NPR's ” Fresh Air” interview with New York Times science writer William Broad who was talking about his new book "The Risks And Rewards Of Practicing Yoga".

Yesterday I happened to get in my car just in time to tune into NPR's ” Fresh Air” interview with New York Times science writer William Broad who was talking about his new book "The Risks And Rewards Of Practicing Yoga". You can listen to this very interesting interview at the following link. At one point Mr. Broad talks about Yogi Bhajan kundalini yoga researcher Sat Bir Khalsa, at Harvard. He also refers to Maharaja Ranjit Singh witnessing a miracle in which a Yogi was buried for 40 days and awakening alive and well.
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/07/146463156/the-risks-and-rewards-of-practicing-yoga

Even though Mr Broad discusses the tantric sex roots of Yoga; I was astounded at the ignorance and willingness of westerners to engage in yoga asanas and broadcast their desire for miracles and worldly pleasures like "better sex" that by their very history and nature are based in Shiva cult worship. My position and I think that of many traditional Sikhs like Dr. Trilochan Singh is that from these cult roots, yoga generates an unnatural spurious desire for miraculous control over nature and craving for self satisfaction & power over God's already beautiful creation.

Did Yogi Bhajan use black magic and occult powers combined with his tantric yoga?

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Bizarre painting by Yogi Bhajan. Does this indicate Yogi Bhajan's involvement with black magic and the occult?
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Yogi Bhajan performing fire puja and wearing the red mark of Shiva on his forehead. Is this an indication Yogi Bhajan was involved with Shiv/Shakti tantric yoga cults?

This discussion below is taken from a forum with former and current Yogi Bhajan followers. I encourage everyone who considers themselves a kundalini yoga student or just a concerned member of the public to join in this important discussion of cults and black magic being used by Yogi Bhajan and now his followers:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/Kamallarose/messages?msg=1608.21

Gursant Singh says: I know it sounds bizarre to westerners and "educated" people but if you've ever lived in India like myself for any length of time you may understand more of this idea that Yogi Bhajan almost seems possessed by a demon or controlled by black magic. I think YB could have gotten involved with some kind of tantric cult at an early age. I have talked to several people from India who after viewing YB's videos and hearing my experiences feel strongly there is a case to be made for YB's involvement in black magic and the occult.

TheSikhgeek says: "I know many people here are aware of some of it, but I don't know if any of us are aware of the full extent to which YB(Yogi Bhajan) barely missed major take-downs by the skin of his teeth. There were so many times like this when he was nearly exposed, indicted, arrested, etc., and only little glimpses of these close calls are out there. It almost makes me believe Gursant's claims of endless black magic and Hindu puja... :)"

RoseLotus says: "Others have told me the same thing, that looking in his eyes hooked and sunk them. Black magic? NLP?"

StillaSikh says: "One time I got dragged before YB by my then-husband because I was demonstrating alarming levels of autonomy. I had made some decisions about getting further education and neither of them were pleased.

I sat at YB's feet (the default position for petitioners and those in need of correction). He thundered, "What is this that you want to become a counselor. I don't believe you. You don't really want to do that." As I looked into his eyes (BIG mistake) I could feel myself dissolving. I could feel my aspirations to go back to school and to have a career as a counselor just disappear into a black void.

I continued to assert my intentions until they were fed up with me and I was dismissed. I went home and laid in my bed and felt the black vacuum that had opened up inside me. It took a while for "me" to come back.

Now, I realize that advanced practitioners of various sorts might say, "Well, that was your ego dissolving, the part of you that was attached to a particular identity." And that may be the case. Nonetheless: 1. The ego is our local address and we need it and imo it's no one's place to decide for someone else that their ego needs dissolving, and 2. YB was using what felt like occult powers to control me for his own purposes.

If I ever get to the point where my "ego" dissolves in a healthy way into the bliss of love and grace, that will be a whole other situation."

==============

I'm so sorry you went through that. You made a very potent statement. It brings up a question that has confuddled me for a long time: If YB was a phony and a fraud, how could he also have such bizarre powers? I saw stuff that I can't deny...

One time in Gurdwara in Houston, around 1979, YB was standing up and addressing the sangat. His hands were pressed together in front of his chest, like in prayer, fingers intelocked except for his index fingers which were straight up and touching together at the tips. I saw a definite bright red glow between his index fingers, like the red glow on the finger of ET in the movie. I watched it for a long time- it wasn't a trick of the light

********

Another time, I remember walking up to the Gurdwara for a group prayer/meditation when YB was having his heart surgery. On the way up there I felt him leaning on me, hard. I mean real, heavy physical weight on my shoulder and back. I bent under that weight for over an hour, then it suddenly lifted. A couple of minutes later we got the message that the surgery was over and had been successful.

My impression of YB was that there was a dramatic change in him after that surgery. All of his classes and lectures seemed to focus entirely on money after that.

********

My husband and I knew a married couple... the wife wanted to go to school or do something (I can't remember exactly) for her career. Her husband didn't want her to. Her husband and YB hammered her for two hours until she gave in and gave up. It was a lot like what you described. Her husband actually bragged to us about how he had "broken her". It was absolutely sickening- it made me so angry!

Not long after that she left and divorced him.

********

Though I tried to deny it, I was always afraid when I was around YB, like I was in the presence of a deadly predator. He could shame me like no other... I couldn't think straight around him- my thoughts would get so confused. I realize now that I was entirely externally referenced on him. It was like the co-dependent handshake- reaching out to shake hands and saying, "Hi, you're fine. How am I?"

Did I give that power to him or did he take it? I don't know.

Violent sociopaths make me feel fear in my stomach. Demonic energy makes me quiver that way. That fear is my intuition ringing warning bells that I'm in danger. When YB made many of us feel that fear in our gut we discounted and rationalized our feelings as "being in our ego". We told ourselves he was doing it "for our own good". This is how abusers condition their victims to put up with abuse. This is how battered children and wives deny and minimize the abuser's actions- to make the situation bearable.

I think that many of us were pre-conditioned to be victimized by someone like YB, like most people in cults. But he also had something "extra" going for him. Black magic? Maybe so.

Alice Miller wrote an excellent book called "For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence"

The only times I could get him to back off from an attack on me were when I invoked the Guru. Once during a break at a tantric course he tore into me in front of everybody, accusing me of blaming the Guru for all my problems. I said, "No, that's not true. I have a lot of problems but the Guru is the only thing that's good in my life. The Guru is perfect. I don't blame the Guru for anything."

He stared at me for a few seconds, then turned to my (now ex-) husband and shouted, "YOU'RE THE PROBLEM!" ... and proceeded to demolish him in front of 300 people.

"But he (Yogi Bhajan) also had something "extra" going for him. Black magic? Maybe so."

