Harinder Singh is the Senior Fellow at the Sikh Research Institute. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University, an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas, and an MPhil from Punjab University in the linguistics of the Guru Granth Sahib.
He co-founded the Sikh Research Institute and the Panjab Digital Library, envisioned the Kaur and Singh Academy, and organized the Free Akal Takht campaign.
He appears on radio and television programs and speaks at universities, parliaments, museums, conferences, and civic institutions. He has authored several books and numerous articles integrating the political and the spiritual. He consults on curriculums, exhibitions, and films and is featured in many documentaries on the Sikhs, the Panjab, and South Asian matters.
His current focus is on developing critical thinking for Sikh institutions via the State of the Panth report series and developing open-source decoding of Guru Granth Sahib in contemporary Panjabi and English for a global audience.
He has served on the National Conference on Community and Justice boards, The Fellowship of Activists to Embrace Humanity, The Nanakshahi Trust, among others. He looks for culturally-specific things to experience and a light roast pour-over coffee to sip during travels, reads and binge-watches to stay in touch with what the world is up to, and listens to sabads, poetry, Hir, jazz, and political rap.
Harinder Singh resides with his family in the United States.
To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Bhai Vir Singh, Harinder Singh shares 5 notions with 5 seeker personalities prevalent in today’s world culture.
Divali is celebrated every year with massive parties and social events globally. People of Hindu and Sikh communities celebrate this day according to their religious and cultural traditions.
How to curate a Sikh response? Why is a framework necessary? What is Gurmat? How do Bani, Tvarikh, and Rahit consitute Gurmat? Which sources can be classified as primary and secondary?
After 75 years of the Partition, why are the significant sections of Panjabis and the Sikhs feeling estranged? What are the historical, cultural, geopolitical, trade, and economic contexts and realities?
Is “Sodhna” to test, examine, correct, punish, or kill?What is “sudhosu” in the Guru Granth Sahib?How did Guru Nanak Sahib live it?Why Sikh leadership must re-learn o
Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur speak about a Sikh's relationship with The Guru Granth Sahib.
In this sixth podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s utterances on the Creator Ruler, and his guidance of considering IkOankar as the only true Ruler.
In this fifth podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s many invocations of divine names and attributes and their contexts in larger Indic systems.
In this fourth podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur discuss what it means to attach to the feet of the Supreme Being, the poisons we are collecting, and the remembrance we are being asked to collect instead.
In this third podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore what it means to earn union in comparison to transactional relationships with the divine.
In this second podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore the context of Indic paradigms, rituals, systems, and popular understandings that the Guru addresses in his reframing of renunciation and non-attachment.
Introducing Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 (Shabad Hazare Patshahi 10), new translations, and commentaries of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib's composition. This podcast is an introduction to the series.
As the world becomes more interconnected, we understand how some have an abundance of monetary wealth, and others do not, and the more we understand the various needs unaddressed in our backyards and abroad.
What is the Guru’s grandeur? Why was the Guru martyred? How did the two contemporary texts document the Guru’s narrative?
Miri comes from Perso-Arabic “Amir” or “Emir” and signals political power. Piri comes from the Perso-Arabic “Pir” and signals spiritual power. Miri-Piri encapsulates the Political-Spiritual doctrine in Sikhi, rooted in both the worldly and the timeless...
For the Sikhs globally, 1 Cet 553 is the Nanakshahi new year’s day. Cet or Chet is the month. 553 is the Nanakshahi year. Do you know about Nanakshahi?
This essay locates and contextualizes the hawk in foundational Sikh texts, history, and lifestyle. It also connects how Baj in Khalsa tradition affects the Sikh psyche when the people see it.