Tradition of Guru Gobind Singh and the Udasi Sikh Tradition of Baba Sri Chand, he is also a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Healer and a teacher of Eastern Spirituality.
Being inspired by the teachings of his master, Yogi Bhajan, he travels around the globe sharing the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma. His sessions guide participants though an experience of physical and psychological release so that they can know the delight and therapeutic well-being of these ancient technologies. He brings great depth, accuracy, joy and spontaneity to his teaching. Read more about Yogi Amandeep Singh ji here.
Mukhia Sardarni Sahiba Hari Dharam Kaur Khalsa, The Formation of Sikh Character through Sikh History
Hari Dharam Kaur is the Chief Granthi of Siri Singhasan e Khalsa Gurdwara in Española, New Mexico. For years, she has taught classes in Sikh Dharma, Gurmukhi, and Shabad Guru. Hari Dharam Kaur is dedicated to sharing knowledge so all can experience the blessing of reading from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, serving in Gurdwara, and learning Sikh history through her delightful storytelling. She is renowned for reading from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib in a way that penetrates into the heart and soul. The Siri Singh Sahib has said that Hari Dharam Kaur brings God on Earth when she reads from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib and that whosoever learns from her will be rewarded on Earth and blessed in the Heavens. Hari Dharam Kaur was blessed to learn with the Siri Singh Sahib for over twenty years, and in gratitude for these teachings, she often travels around the world to share about Sikh Dharma as taught by the Siri Singh Sahib.
Dr. Harjot Kaur Khalsa, History and Composition of Siri Guru Granth Sahib
Harjot Kaur first met Siri Singh Sahib Ji when she was 12 years old, and he was the main force behind her becoming a physician. The Siri Singh Sahib Ji was actively involved in every aspect of her life as a father, mentor, and teacher. He was instrumental in many projects that she completed in Calgary. The Siri Singh Sahib’s impact on her life is nothing short of monumental as he taught her about communication, character, strength of women, Sikhism, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the strategy to deal with situations, and more. Dr. Harjot Kaur is a Family Physician with a very active practice in Calgary, Canada, providing a caring and spiritual approach to medical care for all her patients.
Gurusahay Singh Khalsa, Prosperity Consciousness
Dr. Gurusahay Singh is a chiropractor and acupuncturist, practicing in Atlanta, GA since 1978. He studies, practices and teaches varied healing arts including acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, yoga therapy, herbal therapy, and nutritional counseling.
He regularly lectures on health and healing and has taught hundreds of yoga, meditation, and teacher training courses. As part of his philosophy on the health of the whole individual, he also has lectured extensively on the laws of prosperity including paying yourself first and tithing.
He is a certified Lead Trainer for the Aquarian Teachers Academy of the Kundalini Research Institute and teaches Level 1 and Level 2 courses in Kundalini Yoga.
Sardarni Guru Amrit Kaur Khalsa, the Power of Prayer
Guru Amrit Kaur holds the office of the Siri Sikdar Sahiba of Sikh Dharma and serves to support those walking onto the path of Sikh Dharma by promoting a high quality of spiritual practice. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Religions and a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Counseling. She served on the staff of the Siri Singh Sahib since 1974 and became of Minister of Sikh Dharma in 1977.
As Secretary General for Sikh Dharma (1985-2005) she served to build all the legacy nonprofits, traveled to communities to facilitate White Tantric Yoga, establish the foundation for the Khalsa values-based educational model for Miri Piri Academy in India, and supported community development as well as individuals who were faced with growth challenges during times of crises or major transitions in their life. Upon the passing of the Siri Singh Sahib in 2004, she was appointed to the position of Siri Sikdar Sahiba with one of her main responsibilities being to pray for the community.
In a lecture, the Siri Singh Sahib said about S. Guru Amrit Kaur: “She has a very different kind of vitality and projection as a human being. But if you are in a terrible difficulty she is very kind and compassionate and if you can catch up somewhere what she can do in three minutes nobody can do in thirty days. In three minutes she will give herself to you and she can enter your soul to uplift it to the height you can experience.” (YB 3/20/81)
Mata Mandir Singh Khalsa, Gurbani, Gurmukhi, Naad Yoga and Nitnem
Mata Mandir Singh is an international teacher of Naad Yoga and Kundalini Yoga as well as a pioneer of the chant/mantra genre, having recorded over 28 CDs and cassette tape titles spanning a period of time from 1980′s to the present day. He is also the author of the forthcoming book, Naad Yoga, The Yoga of Sound workbook.