Gursant Singh says: I think there's little doubt that YB had a black magic tantric power thing going on, it's standard for tantric yogis in India. Just how deep he was into it I can't say but it appears from the stories that he regularly used these powers to manipulate and control people.

"It (R.I.C.O.) (The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them,"

Gursant Singh says: Wow! Reading this was like a light bulb going on in my brain, I don’t know why I never remembered this before now. When Harijiwan Jr was arrested by Federal Postal inspectors in Los Angeles around 1999, we were working together at the time. HJ told me that the Federal investigators tried vigorously to make HJ confess that Yogi Bhajan and other 3HO kingpins like MSS Hari Jiwan were the leaders behind HJ's frauds. Evidently these postal inspectors based in Denver Colorado had spent months and millions of dollars investigating the telemarketing scams of 3HO. HJ further told me that after he refused to "roll over" on Yogi Bhajan, the postal inspectors told him something to the effect of "Tell your cult leader and your buddies in New Mexico and LA we're watching them."

Gursant Singh says: Do Harijiwan and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa use occult black magic on their students? Harijiwan teaches yoga with another world famous yoga teacher, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa at her Golden Bridge yoga centres in both Los Angeles and New York.Look at this nonsense on Harijiwan's facebook page: "Light Beam to the Evening Star" It should read "Beam me your money!" Harijiwan also advertises that he does "face reading" What nonsense, Harijiwan is feeding this stuff to the public in order to cast a black magic spell over them !

It is forbidden in the Sikh Reht Maryada for Sikhs to practice: “Influence of stars, Magic spells, incantations, omens, auspicious times, days & occasions, , horoscopic dispositions,” Chapter X Article XVI. Why do these 3HO Kundalini Yogis like Harijiwan teach this nonsense? Becuase it makes them piles of money!! New Age'ers want to believe in Magic & an easy way to salvation. http://www.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_four.html

Recently I’ve had a unique opportunity to meet with leading Psychiatry Medical Doctors over the last year or so. I have to thank my wife who being a Psychiatrist here in London has made this interaction with such experts in the field of Psychiatry possible.

Did Yogi Bhajan exhibit delusions of religious grandeur? During my 30 years with Yogi Bhajan and his Kundalini/tantric Yoga cult, Yogi Bhajan continually told us how we (White 3HO Sikhs) would lead humanity into some kind of “Blissful Aquarian Age”! We certainly had delusions that Yogi Bhajan would be remembered as the great “guru” who gave us Kundalini Yogic power to lead the world.

Find more discussion on my facebook page.

The conclusion I reached from my conversations with these mental health experts was that Kundalini Yoga practitioners develop psychotic behavior with delusions of religious grandeur which seem to get worse and worse as the length of time practicing KY becomes greater. For example, People like Guruka Singh and Hari Jiwan Singh who have practiced Kundalini Yoga for 40 years make more outrageous delusional statements than a novice KY Teacher Trainer practicing Kundalini Yoga.

If you watch the videos of Guruka Singh and Gurmukh Kaur you’ll readily see how they appear to be almost in some kind of hypnotic trance, they just don’t sound like normal well balanced people. Does Kundalini Yoga create delusions about “Magic Aquarian Age energy" beaming down from Jupiter to instill yogic superpowers solely in Yogi Bhajan devotees so they can lead humanity into some kind of “Blissful Aquarian Age”?
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Guruka Singh of SikhNet at Sikh Missionary Society in Southhall UK promoting Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga.Cult expert Rick Ross cautions: "..if you see some guru's picture on the wall, or religious statues in the entrance area or practice room, something more than yoga might be lurking within the instruction...A group with a hidden agenda can use meditation to download its program"

I submit that Kundalini Yoga is like an addictive drug which may seem to help people out of their depression and alcohol addictions but after time it acts in producing mental and physical side effects. Kundalini Yoga practitioners develop psychotic delusions about "Magic Aquarian Age energy" beaming down from the stars. These Yogi Bhajan cult followers then fantasize they’re super heroes leading and liberating all those who do Kundalini yoga into some kind of “New Age of Enlightenment”!
See this video of Gurmukh kaur Khalsa "Liberation Kriya" which shows clear delusional behavior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2RCNS1qvb8&feature=share

http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=336
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In my experience,the Yogi Bhajan way of smashing everyone into altered states by piling on more and more exercises, meditations and perhaps a gong meditation leaves people spacey and prone to induction into his cult. That’s probably why he (Yogi Bhajan) did it and why Kundalini Yoga teachers keep on doing it. The heavy breathing (breath of fire as Yogi Bhajan called it) techniques, loud gong sounds ringing in your ears and hours of Yogi Bhajan mantra chanting, sometimes in front of his picture, put unsuspecting people into an almost trance like state, making students more susceptible to induction into the Yogi Bhajan cult. Yogi Bhajan would have us hold our arms up for hours in some “kriya” he made up. We were so exhausted after several hours that we’d believe or accept anything Yogi Bhajan said. http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=317

Yesterday I was talking with a UK Medical Doctor about Kundalini Yoga and its effects on the human body. The Doctor explained how any exercise will make you feel happy with a sense of well-being because endorphins, namely adrenaline and nor-adrenaline, are released by the brain during heavy exercise. Doctors call these “Happy Hormones”. When Kundalini yoga practitioners say they experience an exalted sense of well-being they are merely feeling the effects of these “Happy Hormones” which are released by the brain after running or any other heavy exercise.

I ask SikhNet's Guruka Singh, "Why risk the many physical, mental and spiritual side effects of Kundalini Yoga when you can get the same benefits from other sports activities?"

Another serious side effect seems to show up in the large amount of criminal activity by Yogi Bhajan Kundalini Yoga devotees. See these links for details:

http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=302
http://www.rickross.com/reference/3ho/3ho84.html
http://www.rickross.com/reference/3ho/3ho59.html
http://www.rickross.com/reference/3ho/3ho21.html

As a practicing Sikh, I can now clearly see why the Sikh Gurus NEVER taught Kundalini or Tantric Yoga and there was a definite reason for it!! Traditional Sikh faith offers a complete spiritual path and a complete way of living a human life through recitation of Gurbani and meditating on the name of God.
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?mode=page&id=1

Yogi Bhajan drastically diverted from the teachings of the Sikh Gurus with his clap trap theories of Kundalini and tantric Yoga and now he and those who practice under Yogi are suffering for it!
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=305

Dr. Trilochan Singh, an eminent Sikh scholar and historian, after spending many months with Yogi Bhajan, revealed Yogi Bhajan’s delusions of religious grandeur as early as 1977 with his book “Sikhism and Tantric Yoga”; “He (Yogi Bhajan) sincerely believes that he can fool the ignorant American Sikhs to believe that he is the Super-Messiah of the Age, and they at least must believe that he is greater than the Sikh Gurus, and he has done what the Sikh Gurus were unable to do. We will study in detail how he (Yogi Bhajan) has built himself as the Western Pope of the Sikhs, the only Mahan Tantric in the World, and perhaps the only person who could tell so many lies about himself and make every American follower of his believe it.” http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?mode=page&id=1

Review the quotations given below from Yogi Bhajan’s lectures and read recent statements along with reviewing videos produced by Yogi Bhajan’s 3HO Kundalini Yoga disciples and decide for yourself if Kundalini Yoga produces delusions of grandeur.

