Asha Marie Kaur

Research Assistant

Asha Marie Kaur is a Research Assistant with SikhRI. She has a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she was born and raised.

Her work at SikhRI is tied to her love of the Persian language and the ways it connects Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. She is working on writing sabad in Perso-Arabic script to reassert gurbani's place in the Persian literary world. A self-identifying mixed-up Sikh, she is also working on creating resources for Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike that offer ways to connect the word of the Guru to concepts of justice in today's world. One day she hopes to get a PhD in Iranian politics, and for now can be found between Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois with her travelling cat Mac.

Videos

Tuesday
,
28
July
2020

Persian Voice: Ep 2 - Explaining Parvardigar

One of Asha's favorite terms for the Creator helps us move away from a fear based relationship to a more Love based connection.

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Wednesday
,
22
July
2020

Love & Justice: Week 9 - Caste

An immersive introduction into the principles of the Sikh faith told through the primary source of the Guru Granth Sahib and secondary historic texts on the life of Guru Nanak Sahib. This course has been created with an audience of young adults in mind.

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Tuesday
,
21
July
2020

Persian Voice: Ep 1 "Exploring Al-Rahim"

How did Guru Nanak convey the message of IkOankar using words and phrases from Islamic traditions? In the 1st episode of this video series Asha Kaur explores “Al-Rahim” in the Sikh context.

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Wednesday
,
15
July
2020

Love & Justice: Week 8 - Tyranny

How did Guru Nanak Sahib react to witnessing a genocide? What is the Babar Vani and how does it inform a Sikh response to injustice?

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Wednesday
,
8
July
2020

Love & Justice: Week 7 - Death

How did Guru Nanak Sahib describe the human relationship with death when asked by religious leaders at Mecca? What does the relationship with death tell us about how we need to live our life?

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Wednesday
,
1
July
2020

Love & Justice: Week 6 - Mul Mantra (Root-Verse)

In the Mul Mantra (literally “root-verse”), the opening verse of the Sikh scriptural canon and manifesto, Guru Nanak expresses the qualities of the Divine.

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Podcasts

Monday
,
13
December
2021

O Siblings

In this transcreation, the original Gurmukhi is followed by an English transcription to guide the Sabad’s (Divine Word) pronunciation in its original form.

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Monday
,
1
November
2021

O Friends, Any Good News

In this transcreation, the original Gurmukhi is followed by an English transcription to guide the Sabad’s (Divine Word) pronunciation in its original form.

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Wednesday
,
20
January
2021

Reflect on the Knower

This is a continuation of the Persian Voice of the Guru's featuring the Sikh Research Institute's Researcher, Asha Marie Kaur.

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Monday
,
19
October
2020

Great is Your Nam

In this episode from the Persian Voice of the Guru Granth Sahib series, Asha Marie Kaur tells us of the Persian linguistic influences of a Sabad by Guru Arjan Sahib. 

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Tuesday
,
17
September
2019

Introduction: The Politics and Poetics of Persian in Gurbani

Persian is one of the many languages found in the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Arjan Sahib, and several of the bhagats revealed bani (Wisdom) in the Persian language.

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Articles

Wednesday
,
22
July
2020

Make Your Deeds The Soil

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this transcreation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad the same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.

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Tuesday
,
17
September
2019

Persian Voice in the Guru Granth Sahib

The Persian language occupies a strange place in Sikhi. Sikhs are universally aware that Persian has a place in our history yet simultaneously unaware of its magnitude.

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Wednesday
,
25
September
2019

O Creator: Listen

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this transcreation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad the same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.

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Read more ⟶
Tuesday
,
22
October
2019

Fill This Unbaked Vessel: O’ Creator

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this transcreation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad the same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.

This is some text inside of a div block.
Read more ⟶
Tuesday
,
17
December
2019

All Under The Earth (Ham Jer Jimī)

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this transcreation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad the same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.

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Read more ⟶
Saturday
,
28
March
2020

Sikh-Afghans

In 1521, Guru Nanak Sahib witnessed the terrible suffering of people at Saidpur (Eminabad), The Panjab. The Guru documents who to question while accepting the Command of the Creative and Pervasive 1Force:

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Asha Marie Kaur
 is not presenting at any upcoming events as of yet. Explore our upcoming events.