For episode 189, Sharon welcomes Dr. Simran Jeet Singh to the Metta Hour to talk concerning the Sikh philosophy of affection and repair.
Simran is the Government Director of the Inclusive America Venture on the Aspen Institute. Acknowledged amongst TIME Journal’s “sixteen folks combating for a extra equal America, ” he’s an Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations. Simran is an everyday contributor to The Washington Put up, CNN, and TIME Journal and writes a month-to-month column for Faith Information Service. In July of 2022, Simran launched his first ebook, The Mild We Give: How Sikh Knowledge Can Rework Your Life, from Riverhead books.
On this dialog, Simran and Sharon talk about:
• Rising up as an outsider
• Identification as a refuge
• The foremost educating of Sikh philosophy of interconnection
• The pure expression of affection is motion
• Inspiration for his ebook“The Mild We Give”
• De-centralizing the Ego
• Understanding our deeper values
• The affect of Lovingkindness on our enemies
• What does it imply to be a warrior of the guts?
• What’s misplaced in hyper-masculinity
• Constructing a wholesome sense of self when dwelling within the margins
• Honor the dignity of all the emotions that come up in us
• The motivation of anger vs. love
The episode ends with Simran main a Sikh meditation to shut the dialog. To be taught extra about Simran’s work go to www.simranjeetsingh.org or get a replica of his ebook, The Mild We Give.
Rising Up On The Exterior
Dr. Simran describes how he struggled along with his identification rising up in a Sikh household in Texas. A lot of Dr. Simran’s upbringing was looking for happiness when most people round him have been attempting to disclaim his happiness. He’s a self-proclaimed ‘brown-skinned turban carrying sports activities loving dude’. Nevertheless, we all know that in America it’s not that easy. When Dr. Simran was a senior in highschool, 9/11 occurred and all middle-eastern resembling folks have been judged as terrorists. He needed to ask himself, is it price protecting my beard and turban for all of this persecution? Sikh Philosophy helped him perceive what he wanted to do. The primary time period of Sikh Philosophy is that there’s one pressure that inexplicably connects us all collectively. Dr. Simran explains that inside Sikh teachings we be taught to broaden our love and connectedness past private relationships and into each second.
“That is the place the custom of service and justice turns into so central to Sikh observe. It’s an expression of affection. It’s the feeling of oneness that strikes one to behave for others as a result of they’re seen as linked and different folks’s struggling is our personal struggling. To cut back their struggling is a present that we can provide to them and to ourselves” – Dr. Simran Jeet Singh
In case you are having fun with this podcast, tune into Ep. 21 of Sufi Coronary heart the place Dr. Simran joins Omid Safi to speak about Anti-Racism as a non secular observe.
Identification and Polarization (19:14)
In America, identification appears to be an excessively vital challenge. We’re continually defining ourselves in ways in which separate us akin to race, sexual orientation, and so on. Reasonably than attempting to categorize ourselves as one in every of many various identities, it might be extra useful to give attention to our oneness. Dr. Simran posits that we now have not made a lot progress in racism, sexism, and so on. as a result of we’re too centered on ourselves and the place we match as an alternative of on how all of us match collectively. He likes to keep away from polarities and put his vitality into these Sikh practices of affection, oneness, and repair.
“The very act of self-definition solely will increase our boundaries with the remainder of the world. These boundaries are what we would seek advice from in our traditions as ego. We’re simply creating an even bigger and greater wall that stops us from actually connecting. – Dr. Simran Jeet Singh
Take a look at this BHNN submit to listen to extra concerning the hazard of polarization: Un-lightened Shadows: A Powderkeg of Polarization
Non secular Maturation (42:42)
Dr. Simran and Sharon talk about having an everyday meditation observe. Admittedly, Dr. Simran doesn’t sustain with meditation as often as he would really like. He connects his feeling of shortcoming to non secular maturation. Dr. Simran has realized to just accept himself in a society that all the time needs to be good. He has change into way more comfy with himself and realizes he cannot all the time be an ideal practitioner of spirituality. Meditating can assist us with anger and feeling oneness. It’s very best to do it a couple of days per week, however we have to have area for slip-ups. Sharon and Dr. Simran talk about how assembly anger with negativity or judgment creates extra anger. Recognizing our humanity can assist us settle for ourselves and others.
Photograph through simranjeetsingh.org