Pritpal Kaur ~ "How do we use simple techniques(Kundalini Yoga)to take me quickly to my intuitive mind?" 3HOer for 40 years and lead Trainer for Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Research Institute, Pritpal Kaur is doing yoga & katcha mantras during the whole video with her back turned to Guru Sahib! She abruptly ends" with "OK" showing no respect for Wahe Guru! If this is not bad enough, She uses sacred symbols of the Sikh religion for profit & promotion of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga training nonsense. See 2:16 in the video. http://media.causes.com/1099087?s=c_feed

Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa ~ Yogi Bhajan "Liberation Kriya" “Let’s channel energy from Jupiter to our moon centers”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2RCNS1qvb8&feature=share

Harijiwan Singh Khalsa who boasts attending more Tantric Yoga classes with Yogi Bhajan than anyone else; convicted of criminal fraud in US Federal Court~ “As the Master, Yogi Bhajan tells us: “The gong is God. So it is said; so it is.” Regular listening to the gong will re-pattern your magnetic field, open you to the vastness of your own psyche, and release you from all that prevents you from living a life of complete and utter happiness.” http://www.harijiwan.com/yoga.htm
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=302

Yogi Bhajan's Chief of Protocol: MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa.The US Federal Trade Commission filed charges against Hari Jiwan for misrepresenting value, appreciation and liquidity of gemstones~ "The Master(Yogi Bhajan)later explained to me that was the way it was supposed to be as it was the beginning of the switch in Sikh leadership from the Indian community to the American Sikh yogis – recognized or not." ~ MSS Hari Jiwan Singh Khalsa in a letter to the American Sikh community dated 06/24/2011
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=324

Yogi Bhajan on the Sensory Human in the Aquarian Age: “The entire power of the human is its connection to the Universe through the psyche and the sixth sense. This is the basic point from where the Kundalini rises.” ~ Yogi Bhajan

Guruka Singh~ "Kundalini Yoga is natural. Sikhs are yogis & don’t even know it". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6C8S5XPbVU
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=341

Guruka Singh~ “The Aquarian Age isn’t just something that we started singing about in the sixties! It’s an actual measurable time period. It is an astrological age, i.e., a time period that parallels major changes in the development of the human race. Each astrological age roughly corresponds to the time taken for the vernal equinox to move through one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. As I write this, we are now less than 1000 days away from the true beginning of the Age of Aquarius.” http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=339

Guru Singh~ "Oneness awakening, your hair is like an electric circuitry."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=IH4N0NjOlzg

Yogi Bhajan declares he is greater than Sikh Gurus:"Guru Gobind Singh forgot somewhere to write that the Khalsa shall do Pooran praan tapaa. That’s the only way I can figure it out." ~ Yogi Bhajan
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=332

The following predictions are excerpts from lectures by Yogi Bhajan. http://www.rickross.com/reference/3ho/3ho18.html

Beads of Truth, 1972, "The Aura or Magnetic Field" lecture.
"Those who tune into him are tuned into HIM in return and this union is the Yoga of Awareness called Kundalini Yoga. Those who practice this will stand liberated."~ Yogi Bhajan

May 24, 1976

"The time is short; there is a lot to be done; our preparation is not adequate. I know that insanity is going to catch us. I know that humanity is going to be chewed up by the jaws of insanity and I know that I am a failure...soon brakes will be used as gas pedals; knives used to chop vegetables will commit a crime. Insanity doesn’t need a tool. Insanity is a tool. What a failure I am! I know the knowledge of Kundalini Yoga, the science of being, and what have I done? A couple thousand people is not enough. So what is left for me but to pray." ~ Yogi Bhajan

January 27, 1977

"The moon is an ethereal, auric living organic situation. There is life on the moon. They exist. They have their government and they work. But you can’t see them or feel them. One day, you will develop a sensory system and then you will feel them, and you will communicate with them, and they will communicate with you. You will say "Ahh, we came here twenty years ago and never these guys!" ~ Yogi Bhajan

" Now you say there is no life on Mars? Mars is populated...it is over-populated. The rate of production and sensuality is so heavy, and the beings--they grow so fast that they have to go and make war on all the other planets." ~ Yogi Bhajan

" There are beings on Jupiter. There is a hierarchy. Their energy and our energy interexchange in the astral body and it is highly effective." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"Sun flares-when they go backwards-are safe, but when they are pushed toward the Earth, it's like a bombardment which the Earth has to withstand." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"It is not a mystery, it's not imagination-it will come upon us soon, the flare of the sun is going to disturb the magnetic field of the Earth. You will find your hair starting to react differently&"~ Yogi Bhajan

"You will get stuck in thought. The heat form the sun flares is going to wipe out a lot of things. This will happen in the next 18 months & Humans will find it difficult to find the way." ~ Yogi Bhajan

Yogi Bhajan speaks

"What is happening is a slow, steady change in the atmosphere. Your endurance will be very low. Whether you are a yogi or not, you'll go berserk. It happened 136 years ago." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"Venus and Mars are going to be affected, so there can be misunderstandings. Don't pick these fights-they are useless, they waste your human body energy, they will make your mind impure and they will give you a lot of pain. A lot of pain." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"It will change you. Don't be surprised at people’s behavior& Don't doubt your friends, don't doubt your enemies. Don't trust your patients, don't trust your doctors & Do not depend on tomorrow. Period." ~ Yogi Bhajan

December 31, 1995 Espanola, NM

"We have from the past exactly 2000 years going through the process of impulse. The whole humanity is equal to 5.5 billion and it looks like it is going to increase...the terminal diseases have already gripped or are likely to grip one third of the total society...That’s a crushing wheel of time in which people will leave because they did not make it right to begin with." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"Now looking at life as you look at it today, 1996 is not a happy year for those who do not have spiritual discipline. Watch my words. I am saying it with very clear consciousness. I don’t want to say anything...It will have no place for people who have no spiritual discipline, and those who have spiritual discipline, they shall be rewarded as per percentage. Fact is right before our eyes, the percentage of your spiritual discipline will be your personal security and guarantee in 1996. So if we live to talk again next year, we’ll see. I do not know what will happen to you..." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"It is not that you have to worry about what I am saying, I’m telling you what is going to be. It is all beyond you. It is the time now...Anybody who lives, thinks, acts, the limited shall be limitedly suffocated to death..." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"Personal mediation, folks, is nothing but daily compound interest on the principle. You default in payment, there will be penalties. You can’t escape it." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"So, 1996 is not a bad year for spiritual people. But those who cheat shall retreat into their lower self and they shall suffer and this planet earth has nothing to offer." ~ Yogi Bhajan
Kundalini Lectures by Yogi Bhajan.

