Hari Nam Singh Khalsa Candidate Statement Personal Information City & State/Country: Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico Email: harinam56@gmail.com Name of Spouse: Kulwant Kaur Khalsa Occupation: Attorney, Financial Advisor, Counselor Length of Participation in 3HO/Sikh Dharma: 40 years Ashram Communities lived in: New York, NY, Portland, OR 3HO/Sikh Dharma Community Positions: 3HO/Sikh Dharma Community Positions: Khalsa Council, SSSC Board of Directors Questionnaire 1. Why do you feel called to serve on the SSSC Board? I feel called to serve on the board out of a continued sense of duty to protect and carry forward the mission the Siri Singh Sahib created. 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 served on the initial SSSC Board so I do have the necessary institutional knowledge and experience. As an attorney and financial investment advisor I believe I bring needed legal and business skills. As a person who spends a considerable amount of
time traveling the world, both in counseling and sharing the teachings, I believe I have my finger on the pulse of the global community. 3. Please summarize your prior and current service to the Dharma in a leadership capacity. I have extensive experience in a leadership role at the local Sangat level. I have served on the Khalsa Council for decades. I have represented our community and our faith at interfaith councils and other very public and influential venues. I sat on the initial SSSC Board. I am currently doing quite a bit of traveling around the world teaching and representing the teachings and the Dharma. 4. Please describe how your personal Sadhana and spiritual discipline support your character, your standards and your integrity. My daily spiritual practice is the foundation upon which I build my life and personal mission around. It constantly teaches me the meaning of commitment, sacrifice, humility, devotion, patience and reliability. 5. Please describe your relationship with the Siri Singh Sahib. A relationship based on trust. I trusted his intention, his integrity and his capacity. I always felt that the SSS trusted in my intention, integrity and capacity as well, how undeveloped and unrefined it may have been. It was always a challenge, but I do not believe that there were any misunderstandings. 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? I did this before (during my first stint on the SSSC Board). I am aware from personal experience the commitment required. I did it before, and I will be able to do it again. 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?
As I have previously I anticipate the most difficult part of serving on the Board is the significant time and energy commitment required. I believe that I am not thrown off guard by a crisis or hightension situation and actually thrive well when under pressure. 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 do not believe that spirit of service and pressure of accountability are in any way mutually exclusive. To the contrary, I truly believe that the virtue of accountability greatly facilitates the efficacy of service. I believe the best way to build and enhance the relationship between the Sangat and the SSSC Board is for the Board and its members to be visible, transparent, informative and inspirational. 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? I am very familiar with, both from my professional and from my prior experience on the SSSC Board, the practices of inclusion, transparency and accountability. As far as inclusion, I am personally committed to seeing a more welcoming approach toward people of color, the LGBT community and men (yes men, because the trend is that many, many more women are now joining into our community and practices than men). As far as transparency, I would continue to do what I did during my last term on the Board, that meaning being open in sharing the Board s work, other than on those matters protected by confidentiality agreements. As far as accountability, I promise to take personal responsibility for my work on the Board and its consequences. 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 relate to the Siri Singh Sahib s quote as meaning every person
in the world, family or stranger, friend or foe, at the end of the day is still my brother or sister, is ultimately made out of the same fabric as myself. I believe the best way for me personally bring trust and healing to our community is to be the best example I can be of the Golden Rule, treating others the way I would choose to be treated. 11. Please describe your understanding of the Siri Singh Sahib s global vision for our Organizations. I believe the SSS s global vision for our institutional organizations is that they serve as structures and vessels to hold and disseminate the teachings and create a shared sense of community revolving around those teachings. 12. What is your vision for the 3HO/Sikh Dharma family of Non-profit and For-profit organizations for the future? My vision for the family of non-profit and for-profit entities is that they are not only self-sufficient and fulfilling their own defined mission, but that they also work seamlessly together to fulfill the unified mission of the entire movement. 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, I believe the role of the SSSC is to support the family of entities in whatever way possible; be it financial, legal or consultative; so that those entities can achieve their individual missions. I believe that the SSSC needs to also take a proactive role in the spiritual realm of the organization as well, as it is unwise to entirely ship off that authority and responsibility to any one or more of the organization s entities. 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? i. Keeping the Yogic Teachings and the Dharma seamlessly interwoven, as they are becoming increasingly disconnected in practical terms.
ii. Insuring that the organization acts like and is perceived in the world as being primarily a service- oriented mission, which is not necessarily the case at this moment. iii. Find resolution and harmony with the SSS s blood family for all the obvious reasons. 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