Dear Community,
The Compassionate Reconciliation Project (CRP) is of importance to many people within the 3HO, Sikh Dharma and Kundalini Yoga communities. As this work begins to build momentum in the community, we at Just Outcomes have heard requests for more frequent updates. In response to your feedback and in the spirit of transparency, we will now be providing a brief communication to the community every two weeks. Please note, this will be the last broadly distributed update directly from us (Just Outcomes); if you would like to continue receiving Just Outcomes’ direct communications about the CRP, please opt in by clicking on the link at the bottom of this letter. Thank you for your interest in this process and dedication to your community. This communication – and all such updates to follow – comes directly from Just Outcomes. We continue to remain in close contact and engaged with the SSSC Board and other affiliated organizations– they will continue to distribute their own targeted communications when/as needed.
Just Outcomes and the Compassionate Reconciliation Project
Just Outcomes is working with your community to develop a just and compassionate response to the harms and needs currently surfacing within the community. The work is guided by principles of inclusion, repair and transformation. We are building this process in partnership with your community.
The immediate focus of the CRP is to:
- address the needs for healing and recovery of reporters of sexual harm related to Yogi Bhajan;
- address the needs for healing and recovery among members of the Second Gen who reported experiencing harm while attending community-affiliated boarding schools, youth programs, and growing up in this community; and,
- attend to the divisions that have arisen in the community in the aftermath of reports of harm.
While our efforts and planning are focused primarily on these areas, we acknowledge the variety of concerns coming forward as we have undertaken our outreach. We note there is an interconnectedness among the issues we are learning about (e.g. concerns about racism, patriarchy, financial harms, gender identity and marriage equality, etc.) and believe the current “arc” of work—the creation of the Compassionate Reconciliation Commission described later in this letter—will be a valuable structure for your community to navigate and address these critical issues. We will not be dictating your community’s response to the current moment, but instead offer principles, technologies and experience to help inform the response and engage community-members and leaders on these important issues. To learn more about this process, please visit the newly created Compassionate Reconciliation Website.
Updates:
Our team has been deeply engaged this month in the work of preparing the ground for the Compassionate Reconciliation Project. Here are a few highlights:
Building the Compassionate Reconciliation Commission (CRC):
We are connecting with dozens of people across the global community who were recommended as CRC Advisory Team members. As you may recall from our January 14 communication, the CRC will be a diverse, collaborative team of community members to consider what is needed to respond to the current moment, including addressing historical harm and creating pathways to healing. We encounter excitement, skepticism, resolve, anxiety, and many other valid responses to our invitations to join. We are in deep admiration of the willingness of community members to serve within this process.
How are CRC Advisory Team members identified?
Individuals were recommended for the CRC by the Interim Compassionate Reconciliation Commission (ICRC) with the goal of diverse representation based on geography, roles, identities, age, lived experiences, spheres of influence and other factors. We’ve also been asking each invited member, “who else should we be talking to about this,” and using that information to further build each Team (we call this the “snowball effect”). We anticipate that the makeup of Advisory Team members may also shift and change over time.
Engaging with Leadership: We are facilitating and participating in strategic discussions with the Interim CRC and the SSSC Board to lay the groundwork for the Compassionate Reconciliation Project.
Presentations: Last month we facilitated a two-hour presentation and discussion with the Khalsa Council. The presentation slides are available click on the button below:
Los Angeles (USA) Sangat Engagement: We are working with the Executive Councilors of the Guru Ram Das Ashram Community to develop a Sangat Engagement plan, which will help inform important decisions needing to be faced by the Ashram Community at this time. Together we will develop and pilot processes that we hope may be useful for other parts of the global Sangat.
Engaging Second Generation Community Members: On March 6 we convened a call solely for Second Gen members, the purpose of which was to more clearly understand the needs arising from their experiences at community-affiliated boarding schools, youth programs, and growing up in this community. We heard deep pain and resilience expressed among the group; skepticism about the intent and impact of the Compassionate Reconciliation process; and calls to action on the part of organizational leadership. We continue to engage individually with Second Gen members, and welcome hearing from these members directly about the path forward.
Next Steps
Within the coming weeks we will be completing the formation of the CRC Advisory Teams. As this process comes to completion, we are beginning to make the transition into the second phase of our work. Phase 2 will see the launch of the CRC and a process to determine the goals and objectives of the Compassionate Reconciliation Project in service of the community. We will also offer recommendations to organizational leadership on how the work of individual and collective healing may be enabled and supported at this stage
Upcoming Presentations & Facilitated Discussions
Stay Connected
- Sign up here to receive regular updates from Just Outcomes and the Compassionate Reconciliation Project.
- Feel free to write to us to share your experience, offer feedback on the process, or let us know what you’re thinking. Due to our limited capacity, we cannot promise to respond to everything we receive. However, we will be sure that the CRC receives all this information once it is established.
Yours in kindness, compassion and gratitude,
Catherine Bargen, Matthew Harman, Cara Walsh, Aaron Lyons, and our extended team
Just Outcomes
[AL1]Link to Form created and provided through website for feedback.