May 5, 1976

"The generations to follow those who do not seek now will seek and shall be free. This is the written destiny of God. I cannot change it, because I have not written it. Who am I to change the words of the great being? I am just a humble being." ~ Yogi Bhajan

June 6, 1976

"Sometimes you may see me look worried. When I see all of you, I do worry because I value you. You have invested 8.4 million existence’s to get this human body And then before you were allowed to be in this human body, you were purified in the third layer of consciousness of blue ether, which runs by light years. God knows how many years you were there. Then, finally, you got this human body." ~ Yogi Bhajan

January 27, 1977

"I was talking to a doctor today...and I said to him, "We are not going to cure people in the future because of medicine. Actually, a person is going to look at a person, and with mental frequency, he is gonna’ cure him." ~ Yogi Bhajan

September 19, 1977

"There is going to be a huge situation to face. November 11, 1978 is going to set the time. You will realize, people from that day on, fearfully experiencing the insanity. For those of you who do not have a systematic system to cope with themselves, there will be nothing on earth they can do." ~ Yogi Bhajan

November 30, 1977

"The majority of the people coming in the next 25 to 30 years will be totally perverted...They will undermine themselves to the extent that they will not be in a position to create balance between the two hemispheres of the brain. Forty years from now our entire medical science is going to depend on this: Is he on a gamma, on a theta, alpha, or beta wavelength of the brain, and, which is the predominant wavelength. We can then determine how to reorder the immediate recovery of the person. We can immediately understand the capacity of the person and we can also understand the consciousness of the person." ~ Yogi Bhajan

Beads of Truth, 1972, "The Aura or Magnetic Field" lecture.

"Those who sleep North-South, their electric magnetic field and the magnetic field of the earth are one. They lose their initiative, they become zero. Their magnetic field and the earth’s magnetic field are one, thus, they cannot hold the pressure of the earth’s field. Their nerves become weak. That is why you should sleep East-West." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"Those who tune into him are tuned into HIM in return and this union is the Yoga of Awareness called Kundalini Yoga. Those who practice this will stand liberated." ~ Yogi Bhajan

"A Date with Yogi Bhajan" lecture Beads of Truth 1972

"The coming children in 90 years from today will have a brain with a special development around the point of the pineal gland. They will have small cells which shall be known by the knowledgeable people as vibratory centers through which ordinary men shall communicate at long distance at the same time without physical, with their psyches and shall have effect and the reverse effect of all the knowledge of the mental process at different frequencies to relate to that great human vibratory level on which the future consciousness man shall talk and communicate. I am making a statement. You can mark it down." ~ Yogi Bhajan

Yogi Bhajan Kundalini yoga teachers will tell you false statements like "You have thousands of people practicing Kundalini Yoga with no side effects, only positive benefits."

More scientific evidence that your statement is false!

yoga & psychosis- Google search

Kundalini Yoga Psychotic Episode
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Kundalini Yoga: Just a Harmless, Physical Exercise?
Article from the Illinois Family Institute
6/7/2011 4:30:00 PM
By Claris Van Kuiken

