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September 2003
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I was born in 1951 in an educated Episcopalian family in Redlands, California. My mother was particularly active in the church and some of my fondest memories are of looking at the beautiful stained glass windows, singing in the choir, and performing in church pageants. I began studying art and writing at an early age; by the time I was in 6th grade, I knew I wanted to be an artist.
For high school, I went to the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut. As well as being very challenging academically, it was an extremely creative environment for art, music, dance, and creative writing. My experience in boarding school formed the foundation for my later study and practice of art and writing.
I started college at Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1969. As this was during the height of the counterculture revolution, without even knowing it, I think I began to answer the call of my soul to be Sikh. I stopped cutting my hair, became a vegetarian, and studied eastern religions. In one text it stated that Kundalini Yoga was dangerous. When I saw a notice advertising a class on the bulletin board, I knew that that was the yoga for me! Through Kundalini Yoga classes, I learned how to meditate, started covering my head and stopped my occasional use of alcohol and drugs. I also met Yogi Bhajan, who wove stories about the Gurus and passages from Gurbani together with the yoga. In my sophomore year, I moved into the ashram and started doing a daily sadhana. I loved living with a spiritual community and began learning more about Sikhism and the lives of the Gurus. In 1972 I took Sikh vows and later became a Sikh Minister.
I transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara in the fall and helped start another ashram there. I graduated with a BA in studio art in 1974. In the same year I
began wearing a turban, took Amrit and legally changed my name to Gurukirn Kaur. I felt no doubt about this choice, and even had my birth certificate amended and college diploma changed to reflect my new name. The following year I received a Teacher’s Credential from UCSB.
In the fall, I moved to Phoenix to work at the Khalsa School. It was at this point that the various directions of my life – Sikhism, teaching children, art, writing – began to merge. I married Jodha Singh in 1976. He had learned the Gurmukhi alphabet and recited Japji Sahib from the Gutka. So he became my Gurmukhi coach, teaching me the letters and making sure that I turned the pages fast enough to keep up with him. Soon I was able to recite Japji Sahib from the Nitnem in morning sadhana which, to this day, is one of my greatest joys. We worked together running the Golden Temple Restaurant in Tempe. I painted while hostessing, getting up to seat the customers. I completed a large acrylic painting of the Golden Temple while there, which now hangs in Hacienda de Guru Ram Das in New Mexico.
My daughter, Guru Dev Kaur, was born two years later, rescuing me from the restaurant. When she was about two, I began teaching a weekly Dharmic education class for the children. I developed a unique flannel story technique to share the stories of the Gurus, accompanied by coloring pages. These were later compiled into a coloring book, The Sikh Tradition, which can be downloaded from www.Sikhnet.com. The class also included songs and Gurdwara protocol and seva.
During these years, I attended Khalsa Women’s Training Camp in New Mexico and learned many stories of Sikh women, such as Mai Bhago and Mata Sahib Kaur. As I continued my art practice, I felt inspired to present Sikh women in strong, archetypal images and poses. I also did commissioned portraits of Sikh children and adults, as well as the Sikh Gurus. Also, I taught art and Sikh history classes at Khalsa Youth Camp in the summer.
I became a juried member of the Arizona Artists Guild in the early 80s and began showing around the Phoenix area. My paintings were always of Sikh subjects and stimulated curiosity about Sikhism from my fellow guild members and viewers.
In 1983, my son, Guru Dharam Singh was born and in 1988, Har Rai Singh. Guru Dev Kaur began attending Guru Nanak’s Fifth Centenary School in Mussoorie when she was eight. On my first trip to India, I felt as if I were coming home. Since then, I have found that this is one of the most common phrases used by people who have come into Sikhism this way. Perhaps we are old Sikh souls who have come back another time around, only this time in the West. My children have been going to school in India for the last seventeen years, first in Mussoorie, then in Dehra Dun, and finally in Amritsar. Through their experiences there and through our visits to them, we have been able to visit Amritsar, Kesgahr Sahib, Kiratpur, Goindval etc. The history of these places seems so real to me; it is as if it happened only yesterday. The memories are still warm and I try to capture this feeling in my art and writing.
On a visit to Kiratpur in 1994, I went to the Baba Gurditta Gurdwara. Outside there was a bazaar with a stall that sold engraved metal paintings. Of over fifty of them, not a single one was of a woman. I felt then that Sikh woman had no face. About this time, I became aware of the exclusion of women from seva inside Harimandir Sahib. I wrote a poem, Pure Longing, and painted a picture of a woman washing the floors of Harimandir Sahib. This painting was presented to the acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht. In 1996, he arranged for women to clean the floors in the early morning seva. We were met outside by a screaming mob of men, shouting and waving their fists and pushing us back from the Mandir Gate. We were able to go inside to wash the floors, but the issue is still unresolved to this day. In all, I have painted five versions of the floor washing painting.
Since 1996 I have been President of Sikh Dharma of Phoenix. We have a large, multi-cultural sangat here, and are something of a testing ground for the incorporation of Gurus’ teachings beyond the culture of Punjab. It has been a very challenging journey. As Sikhs who have come to the faith as a calling, we have left our own culture far behind and often estranged friends and relatives. Yet we are not always welcomed by Sikhs of Indian descent either. Sometimes we are labeled as Gora Sikhs or white Sikhs. This is painful because of all that we have sacrificed to become Sikhs and how strong the feeling is inside that that is what we are. I hope that in time the assimilation of people of other backgrounds will become an accepted process in Sikhism for, indeed, the Gurus’ teachings are for everyone. I only have to imagine Guru Nanak in China to think that this is what is meant to be. To prepare for this eventuality, we are currently building a magnificent new Gurdwara in Phoenix.
I was able to attend the Tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib in 1999. The presence of Guru Gobind Singh was alive everywhere. I published my book of poetry and artwork, Pure Longing Fulfilled, to coincide with that event. A year later, I published Living with the Guru, a children’s storybook. Three years later, the Centennial Foundation in Toronto presented me with an award for artistic contributions to the Sikh community.
Since 9/11, I have been a board member of the Arizona Interfaith Movement, giving talks on Sikhism in churches and schools, on TV and radio. I will be part of a delegation going to Spain to help organize the World Parliament of Religions next year. Finally, I am the present Chairwoman of the International Khalsa Council.
My greatest passion is to create works of art and literature for our children so that they will feel proud that they are Sikhs and will cherish the gifts that the Gurus have given to all of us.
My work is presented at www.sikhnet.com
(Sikhism/Sikh Art Exhibit/Anand 66-72)
My book Pure Longing Fulfilled can be purchased at www.sikhfoundation.org
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