Legal Infighting within Yogi Bhajan's organizations

by Gursant Singh , Yuba City California USA, Friday, June 11, 2010, 13:23 (5284 days ago) @ Gursant Singh

Just read in these letters the infighting that is going on in the 3HO Sikh community and decide for yourself if the Tantric yoga Yogi Bhajan taught his students is damaging or not.
Please read an Excerpt below taken from

"Sikhism and Tantric Yoga"
by Dr. Trilochan Singh (Link to entire book)
Sat Nam Sadh Sangat Ji,

Below is an e-mail exchange between a Sangat member ( Gurbani Kaur) and an Unto Infinity Board Member, (Siri Karam Kaur). I am sending this out because, even though this is not an official statement by the Unto Infinity board there has been very few communications from any of them. I believe it is better for all of us to have an opportunity to hear each other.

I have arranged the exchange earliest e- mail first, then reply, then reply, for ease of reading

Humbly,
Mukhtiar Singh
___________________________________________________________________________________

Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 07:32:49 -0700
Subject: Sale of Golden Temple
From: gurubani@gmail.com
To: sirikarm@kiit.com

Siri Karm, I just heard that you and the UI board have sold Golden Temple Please let me know if this is fact or rumor.
________________________________________________________________________

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 5:07 PM, Siri Karm Khalsa <sirikarmkaur@hotmail.com> wrote:

Rumor.

I'm sure you can appreciate that we are not able to engage in detailed
dialogue on this subject nor many others due to the ongoing litigation that
members of the community initiated against us. The legal process contains
our dialogue while slanderers have their field day.

We pray for the healing of the community which has been polarized and poisoned by
orchestrated misinformation, slander and negative gossip. Slander steals the peace,
prosperity and clarity of the listener and creates a cancer that spreads. The Siri Singh
Sahib and the Siri Guru Granth Sahib speak volumes on this subject and its destruction.
(It does make it easier for the slanderer to inspire your donations to fund their agenda
if anyone allows their personal fear/ insecurities/ uncertainties to be ignited in anger
based on one sided smear.) I suppose that is the reason it goes on.

Khalsa consciousness is based in love, not in fear, and doesn't need to take the form
of slander to be resourced by the Infinite. When we are through the legal drama,
people will be able to see that our hearts, our integrity and our service to the SSS's
mission and our community was and will always be honorable.

The Siri Singh Sahib taught us that without a neutral mind, truth cannot be found.
Pre-judgment precludes seeing/ hearing the truth. With any preconceived opinion, a
person interprets what they see through that lens and misses much of what does not
fit into that pre-formed belief as a result. This is a basic teaching of the Siri Singh Sahib
re: the mind.

That is why our path is with Guru Ram Das, the heart center and the neutral mind. Alignment with our essential self is Peace, is Love. One who, dwells in that space of grace, is not attacking another. It is a self contained, fully resourced perspective of life that is not competing and comparing, judging and condemning. It certainly doesn't inspire slandering. None of those who are suing us (and who allow their helpers to wind up people in the community), spent one minute investigating the truth with us. Their motivation is to take over the organization by force from a perspective of fear and lack. Misinforming you and others is a part of their tactics. A minister doing this to the community, is no different than an nurse putting poison in an IV of a patient. Chanting the Nam is good antidote to poison and feelings of fear.

Blessings to you.

PS It is a wonder to me, how our community can credibly host Peace Prayer Day, that
our Teacher founded, and be a part of this personal war. How do we lead others in Peace
and not function that way in our own home? If you can't see God in All, you can't see God at all.
________________________________________________________________________
From: Gurubani Kaur
To: Siri Karm Khalsa ; bibiji@sikhdharma.org ; mukhtiar s khalsa ; Ram Das Singh Khalsa ; Amrita Khalsa
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 2:53 AM
Subject: Re: Sale of Golden Temple (NOT)

Thanks for your response but sadly this does not give me any more clarity on you or the UI boards intention on how you are handling the non profits or the businesses. I personally believe that as we enter the Aquarian age that transparency, honesty, character, and grace are a few of the many qualities that will carry all of humanity to the blessed destination of liberation. At this point I am attempting to stay neutral but as you and others know in order to reach that point; all facts must be presented in an honest, clear, and neutral way. The fact is I have not spoken to any of you face to face and if I did at this point I would not trust the words spoken from your lips. I spoke to Roy Lambert and felt no sense of protection or security for Sikh Dharma.. You may judge me for remaining asleep all these years while I raised Ram Das Singh and Amrita Kaur and maintained my personal household, but I truly believe that they were my personal responsibility to keep safe and protected as much I possibly could, now they are grown and starting their own families and it is my responsibility to them to protect what the Siri Singh Sahib created for them and their children.

