Episode Description

For episode 189, Sharon welcomes Dr. Simran Jeet Singh to the Metta Hour to speak about the Sikh philosophy of love and service. Simran is the Executive Director of the Inclusive America Project at the Aspen Institute. Recognized among TIME Magazine’s “sixteen people fighting for a more equal America,” he is an Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations. Simran is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, CNN, and TIME Magazine and writes a monthly column for Religion News Service. In July of 2022, Simran released his first book, “The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life,” from Riverhead books.

In this episode, Sharon and Simran discuss

• Growing up as an outsider
• Identity as a refuge
• The impact of 9/11 as a high school student
• The foremost teaching of Sikh philosophy of interconnection
• The natural expression of love is action
• Inspiration for his book “The Light We Give”
• De-centralizing the Ego
• The Middle Path
• Understanding our deeper values
• What it means to live with ease
• The impact of Lovingkindness on our enemies
• What does it mean to be a warrior of the heart?
• What is lost in hyper-masculinity
• Building a healthy sense of self when living in the margins
• Simran’s process of working with anger
• Honor the dignity of all the feelings that arise in us
• The motivation of anger vs. love
• How Simran teaches his children empathy

Additional Resources

The episode ends with Simran leading a Sikh meditation to close the conversation. To learn more about Simran’s work visit his website or get a copy of his book, “The Light We Give.”

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