EcoSikh |

An interview with Bandana Kaur of EcoSikh

April 1, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an interview with MongaBay.com, Bandana Kaur, a Sikh ecologist and North American Program Director of EcoSikh, talks about her background and the faith-based approach that EcoSikh uses to address environmental issues: The approach that faith gives to environmental issues — the approach that EcoSikh has worked with — is this idea of celebrating our own resources and our own traditions that connect to the environment. Working through this sense of renewal, the power of lots of people putting effort […]

Categories: Events, Profiles, Sikhism • Tags: Bandana Kaur, EcoSikh, Guru Har Rai, Sikh Environment Day

Environmentalism as Sikh ethos

March 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

As Sikhs around the world celebrate Sikh Environment Day, Bandana Kaur of EcoSikh discusses the spiritual connection linking the Sikh faith to the natural world: Throughout Guru Granth Sahib, birds and trees especially are used to describe the metaphoric relationship between a disciple and the Divine. Traditional birds like the peacock, flamingo, hawk, cuckoo, nightingale, crane, swan, owl, and the koyal, and trees like the banyan, pipal, and sandalwood of Punjab are used in the Gurus’ metaphors, along with many, many […]

Categories: Events, Sikhism • Tags: Bandana Kaur, EcoSikh, environment, environmentalism, Huffington Post

Happy Sikh Environment Day 2013!

March 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Today is the official date of Sikh Environment Day, a commemoration of our connection to the natural world on the anniversary celebrating when Guru Har Rai became the seventh Guru of the Sikhs in 1644. In that spirit, happy Gurpurab and happy Sikh Environment Day! I have been fortunate to join members of my local community in celebrating the event by planting trees across our community. EcoSikh, the organizers of this event in its third year, have announced that over […]

Categories: Events, Sikhism • Tags: EcoSikh, Guru Har Rai, Sikh Environment Day

Watercolor painting of Guru Har Rai. (source: Art of Legend India)

Celebrate Sikh Environment Day on March 14, 2013

February 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

When Guru Har Rai became the seventh Guru of the Sikhs in March 1644, he brought with him a legacy of a sincere appreciation of the natural environment, an appreciation that we are rediscovering today. As our society at-large is becoming more aware about environmental issues, it is timely that Sikhs explore the ethos enshrined in our teachings about our relationship with nature. On this anniversary during the past two years, EcoSikh, a non-profit organization (whose stated mission is to […]

Categories: Events, Sikhism • Tags: EcoSikh, Guru Har Rai, Sikh Environment Day, Sikh Vatavaran Diwas

Happy Sikh Environment Day 2012!

March 14, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Today is the anniversary of Guru Har Rai becoming the seventh Guru of the Sikhs (this type of anniversary is called a Gurpurab) in 1644. Among the aspects of his legacy that Sikhs remember today was this Guru’s love for the natural world. In his honor, the organization EcoSikh launched Sikh Environment Day at this time last year, a movement to promote environmental consciousness and action in its preservation. Eco Sikh has continued this campaign in 2012 and by all […]

Categories: Events • Tags: EcoSikh, gurpurab, Guru Har Rai, Sikh Environment Day

Happy Sikh Environment Day!

March 14, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Today, March 14, marks the first ever “Sikh Environment Day” – an initiative of EcoSikh – in honor of Guru Har Rai, the seventh Guru of the Sikhs. Visit their website to see what they have achieved in bringing awareness among Sikhs about the environment in the first year of this initiative: Over 250 Sikh temples, schools and organizations across the world today are inaugurating the first Sikh Environment Day, taking part in mass planting of trees, installing solar panels, encouraging eco-friendly farming […]

Categories: Events • Tags: British Columbia, EcoSikh, Guru Har Rai, Sikh, Sikh Environment Day

Celebrate “Sikh Environment Day”: March 14, 2011

February 28, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At the conclusion of every Sikh service, Sikhs ask God for blessings/prosperity to all (“sarbhat da bhalla“). EcoSikh, an organization noted on this blog before, is enacting this wish through Sikhism-inspired environmental/ecological protection. In the end, preservation of our natural environment benefits all of humanity. EcoSikh is currently engaging Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) and Sikh communities around the world to commemorate “Sikh Environment Day” on March 14, 2011. This date is significant in Sikh history; it was on this day in 1644 that Guru Har Rai […]

Categories: Sikhism • Tags: EcoSikh, environment, Guru Har Rai, Sikh Environment Day

Enacting Sikhism for the environment

November 25, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

EcoSikh is an environmental program that, on behalf of Sikhs, seeks to benefit the environment: ‘The aim is to mobilise Sikh communities in India and elsewhere to develop practical solutions to today’s pressing environmental challenges in accordance with the teachings of the Sikh Gurus and also exchange ideas with faith communities around the world,’ said Dr. Rajwant Singh, SCORE chairman and convener of EcoSikh. EcoSikh has recently added two individuals to its ranks: Ravneet Pal Singh and Bandana Kaur. Incidentally, […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Bandana Kaur, EcoSikh, environment, Ravneet Pal Singh, United Nations

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: EcoSikh