Jasleen Kaur

Research Associate

Jasleen Kaur is a Research Associate at the Sikh Research Institute. She has received a Religious Studies B.A./M.A. from the University of Virginia, focusing on South Asian Religions through the lens of literature and poetry.

She is one of the commentators and transcreators of The Guru Granth Sahib Project. She is passionate about projects that create comfortable spaces for community members of all ages and backgrounds to engage in dialogue and learn from one another. She also loves singing in her free time, whether on stage with her friends or alone in her kitchen.

She hopes to go back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in either religious ethnography or history and fulfill her dream of teaching and learning from others.

Jasleen Kaur resides with her family in the United States.

Videos

Tuesday
,
26
November
2024

Explore Patti (Mahala 3)

The essence of this composition is revealed in the stanza of rahau (pause). In it, worldly accounting (entanglements) is described as useless.

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Thursday
,
17
October
2024

Explore Patti (Mahala 1)

Patti is a poetic form based on the Gurmukhi alphabet. Historically, students used a wooden tablet, known as patti in Panjabi, to practice writing the alphabet. The Guru Granth Sahib includes many compositions based on the alphabet.

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Thursday
,
22
August
2024

Explore Chaubole

Chaubole is typically described as a poetic form governed primarily by meter and lines, usually four, as a song with four segments, or as a verse containing four languages.The theme of the Chaubole composition by Guru Arjan Sahib is love.

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Saturday
,
13
July
2024

Exploring Death in Salok Mahala 9

Explore some of the major themes of Guru Teghbahadar Sahib’s bani as contained in Guru Granth Sahib.

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Thursday
,
20
June
2024

Explore Vanjara

This composition is revealed by Guru Ramdas Sahib (1534-1581 CE) in Rag Sirirag and is recorded on pages 81-82 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It has six stanzas of five lines each. With every stanza, there is an additional stanza of rahau of two lines.

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Thursday
,
25
April
2024

Explore Alahania (Mahala 3)

Just like the Alahania revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib, this composition revealed by Guru Amards Sahib also illustrates the impermanence of the material world and inspires the mind towards a perpetual connection with IkOankar (the Divine).

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Podcasts

Thursday
,
23
October
2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji (Salok 37-65)

In saloks thirty-seven through sixty-five, Sheikh Farid Ji describes the typical human life, where beings are drawn to glittery yet ultimately harmful transient things and relationships, spending their entire lives in pursuit of them.

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Thursday
,
2
October
2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji (Salok 16-36)

In saloks sixteen to thirty-six, Sheikh Farid Ji reminds us that humility is a noble virtue essential for life. A seeker in love with IkOankar (the Divine) perceives the Divine in all and remains ever humble.

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Friday
,
19
September
2025

Witness to Truth & Martyrdom

Listen as Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur reflect on the life and legacy of Jaswant Singh Khalra, popular narratives around him, and the lesser-known facts about his work.

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Thursday
,
4
September
2025

Explore Salok Sheikh Farid Ji (Salok 1-15)

The first fifteen saloks by Sheikh Farid Ji convey that the span of every being’s life is predetermined and finite. The being has come into this world to engage in devotion of IkOankar (the Divine) and to live a life of humility and non-attachment.

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Wednesday
,
9
July
2025

Explore Rag Asa

Rag Asa is a musical mode that evokes hope, yearning, and the desire to move from darkness toward light. In this composition, our attention is turned inwards, and we are offered not just a moment for reflection but the possibility of transcendence.

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Friday
,
20
June
2025

The Sidak Impact: Jasleen Kaur & Manmit Singh

2-time Sidaker Manmit Singh joins Jasleen Kaur to reflect on connection, community, and their deepening relationship with Asa ki Var, a guiding light through threads of hope and hopelessness.

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Articles

Monday
,
11
October
2021

Exploring Death in Salok Mahala 9

Death is a thing we all must do. But we are deeply afraid of it. How do we form a relationship with death? This article explores Salok Mahala 9 as Guru Teghbahadar Sahib helps us confront our fear of death and understand the lessons death...

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Wednesday
,
21
July
2021

Miri-Piri: The Spiritual-Political Sikh Doctrine

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...

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Friday
,
14
May
2021

Reflecting on Time, One Becomes the Willing-Servant

A reflection on the play of past, present, and future, the play of creation, and the importance of Remembrance.

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Thursday
,
1
October
2020

Circles of Influence, Circles of Abuse

Healing and accountability in the wake of allegations old and new

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Wednesday
,
9
September
2020

Sikhi & Sexuality

Sexuality is a confusing and often avoided topic. It is generally relegated to being a "private" matter, and therefore not openly discussed or engaged with, even within close circles and small communities.

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Thursday
,
7
November
2019

Sikhi & Abortion

Abortion as defined by the the Oxford dictionary is a “deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.” Abortions have long been performed and long been the subject of considerable debate.

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Sat
,
Nov 8

Sikhi & Death: A Gurmat-Based Understanding

This webinar invites you to pause and reflect: What does Sikhi actually say about death? How are we meant to face it, understand it, and live in its awareness?

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