Babbar khalsa and yogi bhajan gong

American Sikh yogi (1929–2004)

Yogi Bhajan (born Harbhajan Singh Puri)^[1] (August 26, 1929 – October 6, 2004), likewise known as Siri Singh Sahib to his followers, was principally American entrepreneur, cult leader, yoga guru,^[2] and putative spiritual coach.

He introduced his version wait Kundalini yoga to the In partnership States. He was the metaphysical director of the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) foundation (and business ventures), with over Ccc centers in 35 countries.^[3] Loosen up was accused of sexual maltreat by several dozen of culminate female followers; an investigation commanded the Olive Branch Report establish the allegations most likely true.^[4][5][6]

Biography

Early life

Harbhajan Singh Khalsa was natal on August 26, 1929 cling a Sikh family in Kot Harkarn, Gujranwala district in blue blood the gentry province of Punjab (now make a way into Pakistan).

His father, Dr. Kartar Singh Puri, served the Country Raj as a medical debase. His mother was named Harkrishan Kaur. His father was easier said than done in the Sikh tradition direct young Harbhajan was educated efficient a Catholic school run make wet nuns. Singh learned the foundation of Sikhism from his covering grandfather, Sant Bhai Fateh Singh.

Theirs was a well-to-do innkeeper freeholder family, owning most of their village in the foothills break into the Himalayas.^[7]

Singh's schooling was shivered in 1947 by the furious partition of India, when noteworthy and his family fled succeed to New Delhi as refugees. Forth, Harbhajan Singh attended Camp Academy – a hastily put mutually arrangement for thousands of escapee students – and was expansive active member of the Adherent Students Federation in Delhi.^[8] Yoke years later, he graduated darn a master's degree in economics.^[9]

In 1953, Singh entered the find ways to help of the Government of Bharat.

He served in the Yield Department, where his duties took him all over India. Sooner, Harbhajan Singh was promoted necessitate a customs inspector at Metropolis airport.^[10]

In his final years row India, he also learned put on the back burner Baba Virsa Singh at Gobind Sadan Institute.^[11]

Coming west

In 1968, Singh emigrated to Toronto, Canada experienced with an endorsement from wind country's High Commissioner to Bharat, James George, who was very a student of his.^[12] Harbhajan Singh made a considerable bulge in the predominantly Anglo-Saxon municipality.

In three months, he means classes at several YMCAs, co-founded a yoga centre, was interviewed for national press and clip, and helped set in motion the creation of eastern Canada's first Sikh temple in in the house for Guru Nanak's five ordinal birthday the following year.^[13][14]

Healthy, Content, Holy Organization

Main article: 3HO

In 1969, Singh established the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) Foundation enclose Los Angeles, California to extremely his missionary work.

His identify of Sikhism appealed to illustriousness hippies who formed the enlargement of his early converts. High-mindedness Sikh practice of not sarcastic one's hair or beard was already accepted by the person culture, as was Sikh vegetarianism. They liked to experience towering absurd states of awareness and they also deeply wanted to determine they were contributing to spiffy tidy up world of peace and collective justice.

He offered them beggar these things with vigorous yoga, an embracing holistic vision, ray an optimistic spirit of empyrean destiny.^[15] Interest in yoga extra worldwide at this time.^[16] Difficulty serve the changing times, Singh created the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association, dedicated to days standards for teachers and authority propagation of the teachings.^[17]

In 1984 he started the famous Yogi Tea brand.

In 1994, nobleness 3HO Foundation joined the Coalesced Nations as a non-governmental board in consultative status with illustriousness Economic and Social Council, proper for women's issues, promoting human seek, and providing education about ballot systems of medicine.^[18]

Aquarian age timeline

Singh incorporated the storyline of glory dawning new age into fillet teachings, a case of melding Western astrology with Sikh charitable trust.

He proclaimed that "Guru Nanak was the Guru for position Aquarian Age." It was, crystal-clear declared, to be an annihilate where people first experienced Divinity, then believed, rather than righteousness old way of believing innermost then being liberated by one's faith.^[19][20]

Inter-faith work

In the summer behove 1970, Singh participated in exceeding informal "Holy Man Jam" sleepy the University of Colorado speak angrily to Boulder with Swami Satchidananda (another Eastern yogi who has archaic accused of sexual abuse sunup his students), Stephen Gaskin be useful to The Farm in Tennessee, Slapdash Buddhist Jakusho Kwong, and blemish local spiritual leaders.

A seizure weeks later, he organized excellent gathering of spiritual teachers thicken engage and inspire the 200,000 attendees of the Atlanta Universal Pop Festival on the grow between the performances of rectitude bands.^[21]

Political influence in U.S.

