Here are excerpts from an article originally published in a 1979 issue of Beads of Truth. “When you take away a nation’s songs, you take away its spirit.” ~Siri Singh…
Read: "Music: The Companion that Soothes Us and Moves Us"Categories: Music history, Our Stories
Tags: Beads of Truth, Beads of Truth - 1979 - Bead 1 and 2 Vol. II
Article from the Fall, 1977 Beads of Truth, Bead #36 EK ONG KAR SAT NAM SIRI WHA GURU There is One Creator who has created this creation, Truth is His…
Read: "The Siri Singh Sahib"Categories: Siri Singh Sahib
Poetry excerpted from the 1976 Fall issue of “Beads of Truth”. The poems are by women who describe their experience of the first Khalsa Women’s Training Camp in 1976.
Read: "Poems and Reflections from the First Khalsa Women’s Training Camp"Categories: Our Stories, Poetry
The night wind blows in gusts so strong the earth shakes.
And my tent-home billows and wavers under its continued impact.
The darkening sky is shot with lightning and thunder shouts from the heavens.
But not even the monstrous wind beating at all of Creation
Can sweep away the kiss of God, the rainbow,
Which embraces the sky from one end to another.
It comes forth silently, gracefully, to stand immovable in the heavens, yet joined with the earth.
Ever present, it manifests and becomes known,
Only when God calls it forth to stand as an example, a thing of beauty, awe-inspiring.
The vibrant delicacy of its colors,
The purity of its radiance,
Glow as a gift from God.
Categories: Our Stories, Poetry
Every second of the day in camp was utilized. We ended our sadhana with a mile run. We breakfasted fast and dashed off to swimming and tennis. We tilled the land in the garden that provided our food. We clambered over the five foot wall and crawled on our bellies through the dirt of our obstacle course. We learned the noble art of Gatka (Indian sword fighting). At the sound of the bell, we raced to our karate class. Muscles that hadn’t even been thought of in years were restrengthened. We were tested at every turn. The initial trauma of learning to fire the five rounds of bullets turned into a feeling of confidence and power, respect and poise.
After our physical activities, we had intensive Gurmukhi classes; each day we read our Bhanis with more speed, accuracy, and comprehension. Our daily Gurbani classes gave us time to sing and chant together. We lived together, stood together and marched in formation together, through the streets of Espanola while the populous looked on in awe and wonder. We daily marched under the rising sun, learning to command each other as well as to be commanded by each other.
Read: "The First Khalsa Women’s Training Camp in 1976"Categories: 3HO History, Our Stories, Women's Teachings
“The Christians have Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, and the Sikhs have Mr. O’Brien and the Mural in Espanola. No human being painted this mural. This man was able to do what I could never do – he accurately told the history of this world, and perfectly predicted the events of man up to 5,000 years into the future. I could never make such a prediction, for man would not allow me to do such a thing, but O’Brien quietly told the future of the whole world and then humbly left this planet. O’Brien will be known in the history of man from this time forth and books will be written on his works and pilgrimages will be made to see his murals and the power of his faith captured in paint. I am petitioning to have this O’Brien made the first Christian Saint in the Sikh Dharma.” ~Yogi Bhajan
Read: "Ed O’Brien and the History of the Mural at HGRD"Categories: Our Stories
Tags: art and artists
The story of the first American Sikh enlisted in the U.S. Army who stood by the rights of the 1st Amendment to pave the way for Sikhs to practice their religious beliefs, including the wearing of beard and turban
Yes, there is a place for Sikhs in the United States Army. For this achievement, we can be grateful to those who went before us and who accepted the harassment and went through the Court Martials, who were forcibly shaven, but who ‘kept up’ in order to see that our basic human rights were upheld: the right to practice our chosen religion and to live actively in all aspects of society and the community without discrimination.
Categories: 3HO History, Our Stories
Arriving in Los Angeles in 1968, Yogi Bhajan began his mission to share the teachings of Kundalini Yoga, and to help people live healthy, happy and holy lives. He first established Guru Ram Das Ashram as a yoga center in West Hollywood, and it was here in Los Angeles that Kundalini Yoga in the Western World was born.
In the spring of 1972, the ashram was moved to the current location, a former chiropractic and hydrotherapy office, where it was established as a formal Gurdwara.
Read: "The Opening of Guru Ram Das Ashram Los Angeles in 1972"Categories: 3HO History, Music history