This summer, classes in Kundalini Yoga have been made available through the New Lenox Community Park District to members of the growing Illinois community. The ad in the park district's brochure assures the participant that through the use of movement, sound current, breath and meditation, Kundalini Yoga "brings a greater feeling of well-being and happiness" and can "heal your mind and body." While the mission of the New Lenox park district Board of Trustees is to provide "safe recreational opportunities" for residents, the ad does not make one aware of the potential physical, mental and spiritual dangers many yoga instructors warn about.
Such a promise of healing carries great responsibility and necessarily raises a few questions. What is Kundalini Yoga? Where did it come from? Why is it used? What are the risks involved? Who is the instructor?
Yoga is an ancient Hindu/occult spiritual discipline that can be traced back to the Indo-European people who lived in India during the 2nd millennium, B.C. Their religion was Vedism, which evolved into Hinduism. The Vedic sages have been credited for the development of yoga. The practice can be found in the Upanishads, which comprise the last part of the oldest religious Indian writings recorded, the Vedas, and in the Hindu favorite, the Bhagavad Gita, composed by the revered sage, Vyasa. These writings are claimed to have been "channeled" by the sages who were considered "seers," god-men with super-human powers capable of dematerializing and shape-shifting. It's assumed that masters of yoga possess occult powers such as telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, levitation, and mediumistic abilities.
Hinduism made a splash in the United States at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, IL where Swami Vivekananda extolled its virtues as he called for the religions of the world to unite under its philosophy. In the 1920's, the Theosophical Society, co-founded by the famed Russian occultist, Helena P. Blavastky, based its headquarters in Wheaton, IL making a combination of Hinduism and other occult/mystical Eastern religious literature more available to Westerners.
During the 60's and 70's, a surge of gurus (men claiming to be gods) traveled from India to America on a mission to convert the West to Hinduism. Along with its companion, Transcendental Meditation, taught by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, yoga was quickly sold to Westerners as a great way to reduce stress, build self-esteem, heal the mind and body, and experience the interconnectedness of all creation.
Gurus know yoga is much more than a physical exercise. Those unaware of the spiritual nature of yoga, however, have often been subtly initiated into Eastern/occultic mysticism. Over a period of time, their world-view begins to change, and gradually, a different view of who God is, begins to emerge. As former Indian guru Rabi Maharaj explained, "There is no Hinduism without Yoga and there is no Yoga without Hinduism."
The Sanskrit word for yoga is "yuj," meaning "union." It's through the practice of yoga that Hindus believe they can experience their own divinity (called Self-realization or God-realization) as they unite with Brahman - the universal, divine, energy force found within all creation they call "God." Our problem, complains the guru, is that we forgot who we are. Yoga is the path used to remembering, and eventually becoming, our Higher Self (god), breaking a continuous cycle of karma (cause & effect) and reincarnation (deaths & rebirths).
So what is Kundalini Yoga? Often associated with Tantra Yoga, Kundalini Yoga is considered the fast way to enlightenment (becoming "god"). Laura Kalinski, yoga instructor for the New Lenox Park District, follows the teachings of the now deceased guru, Yogi Bhajan, who considered Kundalini Yoga a Raj Yoga (a royal path), because it combines all the traditional "eight limbs" of yoga together. The eight limbs are: moral restraint, self restraint through study and devotion to "God," postures, breath control, sensory inhibition, concentration - "fixing one's attention upon a selected object, whether a mantra or graphic representation of a deity," meditation - a "deepening of concentration marked by a progressive unification of consciousness," and finally, ecstasy - "one's complete merging with the object of meditation" (Tantra, The Path of Ecstasy, Georg Feuerstein, Shambala Pub., Inc., Boston, MA. 1998, pg. 124).
Kundalini (Sanskrit-kund), means "coiled" or "serpent" and represents divine, psychic energy called "serpent power." It is seen in the form of a coiled, female snake (the goddess aspect of the Divine) nestled at the base of the spine. For Hindus, who worship over 300 million gods, the aim of Kundalini Yoga is to reunite the goddess Shakti with her lover, Lord Shiva, god of destruction and creation, bringing about a state of bliss and enlightenment. This is the "bliss" the yoga practitioner is said to experience after raising the kundalini energy through seven chakras (energy centres) located from the base of the spine up the spinal column to the crown chakra, the top of the head. Psychic powers are purportedly acquired when a person opens their sixth chakra, the third eye-just above the middle of the eyebrows.
The body and hand positions (asanas & mudras) performed during yoga also have significance behind them. For example, the Cobra asana is taken from the movement of the snake which is revered in India. The Eagle asana is used to focus on the sixth chakra, helping one to attain psychic/occult powers. The Garuda mudra, "mystical bird," is used to enable communication with the spirit world. The Mantangi mudra represents the Hindu Goddess of Peace, and so forth.
Instructors use "sound current" in the form of mantras--chants said repeatedly to bring about a "higher" state of consciousness. The Adi mantra, Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, is chanted a number of times to "tune in" oneself at the beginning of each Kundalini Yoga class. Ong Namo means, I bow to the subtle divine wisdom. Guru De Namo means, I bow to the Divine or Infinite Teacher within. Yogi Bhajan taught, "God is your inner consciousness." In a real sense, you are worshiping yourself. Chanting mantras are said to have penetrating power in the Cosmos connecting you to the deceased Bhajan and past Master Teachers in what is called The Golden Chain, providing divine guidance to the practitioner.
The chanting of mantras, breathing techniques, deep concentration and meditation in Kundalini Yoga brings one into an altered state of consciousness. This is a form of self-hypnosis, the roots of which lie in the occult.
The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis lists over fifty possible dangers from hypnosis in their American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis (Volume 31, Number 1, July 1988, pg. 46). It's no coincidence that many listed are the same risks yoga instructors warn about. Dangers of these practices include: severe headaches, depression, uncontrolled weeping or laughter, spasmodic jerking, feelings of intense heat or cold, electricity passing through the body and itching or crawling sensations, memory impairment, hallucinations, identity crisis, mental illness/insanity, suicidal thoughts/suicide, anxiety/panic attacks, heart palpitations, heart attack and death. On the other hand, one may experience intense feelings of a beautiful oneness with the universe, infinite love, and ecstatic bliss.
In his book, The Awakening of Kundalini," Gopi Krishna warned that prana (energy or life-force), can lead to blissful experiences, but if it isn't "properly attuned" can lead to feelings of fear, depression, anxiety and even "horrors of madness." He attributes years of unbearable, burning physical pain and mental anguish, to the practice of Kundalini Yoga and revealed: "I have passed through almost all the states of different mediumistic, psychotic and other types of mind; for some time I was hovering between sanity and insanity" (E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1975, pgs. 96, 97, 124).
Writing about Kundalini Yoga, Theosophist/occultist/medium, Alice Bailey, noted in her work, A Treatise on White Magic, that "only one in a thousand aspirants" are at the stage to begin such a practice and that may be "too optimistic." She warned it could "produce insanity" and made clear "it is a most dangerous undertaking when induced before the mechanism is ready to deal with it" (Lucis Publishing Company, New York NY, 1951, pgs. 590-591).
Well-known spiritual teacher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, suffered for years with excruciating headaches, visions, convulsions, shuddering and moaning, "much as a person possessed" - but called this "an inward cleansing" (Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience, Harper SanFranciso, 1991, pg. 318).
Properly practiced or not, these and many other dangers exist, including spiritual ones. Besides the possibility of having one's worldview and definition of God altered, there is also the very real possibility of seeing, being oppressed by, and/or possessed by dis-embodied spirits (Christians call them demons). This is a well-known phenomenon and frequent occurrence to those deeply involved in the occult.
El Collie, a widely-recognized practitioner of Kundalini Yoga, wrote of her experiences with "outrageous telepathy, clairvoyance, and visitations from entities from other realms" in her online book, Branded by the Spirit. Collie, who saw herself as a shaman/priestess (witchdoctor) and a "conduit for the Spirit," described Kundalini as the Goddess who came to her when she "least expected it, pouring herself into her "through megavolts of energy" that turned her body into an "electrified living temple" (http://www.elcollie.com/st/chap1.html). Brilliant flashes of white light are common during a Kundalini awakening, said Collie, and are "often perceived in the presence of spirit guides or during divine visitations" (http://www.elcollie.com/st/light.html).
While some practitioners claim to see "Christ" or other "angelic" spiritual beings, others have had haunting, terrifying experiences they probably wish they could forget. Carole, a friend of author John Weldon, took up Hatha yoga for health reasons. "The night after receiving her mantra, Carole was visited by a spirit being who claimed to be the spirit of Swami Rama himself...She experienced wonderful powerful forces and energies, while thoughts entered her mind with a magnetic-like force." Carole believed she was communicating with the spirit world and had found God. But, after two weeks of meditation, "Carole became engulfed in a nightmare of utter dread and terror." The beings she thought were angelic turned demonic and viciously attacked her (see http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/new-age/NA1101W1htm).
There are many accounts like the ones I've provided above by those who are both for and against the occult practice.
New Lenox yoga instructor, Laura Kalinski (given the spiritual name, Balprem Kaur), is a member of 3HO - the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization founded in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan, a guru from India who called himself the "Lord of the Heavens." Bhajan boasted about his occult powers and expertise in the occult practices of numerology, astrology, tarot cards, and more. He called for 3HO members to bring in the New Age of Aquarius saying, "The time has come not to search for God, but to be God." New Agers believe the Age of Pieces (the Judeo-Christian age of the West) must die out in order to bring peace and wholeness to the earth they worship.
While a Sikh by birth, Bhajan was denounced as a heretic by orthodox Sikhs for incorporating Hindu idols, occult numerology, fire pujas (sacred rituals making offerings to an image of a deity), and deviant sexual practices (Tantric Yoga) into the Sikh religion, all of which are strictly forbidden.
Some see the late, white-bearded, white-robed Bhajan as a great spiritual Master, but former members of his inner circle, including his top secretary, accused him of being a cult leader who had dictator-like control over his followers using psychological techniques, manipulation, fraud and deceit for money, power, and sexual favors.
Longtime member of 3HO, Gursant Singh, wrote these revealing words about Bhajan: "In his Journal Kundalini Research Institute of 3H0 and a number of his other papers, he leaves his followers in no doubt that he is the prophet of the new age with such mighty spiritual powers that he controls their destinies, their auras and their magnetic fields. He is their Master, their Spiritual Guide and their Guru. Without a living guru they cannot know the truth, and out of all the living gurus, he can reveal the truth best; and out of all his pictures, they must meditate on one picture of him..." (http://www.gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=225). Bhajan requested his devotees to meditate on his picture from 15 minutes to 4 hours a day.
On her Manhattan, IL website, Kalinski admits: "Kundalini Yoga is the yoga of awareness as taught by Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D, Master of Kundalini Yoga." It's not surprising to see statutes of a Hindu deity inside the Yoga 360 Studio and Spa in Frankfort, IL where Kalinski also works with Ram Nam Kaur. The instructors at the Studio acknowledge: "Yoga is a gift from ancient India, embraced by the West" and "is a practice which has the potential for deep transformation that both includes and extends beyond physical fitness" (http://www.yoga-360.com/aboutus/yogagivesback.html).
Cult expert Rick Ross cautions: "..if you see some guru's picture on the wall, or religious statues in the entrance area or practice room, something more than yoga might be lurking within the instruction...A group with a hidden agenda can use meditation to download its program" (http://www.cultnews.com/?cat=2).
Claris Van Kuiken is an author, researcher, free-lance writer and speaker. She has been a guest on Christian talk radio and lectured around the country, including Canada.
3HO is increasingly trying to make getting certified as a Kundalini Yoga teacher a more and more costly and drawn-out process. Level I begets Level II which begets Level III (where I believe according to them do you only began to be able to call yourself a "yoga teacher") which will certainly beget a Level IV, bleeding you out of tens of thousands of dollars and months and years along the way.