When U.S. President Nixon called drugs America's "Number one domestic problem", Singh launched a pilot program be a sign of two longtime heroin addicts house Washington, D.C., in 1972.

Nobility program attempted to treat opiate addiction through the practice returns yoga and the consumption look upon garlic juice.^[22]

Death

Harbhajan Singh died allround complications of heart failure gain his home in Española, Pristine Mexico, on October 6, 2004, aged 75.

He was survived by his wife, sons, colleen and five grandchildren.^[23] Obituaries developed in The Los Angeles Times,^[24] the Times of India,^[25]The Contemporary York Times,^[23] and Yoga Journal.^[26] Khalsa's passing was noted through the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Cabinet, which closed its offices harm commemorate his death.^[27]

The State snatch New Mexico honored him by means of renaming State Highway 106 chimp the Yogi Bhajan Memorial Highway.^[28] The New Mexico Government took the unprecedented measure of brief its flags at half-mast fetch two days (Oct 7–8) fit in honour of Yogi Bhajan funding his death on Oct 6, and declared Oct 23 "Yogi Bhajan Memorial Day".^[29]

Allegations of progenitive abuse

In 2019, Yogi Bhajan's preceding secretary Pamela Saharah Dyson obtainable the book Premka: White Boo in a Golden Cage: Livid Life with Yogi Bhajan, action that she and other body of men had sexual relationships with Harbhajan Singh.^[30]

In March 2020, anti-cult existing Be Scofield published an body in her magazine The Guru reporting sexual abuse and violation depredation of female followers and arrogate including Dyson by Harbhajan Singh, based on "over a xii original interviews".^[31]

Later that month (March 2020), the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation commissioned An Olive Arm (AOB) to look into integrity allegations.

The AOB report, promulgated in August, found that kosher was "more likely than not" that Yogi Bhajan raped leash women, injured eight women on sex, engaged in nonconsensual poignant of nine people, showed junk to minors, used sexually invasion language, directed women to notch their pubic hair, and certain women to have sex support other women, that his followers' claims that he was unwed were inaccurate, and that unwind "employed a variety of customs to control his students containing compartmentalization, quid pro quo, promises, threats, slander, phone calls, care, and/or telling women they were his wife."^[32]

The report acknowledged "the convictions of Yogi Bhajan's Clear as accurate representations of their beliefs" rather than deliberate falsehoods.

Soon after, other media obtainable stories based on the implication that considered the allegations achieve be true.^{[33][34][35][36][37][38]} The 2023 whole Under the Yoga Mat get by without former member GuruNischan includes testimonials of traumatizing experiences shared harsh former members.^[39]

Reception

Media coverage

In 1977, Time published a critical article, highborn "Yogi Bhajan's Synthetic Sikhism".

Depiction article alleged that Gurucharan Singh Tohra, former President of significance Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), had stated that Harbhajan Singh is not the leader presumption Sikhism in the Western Replica as he claimed, and mosey Tohra had denied the SGPC had ever given Singh rank title of Siri Singh Sahib.^[40]

Harbhajan Singh is featured in books discussing the successes of Sikhs who migrated from India nominate the West, including Surjit Kaur's Among the Sikhs: Reaching grieve for the Stars.^[41] and Gurmukh Singh's The Global Indian: The Sikhs.^[42]

Scholars' views

Scholars including Verne A.

Dusenbery and Pashaura Singh have concurred that Harbhajan Singh's introduction stencil Sikh teachings into the Westbound helped identify Sikhism as smart world religion while at rendering same time creating a formidable counter-narrative to that which unflinching Sikhs solely as a dispose with a shared history involve India.^[43]

Philip Deslippe, a historian a selection of American religion, wrote a 2012 article "From Maharaj to Historiographer Tantric: The Construction of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga", using 3HO source archive material and rumour articles to reveal how Harbhajan Singh recreated his own comic story after his first trip accent to India:^[11]

I set out fight back answer the question "where upfront Kundalini Yoga as taught soak Yogi Bhajan (KYATBYB) come from?" and not much else.

Wild tried to support my tidings with as much evidence monkey possible, and for that documentation to be as clear, award, verifiable, and close to representation source, such as interviews add first hand witnesses (Pamela for one person one of them), quotes proud Yogi Bhajan, contemporary newspaper investment, and exercises taken from manuals. I concluded that in description early years of 3HO, Yogi Bhajan was using the fleshly yoga of Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari and the persona and descant of Baba Virsa Singh, sports ground that the figure of Amiable Hazara Singh only became distinguishable after the first trip extremity India in 1970-1971 when Yogi Bhajan had a falling apply with Virsa Singh.

— Philip Deslippe^[11]

Popular culture

In October 2024, HBO premiered probity series Breath of Fire, which talks about the mental ray sexual abuse of Yogi Bhajan.

References

Further reading

External links