SS Guru Amrit Singh Khalsa Candidate Statement Personal Information City & State/Country: Herndon, Virginia, USA Email: guru.amrit.khalsa@usa.net Name of Spouse: Ongkar Kaur Khalsa Occupation: CEO of a service business Length of Participation in 3HO/Sikh Dharma: 45 years Ashram Communities lived in: Princeton, Espanola, Herndon 3HO/Sikh Dharma Community Positions: See #3 below Questionnaire 1. Why do you feel called to serve on the SSSC Board? I believe that when the times call for service, I have to deliver. 2. Considering the enormous responsibilities of serving on this Board, what relevant areas of experience and expertise qualify you for this position and will make you an asset to the board? I have lived a Sikh lifestyle and served as a minister for 40 years. I have served in local and national leadership positions in the Dharma. I have founded or co-founded 3 businesses in my career, and currently own a multi-national service company. I work well in group settings and honestly enjoy other people.
3. Please summarize your prior and current service to the Dharma in a leadership capacity. Siri Singh Sahib Corp, Treasurer 5 years to present Minister of Sikh Dharma 40 years to present Sikh Dharma Khalsa Council 35 years to present Sikh Dharma National Affairs Advisor 35 years to present SikhNet Board of Directors 6 years to present Sikh Dharma of Virginia Board of Directors 8 years Herndon Ashram Administrative Council 40 years to present Technical Advisor to Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings 2 years Raj Khalsa Gurdwara Missal Leader 35 years to present 4. Please describe how your personal Sadhana and spiritual discipline support your character, your standards and your integrity. My morning sadhana needs consistency. I don t always get there, but it is a constant goal of mine. My personal relationship to the Guru is always there. In bad times we laugh together. In good times I am grateful. It is pretty simple. 5. Please describe your relationship with the Siri Singh Sahib. He is my teacher. I don t have words to describe how grateful I am to have that relationship. 6. Board service regularly requires 10 to 20 hours per month (or more) in evening and weekend board and committee meetings, plus three Face-to-Face meetings per year (in Los Angeles and New Mexico) of two to three days each. Can you fulfill these requirements? If, so how will you balance these requirements with your other personal and professional responsibilities? Yes, I can. I have made the commitment for the last 5 years, a period with a lot of foundational work to complete. Now that is done, the load should decrease somewhat. 7. What do you anticipate being the most difficult part of serving on
SSSC Board? How do you traditionally respond in a crisis or high tension situation? I know that there are many issues to be thought through and some situations that have to be resolved. Some of them involve friends and relatives. I feel it will take neutrality and sensitivity to handle these situations. The most difficult part for me is to not take any of it personally. I am usually good in crisis. My tendency is to get quiet and a solution (or at least a way forward) will usually manifest. I also enjoy what crisis does to the group. It tends to create bonds that would not happen in easy times. 8. As an SSSC board member you are accountable to the Sangat. Describe how you would like to build and enhance the relationship between the Sangat and the SSSC, and how you will personally deal with the pressure of accountability while maintaining your spirit of service. I don t think the role of the SSSC is to be accountable. That concept only comes into play out of fear the SSSC might screw up. I believe the SSSC must be like the SSS, serving selflessly under all conditions, friendly and hostile. That will create a bond of love and friendship that will make the group invincible. 9. If you were selected as a Board member, how would you approach the practices of inclusion, transparency, and accountability? Are you familiar with these good governance practices, and are you willing to incorporate these elements into our Organizations? Yes, absolutely. See answer to question #12 10. Please describe what the Siri Singh Sahib s saying means to you: If you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all. In practical terms, how would you apply this saying to bring trust and healing to our community? I feel he was saying, Don t judge. Two things I have learned. Don t ever challenge somebody s spiritual integrity, even your enemies. That is karma right back at you. The other thing is that God manifests in unexpected places.in people you may not like and in situations you may feel are unfair or unbearable. I am learning to
suspend my personal judgment and instead enjoy the play. 11. Please describe your understanding of the Siri Singh Sahib s global vision for our Organizations. The Siri Singh Sahib said he never intended to create this movement. I believe it manifested as the result of his consciousness. Therefore, I would not describe his vision in a worldly sense. That will manifest in its own way. The vision I believe he had was of absolute selfless service, impeccable behavior and providing hope and safety to everybody, even those who don t ask. 12. What is your vision for the 3HO/Sikh Dharma family of Non-profit and For-profit organizations for the future? I believe the right structure is strong, empowered local organizations with a light-handed oversight body to uphold the vision and make decisions of asset allocation (where to invest money). I believe the oversight body should be broadly elected and hopefully contain members of the local organizations. I don t presume to know what the Siri Singh Sahib intended our governance to look like. I believe at one point he said the best government is a benign dictator. But then he re-organized our Herndon community around an ashram council. Perhaps he was experimenting, or perhaps he recognized the need to change the governance as our organization evolves. I don t know. I do feel it is a mistake to try to guess what he intended. Chances are good that we will be wrong. I believe he would want is for us to go through the challenge and messiness of figuring it out for ourselves. Seems like we are being forced to do that anyway. 13. What role do you feel the SSSC should play on a practical and spiritual level? How would that impact you personally? On a practical level, there should continue to be phone conferences and face-to-face meetings, but most of the work should be done using small working groups of around 5 people. These groups should have goals and a timeline for which they are accountable to the larger group. I think we could make better use of Robert s Rules of Order. Having a temporary professional facilitator to give a sense of how a meeting can be run would be helpful.
On a spiritual level, I think this is a bit like tantric, very intense, a struggle, but it shifts the energy to a higher place. On a personal level, whether I do this the work of the SSSC or not, I feel it has to get done. 14. What do you see as the three (3) greatest challenges facing the Dharma (Sikh Dharma-3HO and the family of for profit and nonprofit entities)? What would you do as a board member to overcome these challenges? a. Learning to be personally impersonal. The SSSC was so personal yet so uninterested in our egos. It was really a miracle. We have yet to learn to just be and leave the exaltation to God. b. Secure our financial future with growth businesses that inspire and reflect our values. c. Conclude the lawsuit with the SSSC s family. We are all part of the same legacy and we should not let go of each other. 15. In the past ten years have you or any entity that you own or control been the subject of any civil or criminal complaints by any local, state, or federal agencies? If yes, please give the details of the complaint(s) and the outcome of the proceedings with appropriate references. No 16. Are you a member of any organization that is in conflict, competition, or has threatened or brought legal action against any of our nonprofit and for profit entities? No