http://www.yogadangers.com/
According to renowned psychoanalyst Carl Jung:
"One often hears and reads about the dangers of Yoga, particularly of the ill-reputed Kundalini Yoga. The deliberately induced psychotic state, which in certain unstable individuals might easily lead to a real psychosis, is a danger that needs to be taken very seriously indeed. These things really are dangerous and ought not to be meddled with in our typically Western way. It is a meddling with Fate, which strikes at the very roots of human existence and can let loose a flood of sufferings of which no sane person ever dreamed. These sufferings correspond to the hellish torments of the chönyid state..." C. G. Jung, Introduction to The Tibetan book of the Dead *
The purpose of this website is to provide information and links to articles and websites that describe the many physical, psychological, and spiritual dangers associated with Yoga, Transcendental Mediation (TM), and especially practices that are used to bring about a "Kundalini Awakening." As you investigate the sites and articles referenced on this website you will see that the purpose of yoga is not physical exercise but a path to spiritual "awakening" and "enlightenment" through union with the "divine." In order to bring about this "enlightenment" the overarching goal of yoga is to prepare oneself for the awakening of the spiritual energy or "kundalini" that supposedly lies dormant at the base of the spine. When the awakening of kundalini or "serpent energy" occurs, the consequences can be perilous and last for years.

See more photos and discussion on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108156&id=1214270541&l=5a22781e63

Before addressing Gurumustuk Singh of SikhNet’s comments I’d like to say I’m eternally grateful to Guru Sahib for directing Dr. Trilochan Singh to write “Sikhism and Tantric Yoga” which helped open my eyes to authentic Sikhism after lying in slumber for 35 years under the influence of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini & tantric yoga spell.
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?mode=page&id=1

I pray to Wahe Guru that my comments here may also help my brothers and sisters still in 3HO to see the truth and enter the mainstream of life as authentic Sikhs.

Find us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128819930547728

Kundalini Yoga - Against my Religion? (SikhNet Video)
http://www.sikhnet.com/video/kundalini-yoga-against-my-religion

Wajinder Singh says:
bhai sahib jeeo.
your interpretaton of Gurbani to validify the use of yoga in Sikhism is WRONG.

Gurumustuck says:
"Kundalini Yoga is a very positive tool that anyone can use (Sikh or not). Countless thousands of people have come on to this spiritual path as a result of starting to practice this....,"
[image]

Gursant Singh:
If Gurumustuck is referring to people coming to Yogi Bhajan's spiritual path as a result of Kundalini Yoga then maybe we can say that at most five thousand people have adopted a form of Sikhism which in many ways is contrary to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. From my 30 years’ experience in Yogi Bhajan's form of Sikhism, I found it to have some good results but to a large degree produced greed, lust, anger (mostly of the passive aggressive form) and selfishness in the 3HOers who practiced it. Look at the current situation in 3HO where they are fighting now over the millions made by Yogi Bhajan's use of the sacred Sikh symbols and Shabads to sell breakfast cereal and Yogi Tea. You must agree that if you look at one side of 3HO in this dispute you see greedy people and on the other side you see angry closed minded individuals.

I submit that Kundalini Yoga is like an addictive drug which may seem to make people better but after time it acts in producing mental and physical side effects like delusions about the " Magic Aquarian Age energy" beaming down from Jupiter and the stars to liberate people who do Kundalini yoga on the banks of the Ganga river! See this video of Gurmukh kaur which shows clear delusional behavior.

The fact is there was every reason why the Sikh Gurus designed Sikhism in the way they did, as a complete spiritual path and a complete way of living a human life. Yogi Bhajan diverted from the teachings of the Gurus with his clap trap theories of Kundalini Yoga and now he and his 3HO cult are paying for it!

Gurumustuck says:
"Kundalini Yoga is a very positive tool that anyone can use (Sikh or not). Countless thousands……. overcome addictions, healed themselves, lifted their spirits and become more healthy happier people." [image]