Mata Mandir Singh currently resides in New Mexico with his wife, Sat Nam Kaur, and their family, and is a life-long student of Yogi Bhajan. He has been teaching Kundalini yoga and gatka (an ancient martial art used by the Gurus) for over three decades.
Hari Kaur Khalsa, Amrit
Hari Kaur is the founder and owner of Healthcare Whisperer, a healthcare advocacy company based in Massachusetts. She is a family nurse practitioner dedicated to assisting people receive the best possible healthcare. She received her BSN/RN from Hunter College in New York and MSN/FNP from the University of New Mexico. She was trained in medical acupuncture from Harvard University School of Continuing Education, and has studied homeopathy and Ayruvedic medicine.
Hari Kaur’s life as a Sikh began in 1975 when she met the Siri Singh Sahib in Anchorage, Alaska. She worked in India where she served as medical director for Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School and Guru Ram Das Academy in Rajpur from 1985-1991. During that time, she learned Gatka and studied the life and writings of Guru Gobind Singh. She climbed Hemkunt, spent time at Paonta Sahib – the place where Guru Gobind Singh wrote Jaap Sahib – and experienced the grandeur of Anandpur Sahib. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband Siri Akal Singh. Hari Kaur is an avid cyclist and enjoys triathalons.
Dr. Sham Rang Singh Khalsa and Arjan Kaur Khalsa, Sikh Marriage
Sham Rang Singh is a physician, Sikh minister, and student of Yogi Bhajan who has studied eastern systems for 35 years. He holds certifications in Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Emergency and Internal Medicine, and counsels and teaches about mind-body medicine. He also practices marriage with his delightful wife, Arjan Kaur.
Arjan Kaur Khalsa is an Intuitive Counselor & Healer, who is a devoted lover of God, an Angel Therapy Practitioner, a gifted medium, and an equally experienced yogini and meditator. Arjan Kaur & Sham Rang Singh met and married 18 years ago after each had already discovered deep romantic relationships with God as the Beloved.
Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Experiences in Peer Counseling (with Navneet Kaur Khalsa)
Shanti Shanti Kaur is Assistant Secretary of Religion for Sikh Dharma and an ordained Minister since 1973. She is a Medical Family Therapist and director of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology, where she provides psychological services for persons living with chronic or life-threatening illness and their families, professional training to yoga instructors and health care providers, and directs outcome studies on the medical effects of yoga practice. The Center offers innovative health education and a yogicly-based program for recovering from illness.
Dr. Khalsa is a charter member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and lectures widely on the psychological and spiritual aspects of getting and staying well.
Navneet Kaur Khalsa, LCSW, Experiences in Peer Counseling (with Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa) has been working in the field of social work since 1979. Her professional career is focused on working with children and families involved in the child welfare system. She has extensive experience providing counseling and supervising therapists who work with children who have experienced severe trauma. Navneet’s work includes serving families affected by substance abuse, domestic violence and poverty. She has provided training to child welfare workers across the nation with the goal of improving services provided to these vulnerable children and families.
Navneet Kaur has practiced yoga for over 16 years and experienced her first Kundalini yoga class over five years ago. She is a Certified Kundalini yoga teacher and the Curriculum Development Coordinator for the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology. She is leading a team to develop the 1000-hour yoga therapy program for Kundalini Yoga teachers. Navneet Kaur teaches Kundalini Yoga classes regularly at Studio 72 in Portland, Maine.
Navneet Kaur lives with her husband and two dogs on an island off the coast of Maine. She is blessed with five wonderful children.
Sardarni Sahiba Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa, Public Presentations on Sikh Dharma
Guru Raj Kaur was in the group of the first women to become ordained as Sikh Dharma Ministers, in 1972. She has been active as a minister since then, in interfaith work, with Sikh youth, and as assistant to the Bhai Sahiba of Sikh Dharma. She is the editor of Victory & Virtue, active in the Sikh community in British Columbia, Canada, and one of two women who have served as Chairpersons of the Khalsa Council. She has also served as a Kundalini Yoga teacher and teacher trainer in British Colombia for many years.
Guru Raj Kaur is very active in spreading the teachings of Bhai Sahib Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi Ji and reviving and republishing Kundalini Yoga books.
Har Darshan Kaur Khalsa, Death, Dying, and Funerals
Har Darshan Kaur has been a minister of Sikh Dharma since 1993. In addition to working with individuals and families dealing with illness and death, she has also had the opportunity to facilitate the funeral and cremation of a sangat member. During that experience, she became aware of how unprepared we can all be for death, and issues specific to Sikh death practices. When we are prepared, grace can prevail. Har Darshan is also a licensed professional counselor and a Kundalini yoga teacher and teacher trainer.