Harinder Singh

Senior Fellow, Research & Policy

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.

Videos

Saturday
,
16
February
2013

How Do I Become Panthic Today: Lessons from Gurmat Traditions

Presentation at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall, Park Avenue.

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Saturday
,
12
January
2013

Sikh Martyrs, Akal Takht & Delhi Darbar

Harinder Singhspeaks at Gurduara Sikh Sangat in Brampton, Canada about Sikh Martyrs, Akal Takht & Delhi Darbar and the state of the Panth today.

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Tuesday
,
8
January
2013

Shah-e-Shahan-Shah Gur Gobind Singh

Harinder Singh talks about Guru Gobind Singh and why he was the king of kings. Shah-e-Shahan-Shah Guru Gobind Singh Midsouth Sikh Sabha Memphis, TN, USA.

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Saturday
,
5
January
2013

Guru Gobind Singh Sahib

The Guru (perfection) dwells where the morality-ethics is beyond sins and virtues, deeds are not measured by world standards, thoughts on birth and death are not shadowed, time-movements of previous lives end, the Grace is the grandest magic and no gods or fascinations are needed other than the Grace.So, how does one capture the life and legacy of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, the Sovereign of the sovereigns? How do I even attempt to praise the “Splendor of Immortal Compassion” (jumlā faiz-i-nūr) who inaugurated the Guru Khalsa Panth and asked them to submit to the Guru Granth Sahib. I am not capable of the venture as Bhai Vir Singh dreamt him, Professor Puran Singh spirited him, Bhai Randhir Singh visualized him, Jathedar Jarnail Singh intoxicated him, or Bibi Balbir Kaur (i) invoked him. Harinder Singh from Sikh Research Institute speaks at Gurduara Guru Nanak Mission Center in Brampton, Ontario.

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Podcasts

Tuesday
,
14
February
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 06: Beloved Friend

In this seventh podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur discuss the popularly known composition uttered by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib in the forests of Machhiwara in late December.

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Tuesday
,
7
February
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 05: Creator Ruler

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.

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Tuesday
,
31
January
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 04: Divine Protector

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.

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Tuesday
,
24
January
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 03: Mentor Specified

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.

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Monday
,
16
January
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 02: Yoga Disrupted

In this third podcast, Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur explore what it means to earn union in comparison to transactional relationships with the divine. 

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Tuesday
,
10
January
2023

Sabad Hajare Patisahi 10 - Sabad 01: Renunciation Redefined

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.

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Articles

Sunday
,
8
March
2009

Woman: Gateway to Freedom

“The whole Guru Grantha is the voice of a wedded women or a maiden pining in love of the Beautiful. Her nobleness in Guru Grantha is infinite, her freedom is of the highest. Both man and woman as sexes are forgotten in her voice.

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Sunday
,
10
May
2009

Mothers in My Life

I realized the divine gift of human life through my biological mother, Kamaljit Kaur, in 1972. I thank Guru Sahib (perfection beyond prophets) for blessing her to bring me into this world.

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Thursday
,
5
November
2009

Maharaja of Firangi

Last week I walked into the first exhibition to comprehensively explore the extraordinarily rich culture of the maharajas. “Maharaja – the Splendor of India‘s Royal Courts” is the feature exhibit at the Victoria & Alberta Museum in London...

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Thursday
,
18
February
2010

Celebrating the Lover

The magnificence of Prof. Mehboob’s poetry heartened my faith; his magical words and transcending love arouses an unquenchable hunger in me.

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Saturday
,
20
March
2010

Holi: Color Me What?

Sikhs & Holi: Beyond colors, Guru Arjan Sahib speaks of Divine Love’s lasting hues. The essay explores Sikh traditions, Hola Mahalla, and spiritual engagement.

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Tuesday
,
20
July
2010

Republic in 20 Months

A world was waiting to be born.

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Sun
,
Jul 27

Connecting to Our Roots

Khalsa Diwan Society Abbotsford

There is an inherent connection that already exists for all of us with the Divine. We do that through heritage, ancestry, and culture. Why embrace Sikhi? How did our elders do? What can I do to explore?

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