As I said before, I encourage each and every member of the UI board along with the SDS board to present hard facts to the sangat. I believe you are living in fear by hiding behind the SDS members and the lawyers because there is something you do not feel comfortable in sharing with all of us. I would be grateful if I could organize an event and invite you to step out of your comfort zone and present to the sangat every fact and rumor that has been forwarded to us. I can say that at this point in time, I cannot come to a conclusion regarding this situation whether or not you are destroying the foundation the Siri Singh Sahib has worked so hard for. Please prove to us that we are wrong by disclosing documents, bank statements, or what ever it is that leads us to believe you are in fact destroying Sikh Dharma International.

Fact you attempted to fire every one on the SDI board why?

Fact: Guru Chander forced every SDI employee to sign some document that demanded them to agree to his authority or they would be fired. Why?

By the way are you aware that according to DOL this would be cause for a lawsuit?

Fact: You fired Shanti and Guru Tej from the Akal board. Why?

Siri Karm, I have come to the conclusion from just these acts is you are hungry for power and control, you are willing to use violence to scare employees even if it is not legal, and your own personal conscious is not even close to what the Siri Singh Sahib's was. I also heard that SDS wants to fire Bibi Ji and Guru Amrit Kaur, the list goes on and on.

Below are some of my responses to your comments.

"I'm sure you can appreciate that we are not able to engage in detailed
dialogue on this subject nor many others due to the ongoing litigation that
members of the community initiated against us. The legal process contains
our dialogue while slanderers have their field day."

I am sorry to say but I disagree with your comment of slanderers having a field day. The Fact is that here in Espanola we have about 300+ people in the community, many practice group sadhana, participate in Gurdwara, cook langar, read in the Akand Path, serve Miri Piri Academy etc., then we have are national communities and International communities. How can you make a comment like that when many of us are simply acting out of concern to protect each and every aspect of all the gifts and treasures the Siri Singh Sahib has helped us build? This comment is insulting and inaccurate.

"We pray for the healing of the community which has been polarized and poisoned by
orchestrated misinformation, slander and negative gossip. Slander steals the peace,
prosperity and clarity of the listener and creates a cancer that spreads. The Siri Singh
Sahib and the Siri Guru Granth Sahib speak volumes on this subject and its destruction.
(It does make it easier for the slanderer to inspire your donations to fund their agenda
if anyone allows their personal fear/ insecurities/ uncertainties to be ignited in anger
based on one sided smear.) I suppose that is the reason it goes on."

Sorry but this to me is bull shit. Ignorance and intolerance create fear, it seems that you use slander and negative gossip as your protection shield to separate us. The answer is simple. Use some of those precious dollars and buy a ticket and put an end to the misinformation, slander and negative gossip. You are so good with your words, you write like an educated poet, but really the true test is if you can deliver the truth and back it up with evidence, till then your words are just a bunch of ...ssaljdgp'jrg that means nothing more than garbage. No one inspires my donations to fund their agenda or creates fear, insecurities etc, that only happens if I allow it to happen, in this case until you disclose hard evidence there is no proof that what I read or hear is false just as what you tell me is false until you prove otherwise.

"The Siri Singh Sahib taught us that without a neutral mind, truth cannot be found.
Pre-judgment precludes seeing/ hearing the truth. With any preconceived opinion, a
person interprets what they see through that lens and misses much of what does not
fit into that pre-formed belief as a result. This is a basic teaching of the Siri Singh Sahib
re: the mind."

Again hmm not one of you, meaning Kartar Singh, Peraim Kaur, Sopurkh Kaur or yourself have provided solid information to help us develop a neutral conclusion to your actions. I have no pre-judgment, I simply continue to ask questions as do others, and you simply choose to ignore our questions. You have really created this litigation in a very direct way. Now that it is taking place you are upset by it, it could have been avoided in my opinion if you would have followed your own advise of "How do we lead others in Peace and not function that way in our own home" perhaps if you would have thought things through before preceding forward this all would have been avoided if you as upper management took a little time to calculate and consider how the sangat would react to such acts as the firings, the violent intrusions, the sale of businesses and ashrams, etc. If you would have just stepped back and put yourselves in our shoes, you may very well would have handled things differently.

"None of those who are suing us (and who allow their helpers to wind up
people in the community), spent one minute investigating the truth with us. Their motivation is
to take over the organization by force from a perspective of fear and lack. Misinforming
you and others is a part of their tactics. A minister doing this to the community is no
different than an nurse putting poison in an I V of a patient. Chanting the Nam is good
antidote to poison and feelings of fear."

