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Event on reviving
the Sikh spirit
WSN Bureau
TORONTO: A promgram on community revival titled Rekindling Sikh
Spirit was heald at the Sikh Spiritual Center, Rexdale by the
Haloona Project Coordination Team recently. The Sikh Research
Institute (SikhRI), a Texas-based community development
organization, was invited to facilitate two educational sessions
held in this workshop organized for the Greater Toronto Area Sikh
organizations.
According to Bhai
Harjinder Singh, Haloona’s coordinator, “the purpose was to present
the information that positively affects the Sikh community by
creating awareness about the issues facing the Panth.”
In this particular
workshop dedicated to the thought of unification of Panth,
Eighty-five participants were engaged in discussing practical and
realistic solutions to prevailing problems within the Sikh Nation.
Because of their abilities to prioritize and actively improve the
Sikh nation, Community Revival sought to draw together a variety of
engaged community leaders, activists, professionals, and youth.
Bhai Inderpreet
Singh, a workshop facilitator and a member of the SikhRI’s Board of
Advisors, explained that “Community Revival program exists to
restore a deep sense of identity; the global Sikh community must
keep alive the spirit of Sikh sovereignty and prosperity through an
understanding and practice of the faith.”
Throughout the
sessions, attendees learned how the Sikh Rahit Maryada came about,
its need and relevance to guide and shape individual and panthic
Sikh behavior, and application of its institutions such as Sarbat
Khalsa and Gurmata in today’s context. Then, a model Sarbat Khalsa
activity was conducted comprising of 8 Jathas of varying ideologies
within the Panth. The task was to identify the three highest
priorities facing the Sikh Nation. After three iterations, they were
identified: Unification, Education, and Sovereignty. At a personal
response front, each participant developed a goal that will be
implemented within next two months to champion a task within the
three aforesaid areas.
Gurdev Singh, a
participant from Brampton, remarked: “It is a good program you
introduced for the community: How to understand other factions who
are also Sikh, but differ due to some of their own thinking. So, it
is a good example of ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ ideology, which should be
understood and implemented.”
Gurpreet Singh, a
participant from Mississauga, got highly impressed and commented:
“Indeed it was very informative and effective. It is rare that we
see such clarity and transparency in vision, action plan and
execution.”
Balwinder Singh, a
Haloonaa team member, said that an important inspiration got from
this event is, “Each Sikh should spend his time and money on common
issues and positive efforts to strengthen the Panth.”
“Our aim is to learn
and share the intricacies of the sovereign elements of the Sikh
culture that unified us as a collective. For more than 200 years,
the Sikhs have been using un-Sikh-like processes for their decision
making. It is time to re-kindle our spirit, develop the
Guru-initiated processes, and strengthen our institutions for
collective good”, concluded Bhai Harinder Singh, SikhRI’s Executive
Director and the chief workshop facilitator.
Haloonaa team has
already announced the next series of workshops for the
Sikh-Canadians to be conducted on 9 Aug 2008 and the theme of these
events will be, “Sevadar: Becoming an Inspiring Activist.”
23
July, 2008
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