Gursant Singh:
Well NO, if you examine the actual hard numbers of people who claim to have benefited from KY then we must acknowledge that maybe a few thousand “THINK” they've seen health benefits and feel their life is happier as a result of practicing Kundalini Yoga. It may appear there are large numbers of Yogi Bhajan KY beneficiaries but this is deceptive because 3HO members have high skills in technology and marketing, therefore their numbers seem larger. Witness the SikhNet phenomena. I would also say that Kundalini Yoga can be dangerous and many many people have actually reported on the internet that their lives have been affected in a very negative and destructive way by Yogi Bhajan and his Kundalini/Tantric Yoga, but of course Gurumustuck and SikhNet refuse to address this and only block people who want to discuss the issue. I ask Gurumustuck "What about the thousands who became disenchanted with Yogi Bhajan's form of Sikhism and left the Sikh faith completely?” Many people in 3HO who could afford to leave, left Yogi Bhajan and his KY cult, while the ones whose livelihood depended on teaching Kundalini Yoga and the 3HO business's like SikhNet, Golden Temple foods and Akal security stayed with the appearance of wearing Sikh Bana but many only attached to Kundalini Yoga for money: Witness Kartar Khalsa and this whole group of 3HO leaders whom Yogi Bhajan trusted above all. This group of 3HOers are now cutting their hair and leaving Sikhi for another guru. Out of the thousands that left 3HO, the fact remains that a mere hand full (maybe 10 people) remained Sikhs! Remember Yogi Bhajan's favorite saying "Fake it and you'll make it." This statement tells all there is to say about the benefits of YB's Kundalini Yoga!
The fact remains; there was every reason why the Sikh Gurus designed Sikhism in the way they did, as a complete spiritual path and a complete way of living a human life. Yogi Bhajan diverted from the teachings of the Gurus with his clap trap theories of Kundalini Yoga and now he and his 3HO cult are paying for it!
http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php?id=305
[image]

I have been participating in a forum with many former and current followers of Yogi Bhajan at these links:

They ask some very good questions about Yogi Bhajan and his style of Kundalini Yoga:

http://forums.delphiforums.com/Kamallarose/messages?msg=1299.37

Discussion on facebook too:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202926366399312

"does not mean that Kundalini Yoga is fake"

Tell you what, show me a history of YB style Kundalini Yoga that has a source other than YB himself and I will personally apologize to you on this forum or any other of your choice. It's not KY that is the issue. It is the many, many untruths that surround it including the well publicized lie that it came from the Sikh Gurus.

"You cannot take that away from YB or 3HO"

I can't speak for anyone else here but I know that I am not trying to. All I am asking for is truth. Truth about the sources of KY; truth about the Mahan Tantric nonsense; truth about YB and his activities with women other than his wife; truth about the fact that few if any of those in 3HO who carry the last name Khalsa are truly Khalsa.

"They have come to heal the planet."

Well, no. They may claim that but, in actual fact, 3HO exists to promote the myth of YB as an all powerful entity.

KY and the entire 3HO body of teaching and the YB cult are inexorably entwined. Few have even bothered to try and separate them; it is just assumed that they are mutually empowering.

How can the earth be healed when the dysfunctionality of 3HO is what sustains it? In order to progress spiritually (according to them) it is necessary to surrender to the Bhajan cult.

This projection - "They have come to heal the planet" - is along the same lines as "the USA will be fine just as soon as everyone votes liberal (or conservative). It's based in wishful thinking and not reality.

"God is the only one you should be worshiping."

Again I cannot speak for anyone else here but I believe that most, if not all, of the regular posters here who believe in God worship Him/Her; certainly not a corrupt hypocrite.

BTW I have been spending time with a brother who was with "The Master"
for several years. He tells me that one day he was alone with YB and YB said "I am the most corrupt man on this planet". Nothing like truth to set you free.

It is the 3HO people who are worshiping YB. The proof is readily available on the internet and Gursant has done an excellent job in posting the pictures to prove it.

"Has the acid fried your brain so much that you have no beauty left in your heart to appreciate the grace that God has granted you through YB and Kundalini Yoga? How sick and victim-like is it for you to come on here and whine and complain about a man who brought peace, love, and happiness to your dark world?"

Any Grace that has been granted by the Akaal Purkh to me has come through Guru Nanak Sahib, his successors and of course, my Guru, Siri Guru Granth Sahib.

I have said here before and I will say again: I believe in truth. Why do 3HO people not allow free discussion about YB, the history of KY and the nature of YB style Sikhism? It is because they do not want the truth to come out.

"man who brought peace, love, and happiness to your dark world?"

You forgot hypocrisy, megalomania, serial abuse of women and a lot of other things.

And my world is not dark because I have the light of Guru Nanak Sahib embodied in SGGS. I need not worship any man

1440.6 in reply to 1440.5
The hardest thing to fight is the Kundalini Crack effect. Have you ever chanted or sung songs full out for a couple of hours straight? It gets you high - not a bad thing by itself. But when you add in the Kundalini Crack, heavy yoga exercise, and when you hook people's yearnings and prayers and desperation so that they are crying out to God...it is easy to induct them into the Gurunam cult.

They believe they are having all sorts of wild and wonderful experiences because of him.

1299.39 in reply to 1299.34

"Projecting your own insecurities of lack onto YB is pitiful. Have some respect for someone that introduced you to Guru Nanak and helped you stop smoking dirt grass and dropping acid tabs all day long. Has the acid fried your brain so much that you have no beauty left in your heart to appreciate the grace that God has granted you through YB and Kundalini Yoga? How sick and victim-like is it for you to come on here and whine and complain about a man who brought peace, love, and happiness to your dark world? Now that he is gone, you have nothing to show for but bitterness and blame. Keep up or stay wacko..."
=========================================
I'm an outsider, have never attended an ashram , belonged to a religious group, etc -- I read the reference Gursant gave to you. I have read the public accounts of yogi bhahan's empire and its ongoing dissolution. What it boils down to is FOLLOW THE MONEY. YB died a billionaire. He accumulated that wealth thru other's hard efforts and sacrifices. He profited immensely from the only resource that many of his disciples were able to to give- Time. He lived and leeched off the kindness of others. .... "I have your children".
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Appears to me you may be the one doing the projecting. Those are serious claims you introduced to disparage Gursant. Did you learn that from your controller? Do you have any admissible evidence for those claims? So far, none of my inquiries into the more serious assertions of true-believers from the yogi camp have been answered with verifiable replies.

There is a wealth of information on this forum. I encourage you (if you haven't already) to go wandering through the archives here and take some time to read through parts of them. What we often discuss here are serious matters relating to YB and 3HO. In my opinion "being human" and "not being perfect" are appropriate terms for many things, but not the things which are amply documented to have been done by Yogi Bhajan such as sexual assault, physical assault, breaking up families and couples, and making money by instructing those devoted to him to commit felonies.

These things do matter. As you learn more and more about the "inner history" of 3HO, you will see that more often than not, those closest to YB were the most corrupt, and the current scandals and lawsuits have erupted as a result of YB's corruption, not as some aberration.

These things are not in the past. Many women sexual assaulted by YB are still around today, damaged by their experiences and also damaged by the truth not coming to light and not having their stories acknowledged. There are many people who have not spoken to their children, former spouse, sibling, or parent, for years or sometimes decades because YB split them apart, or they were so blindly attached to 3HO that they were willing to cut ties with their families.

These things do not need to be "let go of." Many of YB's senior students are now making themselves out to be gurus in their own right, setting the stage for many of the same abuses that occurred in the 1960s-1990s to happen all over again with a new set of faces.

