Sikh NewsNet report, ..." Yogi Bhajan's dharma, which is considered a cult by at least two US experts..."Akal Takhat committee appoints Yogi Bhajan's son-in-law, Satpal Singh Khalsa/Kohli as convener.

by Gursant Singh , Yuba City California USA, Thursday, September 12, 2013, 00:14 (3872 days ago) @ Gursant Singh

Sikh NewsNet report on Akal Takhat committee starring Yogi Bhajan's son-in-law, Satpal Singh Khalsa/Kohli. 3HO is described as a controversial sect that has been labelled as a heretical cult: "Daljit Singh also questioned Satpal Singh Khalsa’s appointment to the committee. He is the late Yogi Harbhajan Singh Khalsa’s son-in-law and also a representative of his dharma, which is considered a cult by at least two US experts. By definition, a cult is a group of people with heretically different and schismatic beliefs from those of an established group, often with extreme devotion to its founders, and lives outside of conventional society, usually under the direction of a charismatic leader.

Yogi Bhajan’s dharma was founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, and has many practices rejected by Sikhs, which include following another guru, Yogi Bhajan, practicing white-tantric, kundalini and other yoga, establishing a different rehit maryada, forming a ministry and engaging in ritualism.

Yogi Bhajan “…created a new culture of Sikhi as founded by Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs,” his Web site, 3HOhistory.com, says.

Guru Terath Singh Khalsa, his lawyer and spokesman, told Time Magazine in 1977 that Yogi Bhajan was "the equivalent of the Pope." According to the article, “The kind of Sikhism preached by Bhajan… is far different from that practiced by 10 million Indians.”

His organization, 3HO (Happy, Holy, Healthy Organization) and Sikh Dharma, appear on a list of cults identified by the Cult Awareness and Information Center.

Cult expert Rick A. Ross called Yogi Bhajan an "absolute authoritarian figure,” in a 2004 obituary written in the New York Times.

“Members of Yogi Bhajan's group claim to be Sikhs. However, according to mainstream members of the religion, by adhering to the doctrine of Yogi Bhajan, they are violating more traditional Sikh teachings,” wrote cult expert, Steven Hassan, on his Huffington Post blog. “Yogi Bhajan's teachings are closer to a synthesis of Kundalini yoga, tantric and New Age practices than anything originating from Sikh teachings.”

http://www.sikhnn.com/headlines/2632/akaal-takhat-forms-committee-represent-us-sikhs