Dang I tend not to believe this statement at all... again bull shit... Avtar Hari is on the board and my guess is that he has asked questions, I can ask him myself and forward this email to him so he can call you on this. I can pretty much rest assured that there is some documentation that on many occasions many people have requested you to disclose the truth, Bibi Ji being one I am sure. Maybe I am really naive and slow but I really do not believe that the members of the SDI board intend to take over the organization by force from a perspective of fear and lack, These people have been serving for many years, they pray, they teach, and they participate in life events, none of what I see any of you in. I am not a perfect Gursikh, nor am I a perfect human being, but I can say this, When I am being diverted I lose both trust and respect. I don't mean to sound rough but enough is enough so come here and be taped for the record so we can share your honest intentions and facts of what is going on so we can all get on with life and serve humanity with dignity, divinity and grace, and I ask you personally to reassess your opinions of all of us as sangat members and children of Guru Gobind Singh, servants of our creator and the Siri Singh Sahib's legacy, and make the effort to reunite us so that we can carry out this mission the Siri Singh Sahib prayed for us to accomplish..
It brings much sadness to my heart of many of the choices you are making and how it is affecting not only our community but many others.
My prayer for 2010 is that this all ends peacefully and everyone becomes clear on which path they wish to walk to complete this cycle of life.
Blessings and prayers to All.

"PS It is a wonder to me, how our community can credibly host Peace Prayer Day, that
our Teacher founded, and be a part of this personal war. How do we lead others in Peace
and not function that way in our own home? If you can't see God in All, you can't see God at all."

My response to this is why then do you not set an example to all of us on how to handle this situation that reflects mutual trust and respect, and why do you not show up to Peace Prayer Day, Khalsa Council or any other event to provide Sikh Dharma members with a clear, honest report disclosing all facts that we have in question.

Original Message -----
From: "Gurujot Kaur Khalsa" <gurujot@jeweloflife.com>
To: <khalsa-council@mail-list.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 11:15 AM
Subject: [khalsa-council] Response to Gurukirn Kaur/SDS letter

Dear Members of the Khalsa Council and the Sadh Sangat,
Sat Nam and blessings to all for a Healthy, Happy and Holy New Year.

While we find ourselves in the midst of very challenging times, may we continue to look to God and Guru to guide our way, and always remember the blessings that surround us.
I have read with appreciation and inspiration the responses from Khalsa Council members to the very misleading letter sent by Gurukirn Kaur, the President of the Sikh Dharma Stewardship. Her letter was yet another attempt on the part of SDS, to try to misdirect the sangat away from the serious issues we are facing. The purpose of her letter was to intentionally misinform the Khalsa Council and the Sangat as to the true purpose of the corporation that was restructured as a means to serve the members of the Sadh Sangat and the mission of Sikh Dharma, free from the illegal control of UI and the SDS.

Her statement that; "Those who have founded and are promoting Sikh Dharma Worldwide have voluntarily left this corporate structure in order to create their own organization," is a complete and utter falsehood, and the SDS well knows this. They know, as do you and I, that none of us are leaving Sikh Dharma International. The original Sikh Dharma International Board of Directors and Officers have stated repeatedly that we are fully committed to continue serving SDI and that we do not accept the legality of SDS's attempted removal of the SDI Board, Officers and staff. We have stated repeatedly that to the extent SDI or UI attempts to change the SDI by-laws; we do not accept the effectiveness, legitimacy or legality of any such change.
On the contrary, those who support the law suit and have restructured a safe entity through which to serve the sangat and Sikh Dharma have shown the courage and willingness to step forward to preserve and protect Sikh Dharma International and the vision and legacy of the Siri Singh Sahib. Much to the chagrin of the SDS, we are not going anywhere. Our feet are firmly planted in the soil nurtured by the Siri Singh Sahib's direction, guidance and inspiration for over three decades.
The decision to activate Sikh Dharma Worldwide is a step that was taken in response to the aggressive actions of the SDS/UI and in response to the requests of the Sangat to provide a safe place to make charitable contributions that uphold and build the spirit of the Sikh Dharma International family, as established by the Siri Singh Sahib. It is an independent Sikh Dharma non-profit 501C3 corporation which the Siri Singh Sahib directed to be established over 30 years ago. It was recently restructured to allow the original SDI Board of Directors and Officers and staff to continue to serve Sikh Dharma and the Sadh Sangat. We can marvel over the fact that the Siri Singh Sahib had the intuition and vision to have this entity created, and the purpose it would one day serve.
Again, to be clear, Sikh Dharma Worldwide is intended to serve as an independent and protected vehicle for tax deductible donations that will be dedicated to the continuance and support of the legacy of Sikh Dharma, the Sikh Dharma Ministry and the Khalsa Council, as established by the Siri Singh Sahib. It is independent of the other SDI affiliates and thus from the control of UI or SDS. Those who support it are in no way abandoning Sikh Dharma International. We are trying to preserve it, to defend it, and to protect it. Please do not be misled by the words in Gurukirn Kaur's letter.
It is ironic that Gurukirn Kaur repeatedly refers to the corporate structure that the Siri Singh Sahib set up with checks and balances when UI has dismantled those checks and balances by taking over the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation and has created a new corporation--the SDS--which in turn has attempted to remove the Siri Sikdar Sahiba, who the Siri Singh Sahib appointed for life, and to remove the Secretary General who is the CEO of SDI. This wholesale disregard by UI for the intent of the Siri Singh Sahib
is the basis of the lawsuit filed by SDI against UI and the SDS.
We all know that in the Sikh tradition there is no conflict with both being holy and being a warrior. Throughout Sikh history, the Gurus took a stand in the face of injustice to protect the innocent (here, our sangat and legacy non-profits) and Sikhism would not exist if they had not stood for the principles they believed in. They did not remain aloof or turn the other cheek from injustice, or claim to be "neutral" because it was more saintly or more conscious. Being neutral is in fact taking a stance, as it allows the status quo to go unchallenged and allows the injustices to continue.
In the past few weeks, we have been inspired by the spirit, the commitment and the devotion of the Sangat. Two Sikh Dharma communities have held benefits with the funds being donated towards the salaries of the supposedly 'fired' SDI staff members. We hope they will be sending out a report soon about their gatherings. In midst of difficult challenges, the most selfless and pure acts of consciousness emerge. Let's look to these acts of kindness and devotion to give us inspiration and hope during these difficult times.