I have no doubt that you have had positive and wonderful experiences. In my opinion, the similar experience I myself have had with Kundalini Yoga were caused by the same thing that made so many 3HO'ers "high" with the experience of living in ashrams in the late 60s and early 70s. The earnest desire of a spiritual seeker is a powerful force, made more powerful when many seekers of a like mind and intention get together.

Unfortunately, this desire is also very easily and cruelly exploited by flawed humans who put themselves out to the public as spiritual masters. The experiences we talk about on this forum have their parallels with many other groups. If you are interested, the memoir "Cartwheels in a Sari" by a former member of Sri Chinmoy's group, is a wonderful place to start with gaining comparisons and context.

To say that problems with YB and 3HO were problems with "personality" are missing the point.

There's no need to repeat the laundry list of things YB did, but I will add this. When students of YB got close enough to see what was really going on behind the curtain, one of three things happened.

1. Many people were disgusted with the hypocrisy and lying, and got out and left. (This is why you had a mass exodus of people from 3HO in the early 80s and the Premka scandal came to light.)
2. In a classic display of cognitive dissonance, many people ignored the troubling things they saw and doubled-down on their zealous commitment to 3HO and YB. (And to be blunt, if your family were true-believers and you had already lost decades of your life, you may have had your reasons to ignore everything.)
3. Many of those close to YB saw the corruption and hypocrisy of YB and took it as a license to stay on the inside and start acting corrupt themselves (often with YB's encouragement and twisted logic).

This is why several of the male KY teachers you mentioned in LA are notorious for cheating on their wives and/or sleeping with students. Hey, if The Master® cheated on his wife and had his harem, why not you? After YB used his students as unpaid grunt labor in his businesses to make his own fortune, it's no surprise that a place like Golden Bridge will fill its staff with doe-eyed "seva" people who work normal jobs there for no money because it's all, you know, so spiritual, and when they're no longer useful, they get dumped out by Golden Bridge for a fresh batch of people who think they are getting some karmic benefit by sweeping the floors and manning the cash registers of a for-profit business.

You may have had your own experiences with many people in 3HO, but they are just that, your own experi

Post reply

I have been participating in a forum with many former and current followers of Yogi Bhajan. A lady by the name of Milenka posted there and says she is participating in the Yogi Bhajan Kundalini Yoga teacher training and wants her money back. Milenka says among other things, "I don't like the teachers. For example, one of them visited us to demonstrate asanas. His teaching methods had a strong sexual vibe. I was suprised by the fact that some of the students flirted with him and he flirted back. I thought it was sickening." Milenka's entire post is below and you may view the whole thread at:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/Kamallarose/messages?msg=1713.4

Milenka says:

Hello!

I have participated on the teacher training 1, and would like to quit wihout losing my money to 3HO.

We have been trying to create room for open discussion, but obviously it is not possible. Our teacher told us she does know about Yogi Bhajan's history, but doesn't care because she has gotten a lot from the training.
Well, I don't want to be part of this anymore.

It is little bit difficult to write this. I simply cannot put everything here. I haven't been writing about these things and it sure feels weird!

I've been participating now for over a year. I haven't attended the classes since last august.

First of all, I don't like the fact that they charge us huge amounts of money for "spiritual training". I thought there would have been a lot more to learn. I'm suprised I passed the final exam without actually reading the books.

I don't like the teachers. For example, one of them visited us to demonstrate asanas. His teaching methods had a strong sexual vibe. I was suprised by the fact that some of the students flirted with him and he flirted back. I thought it was sickening.

When we had our feedback after the exam, no-one had written any comments about him - even though students were talking about his behaviour behind his back. Our teacher told us she's impressed by the fact that everyone "falls in love" with him, and he can "handle it" by not getting intimate with anyone. I didn't think it was that simple. I thought he was consciously pushing this sexual energy towards us, asking about womens wet dreams etc., trying to get a hold of the group by doing that. The majority of our group is women.
Another thing is that I don't think we got enough information on the asanas. One of the students started asking about the thing, and they replied that we have to attend another class that concentrates on asanas. And pay for it, obviously. The student said she thinks it's irresponsible to start teaching these things if we get just one weekend to learn everything. There are even students who cannot perform the asanas themselves! How can they be aware of how to pass them forward? She didn't get any sympathy or real answers, what she got was mean looks and jokes. And suddenly she was the last one who got food served.
There is one girl in a group who's a lesbian, and it has been really uncomfortable to see the effects on her - after she read the books "humanology"-part.
I don't appreciate the competitive atmosphere, the power play, the authority that are teacher represents and the power she uses socially, I don't like the fact that peoples personal lives are not respected, there is no conversation, that they gather information about us and give as personal names and horoscopes and everyone's been judged by Yogi Bhajan's methods.
I feel my bubbliness, my personal strenghts and talkativeness, boldness and presence have been suffocated during this year and a half. It is weird, because I'm a singer and have never felt uncomfortable with performing. But for a long time I've felt that I simply cannot and don't want to take responsibility on something like this. I turn into a mouse when I have to go up there and teach. I don't want to tell about kundalini yoga to people, at least not this group..
I'm interested in practising some kind of form of kundalini yoga, and luckily I have found a lot of other versions and done some research. There's just so much vanity and useless life style yoga here with all its products and business.
The sad thing is I'm not the only one who has been complaining. Half or our group has been feeling really weird and uncomfortable. Everyone passed the final exam, but some have felt anxious even after it. And some feel the teacher training was full of ####, but that they have to start teaching because the teacher training has taken a lot of money and a lot of energy...
What I noticed was that my self-expression has suffered, there's a limp in my throat when I go there and come back. I have done a terrible crime against myself by not opening my mouth. Then again, it is not the right place for me and probably nothing good would come out of it if I would start to express my opinions. It is little bit too late for it now. I just want to get out of this mess and I want to gain my self-respect and confidence back again. And write a decent feed-back to them without offending anyone too much, but with clearly expressing myself.
During our summer retreats sadhana I felt really strongly that I'm not a part of this group, I don't have to be, and I can see the good intentions and idealism in them, I know there's a conciousness or a state of mind that overcomes all these silly little details, but I also felt I don't have to sacrifice myself or my income or my personality in order to get spiritual upliftment and pay for it. It also makes me sad, but on the other hand, there's nothing sentimental to it. It is simply practical.
I live in Europe, and I think there's not a lot of people who know about what happened and happens around Yogi Bhajan. It has been really hard to live with this. I have been avoiding the whole group.
The sad thing is I have signed my name on a piece of paper. I wanted to ask these thing from someone else, because I'm afraid it will be really difficult to try to get out of this mess and asking help from our teacher.

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NPR's ” Fresh Air” interview with New York Times science writer William Broad who was talking about his new book "The Risks And Rewards Of Practicing Yoga".