Simran Jeet Singh on Humility, Justice, and the Work of Becoming

Editor's Note: At Patheos, we're highlighting Faith & Media Initiative (FAMI) Fellows whose work brings thoughtful, lived faith perspectives into today's public conversations. These profiles showcase leaders helping broaden understanding of belief, dignity, and community in the world we share.   

Simran Jeet Singh is in the business of transformation.

The nationally recognized scholar, author, and speaker, whose work centers on religious diversity, civil rights, and the Sikh American experience, believes transformation happens through the simple act of seeking.

Seeking as a Way of Transformation

Within Sikhism, there exists a call of humility, so much so that “you are never done, the work is never done.” Just as there’s a constant process of seeking, there is also no perfect end point – which is a way of indicating that anything we do is always about the process, not the end goal, of seeking itself.

To Singh, this means that transformation happens through the very act of seeking. Even if culture tempts us to think otherwise, the renowned academic goes so far as to say that if seeking remains the reward, then it cuts off capitalism altogether – and this is a point he dares others not to miss.

Perhaps this is why Simran Jeet Singh can’t help but invite others into transformation as well.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Singh asks, “What does it look like for us to engage with the challenges in our lives, in ways that make us feel proud that we didn’t run away, didn’t inspire or amplify the racism?” Later, he wonders how difficult situations might guide him – and ultimately others – to practice his values of oneness, love, and service, so we all might love our neighbor as ourselves.

After all, a metamorphosis of change naturally creeps in, however and whenever one encounters Singh.

The Assistant Professor of Interreligious Histories at Union Theological Seminary, is also the author of the national bestseller The Light We Give, the children’s book Fauja Singh Keeps Going, and a handful of forthcoming titles in both creative and academic spaces. Senior Advisor for the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program, where he previously served as Executive Director, he’s an historian of South Asian religions and holds graduate degrees from Harvard Divinity School and Columbia University. A Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations and an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Columbia University, the thought leader continues to cling to values of Sikhism that both minimize and diminish the ego. Even if Singh is wildly successful by all outward appearances, he’d also be the first to note that his accolades shouldn’t be a source of envy, nor should they be one of competition or comparison.

Humility, Judgment, and the Practice of Justice

Of this, along with other values, he credits his parents and his traditional Sikh upbringing.

“I learned from my parents early on that it’s not our place to judge anyone. Your judgment of other people doesn’t serve anyone,” Singh stated, while walking down crowded Manhattan sidewalks in frigid temperatures one Thursday morning. “Why do it? It just makes people upset. It’s a simplistic outlook, but it’s become a profound value in my life,” he added, no sooner stating that he has “zero interest” in telling people they’re right or wrong. When this happens – if this can happen – judgment is then set aside.

Because to Singh, if his tradition has taught him anything, he has learned that every person is equally divine. Given this belief in an inherent, divine human nature present in each one of us, this negates arguments for discrimination of any kind.

“If everyone’s divine, you can’t say you’re better or they’re worse,” he mused. “If everyone’s equally divine, aren’t we all equally connected? Don’t all of our experiences bound us to one another?”

For Singh, this is exactly where social justice comes in and makes him a trusted guide for thousands of people who turn to him for guidance.

“Even if you come from a different country or speak another language, can I get over my own self-investments and simply care about your prosperity?” he asked.

Belonging, Difference, and Life Among Others

Singh often talks about his experiences of growing up in San Antonio, Texas. Even though he experienced racism and marginalization in the Lone Star State, he loves and still considers the vibrant Texan city home. When he unexpectantly fell in love with New York City, where he now lives with his family, he first imagined he’d only hang out with people that share a similar language, heritage, and tradition.

But the Big Apple quickly taught him how much more he had in common with people of other traditions and backgrounds than he initially realized or appreciated – so much so that he now finds it really special to be in a place where conversations of diversity, inclusion, and belonging are something he both appreciates and is regularly invited to speak into as an activist and a faith leader.

“There’s something about the experience of just living among people where you don’t have to explain yourself constantly,” he noted. “There’s something about being accepted for who you are without any additional effort required.” To Singh, living in Empire City means learning to enjoy his own life, precisely because he realizes that it’s not about how other people see him but it’s about how he sees the world around him – and seeing how nearly ten million people all come from different places, speak different languages, and claim different cultures has been transformative to him.

Dare I call Simran Jeet Singh an anthropologist at heart, he finds himself interested in the experiences and outlooks of people. This includes those who think, believe, or vote differently from him, because when he can ask questions that lead him to connect and better understand the people around him, that too becomes a point of transformation (and a point of transformation, I’d venture to say, that exists both for him and for the human being with whom he interacts).

From Fellowship to the Work Ahead

As it goes, the forward-thinking leader is grateful for the invitation to participate in the inaugural FAMI (Faith & Media Initiative) Fellowship. The fellowship gave him the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who value interfaith cooperation and share a collective desire to champion religious freedoms. He was able to pen a couple of pieces for publication, as well as continue to write his standing column with Religion News Service.

Looking forward, he’s most excited about a big project he’s been working on behind the scenes for a television show called Undivided. The docuseries, which is now in post-production, will focus on different religious communities including Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Black church in America in the first season. Otherwise, the other thing that’s been “cooking,” as he calls it, is a podcast with PRX. “Wisdom & Practice” wrapped up in August, but is currently in proposal for a second season.

It can feel dizzying to hear Singh talk about his many endeavors, he’s quick to note that he’d be bored if he were just doing one thing.

“I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person that wants to be moving from one thing to another, a few hours here, a few hours there,” he said, as he continued walking the busy, city sidewalks of the place he now calls home. This other side of the coin reminds him of the different rhythms and aspects of all of our lives.

Because this too is part of the transformation that marks Simran Jeet Singh’s life. Just as he makes his mark on the world by disrupting bias, building empathy, and seeking wisdom, he distinguishes himself by believing that the actions each one of us take may not fix the world, but they can transform ourselves and our communities.

“If we can understand that actually doing what we can, with what we have, can actually change our experience of life and improve the lives of those around us, that feels like the point of it to me,” he said near the end of our time together.

I could only nod in agreement.