With love and prayers for a blessed and very Happy New Year,

SS Gurujot Kaur Khalsa

Sadh Sangat Ji,

There has been what appears to be a deliberate misinformation campaign about Bibi Ji for quite sometime now. Bibi Ji has been open, available and keeps answering questions. The Chancellor of Sikh Dharma International has explained it to Khalsa Council. Yet again and again Bibi Ji has been characterized as somehow the cause of all problem.

This is how I understand the ongoing situation.

(I have also attached The Chancellor's explaination to the Khalsa Council, I have not attached all the supporting documents but they are available upon request)

1. Bibi Ji has not asked for more than information. She wants to maintain the right to determine if monies that came out her joint accounts (that she did not sign for) indeed went to uses she agrees with.

2. Bibi Ji has always paid and to continues to pay Das Vand.

3. Bibi Ji has repeatedly, in writing, personally, and though her lawyer, agreed that she is not pursuing ownership in the non-profit organizations.

4. Bibi Ji has not, "frozen" the Estate monies that was meant for any of the staff or benificaries. The "freezing" of those accounts was a decision made by the Trustees of that account. The decision to use up the Estate monies for lawyers while attempting to deny Bibi Ji's request to information has been completely the decision of the Trustees, not the courts.

5. Bibi Ji's attempt to gain the informaton denied her, has not stopped the royalty payments expressly requested in the Siri Singh Sahib's Will. The royalty payments were ceased by decision of the Unto Infinity Board and the opinion of their lawyer.Their opinion was; that because the likeness of the Siri Singh Sahib and his sayings were removed from the Yogi Tea and Golden Temple products, the Siri Singh Sahib's Estate no longer has any claim to royalties. Therefore royalty payments are no longer paid to Bibi ji or the staff. This has not been ruled on by any court, is only their opinion, and could very well not be legal.

6. In this matter, the only lawsuit filed against anyone has been the lawsuit filed against Bibi Ji. In October, 2007, the Trustees sued Bibi Ji (Trust v. Bibi Ji Lawsuit) by filing a Complaint asserting that Bibi Ji had no valid claims against the Staff Trust or Estate and that asked the court to require her to move forward with her claims or to withdraw them, so that the Staff Trust could be funded. Bibi Ji filed an Answer to the Complaint and included in that Answer a Counterclaim asking for an accounting, alleging that the Trustees had breached their fiduciary duty to Bibi Ji and the Living Trust, and asking that the Trustees be removed and independent trustees be appointed.

This is the only lawsuit between these parties. Bibi Ji has not filed a separate lawsuit; rather she has counter-sued in the lawsuit filed against her.


Mukhtiar Singh Khalsa
505-450-2802

(If this notices came to you from others and you would like to receive these notices directly please send me your e-mail address and I will happily add you to my list, and again if you do not wish to continue receiving these, please let me know)

Continued at reply to this post